COMPENDIUM OF COMMITMENTS MADE TO AFRICA

AT THE GLOBAL CONFERENCES AND SUMMITS SINCE 1990*

 

 

 

 

Conference/Summit Title

Venue & Dates

 

1.

 

1/a. World Summit on Sustainable Development

 

 

 

1/b. General Assembly Special Session to Review and Appraise       the Implementation of Agenda 21 (Earth Summit+5)

 

1/c. United Nations Conference on Environment and Development       (UNCED)

 

 

Johannesburg, 26 August - 4 September 2002

 

New York, 23-27 June 1997

 

Rio de Janeiro, 3-4 June 1992

 

 

2.

 

2/a. World Food Summit: Five Years Later

 

 

2/b. World Food Summit

 

Rome, 10-13 June

2002

 

Rome, 13-17 November 1996

 

 

3.

 

3/a.  General Assembly Special Session on Children

 

 

3/b.  World Summit for Children

 

New York, 8-10 May 2002

 

New York, 29-30 September 1990

 

 

4.

 

Second World Assembly on Ageing

 

Madrid, 8-12 April 2002

 

5.

 

International Conference on Financing for Development

 

 

Monterrey, 18-22 March 2002

 

6.

 

General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS

 

New York, 25-27 June 2001

 

7.

 

7/a. General Assembly Special Session: Implementation of the outcome

of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements

 

 

7/b. Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements

(HABITAT II)

 

 

New York, 6-8 June

2001

 

 

Istanbul, 3-14 June

1996

 

 

8.

 

The Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed

Countries

 

 

Brussels, 14-20 May 2001

 

9.

 

Millennium Summit: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century

 

 

New York, 6-8 September 2000

 

10.

 

10/a. General Assembly Special Session: World Summit for Social

Development and Beyond (Social Summit+5)

 

10/b.  World Summit for Social Development

 

Geneva, 26 June –

1 July 2000

 

Copenhagen, 6-12 Mach 1995

 

 

11.

11/a.  General Assembly Special Session: Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century

 

11/b.  Fourth World Conference on Women

 

New York, 5-9 June 2000

 

Beijing, 4-15 September 1995

 

 

12.

 

12/a.   General Assembly Special Session: Small Island Developing States

 

12/b.   Global Conference on Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

 

 

New York, 27-28 September 1999

 

Barbados, 25 April-6 May 1994

 

13.

 

13/a.  General Assembly Special Session: International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD+5)

 

13/b.  International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)

 

 

New York, 8-10 May 1999

 

Cairo, 5 - 13 September 1994

 

 

14.

 

World Conference on Human Rights

 

Vienna, 14-25 June 1993

 

 

1/a.        World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg (26 August-4 September 2002)

 

Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development (Contained in A/CONF.199/20)

 

23. We welcome and support the emergence of stronger regional groupings and alliances, such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, to promote regional cooperation, improved international cooperation and sustainable development.

 

Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Contained in A/CONF.199/20)

 

Chapter VIII.   Sustainable development for Africa

 

56.       Since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, sustainable development has remained elusive for many African countries. Poverty remains a major challenge and most countries on the continent have not benefited fully from the opportunities of globalization, further exacerbating the continent’s marginalization. Africa’s efforts to achieve sustainable development have been hindered by conflicts, insufficient investment, limited market access opportunities and supply side constraints, unsustainable debt burdens, historically declining ODA levels and the impact of HIV/AIDS. The World Summit on Sustainable Development should reinvigorate the commitment of the international community to address these special challenges and give effect to a new vision based on concrete actions for the implementation of Agenda 21 in Africa.

 

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) is a commitment by African leaders to the people of Africa. It recognizes that partnerships among African countries themselves and between them and with the international community are key elements of a shared and common vision to eradicate poverty, and furthermore it aims to place their countries, both individually and collectively, on a path of sustained economic growth and sustainable development, while participating actively in the world economy and body politic. It provides a framework for sustainable development on the continent to be shared by all Africa’s people. The international community welcomes NEPAD and pledges its support to the implementation of this vision, including through utilization of the benefits of South-South cooperation supported, inter alia, by the Tokyo International Conference on African Development. It also pledges support for other existing development frameworks that are owned and driven nationally by African countries and that embody poverty reduction strategies, including poverty reduction strategy papers. Achieving sustainable development includes actions at all levels to:

 

          (a)                Create an enabling environment at the regional, subregional, national and local levels in order to achieve sustained economic growth and sustainable development and support African efforts for peace, stability and security, the resolution and prevention of conflicts, democracy, good governance, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development and gender equality;

          (b)                Support the implementation of the vision of NEPAD and other established regional and subregional efforts, including through financing, technical cooperation and institutional cooperation, and human and institutional capacity-building at the regional, subregional and national levels, consistent with national policies, programmes and nationally owned and led strategies for poverty reduction and sustainable development, such as, where applicable, poverty reduction strategy papers;

          (c)                Promote technology development, transfer and diffusion to Africa and further develop technology and knowledge available in African centres of excellence;

          (d)                Support African countries to develop effective science and technology institutions and research activities capable of developing and adapting to world class technologies;

          (e)                Support the development of national programmes and strategies to promote education within the context of nationally owned and led strategies for poverty reduction, and strengthen research institutions in education in order to increase the capacity to fully support the achievement of internationally agreed development goals related to education, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration on ensuring that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling, and that girls and boys will have equal access to all levels of education relevant to national needs;

          (f)                 Enhance the industrial productivity, diversity and competitiveness of African countries through a combination of financial and technological support for the development of key infrastructure, access to technology, networking of research centres, adding value to export products, skills development and enhancing market access in support of sustainable development;

          (g)                Enhance the contribution of the industrial sector, in particular mining, minerals and metals, to the sustainable development of Africa by supporting the development of effective and transparent regulatory and management frameworks and value addition, broad-based participation, social and environmental responsibility and increased market access in order to create an attractive and conducive environment for investment;

          (h)                Provide financial and technical support to strengthen the capacity of African countries to undertake environmental legislative policy and institutional reform for sustainable development and to undertake environmental impact assessments and, as appropriate, to negotiate and implement multilateral environment agreements;

          (i)                 Develop projects, programmes and partnerships with relevant stakeholders and mobilize resources for the effective implementation of the outcome of the African Process for the Protection and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment;

          (j)                 Deal effectively with energy problems in Africa, including through initiatives to:

(i)                  Establish and promote programmes, partnerships and initiatives to support Africa’s efforts to implement NEPAD objectives on energy, which seek to secure access for at least 35 per cent of the African population within 20 years, especially in rural areas;

(ii)                 Provide support to implement other initiatives on energy, including the promotion of cleaner and more efficient use of natural gas and increased use of renewable energy, and to improve energy efficiency and access to advanced energy technologies, including cleaner fossil fuel technologies, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas;

          (k)                Assist African countries in mobilizing adequate resources for their adaptation needs relating to the adverse effects of climate change, extreme weather events, sea level rise and climate variability, and assist in developing national climate change strategies and mitigation programmes, and continue to take actions to mitigate the adverse effects on climate change in Africa, consistent with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change;

          (l)                 Support African efforts to develop affordable transport systems and infrastructure that promote sustainable development and connectivity in Africa;

          (m)               Further to paragraph 40 above, address the poverty affecting mountain communities in Africa;

          (n)                Provide financial and technical support for afforestation and reforestation in Africa and to build capacity for sustainable forest management, including combating deforestation and measures to improve the policy and legal framework of the forest sector.

