a matter of great importance, more attention should be
paid to strengthening LDC capacity to manage and implement programmes and
resources.
Secretary-General
Kofi Annan said the commitments made at the Millennium Summit needed to be
implemented, including the goal of reducing the proportion of people living in
poverty by half by 2015. He urged all
countries to help the LDCs, as they had promised at the last LDC Conference 10
years ago. Unlike its predecessors, he
hoped the current Conference would make a real difference in the lives of
people living in the LDCs.
Statements were also made
by James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, Mike Moore, Director-General
of the World Trade Organization, Poul Nielson, European Commissioner,
Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of
Bangladesh, Christine Hemrick, Vice President, Cisco Systems, John Sayer,
Executive-Director, OXFAM International, Harri Holkeri, President of the
General Assembly, Andrew Natsios, USAID Administrator, Salil Shetty, Chief
Executive, ActionAid, and Apollo Nsibambi, Prime Minister of Uganda.
Göran Persson, Prime
Minister of Sweden and President of the Conference, opened the event.
In other business during
the meeting, the Conference elected its 18-member Bureau.
An interactive thematic
session on “Governance, Peace and Social Stability” will be held this afternoon
Background
The interactive debate was organized in two segments. Segment I, “Results and Rethinking”, focuses
on two questions: What has been
achieved over the past 30 years? and, Are the new approaches and initiatives
addressing least developed country needs?
Segment II, “Reality”, addresses the question, How can we reach the 2015
international development goals?
Introduction
Opening the debate, the
President of the Conference, GÖRAN PERSSON, Prime Minister of Sweden,
said that the crowded hall demonstrated an international commitment towards a
global vision for the future of development.
The stakes were high, but the timing was right. Determination was needed to ensure a
sustainable future and a dignified life for all.
The Conference
elected its 18-member Bureau, consisting of representatives of Benin, Burkina
Faso, Cuba, Ethiopia, Grenada, Haiti, Hungary, Japan, Lao People’s Democratic
Republic, Mexico, Norway, Romania, United States, Nepal, Yemen, Belgium and
United Republic of Tanzania. The
latter was also elected the Conference’s Rapporteur.
Segment
I: Results and Rethinking:
What Has Been Achieved over the
Past 30 Years?
KOFI ANNAN,
Secretary-General of the Untied Nations, said that not only governments and
international institutions, but also representatives of civil society and
private enterprise should participate in the discussion, in order to “set the
ball rolling”. Most poor people knew
that they were quite capable of earning their own living, but they must be
given a fair chance to compete. That
applied both to individuals and countries.
Much depended on the quality of governance, for countries could only
compete in the global market if they were provided with transparent public
institutions and a say in the decision-making.
Given such a chance, many made large strides.
It was also important to attract
foreign investments, for developing countries had little of their own, he
continued. Least developed countries
(LDCS) often found themselves in a vicious cycle. They found it difficult to attract foreign capital for various
reasons, including the instability of their domestic markets and the small size
of their population. To compete, LDCs
needed access to open markets. The
“everything but arms” initiative of the European Union was a step in the right direction
in that respect. He hoped many
international players would take similar decisions. It was important to set a policy of duty- and quota-free access
for LDC products. Formidable barriers
were still in the way, however, which included not only quotas, but also
technical restrictions.
New multilateral trade
negotiations were needed, he said, which must be a true development round,
aimed at eliminating all tariff and no-tariff barriers. Among other things, it should allow
countries to review progress reached in the Uruguay Round. Some countries objected to holding such a
round, because they felt that after the last one, poor countries had benefited
less than their more developed partners.
That should not be the reason for arguing against a new round, however,
because it was a forum that could resolve existing problems. Without trade, LDCs would not attract
investments.
While market access was
necessary, he said, it was not sufficient.
New technology was also needed, as well as adequate infrastructures and
help in overcoming some appalling handicaps and environmental constraints. Many LDCs suffered from chronic health
crises, which decimated their populations.
