With the assistance of donor countries, UNEP and MEA Secretariats have established a mechanism to support the participation of representatives from developing countries and countries with economies in transition to participate in a wide range of multilateral meetings.
The participants are nominated by the Governments, based on criteria established by UNEP or the MEA Secretariats regarding the nature of the meeting or conference. The number of people per State that are supported depends on the availability of funds. Because a majority of the 192 UN States are developing countries, the funds are often not sufficient to pay for more than one participant per State.
Participant funding covers transport from the participating State to the place of the conference, and a Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA), which covers lodging, food, and some other incidental costs. The DSA is country-specific (depending on the venue of the event) and frequently updated by the United Nations. Instead of paying the whole DSA to the members of the delegation, the organizers will sometimes pay in advance for their hotel and daily transport to the place of the conference, and give the participants the remaining sum.
Most of the funding to support the participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition comes from Governments of developed countries. UNEP actively fundraises to obtain the financial commitments from donor countries (the monies are given as voluntary contributions), and UNEP administers the funds.
Since negotiations for MEAs often require many meetings over a period of years (the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea took ten years, but most take two to three years), the effectiveness of a State’s participation depends to a large extent on the continuity of its delegation attending the meetings. While INC organizers and MEA Secretariats often strongly advise that negotiators should follow the process from the start and not be changed periodically, the ultimate decision on the composition of a negotiating delegation is usually reserved to the individual Governments.
Various mechanisms have been utilized by MEA Secretariats to encourage continuity in delegations and participation of delegates during negotiations. For example, some conferences and meetings have sign-in sheets (or similar mechanisms) that are circulated once or twice a day, and the precise amount of the DSA that is paid depends upon the extent to which the delegate is physically present. Similarly, for certain MEAs, Governments have been more careful about whom they select as experts and participants, which results in delegates being more familiar with the subject matter and engaged in the negotiations.
For more information on funding for negotiators, contact the relevant MEA Secretariat.