57.     Provide financial and technical support for Africa’s efforts to implement the Convention to Combat Desertification at the national level and integrate indigenous knowledge systems into land and natural resources management practices, as appropriate, and improve extension services to rural communities and promote better land and watershed management practices, including through improved agricultural practices that address land degradation, in order to develop capacity for the implementation of national programmes.

58.     Mobilize financial and other support to develop and strengthen health systems that aim at:

          (a)                Promoting equitable access to health-care services;

          (b)                Making available necessary drugs and technology in a sustainable and affordable manner to fight and control communicable diseases, including HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, and trypanosomiasis, as well as non-communicable diseases, including those caused by poverty;

          (c)                Building capacity of medical and paramedical personnel;

          (d)                Promoting indigenous medical knowledge, as appropriate, including traditional medicine;

          (e)                Researching and controlling the Ebola disease.

59.     Deal effectively with natural disasters and conflicts, including their humanitarian and environmental impacts, recognizing that conflicts in Africa have hindered and in many cases obliterated both the gains and efforts aimed at sustainable development, with the most vulnerable members of society, particularly women and children, being the most impacted victims, through efforts and initiatives, at all levels, to:

          (a)                Provide financial and technical assistance to strengthen the capacities of African countries, including institutional and human capacity, including at the local level, for effective disaster management, including observation and early warning systems, assessments, prevention, preparedness, response and recovery;

          (b)                Provide support to African countries to enable them to better deal with the displacement of people as a result of natural disasters and conflicts, and put in place rapid response mechanisms;

          (c)                Support Africa’s efforts for the prevention and resolution, management and mitigation of conflicts and its early response to emerging conflict situations to avert tragic humanitarian consequences;

          (d)                Provide support to refugee host countries in rehabilitating infrastructure and environment, including ecosystems and habitats that were damaged in the process of receiving and settling refugees.

60.     Promote integrated water resources development and optimize the upstream and downstream benefits therefrom, the development and effective management of water resources across all uses and the protection of water quality and aquatic ecosystems, including through initiatives at all levels, to:

          (a)                Provide access to potable domestic water, hygiene education and improved sanitation and waste management at the household level through initiatives to encourage public and private investment in water supply and sanitation that give priority to the needs of the poor, within stable and transparent national regulatory frameworks provided by Governments, while respecting local conditions involving all concerned stakeholders and monitoring the performance and improving the accountability of public institutions and private companies; and develop critical water supply, reticulation and treatment infrastructure, and build capacity to maintain and manage systems to deliver water and sanitation services, in both rural and urban areas;

          (b)                Develop and implement integrated river basin and watershed management strategies and plans for all major water bodies, consistent with paragraph 25 above;

          (c)                Strengthen regional, subregional and national capacities for data collection and processing, and for planning, research, monitoring, assessment and enforcement, as well as arrangements for water resource management;

          (d)                Protect water resources, including groundwater and wetland ecosystems, against pollution, as well as, in cases of most acute water scarcity, support efforts for developing non-conventional water resources, including the energy-efficient, cost-effective and sustainable desalination of seawater, rainwater harvesting and recycling of water.

61.     Achieve significantly improved sustainable agricultural productivity and food security in furtherance of the agreed millennium development goals, including those contained in the Millennium Declaration, in particular to halve by 2015 the proportion of people who suffer from hunger, including through initiatives at all levels to:

          (a)                Support the development and implementation of national policies and programmes, including research programmes and development plans of African countries to regenerate their agricultural sector and sustainably develop their fisheries, and increase investment in infrastructure, technology and extension services, according to country needs. African countries should be in the process of developing and implementing food security strategies, within the context of national poverty eradication programmes, by 2005;

          (b)                Promote and support efforts and initiatives to secure equitable access to land tenure and clarify resource rights and responsibilities, through land and tenure reform processes which respect the rule of law and are enshrined in national law, and to provide access to credit to all, especially to women, and that enable economic and social empowerment and poverty eradication as well as efficient and ecologically sound utilization of land, and enable women producers to become decision makers and owners in the sector, including the right to inherit land;

          (c)                Improve market access for goods, including goods originating from African countries, in particular least developed countries, within the framework of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, without prejudging the outcome of the WTO negotiations and also within the framework of preferential agreements;

          (d)                Provide support for African countries to improve regional trade and economic integration between African countries. Attract and increase investment in regional market infrastructure;

          (e)                Support livestock development programmes aimed at progressive and effective control of animal diseases.

62.     Achieve sound management of chemicals, with particular focus on hazardous chemicals and wastes, inter alia, through initiatives to assist African countries in elaborating national chemical profiles, and regional and national frameworks and strategies for chemical management and establishing chemical focal points.

63.     Bridge the digital divide and create digital opportunity in terms of access infrastructure and technology transfer and application, through integrated initiatives for Africa. Create an enabling environment to attract investments, accelerate existing and new programmes and projects to connect essential institutions, and stimulate the adoption of information communication technologies in government and commerce programmes and other aspects of national economic and social life.

64.     Support Africa’s efforts to attain sustainable tourism that contributes to social, economic and infrastructure development through the following measures:

          (a)                Implementing projects at the local, national and subregional levels, with specific emphasis on marketing African tourism products, such as adventure tourism, eco-tourism and cultural tourism;

          (b)                Establishing and supporting national and cross-border conservation areas to promote ecosystem conservation according to the ecosystem approach, and to promote sustainable tourism;

          (c)                Respecting local traditions and cultures and promoting the use of indigenous knowledge in natural resource management and eco-tourism;

          (d)                Assisting host communities in managing their tourism projects for maximum benefit, while limiting negative impact on their traditions, culture and environment;

          (e)                Support the conservation of Africa’s biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources, in accordance with commitments that countries have under biodiversity-related agreements to which they are parties, including such agreements as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, as well as regional biodiversity agreements.

65.     Support African countries in their efforts to implement the Habitat Agenda and the Istanbul Declaration through initiatives to strengthen national and local institutional capacities in the areas of sustainable urbanization and human settlements, provide support for adequate shelter and basic services and the development of efficient and effective governance systems in cities and other human settlements, and strengthen, inter alia, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme/UNEP managing water for African cities programme.