A new phase of HIV/AIDS had become much more than a health crisis for
many African countries -- it had become a development challenge and it could
soon reach the same proportions in some parts of Asia. He hoped the General Assembly special
session on AIDS would help to develop a strategy for overcoming that
scourge.
He went on to say that many
developing countries were still crippled by debt, but rich countries had not
come up with sufficient resources to cancel it. Even the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative had
not provided sufficient relief, for even the poorest countries that qualified
for debt cancellation under that scheme still spent more on repaying debts than
they did on health care. Clearly, deeper, broader and faster debt relief
was needed, and that meant that additional resources should be put into it. It was extremely important not to subtract
from funds already earmarked for official development, for they were small as
it was. Few had lived up to the goals
of devoting 0.7 per cent of their gross national product (GNP) to official
development assistance (ODA). Least
developed countries suffered disproportionately as a result of that.
He said that commitments made at
the Millennium Summit needed to be implemented, including the goal of reducing
the proportion of people living in poverty by half by 2015. He urged all countries to reach the 0.7
target and allocate 0.15 of their GNP to helping the LDCs, as they had promised
at the last LDC Conference in Paris 10 years ago. Unlike its predecessors, he hoped the current Conference would
make a real difference in the lives of people living in the LDCs.
GORAN PERSSON, Prime
Minister of Sweden and President of the Conference, said, “we do not
have the right” to leave our fellow men in a state of poverty and fear. The commitment voiced today to fight poverty
must result in equivalent hard work, since the necessary changes would not
happen by themselves. Peace was needed,
as there was too much readiness to take up arms. Conflict prevention was, therefore, imperative, while the root
causes of conflict had to be addressed. Effective mechanisms must be
established for the peaceful conciliation of group interests and the protection
of minorities.
Addressing female
liberation, he said that women must have access to paid work and income, as
well as participation in decision-making.
They were powerful resources. He
also stressed that it was critical to provide LDCs with enhanced technical
assistance and capacity-building, to promote international trade and to remove
related barriers.
Addressing ODA, he said words
must be matched by deeds. It was no
longer time to talk, but to deliver. He
also urged standing up for life and health.
In addition to tuberculosis and malaria, HIV/AIDS was killing
millions. Affordable medicines were
needed. Excuses were not acceptable. It is imperative that “we develop together
or not all”, he said.
OLESEGUN OBASANJO,
President of Nigeria, said poverty was a denial of human rights. As for the crisis of governance in many
developing countries, he said the lack of transparency, accountability,
political instability and the lack of democracy had contributed to impeding
measures that could have been aimed at combating poverty. Corruption was also anti-development. Good governance should, therefore, be made
an integral part of anti-poverty efforts, rather than just a condition for
foreign aid.
He said more than 50 per
cent of the countries that had just joined the list of LDCs were those where
conflicts had raged for some time. Many
were also too handicapped to make it out of the LDC league without a lifeline
of cooperation and development. Poverty
could be dealt with effectively through, among others, subregional and regional
integration. A new round of world trade
negotiation was also needed. However,
if appropriate related infrastructures were not put in place, market access by
developing countries would be an exercise in futility. Debt reduction or
cancellation was particularly urgent.
Debt servicing choked the capacity of States to improve social and
physical infrastructure.
He drew attention to the
fact that foreign direct investment (FDI) flows were uneven and, in some
instances, being reversed. Official
development assistance must be resuscitated.
In addition, it would not be possible to benefit from the information and communication technology (ICT)
revolution and globalization if the necessary infrastructures were not in
place. Urgent, concrete action was
needed by all to tackle the developmental problems of LDCs.
ALPHA
OUMAR KONARE, President of Mali, said that his country was a good
example of the situation of many LDCs.
He presented Mali’s main indicators, which showed a worrying increase in
poverty, despite efforts to reduce it.
Such a grave situation was not inevitable, however, and his country was
shouldering its responsibility, with the support of its partners. It was important to ensure peace, the rule
of law, good governance and the promotion of freedoms and social rights to
achieve development goals. Efforts were
being made to ensure better health care, provide access to essential medicines,
and ensure rural development to provide food security. The country was also trying to establish
sound management of the natural resources.
