Introduction
Voluntary contributions to UNESCO are made by various donors in a country
including ministries, municipalities, and organizations,
in the form of cash or non-cash assets in addition to the assessed contribution.
Voluntary Contributions to UNESCO
can largely be divided into 4 categories.
1) Funds-in-Trust
Funds-in-Trust are contributions that UNESCO and the donor agree to spend on the project(s) specified by the donor.
2) Multi-donor Special Accounts
Special accounts are pooled contributions that UNESCO receives from multiple donors simultaneously over several years. They are used when donors want to contribute to UNESCO without specific conditions to finance core budget projects or large-scale projects.
3) Additional Appropriations to the Regular Budget
Contributions to support UNESCO regular projects or new projects are used to strengthen specific UNESCO programmes. They are typically used to finance planned events or meetings for regular programme activities. Because these contributions are additional appropriations to the regular budget, they are treated the same as the regular budget.
4) Secondments
In the case of a secondment of experts, an employee seconded from a donor (dispatch agency) will work at UNESCO for a fixed period of time (minimum 1 year, maximum 3 years). The employee can renew the contract annually.
UNESCO’s budget consists of the Regular Budget made up of assessed contributions due from member states, and extrabudgetary funds such as voluntary contributions. Regular Programme Budget consists of assessed contributions due from Member States, additional appropriations, and balance carried forward.
The scale of assessment of Member States’ contributions is determined by UNESCO’s General Conference, and is based on the most recent scale of assessment adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, with suitable adjustments to take into account the differences in membership between the two organizations.
The assessed contributions from the ROK account for 3.325% of the total as of 2022. (8th largest among the 193 UNESCO Member States).