Funding East Timor's Reconstruction: An Overview

People in East Timor have many questions about the hundreds of millions of dollars that have flowed into the country since September 1999. Most have little idea where the money is going. The lack of public awareness, transparency, and participation in funding matters leads many to conclude that something is wrong. At the same time, there is a pervasive perception that, given the levels of funding, there has been insufficient progress in the rebuilding of East Timor.

At a meeting of international donors in Dili on 29 March, for example, Xanana Gusmão criticized various aspects of the reconstruction process, telling the donors of money ill spent and delays in the implementation of projects. The CNRT leader told the conference attendees not to be “overly impressed” with all the activity in Dili, stating that “in the interior the economic situation of the population has not changed much” since the Indonesian military’s September 1999 campaign of terror and destruction.

While such problems are not merely matters of funding, funding is central to the concerns raised by Xanana and many others. That is why this issue of the Bulletin focuses on the primary external funding sources in East Timor, and how their money is spent.

Undoubtedly, there is a great deal of money involved in the international community’s efforts in the territory. Indeed, donors to East Timor have allocated more than one billion US dollars since December 1999.

Despite its small size and an economy based on subsistence agriculture, East Timor presently has one of the most complex external funding and public finance structures in the world. It is important to understand the different sources of this money, what it pays for, and the decision-making processes that govern its allocation. In this way, the people of East Timor can better evaluate the uses of this money, and more effectively influence its future flows and, thus, the reconstruction process.

back to top

back to top

External Funding: Sources and Uses

Almost all of the funds available to East Timor for reconstruction, governance, and security come from foreign governments. Although internal funding mechanisms—such as revenues from the Timor Gap and the new tax system—also yield money for public sector activities, funds coming from outside sources are currently much larger and, thus, deserve close review.

External funding goes into seven different “pots” (see figure 1). These seven “pots” support activities in one or more of three main areas: relief and/or humanitarian assistance; governance and security; and reconstruction and development. Voluntary financial contributions provide the funds of five of the seven “pots,” while contributions that member-countries of the United Nations must make supply the funding for the largest “pot.”

A description of these “pots”—or places where funds reside—follows. (All amounts in US dollars.)

CAP Monies and Related Work
In late September 1999, in the aftermath of the TNI post-referendum campaign of terror, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) launched a Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal (CAP). Typically, OCHA is the UN agency that coordinates the international response to humanitarian emergencies.

OCHA’s proposed budget for humanitarian operations called for $183 million for East Timor and $15 million for humanitarian needs in West Timor. In response, foreign government representatives committed $156 million in voluntary contributions to the CAP at the Tokyo Donors Conference in December 1999.

While an additional $40-$50 million went to emergency relief efforts outside the CAP process, the major portion of aid to refugees, including the provision of water, health services, and shelter kits was funded by CAP monies. UN agencies such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the World Food Program (WFP), and the World Health Organization (WHO) were involved in the effort. International agencies such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as well as numerous other international non-governmental organizations, also participated. The various implementing agencies spent almost all of the money in voluntary contributions received for this effort in the 13-month period from November 1999 to December 2000. No additional funding of the CAP is anticipated. (For a review of OCHA, the CAP, and its impact, see the La’o Hamutuk Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 2.)

Assessed Contributions to Maintain UNTAET
By far the largest “pot” of money is the one that supports the establishment and maintenance of the UNTAET mission. This is the only “pot” that does not rely on voluntary contributions; rather, all foreign governments that are members of the United Nations are expected to contribute to it. Almost all funds for the budgets of UN peacekeeping operations (such as UNTAET), as well as the regular budget of the United Nations, come from the assessed contributions of UN Member States.

An assessed contribution is an amount of money that a Member State is supposed to contribute. The UN General Assembly approves the amount of each assessment, which is based on the ability of a country to pay (taking into account principally the country’s Gross National Product relative to all other countries’ GNPs). Starting next year, the scale used for peacekeeping operations will be one that has 10 levels of assessments based on each country’s per capita income.

The UNTAET assessed contributions budget finances expenses related to the UN involvement in East Timor which include the peacekeeping forces, civilian police, UN buildings, UN vehicles, UNTAET staff, and communications. The assessed budget does not include the costs of running an East Timorese government, namely the East Timor Transitional Administration (ETTA). Finally, this budget does not fund development or reconstruction projects.