Mali had invested in
education, he continued, and much was being done to improve women’s
education. To achieve the objectives of
universal basic education by 2015, however, more resources were needed
immediately, and local communities needed to receive much-needed support. The challenges of learning could also be
achieved with the help of the Internet and better access to information.
In its efforts to overcome
the challenge of globalization, Mali found support at the regional level, he
said. The countries of West Africa were
consolidating their economic achievements, in particular, through the Economic
Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
The convergence of national policies appeared to be among the conditions
for survival. African leadership should
provide the impetus for development.
Without such leadership, no partnership would be viable in the longer
term. A partnership for the renewal of
Africa should be created to eradicate poverty and place countries on the road
towards economic growth and sustainable development.
Africans were not calling
for handouts or dependence on foreign aid, but for global and sustainable
financing, he said. The success of the
Conference could only be attained through determination and political
will. Negative terms of trade,
indebtedness and prohibitive prices were among the problems that needed to be
addressed. Access to markets was as
important as building capacities.
Developing countries intended to be players, not objects of
international efforts.
A fair settlement of
external debt problems must be undertaken, he said, but debt cancellation
alone, not accompanied by substantial official aid, would not achieve the
desired impact. More justice was needed
with the management of debt, based on solidarity, fair prices and ODA. More justice was also needed in making
available medicine to fight the AIDS pandemic, as well as in developing new
strategies for fighting poverty.
Despite conflicts, growing poverty and diseases, Africa was not a doomed
or damned continent. It could break out
of the darkness, drawing on its immense resources to become strong. It must be assured of a true partnership in
overcoming its problems, based on the values of freedom and sharing.
Are
the New Approaches and Initiatives Addressing LDC Needs?
JAMES WOLFENSOHN, President of
the World Bank, said the Conference today was talking about 10 per cent of the
world’s population with only one half of 1 per cent of world gross domestic
product (GDP). That was, by any
measure, one of the greatest inequities on the planet and considering their
plight was extraordinarily important.
Through partnership, an effort could be made to help put those countries
on a path to greater development.
The contribution of the
World Bank was a small, but important part of the efforts being discussed, he
continued. The Bank wished to be part
of a coming together of the LDCs with the international community. It was essential that the parties work
together with mutual respect and a coordination of effort. The international community must include
trade, aid and a readiness to assist the LDCs in the development of their own
programmes. The LDCs must achieve
growth, because without it there could be no diminution of poverty. The leadership of the countries must
recognize that there were fundamentals that must be met, before any investment
could be made.
There was no sense in
opening trade without the necessary infrastructure, he said. HIV/AIDS was another key problem. The conquest of AIDS began with the
leadership of the countries and involved improvement of education and health
systems. Poor people knew more about
getting out of poverty than others and, thus, community-based development was
essential, as was ownership of the process.
People in poverty were an asset, not a liability. The Bank wanted to be supportive, to listen
and to work in partnership with all sectors of society, he stressed.
MIKE MOORE,
Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), said that he did not
want to just describe the problems.
More than 30 countries had made market access offers in the last 12
months, and he hoped that he would be able to announce many initiatives --
including a new system of cooperation to mainstream trade and economic policy
-- later in the week.
He went on to say that the
international community had worked hard and had achieved some success, but that
was not enough. The LDCs needed a way
out of poverty, and trade was not the only issue. It was, however, an important component of recovery. Much needed to be done on economic
access. Experience showed that, even
when commitments were made, they had to be taken advantage of on the
ground. Much could be achieved in the
coming round of trade negotiations. In
rich countries, the citizens had the luxury of protesting against
globalization, but people should be worrying about marginalization. There was a chance to move forward in the
next round of talks, addressing the issues of globalization. He pleaded with countries not to stop the
launch of the new round, “but hold it in orbit until we receive the results we
want”.
Some fundamental
agreements could not be negotiated outside of a new round of such negotiations,
he said. The leadership of countries
must ensure that the developing countries had the technical capacity to engage
in meaningful negotiations. A
consistent stream of resources and capacity-building should ensure that
countries had the skills to fight for their legitimate interests. If the world neglected to take the
opportunity to address the trade issues now, it was hard to predict what would happen
in 15 years or more.