 

 

1/b.     General Assembly Special Session to Review and Appraise the Implementation of Agenda 21 (Earth Summit+5), New York, 23-28 June 1997

 

Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 (GA Resolution: A/RES/S-19/2)
 
64.                           Governments are urged to conclude (by signing and ratifying, accepting, approving and/or acceding to) and to implement as soon as possible the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa, which entered into force on 26 December 1996, and to support and actively participate in the first session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, which is to be held in Rome in September 1997.  
 
77.                     For developing countries, particularly those in Africa and the least developed
countries, official development assistance remains a main source of external funding; it is essential for the prompt and effective implementation of Agenda 21 and cannot generally be replaced by private capital flows.  Developed countries should therefore fulfil the commitments undertaken to reach the accepted United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product as soon as possible.  In this context the present downward trend in the ratio of official development assistance to gross national product causes concern.  Intensified efforts should be made to reverse this trend, taking into account the need for improving the quality and effectiveness of official development assistance.  In the spirit of global partnership, the underlying factors that have led to this decrease should be addressed by all countries.  Strategies should be worked out for increasing donor support for aid programmes and revitalizing the commitments that donors made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.  Some countries already meet or exceed the 0.7 per cent agreed target.  Official financial flows to developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, remain an essential element of the partnership embodied in Agenda 21. Official development assistance plays a significant role, inter alia, in capacity-building, infrastructure, combating poverty and environmental protection in developing countries, and a crucial role in the least developed countries.  Official development assistance can play an important complementary and catalytic role in promoting economic growth and may, in some cases, play a catalytic role in encouraging private investment and, where appropriate, all aspects of country-driven capacity-building and strengthening.

 

129.                       Operationalization of the global mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa is also essential.

 

 

1/c.         United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Rio de Janerio, 3-4 June 1992

 

Agenda 21 (Contained in A/CONF.151/26)

12.40. The General Assembly, at its forty-seventh session, should be requested to establish, under the aegis of the General Assembly, an intergovernmental negotiating committee for the elaboration of an international convention to combat desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, with a view to finalizing such a convention by June 1994.

20.7. The overall targets are:  c. Ratification and full implementation by the countries concerned of the Bamako Convention on the Ban on the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes within Africa and the expeditious elaboration of a protocol on liability and compensation;

22.5. States, in cooperation with relevant international organizations, where appropriate, should: d. Not export radioactive wastes to countries that, individually or through international agreements, prohibit the import of such wastes, such as the contracting parties to the Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes within Africa, the fourth Lom Convention or other relevant conventions, where such prohibition is provided for;

38.27. The role of the United Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office (UNSO), with added resources that may become available, operating under the umbrella of UNDP and with the support of UNEP, should be strengthened so that it can assume an appropriate major advisory role and participate effectively in the implementation of Agenda 21 provisions related to combating drought and desertification and to land resource management. In this context, the experience gained could be used by all other countries affected by drought and desertification, in particular those in Africa, with special attention to countries most affected or classified as least developed countries.

(Note: Rio Declaration on Environment and Development contained in A/CONF.151/26 has no Africa-specific commitments).

 

2/a.         World Food Summit: Five Years Later, Rome, 10-13 June 2002

Declaration of the World Food Summit: five years later

7. The vast majority of the hungry and those living in absolute poverty are in rural areas. We recognize that reaching the goal of halving the number of hungry requires that the most food insecure and impoverished countries promote the alleviation of rural poverty especially through sustained growth of agricultural production, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

30. We welcome the adoption of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and the inclusion of agriculture and food security as a component of this initiative. We invite the international community to respond to this initiative by financing programmes or projects, in the most appropriate manner, that reflect NEPAD principles and commitments.

(Note: The agreements forged at the 1996 Summit such as World Food Summit Plan of Action was not be reopened for discussion. Instead, Heads of State or Government were asked to reaffirm their commitment to the already agreed-upon objectives).

 

2/b.         World Food Summit, Rome, 13-17 November 1996

World Food Summit Plan of Action

7.      Unless national governments and the international community address the multifaceted causes underlying food insecurity, the number of hungry and malnourished people will remain very high in developing countries, particularly in Africa south of the Sahara; and sustainable food security will not be achieved. This situation is not acceptable. This Plan of Action envisages an ongoing effort to eradicate hunger in all countries, with an immediate view to reducing the number of undernourished people to half their present level no later than 2015, and a mid-term review to ascertain whether it is possible to achieve this target by 2010.

33.    (j) Promote early ratification and implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, 1994, and implement the Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992, the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, 1987, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1992;

59.    Encourage the multilateral development banks to enhance their support of developing country efforts to increase food security, especially in Africa.

 

3/a.         General Assembly Special Session on Children, New York, 8-10 May 2002

 

World fit for Children (Annexed to the General Assembly Resolution: A/RES/S-27/2)

 

          47. 8. Urge the international community to complement and supplement efforts of developing countries that commit increased national funds to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic through increased international development assistance, particularly those countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, particularly in Africa, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, countries at high risk of expansion of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other affected regions whose resources to deal with the epidemic are seriously limited.

53.  We will give priority attention to meeting the needs of the world’s most vulnerable children in developing countries, in particular in least developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa.

 

 

3/b.     World Summit for Children, New York, 29-30 September 1990

 

Plan of Action for Implementing the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children in the 1990s

12. Based on the experience of the past decade, including the many innovations in simple, low-cost techniques and technologies to provide clean water and safe sanitary facilities in rural areas and urban shanty towns, it is now desirable as well as feasible, through concerted national action and international co-operation, to aim at providing all the world's children with universal access to safe drinking water and sanitary means of excreta disposal by the year 2000. An important related benefit of universal access to water and sanitation combined with health education will be the control of many water-borne diseases, among them elimination of guinea-worm disease (dracunculiasis), which currently afflicts some 10 million children in parts of Africa and Asia.

32. The international community has recognized the need to stop and reverse the increasing marginalization of the least developed countries, including most countries of sub-Saharan Africa and many land-locked and island countries that face special development problems. These countries will require additional long-term international support to complement their own national efforts to meet the pressing needs of children over the 1990s.

(Note: World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children has no specific Africa-commitments)

 

 

4.      Second World Assembly on Ageing, Madrid, 8-12 April 2002

 

Political Declaration and Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing (Contained in A/CONF.197/9)

 

103.  In many parts of the world, especially Africa, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has forced older women, already living in difficult circumstances, to take on the added burden of caring for children and grandchildren with HIV/AIDS and for grandchildren orphaned by AIDS. At a time when it is more normal for adult children to look after their ageing parents, many older persons find themselves with the unexpected responsibility of caring for frail children or with the task of becoming sole parents to grandchildren.