UNTAET’s budget for the final eight months of the last fiscal year (November 1999-June 2000) was almost $400 million. The budget for the present fiscal year, FY2001 (1 July 2000 - 30 June 2001), is $563 million (see below). Notably, the East Timorese people have little input in developing and modifying this budget. Rather, UN staff and committees in New York and Dili create and modify this budget.

Consolidated Fund for East Timor (CFET)
The CFET “pot” of money is both the smallest and, along with the INGO/NGO “pot,” the most accessible to local input and East Timorese participation in decisions around its use. It finances the embryonic national government (ETTA), which the international community is helping to build within the UNTAET structure. The CFET pays for the emerging national government’s operational costs, including the building of basic institutions, the provision of public services, the repair of government buildings, and civil servants’ salaries.

The CFET has two parts. The first part is made up of voluntary contributions from foreign governments in the form of the UNTAET Trust Fund (UNTF or UNTAET TF). The United Nations set up the UNTF in October 1999 to help finance an East Timorese governing body—the East Timor Administration (ETA), which later evolved into the East Timor Transitional Administration (ETTA).

The second part of the CFET is made up of East Timor’s domestic revenues. These include monies gained from the collection of taxes and import duties, as well as revenues from the exploitation of oil and natural gas reserves in the Timor Sea.

For the present and near future, the UNTF and donors are supposed to contribute enough monies to the CFET to ensure that with whatever domestic revenues are generated, the ETTA is sufficiently funded. But the hope is that the UNTF’s and donors’ share will diminish over time as domestic revenues increase. All of this is predicated on a very modest annual national budget of approximately $60 million.

The initial amount contributed by the UNTF was $32 million. At the June 2000 Lisbon Donors Conference, donors allocated an additional $16 million in voluntary contributions for FY 2001 and $25 million for FY2002 to supplement the CFET.

Trust Fund for East Timor (TFET)
The TFET “pot” contains money for reconstruction and development projects and is the second largest of the “pots.” In October and November 1999, representatives from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and various national governments visited East Timor to assess its needs and circumstances. Both the IMF mission and the World Bank-led Joint Assessment Mission helped inform policy recommendations and assistance requests.

Soon thereafter—in December 1999— the first international donors conference for East Timor took place in Tokyo. There, donors pledged a total of $523 million in voluntary contributions: $32 million for UNTF; $147 million for a future Trust Fund for East Timor (TFET); $33 million pledged to bilateral programs, but left unallocated (not yet designated to be spent in a certain place or program); $156 million for the CAP humanitarian aid, and $155 million left completely unallocated to the trust funds or for bilateral programs. (Subsequent donors conferences have not solicited additional pledges, but rather only reviewed progress and strategy and made allocation decisions.)

The conference established the Trust Fund for East Timor (TFET) managed by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank to finance and oversee reconstruction and development projects. (For a review of the World Bank and its projects in East Timor, see La’o Hamutuk Bulletin, Vol. 1, No. 4). Additional money from the unallocated fund has augmented the initial $147 million, bringing the current amount budgeted for TFET to $167.4 million. This amount is spread out over three years and, with additional monies from the unallocated pledges, is likely to average $60 million/year. While funding will continue after 2003, it is expected to diminish considerably. International and East Timorese advocacy might stimulate some additional pledges of support.

Presently, a Donor Council made up of donor representatives and facilitated by the Donor Coordination Unit (part of the ETTA National Planning and Development Agency) discusses, evaluates, and approves development and reconstruction projects as well as transitional governance assistance supported by TFET monies.

Direct Bilateral Funding
The “pot” that contains money for government-to-government assistance also has considerable in-kind (non-monetary) donations, such as agricultural and office equipment. Foreign governments have negotiated directly with UNTAET and ETTA to provide assistance. The bulk of direct bilateral assistance provided by these foreign governments has supported transitional governance and services. For example, programs of the United States government (USAID), the Australian government (AUSAid), and the Japanese government (JICA) have covered some operational costs for generating electricity, rebuilt some schools, and trained and built capacity in ETTA staff. Direct bilateral aid also helps fund reconstruction and development.