POUL NIELSON,
European Commissioner, Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid, said the
process of globalization was rapidly changing the world. Not all countries could reap its benefits,
and the divide between rich and poor was growing. The situation was manmade and it should be addressed. The LDCs must be integrated into the world
economy. That was an ethical
imperative, but also contributed to stability and peace. Despite past efforts, 10 per cent of the
world lived in extreme poverty -– an intolerable situation. The poverty reduction strategies being put
in place could make a difference.
He stressed the importance
of ownership of the process by the LDCs and their people. A commitment by the LDCs to good governance
and an enabling domestic environment was also key. If a country could establish itself as a “corruption free zone”,
it would help attract foreign investment.
The Commission was ready to make its contribution. It had set out practical measures in a number
of areas, including the fight against disease, debt relief and market access.
Success could only be seen
in a well functioning partnership, where LDCs took the lead, he said. There could be no development for the LDCs
without debt settlement, he added, noting the Commission’s important
contribution to the HIPC initiative.
“Everything but Arms” –- an initiative to open markets to LDCs in all
areas except weapons -- was another important measure. Trade-related measures would be implemented
to help LDCs take advantage of the initiative.
An effective strategy must
address the multi-dimensional nature of poverty, he said. Political participation was also
important. Trade alone was not
sufficient to ensure economic growth, sustainable development and the
eradication of poverty. Those elements
must be linked at the national level.
External assistance could not substitute for good national policies.
SHEIKH
HASINA, Prime Minister of Bangladesh, said that, as a group, LDCs had
failed to make a major dent in the eradication of poverty, which also remained
a major challenge for her country.
Experience showed that identification of the social and economic context
of poverty was important for planning strategic interventions. A pluralistic approach was needed to
successfully deal with poverty eradication.
The ability to sustain growth was important for success. Making rural
investment and diversification a priority was also important.
Describing her country’s
experiences in the fight against poverty, she stressed that resource
requirements for that purpose were formidable, and future initiatives needed to
recognize that fact. Success of
reforms, to a large extent, depended on the provision of sufficient resources. Expenditures in education and health had
increased sharply in her country. A
series of programmes to directly target the poor had been initiated, including
a micro-credit project and a food for education initiative. Special allowances were being introduced
for old people and other vulnerable groups.
High priority was being attached to the programmes for girls and
women. A vibrant civil society and an
active non-governmental organization community had contributed to the success
of many efforts.
The ODA flow per capita in
LDCs had declined, and tariff barriers and unfair restrictions presented a
serious problem, she said. Far too
often, new deadlines needed to be set to meet old poverty targets. The help from development partners did not
translate into sufficient aid for the poor.
A multilateral approach would address those problems in a more effective
manner. The LDCs still remained
entrapped in an unbearable debt burden and they appreciated the willingness of
their partners to find a way out. All
LDCs should be able to take advantage of the debt relief programmes, and
conditions attached to such efforts should not stand in their way.
CHRISTINE HEMRICK,
Vice-President, Cisco Systems, said the revolution in technology over the last
decade had offered the private sector an opportunity to contribute new and more
innovative approaches to development on a scale that could not be imagined five
years ago. She said Cisco Systems had
learned three important lessons: to
focus on what it did well and leverage core competences; to fill in the gaps of
what it did not know by working in partnership with the public sector; and to
ignore the sceptics by trusting in the power of commitment and will.
Regarding lesson one, she
said the private sector was not an expert at developing social competences or
solving world problems. It was expert
at was putting concepts into operation and investing a lot, to get a lot in
return. Regarding lesson two, she said
gaps in expertise were addressed by partnering. Cisco knew, for example, that
if it attempted to expand its network alone, it would fail. Two parties, the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID), had proven to be key players in identifying appropriate institutions
and in building local support. The
vision and leadership of those agencies had been essential in forging
agreements and allow their organizations and Cisco Systems to work effectively
together.