 

 

 

5.      International Conference on Financing for Development, Monterrey, 18-22 March 2002

 

Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development (Contained in A/CONF.198/11)

 

19.    It is critical to reinforce national efforts in capacity-building in developing countries and countries with economies in transition in such areas as institutional infrastructure, human resource development, public finance, mortgage finance, financial regulation and supervision, basic education in particular, public administration, social and gender budget policies, early warning and crisis prevention, and debt management. In that regard, particular attention is required to address the special needs of Africa, the least developed countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries. We reaffirm our commitment to the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010,[1] adopted by the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held in Brussels from 14 to 20 May 2001, and the Global Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.[2] International support for those efforts, including technical assistance and through United Nations operational activities for development, is indispensable. We encourage South-South cooperation, including through triangular cooperation, to facilitate exchange of views on successful strategies, practices and experience and replication of projects.

 

36.    In cooperation with the interested Governments and their financial institutions and to further support national efforts to benefit from trade opportunities and effectively integrate into the multilateral trading system, we invite multilateral and bilateral financial and development institutions to expand and coordinate their efforts, with increased resources, for gradually removing supply-side constraints; improve trade infrastructure; diversify export capacity and support an increase in the technological content of exports; strengthen institutional development and enhance overall productivity and competitiveness. To that end, we further invite bilateral donors and the international and regional financial institutions, together with the relevant United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, to reinforce the support for trade-related training, capacity and institution building and trade-supporting services. Special consideration should be given to least developed countries, landlocked developing countries, small island developing States, African development, transit developing countries and countries with economies in transition, including through the Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least Developed Countries and its follow-up, the Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme, the World Trade Organization Doha Development Agenda Global Trust Fund, as well as the activities of the International Trade Centre.

 

43.    Recipient and donor countries, as well as international institutions, should strive to make ODA more effective. In particular, there is a need for the multilateral and bilateral financial and development institutions to intensify efforts to:

      Harmonize their operational procedures at the highest standard so as to reduce transaction costs and make ODA disbursement and delivery more flexible, taking into account national development needs and objectives under the ownership of the recipient country;

      Support and enhance recent efforts and initiatives, such as untying aid, including the implementation of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development/Development Assistance Committee recommendation on untying aid to the least developed countries, as agreed by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in May 2001. Further efforts should be made to address burdensome restrictions;

      Enhance the absorptive capacity and financial management of the recipient countries to utilize aid in order to promote the use of the most suitable aid delivery instruments that are responsive to the needs of developing countries and to the need for resource predictability, including budget support mechanisms, where appropriate, and in a fully consultative manner;

      Use development frameworks that are owned and driven by developing countries and that embody poverty reduction strategies, including poverty reduction strategy papers, as vehicles for aid delivery, upon request;

      Enhance recipient countries’ input into and ownership of the design, including procurement, of technical assistance programmes; and increase the effective use of local technical assistance resources;

      Promote the use of ODA to leverage additional financing for development, such as foreign investment, trade and domestic resources;

      Strengthen triangular cooperation, including countries with economies in transition, and South-South cooperation, as delivery tools for assistance;

      Improve ODA targeting to the poor, coordination of aid and measurement of results.

 

We invite donors to take steps to apply the above measures in support of all developing countries, including immediately in support of the comprehensive strategy that is embodied in the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and similar efforts in other regions, as well as in support of least developed countries, small island developing States and landlocked developing countries. We acknowledge and appreciate the discussions taking place in other forums on proposals to increase the concessionality of development financing, including greater use of grants.

 

 

6.      General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, New York, 25-27 June 2001

Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS "Global Crisis — Global Action" (Annexed to GA Resolution A/RES/S-26/2)

40. Support all regional and subregional initiatives on HIV/AIDS including: the International Partnership against AIDS in Africa (IPAA) and the ECA-African Development Forum Consensus and Plan of Action: Leadership to Overcome HIV/ AIDS; the Abuja Declaration and Framework for Action for the Fight Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Diseases; the CARICOM Pan-Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS; the ESCAP Regional Call for Action to Fight HIV/ AIDS in Asia and the Pacific; the Baltic Sea Initiative and Action Plan; the Horizontal Technical Cooperation Group on HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean; the European Union Programme for Action: Accelerated Action on HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis in the context of poverty reduction;

84. Urge the international community to complement and supplement efforts of developing countries that commit increased national funds to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic through increased international development assistance, particularly those countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, particularly in Africa, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the Caribbean, countries at high risk of expansion of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other affected regions whose resources to deal with the epidemic are seriously limited;

90. Support the establishment, on an urgent basis, of a global HIV/AIDS and health fund to finance an urgent and expanded response to the epidemic based on an integrated approach to prevention, care, support and treatment and to assist Governments inter alia in their efforts to combat HIV/AIDS with due priority to the most affected countries, notably in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean and to those countries at high risk, mobilize contributions to the fund from public and private sources with a special appeal to donor countries, foundations, the business community including pharmaceutical companies, the private sector, philanthropists and wealthy individuals;

102. Support initiatives to convene conferences, seminars, workshops, training programmes and courses to follow up issues raised in this Declaration and in this regard encourage participation in and wide dissemination of the outcomes of: the forthcoming Dakar Conference on Access to Care for HIV Infection; the Sixth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific; the XII International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections in Africa; the XIV International Conference on AIDS, Barcelona; the Xth International Conference on People Living with HIV/AIDS, Port of Spain; the II Forum and III Conference of the Latin American and the Caribbean Horizontal Technical Cooperation on HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections, La Habana; the Vth International Conference on Home and Community Care for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS, Changmai, Thailand.

7/a.         General Assembly Special Session: Implementation of the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II), New York, 6-8 June, 2001

 

(Note: Declaration on Cities and Other Human Settlements in the New Millennium has no specific commitments made to Africa: See Report of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole of the Twenty-Fifth Special Session of the General Assembly, A/S-25/7/Rev.1)

 

7/b.         Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (HABITAT II) Istanbul, 3-14 June 1996

Habitat Agenda (Endorsed by the GA in its resolution 51/177)

201.     The international community should support Governments in their efforts to cope with the impact of these changes on human settlements within a framework of enabling strategies.  The international community should promote: (f)     Capacity-building in all developing countries, particularly African countries and the least developed countries, and in countries with economies in transition.

 

202.     With specific reference to sustainable human settlements development and the provision of shelter, the international community should: (h)     Facilitate access to international financial resources for all developing countries, particularly those in Africa and the least developed countries, so that they may benefit from the growing international financial markets in order to promote investments in shelter, including social housing, and infrastructure for sustainable human settlements.

