MARKET ACCESS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES' PRODUCTS EMPHASIZED IN SECOND COMMITTEE

Press Release
GA/EF/2708

MARKET ACCESS FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES' PRODUCTS EMPHASIZED IN SECOND COMMITTEE

Poverty Eradication, Women, Human Resources Development, Business Also Considered; Committee Concludes Discussion on Climate Change

It will be impossible to produce an entrepreneurial private sector in developing countries if there are no markets where their goods can be sold, the representative of the Marshall Islands told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this morning as it began consideration of several development- related issues including business, poverty, women and human resources.

He said there had been no end to good advice received by his Government on how to improve its economy, but there had been great silence when outside assistance was required to implement some of those ideas. The principle of free market should not simply mean that the developing countries should open their markets to luxury goods from the developed world.

Speaking on behalf of the European Union, the representative of Spain said that in the developing countries, an active private sector was one of the principal means to generate productive employment, thus contributing to poverty eradication. The State had an important role through, among others, the creation of an enabling environment for the development of the private sector and the application of active policies.

The need to go beyond the discussion stage to take visible action on the eradication of poverty was stressed by the representative of Benin. He said the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, 17 October, had allowed representatives of the poor to be heard through events organized to observe it. He expressed the hope that the General Assembly would declare at the current session the first United Nations decade on the eradication of poverty, as recommended by the Copenhagen World Summit on Social Development.

Speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the representative of Namibia said a major challenge confronting the Governments of SADC countries was the provision of education to adult women to

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help them overcome the effects of past discrimination. She called on the international community to complement their efforts by providing scholarships to women and girls, specifically for science, technical and vocational training.

Also making statements were the representatives of Papua New Guinea, Russian Federation and India. A representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) also spoke.

Introducing reports were the Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, Nitin Desai, and John Lawrence, of the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Also this morning the Committee concluded consideration of issues relating to climate change and small island developing States. Statements were made by the representatives of the Republic of Korea, Egypt, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, United States and Iran.

The Committee will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue consideration of that same cluster of topics under the general heading sustainable development and international economic cooperation. It is also scheduled to hear introduction of draft resolutions on several issues, including trade, agricultural development, recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), desertification and drought, economic cooperation among developing countries (ECDC) and operational activities for development of the United Nations system.

Committee Work Programme

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this morning to continue consideration of matters relating to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Barbados Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.

The Committee was also scheduled to begin consideration of a series of reports under the item on sustainable development and international economic cooperation, including those relating to women in development, human resources development, business and development, and eradication of poverty. A new sub-item recently allocated to the Committee -- food and sustainable agricultural development -- would also be taken up this morning.

The Committee had before it a report of the Secretary-General addressing the results of the first session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, held in Berlin earlier this year, and outlining the institutional, administrative and financial implications for the United Nations of the Conference (document A/50/716). The final report of the Chairman of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change (document A/50/536), is also before the Committee. A third report reviews action taken by the United Nations system to implement the Barbados Programme of Action (document A/50/422 and Add.1). (For background information, see Press Release GA/EF/2707 of 15 November.)

The Secretary-General's report on effective mobilization and integration of women in development discusses gender issues in macroeconomic policy-making and development planning (document A/50/399).

According to the report, economic policies and development strategies affect women everywhere, often to a greater extent than men. Some have the potential to liberate women's skills and contributions while others intensify the conditions which prevent that from happening. Cross-country analyses of women's access to productive employment and entrepreneurship show that a growth strategy of protection and capital intensity has been inimical to promoting gender equality in access to markets. It also shows that macroeconomic policies deployed to address allocative distortions have often worsened women's position relative to men.

The "negative impact" on women of structural adjustment policies has been due first of all to the rigidity of their socially ascribed roles and their limited access to productive resources, which were already in existence prior to the introduction of economic reform, the report notes. Another reason why economic policies sometimes lead to gender-asymmetric outcomes is that gender remains outside the context of their formulation.