As for lesson three --
ignoring the sceptics –- she cited her company’s plan to take an ambitious
technology programme to LDCs. By May
2001, there were several hundred students in many LDCs sitting in classes. Agreements were in progress, structures were
being created and classes were also scheduled to begin in other developing
countries. As part of the same training
programme, there were also academy training classes in some non-LDC countries
in Africa. By the end of 2001, Cisco
Systems envisaged some 45 networking academies in 27 LDCs, plus six in non-LDC
countries. Some of the most serious
issues faced so far were funding for education and the scarcity of reasonably
priced Internet connections. High
initial investment costs made it prohibitive for development countries to
access information technology. Now was
the time to make investments that would change that educational scenario.
JOHN
SAYER, Executive Director of OXFAM International, said that the Conference
provided a litmus test to see if globalization could be managed to close the
gap between the rich and the poor. The
danger was that the Conference would turn into yet another costly “talk
shop”. To avoid that, it was important
that governments and international institutions be called to account for the
promises they had made. Civil society
should be better represented at the event. The opportunity to develop was among
the fundamental rights, and his organization was working with people in some of
the LDCs.
The developed
countries had made promises to improve market access and promote debt relief,
he said. Many speakers today had talked
about the central role of trade, and he believed that the promised
“preferences” for LDCs were absent from such important sectors as textiles and
agriculture. One of the worst offenders,
the United States, placed significant barriers on textile exports. Europe offered a more generous market
access, but there was little else to be proud of. The “everything but arms” initiative seemed to break that
mold. However, big farm lobbyists had
successfully removed such commodities as beef and rice from the list. Now, some said that the initiative was not
about “all but arms”, but “all but farms”.
Industrialized countries
continued to subsidize their agricultural production, flooding the markets with
cheap products, he said, and it was important to open immediate unrestricted
market access to developing countries.
The HIPC fell far short of what was needed. If words were not converted into real change, fewer
non-governmental organizations would join the meetings and more would be found
protesting outside.
BENJAMIN WILLIAM MKAPA,
President of the United Republic of Tanzania, said for progress to be
made three basic questions must to be asked.
First, did the international community know why earlier approaches,
initiatives and commitments had failed?
Second, was the international community convinced that the new
approaches envisaged could effectively deal with previous problems? Third, was the international community
sufficiently determined to nurture a genuine partnership based on mutual trust
and respect?
He called for genuine
local and national ownership of the development process, as well as deeper
initiatives and greater speed in the implementation of debt-relief
measures. Unless all development actors
were willing to do something much more than what had already been done, 10
years from today the world would gather somewhere else to reflect on yet
another failed effort, he said.
Clearly, the LDCs had reason to be worried that the targets agreed upon
in Brussels would be no more successful than previous ones.
He said the LDCs could
benefit from globalization and free trade, but only where circumstances were
right, where the different starting points were recognized and provided for,
and where special measures were taken to remove supply-side constraints. Success in the war on poverty would help the
LDCs reap the rewards of globalization in a sustainable manner. The United Nations system had helped the
LDCs to ameliorate the worst manifestations of poverty. Regrettably, the commitment of some
developed countries to the work of the United Nations was less than what the
LDCs considered necessary. He pleaded
for more, not less, resources for the key United Nations development actors.
“We in the LDCs have to
face our responsibilities”, he said.
The LDCs must establish the appropriate frameworks for economic growth,
poverty eradication, peace and good governance. They also needed genuine partnership and support from their
development partners, which must be significant, comprehensive and
sustained. Any future programmes for
LDCs should include an effective follow-up and monitoring framework at the
national, regional and global levels.
Segment
II: Reality:
How Can We Reach the 2015
International Development Goals?
HARRI HOLKERI
(Finland), President of the General Assembly, said that one of the main
reasons the international community had so often failed in promoting
sustainable development in the LDCs was that it had focused primarily on narrow
and short-term goals. The post-cold-war
world was a globalized and interdependent one, yet one of the key dimensions of
globalization had been overlooked -- global responsibility. That shared responsibility had been
recognized in the Millennium Declaration, which reflected an unprecedented
global consensus on international development targets and gave a clear
direction for the international community.