 

204.     The full and effective implementation of the Habitat Agenda, in particular in all developing countries, especially those in Africa and the least developed countries, will require the mobilization of additional financial resources from various sources at the national and international levels and more effective development cooperation in order to promote assistance for shelter and human settlements activities.  This will require, inter alia

 

            (a)       Raising the priority of adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development among multilateral and bilateral donors and mobilizing their support for the national, subregional and regional plans of action of developing countries;

 

            (b)       Striving to fulfil the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of the gross national product of the developed countries for official development assistance as soon as possible and to increase, as necessary, the share of funding for adequate shelter and human settlements development programmes commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to achieve the objectives and goals of the Habitat Agenda;

 

            (c)       Striving to fulfil, consistent with commitments in international agreements, such as and in particular the Paris Declaration and Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries in the 1990s (para. 23), the target, where agreed, of 0.15 per cent of the gross national product of the developed countries for assistance to the least developed countries as soon as possible and to increase, as necessary, the share of funding for adequate shelter and sustainable human settlements development programmes commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to achieve the objectives and goals of the Habitat Agenda;

 

            (d)       Striving to ensure that structural adjustment programmes are consistent with the economic and social conditions, concerns, objectives and needs of each country, including the need for adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development, and protect basic social programmes and expenditures, in particular those benefiting people living in poverty, women and vulnerable groups, from budget reductions; and also striving to ensure that corresponding investment programmes take account of human settlements development priorities, including local, urban and rural priorities;

 

            (e)       Inviting the international financial institutions to examine innovative approaches to assisting low‑income countries with a high proportion of multilateral debt, with a view to alleviating their debt burden;

 

            (f)        Inviting multilateral development institutions and bilateral donors to support countries, particularly developing countries, in their efforts to pursue enabling strategies through which national Governments, local authorities, non-governmental organizations, communities and the private and cooperative sectors can form partnerships to participate in the provision of adequate shelter and the development of sustainable human settlements;  

 

            (g)       Exploring ways and means to strengthen, support and expand South‑South cooperation, including through triangular cooperation, and partnership between developing and developed countries;

 

            (h)       Consolidating the solidarity of the international community and its organizations to provide adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development for people living under foreign occupation;

 

            (i)        Promoting, in a manner consistent with the legal framework of each country, the decentralized development assistance programmes of local authorities and their associations which transfer financial and other resources directly from a donor local authority to their partner local authority in a developing country;

 

            (j)        Enhancing the effectiveness of official development assistance and other external financial flows through improving coordination between and among donors and United Nations operational activities, and through better integration of those flows into national sustainable human settlements development strategies;

 

            (k)       Supporting programmes that increase the effectiveness and transparent utilization of public and private resources, reduce wasteful and untargeted expenditure and increase access to housing and services for all people, particularly those living in poverty; 

 

            (l)        Recognizing the negative effect of excessive military expenditures and trade in arms, especially of arms that are particularly injurious or have indiscriminate effects, and excessive investment for arms production and acquisition, while acknowledging legitimate national defence needs;

 

            (m)      Giving preference, wherever possible, to the utilization of competent national experts in developing countries or, where necessary, of competent experts from within the subregion or region or from other developing countries in project and programme design, preparation and implementation, and to the building of local expertise where it does not exist;

 

            (n)       Maximizing the efficiency of projects and programmes by keeping overhead costs to a minimum;

 

            (o)       Integrating practical measures for reducing disaster vulnerability in development programmes and projects, in particular in the construction of buildings, infrastructure and communication systems accessible to persons with disabilities, including those financed by the international community, and ensuring that such measures become an integral part of feasibility studies and project identification;

 

            (p)       Developing and devising appropriate measures to implement economic policies to promote and mobilize domestic savings and attract external resources for productive investments, and seeking innovative sources of funding, both public and private, for adequate shelter and sustainable human settlements development programmes, while ensuring effective utilization of those resources;

 

            (q)       Strengthening financial and technical assistance for community‑based development and self‑help programmes, and strengthening cooperation among Governments at all levels, community organizations, cooperatives, formal and informal banking institutions, private enterprises and international institutions, with the aim of mobilizing local savings, promoting the creation of local financial networks, promoting socially responsible corporate investment and reinvestment in local communities, and increasing the availability of credit and market information to low‑income individuals, women, and vulnerable and disadvantaged groups for shelter and human settlements development;

 

            (r)        Facilitating access to global finances for those Governments and local authorities that are initiating or are involved in public‑private partnership programmes;

 

            (s)       Establishing and supporting linkages of informal credit mechanisms to the global pool of resources and increasing the access of the majority of the population to housing finance through participatory processes involving communities, non‑governmental organizations, credit unions, international financial institutions and other relevant actors;

 

            (t)        Attracting international flows of public and private finances for shelter provision and settlements development through appropriate economic instruments;

 

            (u)       Considering means of facilitating foreign private sector investment in sustainable human settlements projects, including public-private joint ventures or partnerships, particularly in the areas of infrastructure and transportation;

 

            (v)       Implementing effective and equitable pricing mechanisms for adequate shelter and sustainable human settlements, infrastructure and services and assisting countries, in particular developing countries, for that purpose in order to induce greater flows of private, domestic and global funds, while ensuring transparent and targeted subsidies for people living in poverty;

 

            (w)      Examining appropriate debt‑equity swapping measures in favour of shelter and infrastructure development in human settlements;

 

            (x)       Developing innovative sources of funding, both public and private, for human settlements development and creating a supportive environment for the mobilization of resources by civil society, including beneficiary and individual voluntary contributions;

 

            (y)       Promoting assistance for activities in the field of shelter and human settlements development in favour of people living in poverty, particularly women, and vulnerable groups, such as refugees, internally displaced persons, people with disabilities, street children, migrants and the homeless, through specific targeted grants;

 

            (z)       Recognizing the need for adequate shelter for all and human settlements development in order to address the special conditions of some countries experiencing natural and human‑made disasters and the urgent need to reconstruct their economies and human settlements;

 

            (aa)  Giving high priority to the critical situation and needs of African countries and the least developed countries in implementing the objectives of the provision of adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development;

 

            (bb)     Implementing the commitments of the international community to the special needs and vulnerabilities of human settlements in small island development States, in particular by providing effective means, including adequate, predictable, new and additional resources, for human settlements programmes, in accordance with the Declaration of Barbados and on the basis of the relevant provisions of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Development States;

 

            (cc)     Providing international support and assistance to the land‑locked developing countries and supporting these countries and their neighbour transit developing countries in their efforts to implement the outcome of Habitat II, taking into account, as appropriate, the challenges and problems characteristic of those countries;

 

            (dd)     Agreeing on a mutual commitment between interested developed and developing country partners to allocate, on average, 20 per cent of official development assistance and 20 per cent of the national budget, respectively, to basic social programmes.