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Strategies for the integration of women in development in the 1990s have to be focused on introducing gender awareness into every step of macroeconomic policy-making and development planning, says the report. Forging the link between macroeconomic policy instruments and the ultimate goal of development -- poverty alleviation -- requires the explicit articulation of the gender dimension of all economic activity in both the theory and application of macroeconomic development. Gender analysis should be an integral part of the design of policies and programmes aimed at promoting economic growth, stability and the alleviation of poverty.

Taking gender into account in development policies will require a modification of the underlying assumptions about development, the report states, adding that the elimination of gender-based distortion in the allocation of resources should be seen as complementary to efficiency, rather than in opposition to it. Furthermore, if equity in outcomes of the development process in terms of gender entails equality of opportunity, then it should be approached on the basis of the recognition of similarities rather than differences between women and men. For example, an extra cost of maternity leave and child care to employers of women should not function as a tax on female employment.

The report recommends that all economic policy questions should be subject to examination in terms of their gender dimensions in order to ensure that the effective mobilization of women for development is a central part of development policies, planning and programmes. A possible future step would be to begin to develop theoretical and econometric models that could begin to factor in gender issues and thereby help refine economic policy decisions.

Another Secretary-General's report (document A/50/330 and Corr.1) states that the United Nations system should continue to move towards greater specificity in its definitions and conceptualization of human resource development as the keystone to empowerment in sustainable social development.

According to the report, it is urgent that the fundamental and unprecedented global changes taking place in the areas of employment and work, which are just beginning to be understood, be placed as a major research and policy priority for the United Nations system. It is essential that in an era of increasing competition for limited resources, education and training efforts should have as clear and relevant information as possible on the dynamics of all kinds of livelihoods for which people are preparing themselves, particularly in view of the "informalization" of much of the economy in many countries. Better understanding is critically needed of the supply and demand relationships affecting "flows" of human resources within and across borders in order to permit more informed decisions for all relevant actors.

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The Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development re-emphasized the importance of sectors other than social sectors, such as finance, trade, technology, to human resource development strategic planning. It has also recognized that many human resource development problems may be beyond the capacity of nations to solve, and may need concerted international action, such as reduction of trade barriers in a region to permit employment growth in a country. Better understanding is needed of the impacts on human resource development of national and international trade policies, industrial development policies and international financial flows.

Human resource development must not be "top down" from national capitals; it should facilitate local implementation of what people and communities consider and decide to do best for themselves, states the report. The Summit placed special emphasis on the social situation in Africa and the transition economies, on the needs of women and girls, as well as of the vulnerable and the disabled, and the increasing problems of ageing populations in the developing world. These constituencies and needs must be given special attention by the United Nations system in assisting countries during the follow-up process to the Summit.

Also before the Committee is the Secretary-General's report on entrepreneurship and privatization for economic growth and sustainable development (document A/50/417). The report focuses on strengthening United Nations system activities through improved coordination in such areas as entrepreneurship, privatization and administrative deregulation. It addresses technical assistance by the various organizations of the system on development of national capacities, implementation of privatization policies and creation of enabling environments. The report also deals with the issue of partnership between private and public entities and the extent to which the United Nations system contributes to forging that partnership.

The report states that the United Nations system should be able to help governments define the role and scope of the public and private sectors and to suggest options in the modalities of interaction in accordance with the realities in each country. Governments are encouraged to use agencies of the United Nations system to evaluate and assess their privatization policies and programmes.

The report says governments should pay greater attention to the possibilities of performance improvement in state-owned enterprises not scheduled for sale or liquidation, and seek technical assistance as necessary from the international community, including the United Nations system. It says regulatory policies should be stable as frequent changes added to investment risk and deterred new investment. It also suggests consultation with international expertise through bilateral and multilateral donors and the United Nations system.

