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POLITICS: Poor Nations First to Pay Up U.N. Dues for 2003 Fri Jan 3, 8:13 AM ET Thalif Deen,Inter Press Service UNITED NATIONS (news - web sites), Jan 2 (IPS) - A cash-strapped United Nations got off to a flying start on its first working day for the new year with 10 countries paying their dues in full for 2003. A U.N. spokesman told IPS Thursday that what was unusual about the early payments was that four of the 10 - Bangladesh, Mali, Senegal and Sierra Leone - are member states designated by the United Nations as ''least developed countries'' (LDCs), the poorest of the world's poor. ''They are the weakest segment of the international community. But their support and commitment to the United Nations is the strongest,'' Anwarul Karim Chowdhury, U.N. undersecretary-general for Least Developed Countries, told IPS. Chowdhury said it was ''wonderful'' to hear that four of the 10 member states on the U.N.'s ''honor roll'' for 2003 were LDCs. ''The international donor community, in turn, owes these countries its support and economic assistance for development cooperation.'' ''The LDCs are the most economically vulnerable group of countries at the United Nations,'' he said, ''and they do not have a level playing field.'' Currently, there are 49 LDCs, of which 33 are from sub-Saharan Africa. The thresholds for inclusion in the list of LDCs include: population of less than 75 million; per capita gross domestic product (GDP (news - web sites)) of less than 800 dollars; and an Augmented Physical Quality of Life Index (combining health, nutrition and education) of less than 59. Bangladesh paid 135,000 dollars as its total U.N. dues for 2003 followed by Mali (11,800 dollars), Senegal (67,500 dollars) and Sierra Leone (13,500 dollars). The other six countries in the ''honor roll'' are Armenia, whose U.N. dues for 2003 amounted to 27,000 dollars, Belarus with 256,000 dollars, Congo with 13,500 dollars, Honduras with 67,500 dollars, Latvia with 135,000 dollars and Ukraine, 715,500 dollars. The United States, the world's richest nation, is currently the biggest single defaulter owing more than 800 million dollars to the world body. To date, total outstanding dues from all member states amount to over 2.6 billion dollars, of which 1.7 billion dollars are arrears accrued in 2002. Also in 2002, only 117 out of a total of 191 member states paid their budget contributions in full, compared with 135 the previous year. <...>