 

206.     The international community should promote and facilitate the transfer of technology and expertise in support of the implementation of plans of action for adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development, inter alia, through: (e) Placing special emphasis on the funding and promotion of applied research and the dissemination of the results thereof, and on innovation in all areas that could contribute to enhancing the capabilities of all developing countries, particularly those in Africa and the least developed countries, to provide shelter, basic services, infrastructure and amenities to their communities;

 

222.     The Commission on Human Settlements, under the Economic and Social Council, should have, inter alia, the following objectives, functions and responsibilities, particularly in view of its role in promoting, reviewing, monitoring and assessing the progress made in implementing the goals of adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development in all countries, in accordance with the Habitat Agenda: (d)           To promote, for effective national follow‑up plans and activities, greater international cooperation in order to increase the availability of resources to all developing countries, especially those in Africa and the least developed countries, and promote the effective contribution of the private sector and local authorities and their associations;

 

(Note: Istanbul Declaration on Human Settlements contained in A/CONF.165/14 does not have any specific reference to Africa)

 

8.         The Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries Brussels, 14-20 May 2001

Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010 (Contained in A/CONF.191/11)

 

68.  Development partners will aim, including through actions within relevant multilateral fora, at: (hh) Continuing to implement existing programmes for coordinated trade-related technical assistance such as the Joint Integrated Technical Assistance Programme (JITAP) by providing systematic and sustained assistance to the Programme and considering expanding it to cover other African LDCs;

(Note: Brussels Declaration contained in A/CONF.191/12 has no commitments for Africa)

 

 

9.            Millennium Summit: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century, New York, 6-8 September 2000

Millennium Declaration (GA Resolution: A/RES/55/2)

 

Chapter VII.              Meeting the special needs of Africa

27. We will support the consolidation of democracy in Africa and assist Africans in their struggle for lasting peace, poverty eradication and sustainable development, thereby bringing Africa into the mainstream of the world economy.

28. We resolve therefore:

• To give full support to the political and institutional structures of emerging democracies in Africa.

• To encourage and sustain regional and subregional mechanisms for preventing conflict and promoting political stability, and to ensure a reliable flow of resources for peacekeeping operations on the continent.

• To take special measures to address the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development in Africa, including debt cancellation, improved market access, enhanced Official Development Assistance and increased flows of Foreign Direct Investment, as well as transfers of technology.

• To help Africa build up its capacity to tackle the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other infectious diseases.

 

10/a.       General Assembly Special Session: World Summit for Social Development and Beyond (Social Summit+5), Geneva, 26-30 June 2000

 

 Further Initiatives for Social Development (GA Resolution A/RES/S-24/2)

 

Africa and the least developed countries

 

29.    At the World Summit for Social Development, Governments committed themselves to accelerating the economic, social and human resources development of Africa and the least developed countries. Many of the objectives undertaken at the Summit have yet to be fulfilled by the countries concerned and their international partners, although in this regard donors continue to support the efforts by Africa and the least developed countries.

30.    The deteriorating social and economic condition of the least developed countries requires priority attention to the many international development commitments towards those countries which have not been met. Many least developed countries have seen their share of official development assistance decrease, and progress has not been achieved in fulfilling the agreed target of earmarking 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national product as official development assistance for the least developed countries. Technical cooperation provided by the United Nations and its affiliated agencies has been cut back since the Summit.

31.    African countries have made real efforts to implement the commitments made at Copenhagen, but internal and external constraints continue to make progress extremely difficult. The mobilization of resources at the national and international levels to accelerate the economic and social development of Africa and the least developed countries through a holistic approach is needed for the full implementation of the commitments. Equitable access to education and health services, income-earning opportunities, land, credit, infrastructure and technology, as well as official development assistance and debt reduction, are vital to social development in Africa and the least developed countries.

32.    Social indicators in Africa show that the continent falls dramatically short of the targets set at the Summit five years ago. About 90 per cent of countries in sub-Saharan Africa will not meet the year 2000 goals on child mortality. Life expectancy remained lower than sixty years in forty-one of the fifty-three countries during the period 1995–2000. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is having severe social, economic, political and security impacts in some of the hardest hit countries.

33.    Progress has been achieved in the development of democratic institutions in a number of countries. Further progress needs to be made in Africa and the least developed countries in strengthening institutions which are transparent and accountable in order to achieve faster economic and social development.

34.    In a rapidly globalizing economic world, Africa continues to be marginalized. A persistent decline in the international terms of trade for commodities exported from African countries has reduced real national income and savings to finance investment. The external debt burden has drastically reduced resources available for social development. Furthermore, promises made to provide official development assistance to developing countries in general and the least developed countries in particular have not been fulfilled. More concerted efforts and an internationally enabling environment are necessary to integrate Africa as well as the least developed countries into the world economy.

 

Commitment 7: To accelerate the economic, social and human resource development of Africa and the least developed countries:

 

106.  Encourage concerted national and international efforts to promote an integrated approach to people-centred sustainable development.

107.  Make concerted national and international efforts for promoting an enabling environment that will facilitate the integration of Africa and the least developed countries into the global economy and promote their participation in the multilateral trading system, inter alia, by:

         (a)    Implementing appropriate debt-relief initiatives that can lead to a sustainable solution to their debt burden;

         (b)    Improving market access for export products of Africa and the least developed countries, including through tariff- and quota-free treatment for essentially all products originating in least developed countries on as broad and liberal a basis as possible;

         (c)    Supporting programmes to assist them in taking full advantage of the multilateral trading regime, both on a bilateral basis and through multilateral efforts, inter alia, through the World Trade Organization, the International Trade Centre, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and other relevant regional and subregional economic organizations;

         (d)    Pursuing structural adjustment programmes relevant to the needs of these countries by supporting growth-enhancing, poverty-reducing economic reforms;

         (e)    Supporting, inter alia, initiatives in the development of venture capital funds for investment in these countries in fields conducive to sustainable development.

108.  Assist Governments in Africa and the least developed countries in enhancing the productive capacity and competitiveness of their countries through, inter alia, policies and programmes to support agricultural and industrial diversification, the establishment of cooperative business networks, public and private systems for sharing information, promoting technology and encouraging domestic and foreign investment, especially in the field of technology.

109.  Call upon donor Governments and international organizations to encourage investment in critical infrastructure services, including reconstruction in post-conflict and natural disaster situations, and invite Governments in Africa and the least developed countries to utilize infrastructure investments to also promote employment.

110.  Encourage interested Governments to consider the establishment of a world solidarity fund to be financed on a voluntary basis in order to contribute to the eradication of poverty and to promote social development in the poorest regions of the world.

111.   Call upon the World Food Programme and other concerned agencies to strengthen food-for-work activities in low-income food-deficit countries, in particular in Africa, as an important measure to expand or rehabilitate needed community infrastructure, create employment and enhance household food security.

112.  Strengthen support for South-South cooperation as a means to promote development in Africa and the least developed countries by enhancing investment and transfer of appropriate technology through mutually agreed arrangements, as well as promoting regional human resource development and development of technology through, inter alia, technology- promotion centres.

113.  Support increased efforts of Governments to promote and strengthen human- resource development in Africa and the least developed countries, in partnership with civil society, to achieve quality basic education for all, while at the same time continuing to invest in secondary and tertiary education, and with enhanced cooperation of the international community.

114.  Support the efforts of Governments to allocate additional resources to education and the management capacities of the educational sector, and improve enrolment ratios, particularly for girls and women.

115.  Support steps taken by Governments to encourage skilled and highly educated Africans to remain in the region and to utilize and further develop their skills.

116.  Urge developed countries to strive to fulfil as soon as possible the agreed target of earmarking 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national product as official development assistance for the least developed countries.