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The report requests the United Nations system to assist governments in the development of the private sector through technical assistance in the choice of technology, modernization and quality control, industrial parks, export development zones and collaboration with transnational enterprises in joint ventures, subcontracting arrangements, licensing and franchising.

The report also observes that the United Nations system should play a leading role in the provision of technical assistance and financial support to promote entrepreneurship.

The report of the Secretary-General on international cooperation for the eradication of poverty in developing countries (document A/50/396) provides an overview of the policies and programmes pursued by the United Nations system at the country level in that regard and presents seven case studies of poverty-eradication programmes in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Jamaica. Based on those experiences, it states that the need for a multisectoral and multidimensional approach to the eradication of poverty is well recognized by all.

It is also clear that a multiplicity of actors have to be involved in a country's poverty-reduction strategy, it adds, making coordination all the more necessary. The primary responsibility for coordination belongs to the governments concerned. The United Nations system can, however, assist in strengthening their capacity for such coordination.

The steps that need to be taken to organize a well-coordinated attack on poverty are well understood, says the report. It is vitally important now for governments to demonstrate a firm commitment, at the highest political level, to the goal of poverty eradication and be willing and able to mobilize and allocate the required domestic financial and human resources for that purpose. The United Nations agencies can and must play an advocacy role, provide financial and technical assistance and help develop coherent and complementary poverty-eradication programmes. To this end, it is essential that United Nations agencies work together to help build the capacity of the government to carry out its leadership and coordinating responsibilities.

However, the report continues, so long as there are line ministries and United Nations agencies with a sector-specific mandate, there is a great potential for fragmentation in decision-making, as United Nations system-government dialogue tends to become compartmentalized. As United Nations agencies start to address their own mandates from a broader perspective, instead of in a narrow, sector-specific way, and as coordinated follow-up to major United Nations conferences is developed at the country level, there is a great opportunity and a better likelihood that fragmentation will decrease.

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The critical question of resources in meeting the challenge of poverty eradication cannot be overemphasized, says the report. Even the best formulated strategies and well-coordinated programmes have to be backed up with the required resources for them to be implemented effectively. Determined efforts need to be made, at the national and international levels, for the mobilization and reallocation of resources towards the goal of poverty eradication. In that regard, the commitments and goals of major international conferences, particularly the Social Summit, should be fully adhered to and implemented by all countries.

The draft programme for the observance of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty (1996) is submitted by the Secretary-General in his report (document A/50/551).

The report recalls that heads of State and government at the Copenhagen Summit undertook to formulate or strengthen, as a matter of urgency, and preferably by the year 1996 -- the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty -- national policies and strategies geared to substantially reducing overall poverty in the shortest possible time, reducing inequalities and eradicating absolute poverty by a target date to be specified by each country in its national context.

The concept of poverty developed in the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action is broad, says the report. Poverty is not just inadequate income, but also includes lack of access to education, health care and other amenities, and exclusion from participation in the life of the community. The need to focus efforts and policies on the root causes of poverty and the necessity to provide for the basic needs of all was emphasized.

The texts adopted at Copenhagen link the reduction of poverty with the reduction of inequalities. They state that opportunities for access to resources and income should be enhanced, and political, legal, economic and social factors and constraints that foster and sustain inequality should be removed. Furthermore, national budgets and policies should be oriented, as necessary, towards meeting basic needs, reducing inequalities and targeting poverty, as a strategic objective.

According to the report, the significance of the activities to be undertaken during the Year should be judged largely on the extent to which they succeed in focusing attention on the need to take seriously the substantive objective of eradicating poverty and instilling in the public consciousness that this is a reachable goal within a reasonable time span. Thus the aim of the activities during the Year should be to build the support structure for a longer term, sustained effort to implement the commitments undertaken and the basic programme already agreed upon at the Social Summit.

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The outcome of the Summit established the necessary policies and actions to eradicate poverty, and the focus of the Year should thus be to ensure its timely implementation.