It was
time for the international community to live up to its global responsibility
and to recognize the steps taken by the LDCs, he said. That called for a multi-dimensional and
integrated approach, where different policies reinforced one another. “We need to remove trade barriers and
provide debt relief, as much as we need to build local health-care and
education systems”, he said. “Finding
the right balance varies from one society to another, but the main strength in
development are the people of the LDCs themselves.”
To
achieve success, a new kind of partnership at all levels was needed, he
said. National governments and intergovernmental
organizations could no longer carry on their tasks alone –- they needed the
cooperation of their civil society partners, such as non-governmental
organizations. Partnership with the
private sector was also key. The
Conference was an integral part of the follow-up to the Millennium Summit and
provided an opportunity to turn its ambitious goals and global consensus into
concrete action.
ANDREW
NATSIOS, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), said
conflict was destroying the building blocks of human development. A quick glance at the list of LDCs revealed
that 25 per cent of those countries were in the throes of conflict. It also revealed that poverty was often the
result of conflicts. The USAID was
looking new instruments and methodologies that would help it to deal with
conflicts before they began. Conflict
resolution and prevention were important to poverty reduction.
His organization was also
renewing its commitment to address the needs of the rural poor. Both developed and developing countries and
his own agency had neglected agriculture.
He reminded delegations that many industrialized countries had not
arrived at their current stage of development without having placed some
emphasis on agriculture at one time or another.
He said USAID had focused
and played a major role in global health for some time now and HIV/AIDS needed
attention. The United States had
contributed some $340 million to address the epidemic. President George. W Bush had also announced
the provision of another $200 million to fight the disease. He said a Global Development Alliance based
on recognition of economic environmental changes was also being put in place by
USAID. He hoped his organization’s
resources could be leveraged with those of private institutions in the United
States and other countries.
King
LETSIE III of Lesotho said that, over the past decades, considerable
efforts and resources had been put into the fight against poverty in the
LDCs. The Conference today, however,
was addressing the same problems as existed 10 or 20 years ago. That was clear evidence that something had
gone wrong. While the international
community was talking about the same old issues, the poor people were getting
poorer, and children were dying of malnutrition. Looking for reasons of such failure, some had said that people in
the LDCs had lost ownership of the programmes.
Many of the projects in the past had been imposed on the LDCs, with
donors leading the efforts.
Unfavourable terms of trade and unfair tariffs imposed by the North were
also among the problems.
He added
that another obstacle in the fight against poverty was the lack of capacity to
efficiently utilize domestic resources and the resources coming in through
donor and international agencies. As a
matter of great importance, more attention should be paid to strengthening LDC
capacity to manage and implement programmes and resources. Thus, the building and strengthening of
institutions should be among the priorities.
Lesotho, like other
LDCs, had limited natural resources. In
its fight against poverty, the country considered it vital to strengthen its
main national resource -– its people -– by providing efficient and affordable
health services. Many of the diseases afflicting his people were curable,
including malaria and tuberculosis. The
country was also faced with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which presented a great
obstacle to development. That problem should
receive special attention. “In order to
trade, we need to produce”, he said.
“In order to produce, we need healthy people.” Development assistance programmes had to include AIDs-sensitive
elements.
SALIL
SHETTY, Chief Executive of ActionAid, said that instead of giving facts, he
would tell a story of a “not-so-imaginary” village in a least developed
country, in particular about a woman who had lost her husband in a long-running
war. She had a small plot of land and
used every opportunity to earn some money.
When she learned about the Conference, she asked why they would not send
somebody like herself to speak to the participants. Presenting the real-life situation in her country, the woman told
him that countries were repaying back to industrialized countries more than
they were receiving in official aid, which was not reaching the people. Among other issues of concern to the
population were the rising prices for goods and the falling commodity
prices.
Many conditions were imposed on the governments if they wanted
to get a loan, he continued. AIDS was
also a problem. The Conference would
only mean something if poor people had food on their tables, if they were
healthy and if