117.  Accord priority to the least developed countries by the international community, including by United Nations funds and programmes, as well as international and regional financial institutions, in the allocation of resources on concessional terms for economic and social development.

118.  Encourage the United Nations and its affiliated agencies to enhance the provision of technical cooperation to the least developed countries. In this context, call for the strengthening of the integrated framework for trade-related technical assistance to the least developed countries.[3]

119.  Encourage creditor countries to implement bilateral debt relief arrangements for the African and the least developed countries and stress that debt relief should contribute to national development objectives, including poverty eradication.

120.  Give special attention to the least developed countries, in particular those in sub-Saharan Africa, in the implementation of the 20/20 initiative in cooperation with civil society in order to ensure access to basic social services for all.

121.  Support the recommendations contained in the report of the Secretary-General[4] and in that context await the outcome of the open-ended ad hoc working group on the causes of conflict and promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa.

122.  Encourage the twenty-five African countries most affected by HIV/AIDS to adopt time-bound targets for reducing infection levels, such as a target for reducing infection levels in young people by 25 per cent by 2005, and invite the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, in conjunction with its co-sponsoring agencies, to prepare and propose means for implementing a strategy for achieving this target.

123.  Support African Governments in expanding and strengthening programmes related to young people and HIV/AIDS by developing a collective strategy with the donor community, international organizations and non-governmental organizations, facilitated by the establishment of national young people’s task forces, in order to ensure the necessary multisectoral response and the interventions to raise the awareness and address the needs of young people, as well as the needs of those living with HIV/AIDS and children orphaned by AIDS.

124.  Invite the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS and its co-sponsors, as part of the International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa, to support countries most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, upon request, in their efforts:

         (a)    To allocate adequate resources, in particular financial resources, as well as wider access to quality medication by ensuring the provision and affordability of drugs, including a reliable distribution and delivery system; implementation of a strong generic drug policy; bulk purchasing; negotiation with pharmaceutical companies; appropriate financing systems; and encouragement of local manufacturing and import practices consistent with national laws and international agreements acceded to;

         (b)    To develop a strategy for resource mobilization for programmes on young people with their full involvement;

         (c)    To consolidate resources by creating or strengthening technical resource networks and identifying best practices at the country and regional levels;

         (d)    To develop a core set of indicators and tools to monitor implementation of youth programmes and progress towards achievement of the target to reduce infection levels in young people by 25 per cent by 2005.

125.  Support African Governments and civil society organizations, inter alia, through the International Partnership Against AIDS in Africa and national programmes, in the provision of key services linked to social security, care and support, prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, reduction of mother-to-child transmission, access to voluntary and confidential counselling and testing, and support of behavioural change and responsible sexual behaviour in order to scale up significantly efforts in Africa to curtail the spread of HIV, reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS and halt the further reversal of human, social and economic development.

126.  Support and assist research and development centres in Africa and the least developed countries in the field of vaccines, medicine and public health, thereby strengthening training of medical personnel and counsellors, improving control and treatment of communicable and infectious diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, as well as assisting in making vaccines and medicines for the control and treatment of these diseases widely available at affordable prices.

127.  Encourage the international community to give its full support to an effective and successful outcome of the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries to be held in Brussels in 2001.

 

10/b.   World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 6-12 Mach 1995

 

Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development (Contained in A/CONF.166/9)

 

Commitment 7: We commit ourselves to accelerating the economic, social and human resource development of Africa and the least developed countries. To this end, we will:

 

(a) Implement, at the national level, structural adjustment policies, which should include social development goals, as well as effective development strategies that establish a more favourable climate for trade and investment, give priority to human resource development and further promote the development of democratic institutions;

(b) Support the domestic efforts of Africa and the least developed countries to implement economic reforms, programmes to increase food security, and commodity diversification efforts through international cooperation, including South-South cooperation and technical and financial assistance, as well as trade and partnership;

(c) Find effective, development-oriented and durable solutions to external debt problems, through the immediate implementation of the terms of debt forgiveness agreed upon in the Paris Club in December 1994, which encompass debt reduction, including cancellation or other debt-relief measures; invite the international financial institutions to examine innovative approaches to assist low-income countries with a high proportion of multilateral debt, with a view to alleviating their debt burdens; and develop techniques of debt conversion applied to social development programmes and projects in conformity with Summit priorities. These actions should take into account the mid-term review of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s 17/ and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s, 18/ and should be implemented as soon as possible;

(d) Ensure the implementation of the strategies and measures for the development of Africa decided by the international community, and support the reform efforts, development strategies and programmes decided by the African countries and the least developed countries;

(e) Increase official development assistance, both overall and for social programmes, and improve its impact, consistent with countries' economic circumstances and capacities to assist, and consistent with commitments in international agreements;

(f) Consider ratifying the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, 19/ and support African countries in the implementation of urgent action to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought;

(g) Take all necessary measures to ensure that communicable diseases, particularly HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, do not restrict or reverse the progress made in economic and social development.

 

Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development

 

Chapter 1: An Enabling Environment for Social Development

 

5.      The economies and societies of the world are becoming increasingly interdependent. Trade and capital flows, migrations, scientific and technological innovations, communications and cultural exchanges are shaping the global community. The same global community is threatened by environmental degradation, severe food crises, epidemics, all forms of racial discrimination, xenophobia, various forms of intolerance, violence and criminality and the risk of losing the richness of cultural diversity. Governments increasingly recognize that their responses to changing circumstances and their desires to achieve sustainable development and social progress will require increased solidarity, expressed through appropriate multilateral programmes and strengthened international cooperation. Such cooperation is particularly crucial to ensure that countries in need of assistance, such as those in Africa and the least developed countries, can benefit from the process of globalization.

 

Actions A. A favourable national and international economic environment

 

9. The promotion of mutually reinforcing, broad-based, sustained economic growth and sustainable development on a global scale, as well as growth in production, a non-discriminatory and multilateral rule-based international trading system, employment and incomes, as a basis for social development, requires the following actions: (i) Promoting or strengthening capacity-building in developing countries, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries, to develop social activities;

 

10. To ensure that the benefits of global economic growth are equitably distributed among countries, the following actions are essential: (d) Elaborating policies to enable developing countries to take advantage of expanded international trading opportunities in the context of the full implementation of the Final Act of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations; and assisting countries, particularly in Africa, that are not currently in a position to benefit fully from the liberalization of the world economy;

 

11. Within the framework of support to developing countries, giving priority to the needs of Africa and the least developed countries, the following actions are necessary at the national and international levels, as appropriate:

 

(a) Implementing effective policies and development strategies that establish a more favourable climate for social development, trade and investments, giving priority to human resource development and promoting the further development of democratic institutions;

(b) Supporting African countries and least developed countries in their efforts to create an enabling environment that attracts foreign and domestic direct investment, encourages savings, induces the return of flight capital and promotes the full participation of the private sector, including non-governmental organizations, in the growth and development process;

