183. International cooperation for development should take account of countries' development experiences and circumstances in formulating and implementing comprehensive development approaches.

184. Action on many fronts is needed. A combination of grant aid, concessional loans and technical assistance which can contribute to the financing of the necessary economic and social infrastructure, together with strategies designed inter alia to increase exports earnings, attract foreign direct investment and reduce external debt, can provide sufficient conditions for development.

185. The critical situation of Africa and the least developed countries requires that priority should be given to those countries in international cooperation for development and in the allocation of ODA. These countries should implement at the national level structural adjustment policies which take into account social development goals as well as effective development strategies that create a more favourable climate for trade and investment, give priority to human resources development and further promote the development of democratic institutions. These national efforts should be supported by the international community.

186. The critical socio-economic condition in Africa concerns the international community as a whole and requires global partnership and solidarity to address and solve. Although Africa is faced with enormous problems, it also has great potential, both in human and natural resources, for economic growth and development. The obstacles to the socio-economic development of Africa are well known. Tackling these problems and paving the way to accelerated and self-sustaining growth and sustainable development through decisive implementation of commitments and actions have, however, been lacking.

187. The external debt problems of African countries require further attention. The measures taken by the Paris Club, including the Naples terms, should be further implemented in a full, constructive and expeditious manner. Effective, equitable, development-

oriented and durable solutions have to be found in the problems of external debt and the burden of debt, which continue to impede the socio-economic development of African countries despite measures taken on both a bilateral and multilateral basis to reduce or reschedule their debt.

188. The international community should reaffirm its commitment to give full support to the development efforts of Africa. This requires, inter alia, measures to contribute to durable solutions to the external debt and debt-service problems, to increase foreign direct investment, to enhance national capacity-building, to deal with the shortage of domestic resources for development and to facilitate the integration of the African countries into subregional and regional trade as well as into world trade.

189. The international community should support African countries so that they benefit fully from the results of the Uruguay Round and to mitigate any adverse effect of the Final Act. It is essential to implement the measures decided upon in the Final Act and the complementary provisions specified in the Marrakesh Agreement, in favour of least developed countries and concerning the possible negative effects of the reform programme on these countries and on the net food-importing developing countries. In this regard, there is urgent need for financial and technical assistance to African countries to enable them to evaluate the impact of the Final Act and to identify and implement adaptive measures to enhance their competitiveness and trade performance in order to benefit from the Uruguay Round. In addition, it is essential to support the efforts of African countries to diversify their economies. New export capacities and opportunities have to be created and diversification across markets and products should be encouraged. The call for financing the preparatory phase of commodity diversification projects and programmes should be pursued. State participants in the African Development Fund and multilateral institutions are urged to pay special attention to the diversification of African commodities and to contribute to the preparatory phase of African diversification projects. In order to support effectively efforts to diversify commodity exports and boost earnings, the international community, particularly the major trading partners, should continue to commit themselves to granting enhanced market access to Africa's exports through substantial reduction in or removal of trade barriers and through preferential arrangements, in accordance with the Uruguay Round Agreements.

190. There is an urgent need for concerted and better coordinated international action on the myriad of adverse socio-economic factors which compound poverty in Africa and hamper its prospects for growth and development. This includes addressing effectively and comprehensively the issues of conflict resolution, including post-conflict peace-building and the continuum from relief to rehabilitation and development; stronger and better coordinated global actions against major diseases that take a heavy toll of human lives; and alleviating the effects of natural disasters through programmes on early warning, preparedness, prevention and mitigation. The international community should also assist African countries in their efforts to eradicate poverty and meet basic human needs.

191. The United Nations system also has a major role to play in coordinating and implementing activities which address the critical situation in Africa, including through the implementation of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s and the follow-up of the outcome of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development and other related initiatives.

192. Despite the adoption of the Paris Declaration and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s, there has been a decline in real terms of total ODA for LDCs and there has been continued marginalization of these countries, and their number has increased from 41 to 48 without a proportionate increase in support measures despite national and international efforts. Reversing the further marginalization of the least developed countries and achieving their integration in the world economy are essential for their growth and development and pose a major challenge to the international community.

193. In order to succeed, the full support of the international community is required. Appropriate economic and social policies are also required and technical capacity and physical and institutional infrastructure need to be built up. Special support should therefore be given to the least developed countries in their development efforts, in order to facilitate their integration into the world economy, to enable them to participate in and to allow them to fully benefit from the process of globalization and liberalization of trade and the increase in international private resource flows.

