At the close of 2008, contributions pledged by member countries totaled $3,435.0 million, out of which $2,463.15 million was direct contributions to OFID.

Perched at the very top of the Butte de Montmartre, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart was built from contributions pledged by Parisian Catholics as an act of contrition after the humiliating Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.

Ould-Abdallah USUN NEW Y 00000027 002 OF 003 explained that the payments, which come from voluntary contributions pledged by the European Union, have been delayed for six months due to EU red tape.