(c) Supporting economic reforms to improve the functioning of commodity markets and commodity diversification efforts through appropriate mechanisms, bilateral and multilateral financing and technical cooperation, including South-South cooperation, as well as through trade and partnership;

(d) Continuing to support the commodity diversification efforts of Africa and the least developed countries, inter alia, by providing technical and financial assistance for the preparatory phase of their commodity diversification projects and programmes;

(e) Finding effective, development-oriented and durable solutions to external debt problems, through the immediate implementation of the terms of debt forgiveness agreed upon in the Paris Club in December 1994, which encompass debt reduction, including cancellation or other debt relief measures; inviting the international financial institutions to examine innovative approaches to assist low-income countries with a high proportion of multilateral debt with a view to alleviating their debt burden; developing techniques of debt conversion applied to social development programmes and projects in conformity with Summit priorities. These actions should take into account the mid-term review of the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s 4/ and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s 5/ and should be implemented as soon as possible;

(f) Supporting the development of strategies adopted by these countries and working in partnership to ensure the implementation of measures for their development;

(g) Taking appropriate actions, consistent with the Final Act of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, 1/ in particular the decision on measures in favour of the least developed countries and the decision on measures concerning the possible negative effects of the reform programme on the least developed countries and the net food importing developing countries, in order to give these countries special attention, with a view to enhancing their participation in the multilateral trading system and to mitigating any adverse effects of the implementation of the Uruguay Round, while stressing the need to support the African countries so that they can benefit fully from the results of the Uruguay Round;

(h) Increasing official development assistance, both in total and for social programmes, and improving its impact, consistent with countries' economic circumstances and capabilities to assist, and consistent with commitments in international agreements, and striving to attain the agreed upon target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance and 0.15 per cent to the least developed countries, as soon as possible.

 

17. International support for national efforts to promote a favourable political and legal environment must be in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations and principles of international law and consistent with the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. 8/ Support calls for the following actions: (g) Strengthening the capacities of Governments, the private sector and civil society, especially in Africa and the least developed countries, to enable them to meet their specific and global responsibilities;

 

 

11/a.       General Assembly Special Session: Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the 21st Century, New York, 5-9 June 2000

 

(Note: No specific commitments for Africa were made in Political declaration - GA Resolution A/RES/S-23/2 and Further Actions and Initiatives to Implement the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action - GA Resolution A/RES/S-23/3).

 

 

11/b.      Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995

 

Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (Contained in A/CONF.177/20)

 

338.  In addition, specialized agencies with mandates to provide  technical assistance in  developing countries,  particularly in  Africa and the  least developed  countries,  should  cooperate  more  to  ensure  the   continuing promotion of the advancement of women.

 

353.  Adequate financial resources should be committed at the international level for the implementation of the Platform  for Action in the  developing countries,  particularly  in  Africa  and  the  least  developed  countries. Strengthening national capacities in developing countries to implement the Platform for Action will require striving for the fulfilment of the agreed target of 0.7 per  cent of the gross national product of developed countries for overall official development assistance as soon as possible, as well  as increasing  the share of  funding for  activities designed  to implement the Platform   for  Action.  Furthermore, countries involved in development cooperation should conduct  a  critical  analysis  of  their   assistance programmes so as to  improve the quality  and effectiveness  of aid through the integration of a gender approach.
 
354.   International financial institutions, including the World Bank, the International  Monetary  Fund,   the  International  Fund  for  Agricultural Development  and  the  regional  development  banks,  should be  invited  to examine  their grants  and  lending and  to  allocate  loans  and grants  to programmes  for   implementing  the  Platform   for  Action  in   developing countries, especially in Africa and the least developed countries.
 

 

12/a.       General Assembly Special Session: Small Island Developing States, New York, 27-28 September 1999

 

(Note: No specific commitments for Africa were made in Declaration and State of Progress and Initiatives for the Future Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, both contained in document A/S‑22/9/Rev.1).

 

 

12/b.      Global Conference on Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, Barbados, 25 April – 6 May 1994

Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Development States (Contained in A/CONF.167/9)

67.  The implementation of the Programme of Action shall be consistent with a number of parallel international processes important to the sustainable development of small island developing States that contain relevant provisions.  Those processes include the Commission on Sustainable Development; the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change; the Convention on Biological Diversity; the United Nations Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks; the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; 17/ the International Conference on Population and Development; the intergovernmental negotiations on land-based sources of marine pollution of UNEP; the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for the Elaboration of a Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa (INCD); the World Coast Conference 1993; the Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movements and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa; 18/ the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, and other relevant international instruments for the control of transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal; the Convention for the Protection of the Natural Resources and Environment of the South Pacific Region; the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES); the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat; 20/ the Fourth World Conference on Women; the World Summit for Social Development; and the World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction.  Support for the participation of small island developing States in those processes will be important and those processes will need to reflect the outcome of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.  As small island developing States develop their approaches for sustainable development, the international community should pursue actions that will improve the capacity of small islands to address a number of specific issues, making the most efficient use possible of opportunities in other international forums to ensure an integrated and comprehensive approach.

 

(Note: Declaration of Barbados contained in A/CONF.167/9 does not have any Africa-specific commitments).

 

 

13/a.       General Assembly Special Session: International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD+5), New York, 8-10 May 1999

 

Key actions for the further implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (contained in A/S‑21/5/Add.1)

 

98.    The international community should provide the necessary financial and technical assistance to support developing countries and countries with economies in transition committed to implementing the goals and objectives of the Programme of Action. Special attention should be paid to the needs of Africa and least developed countries, countries facing or suffering from emergency humanitarian situations and financial and economic crises, and those developing countries suffering from low commodity prices, as well as countries facing long-term and large-scale environmental problems.

 

 

13/b.      International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), Cairo, 5 - 13 September 1994

 

Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development (contained in A/CONF.171/13)

 

3.10.  Population policies should take into account, as appropriate, development strategies agreed upon in multilateral forums, in particular the International Development Strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development Decade, 16/ the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s, 17/ the outcomes of the eighth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, Agenda 21 and the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s. 18/
 

 

14.          World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 14-25 June 1993

 

Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (contained in A/CONF.157/23)

 

9. The World Conference on Human Rights reaffirms that least developed countries committed to the process of democratization and economic reforms, many of which are in Africa, should be supported by the international community in order to succeed in their transition to democracy and economic development.

 

 



* This paper highlights specific references to or commitments made on the needs of Africa at the global

conferences and summits since 1990, including the Millennium Declaration adopted at the Millennium

Summit. The conferences and summits have been presented in a reversed chronological order.

[1]         A/CONF.191/11.

[2]         Report of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, Bridgetown, Barbados, 25 April-6 May 1994 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.94.I.18 and corrigenda), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II.

[3] Adopted at the High-level Meeting on Integrated Initiatives for Least Developed Countries’ Trade Development, convened by the World Trade Organization  in Geneva on 27 and 28 October 1997.

[4] A/52/871-S/1998/318.