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EU funds: key tools for development

Mister Adam Sek, Regional Adviser on Energy Sustainable, Energy Division

1.Could you please explain what kind of organization UNECE is?
What are the objectives and the main activities of UNECE?

UNECE is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations. It was set up in 1947 by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) to develop economic activity and strengthen economic relations within the UNECE region and between this region and the rest of the world.
UNECE brings together 56 countries located in Europe, North America and Central Asia. We cooperate with over 70 professional international organizations.UNECE provides a regional forum for governments to develop conventions, norms and standards with the aim of harmonizing action and facilitating exchanges between member States. As such, UNECE provides consumer guarantees of safety and quality, helps protect the environment, facilitates trade and the greater integration of member States at the regional level and also with the global economy.
The UNECE’s main areas of activity are: environment, transport, statistics, sustainable energy, trade, timber and forests, housing and land management, population, and economic cooperation and integration.

2.You provide technical assistance to Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia and Southeast Europe. You recently participated in a tailor made training provided by Welcomeurope on external cooperation European programmes. Why did you show interest for European funds?



Technical cooperation constitutes an integral part of UNECE work. It has a strong regional/sub regional focus on the economies in transition and is also intended to provide solutions to transboundary problems. It is funded both from the UN Regular Budget and extra budgetary resources – bilateral and multilateral... Given that the UNECE regular budget does not increase, extra budgetary funds have a significant importance for enabling the UNECE to implement its mandate and achieve its numerous objectives in the area of technical cooperation.

The European Commission is among the largest single sources of funding for technical cooperation/capacity-building in the world. It has established a number of cooperation frameworks to support the capacity- and institution-building efforts of countries of Eastern and South-East Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia which are member States of the UNECE. EC funding could therefore contribute significantly to the development and support of UNECE technical cooperation activities.



3.What were your expectations? Did Welcomeurope training meet your needs?



My colleagues and I participated in the Welcomeurope training with the aim to learn about the institutional and operational frameworks of the EC external aid, and to develop our knowledge and skills in raising funds from the EC. I found the training very interesting and informative especially the part on the rules and principles of participation in the EC funding programmes under the Financial and Administrative Framework Agreement (FAFA) between the UN and the EC.

Overall I think that the training enhanced the capacity of the UNECE staff members to mobilize EC resources in support for UNECE’s technical cooperation activities. It was also interesting to learn that in some cases UNECE doesn’t have to apply directly for EC funds but can also develop regional, multibeneficiary and multidonor project proposals inviting EC for their participation at its more developed stage.



4.As you are specialized in energy, what do you think about the EU funds for energy dedicated to third countries?



Energy security and climate change are part of the main challenges of global governance. EU funds for energy dedicated to third countries play a very important role. They facilitate investments in more efficient use of energy in countries that would not be able to achieve energy efficiency objectives without this international support.

The funds also contribute to the development and use of clean, efficient, affordable energy technologies and to the adoption of energy efficiency policy measures which will allow these countries to meet their energy needs, reduce import dependency and contribute to climate change mitigation.

EU energy funds can be considered therefore as a sustainable development tool and important support for global efforts to reduce energy insecurity, dependency and climate change.