Including the bilateral support for transitional governance, bilateral donors have spent between $50 and $90 million to date. It is estimated that donors will spend $160 to $195 million over a three-year period. We will explore direct bilateral aid in a future issue of the La’o Hamutuk Bulletin.

Funding for UN Agencies
UN Agencies initially funded by the Consolidated Appeal Process still operate in East Timor although they now raise their funding through normal agency channels. Voluntary contributions from UN member states fund most UN agencies. Some of the administrative costs of some of the agencies are covered by the regular UN budget that is funded from assessed contributions. A few agencies also receive support from other areas (i.e. UNICEF receives significant non-governmental support and the WFP receives significant multilateral and bilateral support). Finally, bilateral monies fund some of the East Timor-specific activities of some agencies.
These agencies do a wide range of work especially in the areas of relief and development. While it is difficult to calculate their combined spending in East Timor, it runs into the tens of millions of dollars.

Funding for INGOs and NGOs
There are many local and international non-government organizations doing a wide range of work in East Timor, especially in the areas of relief and development/reconstruction. The “pot” that would collectively hold their funding has the most diverse funding sources. Some international non-government organizations (INGOs) have been in East Timor for many years while others have only recently begun operations here. These INGOs, in turn, provide some financial support to local non-government organizations (NGOs). Almost all of the money that supports the work of the dozens of international non-government organizations and over one hundred local NGOs originally comes from outside East Timor.

All of the contributions to local and international NGOs are voluntary and include some foreign government monies. In some cases, monies also come from UN agencies and supranational bodies. While it is difficult to calculate the annual combined spending of local and international NGOs in East Timor, it runs into the tens of millions of dollars. INGOs direct more than 90% of these funds. While some of the estimated $50 million INGOs have spent in East Timor since late 1999 came from the CAP process, most monies for both INGOs and local NGOs come from individuals; community, activist/solidarity and church groups; foundations; and/or foreign government grants and in-kind donations. Additionally, some local NGOs have income-generating activities. 

back to top

back to top

A Closer Look at the UNTAET Budget

UNTAET Budget for Fiscal Year 2001 (US$563 million total)

The UNTAET budget is by far the largest pool of funds available for East Timor. Nevertheless, the East Timorese people have little input in its creation, and there is no mechanism to allow for local involvement in its review. It is useful to understand more clearly what is in this budget. The first approved budget covered a seven-month period from December 1999 to June 2000 and amounted to $350 million. Of that amount, $155 million was allocated for operations, $100 million for military personnel, $85 million for civilian personnel, and $9 million for staff assessments (“taxes” taken out of international staff salaries before the salary is paid and applied to the UN membership dues of each staff member’s country of citizenship). The next approved budget covering Fiscal Year 2001, from July 2000 through June 2001, amounts to $563 million. That budget breaks down as shown above, with notes below.

$220 million for military personnel

• approximately 150 military observers ($6.5 million)

• military contingents, approximately 8,000 soldiers ($150 million)

• contingent-owned equipment ($35 million)

• self-sustainment (troop and police needs including catering, laundry, medical and dental, bedding and furniture, and communications) ($37 million)

• death and disability compensation ($2 million)

Note that more than half of the operations budget below is also for military purposes.

$124 million for operations

• air operations ($58 million)

• naval operations ($2 million)

• premises / accommodations ($9.4 million)

• infrastructure repairs ($11 million)

• transport operations ($14.5 million)

• communications ($14 million)

• other equipment ($4 million)

• supplies and services ($10 million)

• air and surface freight ($1.4 million)

$199 million for civilian personnel

• approximately 2,000 local staff with an average pay of $240 per person per month ($5.5 million)

• 1350 Civilian Police provided Mission Subsistence Allowance to cover their living expenses, $95 per person per day amounting to $3,000 per person per month. ($61 million) CivPols also receive a salary from their national governments.

