General Statement by Hon. K.A. Maope,

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and of Development Planning of Lesotho

At the United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries

14 - 20 May 2001, Brussels, Belgium

(Check Against Delivery)

Mr. President,
Excellencies,
Heads of Delegations,
Distinguished Guests:

At the outset allow me on my own behalf and on behalf of the entire Lesotho delegation to express our heartfelt gratitude to the people and government of Belgium, the member states of the European Union and the United Nations Secretary General for the warm reception and excellent facilities that have been put in place for this conference.

A decade ago, the Paris declaration was adopted outlining a commitment by the international community for urgent and effective action to arrest and reverse the deterioration in the socio-economic situation in the least developed countries and to revitalize their growth and development. The commitments set out in the Paris declaration and the programme of action were wide ranging, but their central theme was the establishment of a relationship of partnership in development.

For their part, LDCs undertook to deepen the process of economic reform, which they had begun in the 1980s, whilst their development partners undertook to make available a significant and substantial increase in the aggregate level of external support.

In the early 1990s, there was widespread expectation that the globalization of production systems and of finance, and the liberalization of economic activity, would promote diminishing income disparities between countries within the global economy.

For the LDCs, the prospect that the removal of legal and political obstacles to trade and capital movements would lead to accelerated particularly inviting. During this period there was an accelerated process of economic liberalization in most LDCs. However, overall progress in increasing real incomes, reducing poverty and moving towards various international targets for human and social development has been disappointing.

At this meeting a lot has been said about the reluctance or unwillingness of the developed world to fulfill their promises to the least developed countries. I now wish to add another possible reason for the lack of development progress since the Paris declaration. It may well be that some least developed states failed to adequately articulate their requirements and that they did not manage their affairs efficiently, to the detriment of their development.

As we meet today, major global developments, which affect my country, have taken place. This is a reference to the momentous political developments that took place in Southern Africa since the 1990s, especially concerning the attainment of democratic rule by South Africa in 1994. The other development is the explosion of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

As a result of the political changes in our region, Lesotho is compelled to transform her economy from a labour reserve to a viable self-reliant economy, which offers a better life for her people. The economy must be export oriented in terms of production of goods and services. The system of land tenure must similarly be transformed to cater for the envisaged economy. The environment must be protected; lard degradation should be stopped. Lesotho must take advantage of her natural resources by exploiting her huge potential in hydro-electric power generation, her potential in construction and building materials, as well as potential in the tourist industry. Lesotho must utilize leer labour resources to the best advantage. The educational system must be transformed in order to provide the necessary skills to serve the transformed economy.

The transformation, which I have described, will need the investment of huge financial resources over a sustained period and in conditions of stability. This is where the assistance of the international investment, if it will be forthcoming, with regard to education and training. The threat is to do with the spread of HIV/AIDS.

If the output of the education and training will be of persons who are infected with HIV/AIDS, the investment will have been in vain. It is for this reason that serious measures must be taken to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS with the assistance of the international community.

Our hope for the outcome of this meeting is that there will be renewed effort by both sides to this debate to continue with the development partnership for the benefit of the least developed countries.

In order to articulate our development strategies and to facilitate the renewed process of assistance, I wish to state the following actions, which the government of Lesotho is taking. We are in the process of developing a long-term vision for the country up to the year 2020. We have since submitted an interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper to the IMF and World Bank. We are in the process of preparing a Country Support Strategy to guide our relationship with the European Union. The development of these strategies increasingly involves the participation and input of ordinary citizens of the country.

Which leads me to the issue of governance. For over two decades from 1970 there was no democratic rule in Lesotho, largely due to the cold war and apartheid rule in South Africa. Since 1993, a democratic government has been in place in Lesotho. But democratic institutions have to be put in place and secured. It is not an easy task, but we, as a country, and as the SADC Sub-region, are determined that democracy shall prevail in our region. As SADC we have adopted the political values of democracy, respect for human rights and political stability. We are also pursuing policies of economic development and growth. We have determined that where the political values are threatened in respect of a member state we shall come to each other's assistance.

With respect to human rights, gender inequality remains a source of concern to us. I wish to state that in order to tackle this problem, an establishment of the Law Reform Commission in 1997 whose objective was to review all the laws, including those that discriminate against women. Efforts are also being made to integrate gender studies into the school curricula.

Finally, let me express appreciation for the undertakings that have been made here to allow goods from Least Developed Countries to enter the EU market duty-free and quota-free. Similar offers have been made in the past. When we attempted to take advantage of the offers, we soon discovered that there were unstated impediments, which included difficult rules of origin. These impediments were eloquently articulated two days ago at this conference by various speakers who include United Nations' Secretary-General Kofi Annan and OXFAM, International's Executive Secretary. It will have become clear at this conference that the issue of free trade is of major concern in so far as least developed states are concerned.

To conclude, it is imperative for this conference to end up with policy proposals and commitments that are based on a correct diagnosis of the weaknesses of past domestic and international policies. In this way, our future course of action will be an informed one.

Thank you for your attention.