Activities at all levels might be guided by a number of principles, including that the eradication of poverty requires:

-- Measures to ensure that people living in poverty have access to the resources and opportunities necessary to escape from poverty, as well as measures to ensure that all members of society are protected from poverty as a result of illness, loss of employment, natural disaster or other misfortune;

-- That women be given the economic and social opportunities to contribute to development and that anti-poverty strategies and programmes be designed with a specific gender dimension; and

-- That anti-poverty strategies and programmes be designed, implemented and monitored with the full participation of people living in poverty.

The report suggests as theme for the Year the following: "Poverty can be and must be eradicated throughout the world". Activities suggested for the Year include the formulation or strengthening of a long-term national strategy for eradicating poverty; and promotion of awareness of the extent and nature of poverty, its destructive consequences both for the people concerned and for society as a whole. In accordance with the recommendation of the Social Summit, the Assembly could declare the first United Nations decade for the eradication of poverty.

In further recommendations of activities for the Year, the report stresses the need to encourage outreach to and the involvement of people living in poverty and their organizations in the setting of targets, implementation, and assessment of national strategies and programmes for poverty eradication to ensure that such programmes reflect their priorities.

Research on the effectiveness of different approaches to poverty eradication, and the dissemination of research results, is critical, the report states. The Year could help to stimulate action by, among others, encouraging the development, updating and dissemination of specific indicators of poverty and vulnerability, including income, nutrition, health, education, family conditions, unemployment, homelessness, landlessness and other factors, as well as indicators of the national and international causes underlying poverty.

Addressing activities of the United Nations system planned for the Year's observance, the report states that the responsibility of the Department

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of Public Information in that regard is to raise awareness about the work of the United Nations in the field of eradication of poverty. One activity is a series of regional media briefings on the outcome of the Copenhagen Summit, emphasizing the issue of poverty eradication, to be organized in cooperation with the Government of Denmark early next year on the first anniversary of the Summit.

The Department will also produce and disseminate an extended background on poverty eradication and a brochure on the aims and purposes of the Year which will include a calendar of United Nations system-wide activities being planned during the Year. Those products, in English, French and Spanish, will be disseminated through the network of 67 United Nations information centres and services, as well as field offices of the United Nations system.

A logo for the Year has been designed and selected, the report adds. In addition, work is under way on a signature campaign (typeface, colours, masthead) for use on all products related to the Year.

Planned activities by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) include the organization of a seminar on the effects of international economic relations on poverty and the preparation of a background paper. The participants will include both United Nations agency representatives and experts attending in their individual capacity. In order to make the findings of the seminar available in time for the discussions in 1996 during the high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council on poverty eradication, UNCTAD proposes to hold the seminar at Geneva in March 1996.

The UNDP believes that its network of country offices could be used to support the objectives of the Year. In that regard, it sees a definite role for them in facilitating "dialogues with the poor". Activities UNDP is likely to support include development of national policy eradication strategies; working out country-specific definitions of poverty; and country-level poverty measurement/situation analyses. In relation to the Year, UNDP has prepared a document entitled "Poverty eradication: a policy framework for country strategies" as a contribution to the policy dialogue on development alternatives and priorities for the coming years. The UNDP is also cooperating with the Department of Public Information for a poverty eradication information campaign at the country level and will build the theme into its regular information/communication activities.

Other planned activities cited in the report include those of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Fiscal Affairs Department which is considering the compilation, in 1996, of various papers written by the IMF on the role of social safety nets in poverty reduction. Also, the World Bank is proposing for 1996 an accelerated programme for children to break the inter-generational cycle of poverty and some ideas in health (vaccine

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development and micro-nutrients). The Bank is also working to improve the effectiveness of the instruments it relies on to help countries reduce poverty, such as policy advice, technical assistance, project loans and policy loans.