• approximately 1,200 international staff with an average pay of $7,800 per person per month, which includes their per diem at approximately $3,000 per month, the service (recruitment) allowance (a financial incentive based on employment history to join the mission), and the family allowance ($112 million)

• approximately 800 United Nations Volunteers paid a “modest living allowance” of $2,250 per person per month, as well as transportation to/from East Timor, settling-in allowance, and misc. ($21 million)

$17 million for staff assessments

$3 million for other programs

• election-related supplies and services ($1.8 million)

• public information programmes ($1.6 million)

• training programmes ($0.1 million)

back to top

UNTAET Assessed Budget Notes and Highlights

Military personnel

• Military observers, unlike the peacekeeping forces, receive the MSA of $95 per person per day.

• For military personnel, $1.15 per person per day is budgeted for bottled water, which collectively amounts to just over $10,000 per day. (See box on Bottled Water Facts)

• The 256 military staff officers assigned at force headquarters have a laundry service based in Dili that costs $8,333 per month. The entire laundry and cleaning budget for military personnel is $2.1 million this fiscal year.

• The dental plan coverage for all military personnel costs almost $7 million this fiscal year. The medical plan costs $1.5 million.

• While UNTAET only pays peacekeeping soldiers directly a $1.28 per day allowance, contributing countries receive an agreed upon amount of money for the troops they send (troop reimbursement), and each country then pays their own soldiers. For troop reimbursement alone, UNTAET in this fiscal year will pay a total of $97 million to the 25 troop-contributing countries. UNTAET also covers all costs related to the troops including transportation, insurance, medical coverage, food and lodging. Significantly, UNTAET also leases military equipment from the countries that contribute troops.

Civilian personnel

• The average international staff person is paid more than 30 times the average local UNTAET staff person.

• SRSG Sergio Viera de Mello’s monthly salary is between $12,000 and $15,000. His pay is thus more than 50 times that of the average local UNTAET staff person.

Operations

•  UNTAET had a contract with the floating Hotel Olympia that initially paid $891,000 per month for staff accommodations.

• The air fleet of 21 helicopters and 5 fixed-wing aircraft will cost $58 million this fiscal year. UNTAET rents all of this equipment. The various helicopters rent from $650 to $13,500 per hour. Their fuel costs range from $71 to $1,010 per hour. Annual insurance costs $112,000 per helicopter.

• The UNTAET budget allocated $2.1 million for upgrading of airstrips and $2.3 million for road works. Yet, according to The World Bank, Background Paper for Donors’ Meeting on East Timor, Lisbon, Portugal, 21-23 June 2000, “[Road] damage attributable to heavy military vehicles used by INTERFET or the UNTAET PKF is estimated by the ADB to total $21 million.” Combined with previous submissions, UNTAET has made less than $5 million available thus far from the assessed contributions budget for road maintenance related to the military operation.

• 125 more UNTAET vehicles were purchased this year at an average cost of $23,000 each.

• $9 million is budgeted for petrol this year.

• The mobile telephone budget went from $30,000 per month for last fiscal year to $50,000 per month for this fiscal year. While this budget should cover only work-related and necessary phone calls, there is no effective enforcement of this policy. Currently, UNTAET provides approximately 350 mobile telephones to civilian and military personnel.

Compared to society

• Unemployment for the East Timorese population is around 70%. Per capita income is around $300. If UNTAET’s international staff outlays were distributed among East Timor’s population, their average income would nearly triple.

back to top

UNTAET Bottled Water Facts (FY 2001)
	Produced by: P.T. Erindo Mandiri, Pasuran, Indonesia  Trade name: Aquase  Size:1.5 liters  Cost: $0.375  Military personnel each allotted 3 bottles/day, 7 days/week  Civilian staff stationed in Dili each allotted one bottle/day for 5 days/week (prior to 1 January was 3/day, 7 days/week)  Civilian staff stationed outside of Dili each allotted 3 bottles/day, 7 days/week  UNTAET Mission total daily allotment: 29,000 bottles h Estimated annual distribution: 10.5 million bottles  Estimated annual cost: $4 million
Empty plastic bottles accumulate outside UNTAET Headquarters. This is one of a handful of recycle bins; most bottles end up as litter.

go to Part 2

back to top

La'o Hamutuk, The East Timor Institute for Reconstruction Monitoring and Analysis

International contact: +1-510-643-4507, lh@etan.org

Website: www.etan.org/lh