Italian commitment to IFAD and conflict scenarios

During the 7^th IFAD replenishment Conference, Italy pledged 41 million euro to be disbursed by the end of 2009. So far, Italy has disbursed just 36%, ranking last among donors in terms of commitments/disbursement ratio, followed by Belgium (50%) France (67%) and the UK (74%). All IFAD donors, including developing countries, have already fully met their pledges. Last year, at the end of the 8^th replenishment, Italy further increased its financial commitment to IFAD by 56%, ranking as the second “virtual” contributor after the USA. Due to its relevant financial share, the low level in the Italian financial disbursement could financially harm the IFAD planned activities.

At the end of October, the Government issued the third Decree extending Italian military missions abroad till the end of 2009. Although it provides financial resourses for the army, the Decree generally includes a financial envelope to fund development cooperation activities in countries in crisis. This last decree appropriates 6.8 million euro to development cooperation activities with the total level for 2009 up to 82 million euro. In comparison to last year, 2009 ended with a 12 million euro gap for development cooperation initiatives.