Directive 516-r dated 4 April 2014
Reference
The directive on a voluntary targeted donation to the World Bank’s Vulnerability Fund has been drafted by the Russian Ministry of Finance.
Food security assistance to developing countries featured prominently in the agenda of Russia’s G20 presidency in 2013. In their St Petersburg Declaration, the leaders of the G20 member states committed themselves to continuing efforts to enhance food security for poorer nations and economic sectors at risk.
In keeping with those commitments, the Russian Ministry of Finance and World Bank have laid down conditions and mechanisms for Russia to contribute to the development and implementation of comprehensive support projects for economically disadvantaged population groups, as part of the World Bank’s vulnerability reduction initiatives.
The planned donation is intended to be channelled into projects in the following three domains – providing access to major state services related to social protection, raising awareness and expanding the scale of expertise-sharing in integrated social protection systems, and developing the Secure Nutrition Knowledge Platform.
Under the draft directive, the donation will amount up to US$5 million in federal allocations, including $3 million in 2014 and $2 million in 2015.
The Ministry of Finance has been instructed to inform the World Bank of the decision and to agree on terms and procedures for transferring the funds, as well as to release the required amount from the funds set aside under the federal budget’s outlay section (“International Relations and Cooperation”).
By donating to the WB Vulnerability Fund, Russia intends to contribute to efforts towards delivering on the Millennium Development Goals, such as the reduction of famine and poverty across the world.
This would also help it meet the commitments taken within the G20 presidency.
The draft has been reviewed and approved at the Russian Government meeting on 3 April, 2014.