In addition, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is preparing a subregional workshop at Cape Town, South Africa, on 30 and 31 January 1996, which will review the experiences of a large number of IFAD-supported projects. The workshop, in which poor groups as well as government officials and project staff, administrators and donors will be participants, will represent a demonstration of solidarity in a country just liberated from apartheid, to work for a world free from poverty.

Also before the Committee is the report of the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the United Nations Panel on Opportunity and Participation (document A/50/501 and Add.1). The Panel was established by Assembly resolution 48/60 to conduct a comprehensive study on the question of increasing the opportunities and participation of developing countries in the world economy and those of individuals and communities within them for accelerated and sustainable development. It met in New York from 15 to 19 May.

The report explains that the concept of opportunity refers to the scope for expanding or diversifying existing economic activities or creating new ones, as well as for enjoying the material, social and other benefits arising from them. The term participation has become popular among development agencies in the formulation of development projects; however, it takes different meanings according to the context in which it is used. The Panel viewed participation in development as meaningful involvement in social, political and economic activities, including burden-sharing and equitable access to the benefits of economic and social progress.

The Panel concluded that the continuous creation and exploitation of opportunity and the widening of participation are required for sustainable development. The participatory approach was found to be highly effective, especially in programmes aimed at poverty alleviation and in promoting sustainable agriculture and fisheries. The promotion of micro-enterprises and medium-size enterprises was found to be an important means of enhancing opportunity and broadening participation primarily through the creation of employment.

The Panel concluded that targeted policies for the promotion of such enterprises were also necessary owing to the vulnerability of the sector. In addition, the Panel considered that the United Nations could play an important role in disseminating the concepts of opportunity and participation.

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Statements on Environment and Sustainable Development

HA YONG MOON (Republic of Korea) said his delegation took note of the progress made relating to the "Berlin Mandate", and urged the parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change to set the goals and timetable for the reduction of greenhouse gases emission after the year 2000. It was also crucial that the parties gave due consideration to the principle of common but different responsibilities of States in that regard. The parties, particularly those identified in Annex I of the Convention, should also faithfully fulfil their obligations.

On the issue of transfer of environmentally sound technologies, he said the international community, particularly developed countries, should fulfil its commitments contained in Agenda 21 of the Earth Summit. Developing countries should be helped to build their national capacities.

ABDEL-GAFFAR ELDEEB (Egypt) said protection of the environment was a global responsibility and that required the provision of adequate financial resources and relevant technology to developing countries. A clear link between climate change and economic development had to be found; he called for practical solutions to climate change problems. States parties to the Climate Change Convention must look at new developments as recent reports had emphasized that the dangers of climate change had become a reality. An additional protocol should be drafted addressing those new findings. Such a protocol should not pose additional burdens to developing countries.

Increasing emission of greenhouse gases from unsustainable patterns of production and consumption in developed countries must be addressed, he said. The Global Environment Facility (GEF) needed more support and should be strengthened. Egypt had fulfilled its pledges to the Facility and had deposited the relevant documents in that regard. Egypt had been dealing with marine resources problems and lands unsuitable for agriculture, he said, calling for those problems to receive more attention and assistance from the international community. Legal mechanisms to protect the environment were not being implemented for lack of financial resources. That problem must be confronted at the 1997 special session to review the implementation of Agenda 21, the programme of action adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED).

PRASAD KARIYAWASAM (Sri Lanka) called for a strong international coalition and concerted action against terrorist groups which focused on economic targets with the potential to create environmental hazards. He drew attention to a recent attack in his country by Tamil Tiger terrorists on an oil storage tank complex which caused a major fire emitting massive clouds of smoke, soot and grime over heavily inhabited and agricultural areas for several days. Such environmental damage could transcend national boundaries with repercussions on a regional or even global scale.

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He said Sri Lanka was in the process of implementing its commitments under the Framework Convention. The extent to which developing countries implement their commitments was circumscribed by assistance received in the transfer of technologies, capacity-building and implementation of sustainable development programmes. Resources available through the Global Environmental Facility must be enhanced and replenished on a regular basis. The option of establishing a separate financial mechanism for the Convention should not be dismissed prematurely.