194. In view of their limited domestic resources, the least developed countries will continue to need enhanced external financial assistance and other support. Achieving the accepted United Nations target for official development assistance to the least developed countries of 0.15 per cent of donor countries' GNP is particularly urgent. Donor countries which have not met this target should make their best efforts to reach it as soon as possible, and donor countries which have met the 0.15 per cent target should undertake to reach 0.20 per cent by the year 2000. Further improvements should be made in aid coordination and effectiveness.

195. Many LDCs face serious debt problems and more than half are considered debt distressed. Most of their debt is owed to official creditors, both bilateral and multilateral. The serious debt problems of LDCs necessitate continued efforts in the framework of the international debt strategy. This strategy includes concrete

measures to alleviate the debt burden and economic policy measures, which will be critical to the revitalization of growth and development. Those LDCs should continue to benefit from substantial debt relief schemes. Paris Club creditors are invited to continue to implement fully, constructively and expeditiously the very concessional treatment under the Naples terms, and the Bretton Woods institutions are encouraged to expedite the ongoing consideration of ways to address the issue of the multilateral debt, including those concerning the LDCs.

196. The international community should support LDCs so that they benefit fully from the results of the Uruguay Round and to mitigate any adverse effect of the Final Act. It is essential to implement the measures decided upon in the Final Act and the complementary provisions specified in the Marrakesh Agreement, in favour of the LDCs and concerning the possible negative effects of the reform programme on these countries and on the net food importing developing countries. Urgent steps are needed to provide enhanced market access to major markets for products originating from LDCs. There is also scope for further improvement of the GSP schemes and other supportive measures in favour of LDCs.

197. In 1990, through the adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action of the Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, the international community agreed on measures to revitalize the development of the least developed countries. At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social Development, and other relevant conferences, agreements and conventions, further commitments have been made to support the efforts of these countries. At the mid-term Global Review of the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries in the 1990s, concrete measures and recommendations were agreed on to implement the Programme of Action. They should be operationalized and implemented as appropriate. The international community must give high priority to the full and timely implementation of the Programme of Action and fulfil all its commitments in favour of the least developed countries.

198. The international community, international organizations and the United Nations system should cooperate in the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and of Agenda 21, and support their economic transformation. This requires adequate, predictable, new and additional financial resources, transfer of environmentally sound technologies, including on concessional and preferential terms as mutually agreed, and promoting fair and non-discriminatory trading arrangements. Appropriate exchanges among small island developing States and between them and other States with similar development experiences are also to be encouraged. The GEF should constitute an important channel of assistance to small island developing States in responding to their special needs and vulnerabilities.

199. The sustainable development of small island developing States requires concrete action by the international community to address the constraints to their development outlined in the Programme of Action and in Agenda 21. It also requires a supportive international institutional framework, including a strong monitoring and review role by the Commission on Sustainable Development. Appropriate support should be given to the SIDS/NET and SIDS/TAP programmes, which are important instruments for technical cooperation and for promoting information exchange.

200. Specific action at national, bilateral, subregional, regional and international levels should be taken as a matter of urgency and priority, to address the special development problems and needs of landlocked developing countries. To that end, international support, through appropriate technical cooperation and financial assistance by developed countries and multilateral financial and development institutions is needed to enhance the capacity of the landlocked developing countries to effectively participate in the rapidly globalizing world economy, including global trading, investment and technology transfer processes.

201. Particular emphasis should be given to the cooperative and collaborative efforts of the landlocked and transit developing countries in dealing with the transit problems, inter alia, through improving the transit transport infrastructure facilities and bilateral agreements to govern transit transport operations; development of joint ventures in the area of transit transport; and strengthening of institutions and human resources dealing with transit transport. Active and consistent efforts are called to implement the Global Framework for Transit Transport Cooperation between landlocked and transit developing countries and the donor community endorsed by the General Assembly at its fiftieth session. Since most transit countries are themselves developing countries facing serious economic problems, their efforts at developing a viable transit infrastructure also need financial and technical support.

202. The international community should continue to give attention to the needs of countries with economies in transition, and support in particular their efforts to integrate into the world economy. A number of international meetings and conferences, including those held under United Nations auspices, have recognized the specific needs of these countries in various areas of development and the necessity to provide them with temporary assistance upon their request aimed at the solution to the most acute problems. Such recommendations should be fully implemented by the international community and the United Nations system. To this end, an appropriate strategy should be defined for strengthening solidarity with these countries, taking into account the need to preserve the United Nations system's high priorities in development, in particular international development cooperation.