JEFF LANGLEY (New Zealand) said the particular problems and challenges facing small island developing States persisted. It was important that the momentum and resolve the international community had established at the Barbados Conference did not diminish. New Zealand welcomed the establishment of the Small Island Developing States Unit within the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development and supported the maintenance of a "critical mass" to ensure that it carried out its important functions in support of the implementation of the Programme of Action of the Conference.

He said States should be mindful that strengthening the capacity of organs, commissions and other bodies of the United Nations system to implement programmes of action was a process which entailed a change of attitudes and priorities as well as improved efficiency and effectiveness.

JOAN PLAISTED (United States) said the management of wastes was a priority in the Barbados Programme of Action. In that regard, the United States was pleased to be involved in the development of the Waigani Convention concerning the importation of hazardous and radioactive wastes and transboundary movement and management of hazardous wastes within the South Pacific region. The recently approved GEF operational strategy specifically recognized the special situation of small island developing States and identified actions which would fall within the purview of the GEF.

Referring to the recent UNEP-sponsored Conference on the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities, hosted by her Government in Washington, D.C., she said participants had sought practical solutions to the difficult issues raised by land-based sources of pollution and by degradation of the coastal environment. The Conference Programme of Action reflected those concerns. The United States would continue to promote policies and procedures that encouraged sustainable development, such as environmental impact assessments, energy efficiency and integrated coastal resource management.

MOHAMMAD DJABBARY (Iran) said the chances of achieving the objectives of the Framework Convention would remain slim as long as the Annex I parties to the Convention failed to meet their commitments in a comprehensive manner. Iran attached importance to the control of greenhouse gases and the alleviation of the adverse effects of climate change. Developing countries

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were the victims of the critical environmental situation created, to a large extent, by others.

He said many developing countries had been heavily affected by and were struggling with adverse effects of environmental degradation. Iran strongly believed that it would be unfair, and also inconsistent with the provisions of the Convention, to ask the developing countries to bear both the heavy economic losses resulting from the implementation of proposed measures as well as the degradation of their environments.

Statements on International Cooperation

NITIN DESAI, Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, introduced the reports before the Committee under the cluster considered. The report on eradication of poverty focused on coordination within the United Nations system to eradicate poverty. Wide-ranging programmes had been created, which the report had classified in eight broad categories. It was at the country level that the success on the eradication of poverty must be measured. Efforts were being made to include the poor in efforts towards poverty eradication. The observance of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty in 1996 must be used as an occasion to bring the United Nations system together in that common endeavour. The Year would be launched at a special event to be held in December at Headquarters. The Department of Public Information was preparing information material to be issued on that occasion.

Turning to the report on business and development, he said it was clear that a balance had to be struck between the roles of the market and the government. As indicated in the report, the United Nations provided assistance to governments in promoting entrepreneurship, which was linked to eradication of poverty and to opportunity and participation, the topic of another report before the Committee. The report of the Panel of experts that had discussed the matter focused heavily on micro-enterprises. He expressed gratitude to the Governments of Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia for their financial support, which had allowed the Panel to meet and the report to be produced.

On women in development, the subject of another report before the Committee, he noted that the issue had been before the Committee for a long a time. However, there had been dramatic changes recently concerning gender indicators, which helped to draw a true picture of women in the world economy. The report before the Committee provided that analysis.

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JOHN LAWRENCE, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support of UNDP, introducing the report on human resources development, said it provided a comprehensive view of that development. Radical changes in the workplace had shaken past approaches to that issue. The world-wide phenomenon of the educated unemployed required study.

ANA MARIA MENENDEZ (Spain), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the main responsibility for the formulation and implementation of the strategies, policies and programmes of action to combat poverty rested primarily at the national level. It required broad-based development policies leading to sound macroeconomic management, structural changes and the mobilization of domestic resources through, among others, more equitable tax systems and reduction of excessive military expenditure.

She said in the developing countries, the private sector, including the informal sector, and small and medium-size enterprises were among the principal means to generate productive employment, thus contributing to poverty eradication. The State had an important role through, among others, the creation of an enabling environment for the development of the private sector and the application of active policies. There was also need for protecting and, where necessary, increasing budgetary allocations to basic social services. In that regard, she said the 20/20 initiative adopted at the Copenhagen World Social Summit could be important. A participatory approach to development and the respect for and promotion of human rights were also imperative for poverty eradication strategies. Specific measures to eradicate poverty among women and the young should be implemented expeditiously.

Human resources development was important to poverty eradication, she said. An important element was equal access to education for girls and women; investing in women's education was the key element in achieving social equity, higher productivity and social returns in terms of health and lower infant mortality.

Emphasizing the importance of international cooperation and assistance, she said mobilization of financial resources for poverty eradication and a more effective orientation of development assistance should be examined. The European Union reaffirmed its commitment to 0.7 per cent of the gross national product (GNP) as the official development assistance target. The fight against poverty should be made an overriding goal in development cooperation. The observance of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty in 1996 should be characterized by the expeditious implementation, both at the national and international levels, of the provisions of the Copenhagen Programme of Action, particularly those regarding poverty eradication among women, men and children.

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ROGATIEN BIAOU (Benin) expressed appreciation for the reports on poverty eradication. There was a need to go beyond the stage of discussion to take visible action on the eradication of poverty. The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, 17 October, had allowed the poor to be heard through ceremonies organized to observe it. Expressing support for the draft programme for the Poverty Eradication Year, he said it was surprising that the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) had made no suggestions for activities to observe the Year.

Concerning the report on international cooperation for the eradication of poverty, he said it lacked details on specific activities of the United Nations system concerning women living in poverty. Certain recommendations did not contain supporting examples. In accordance with the Social Summit recommendation, the Assembly should declare at the current session the first United Nations decade on the eradication of poverty. A focal point on poverty eradication should be established in the Secretariat.

Sir JOHN R. KAPUTIN (Papua New Guinea) said Papua New Guinea could learn from other countries' experience in developing macroeconomic policy and in microeconomic management. Opportunities and appropriate support should be provided to help developing countries manage investments in micro-enterprises.

He said there should be greater involvement of the specialized agencies and programmes in issues concerning market access. Empowering people at the grass roots should be promoted extensively at the United Nations. Mechanisms such as workshops and seminars were valuable for information-sharing, and they could be developed by the United Nations system.

His Government's "Pacific Vision Statement", endorsed recently by the South Pacific Forum, was also testimony to its regional and national approach to capacity-building for self-reliance, and to create opportunities and participation in trade, transport and tourism. His Government had developed a plan to complement those efforts.

He said the Secretariat's report on United Nations initiative on opportunity and participation did not show how to ensure that opportunities to participate in private enterprises were distributed as widely and fairly as governments often hoped. Markets were widely regarded as the most effective means of increasing opportunity and participation, but experience suggested that markets alone often did little for people without capital or skills of their own.

VLADISLAV I. FEDORTCHENKO (Russian Federation) commenting on the report on entrepreneurship said that it contained important information for countries with economies in transition. Expressing support for its conclusions, he expressed the hope that they would be reflected in actual assistance to governments. However, the report did not address properly the problems of

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economies in transition. In the Russian Federation work was being done on State support for small business. An infrastructure for entrepreneurship was being created at a rapid pace.

Those efforts were successful, he said. However, they did not encompass all sectors for lack of international cooperation. The United Nations should provide such assistance. His Government had always supported efforts of the United Nations system in human resources development. It was time to strengthen agency coordination at the country level towards human resource development and entrepreneurship. Countries in transition were suffering from immense social problems which had been recognized in the Declaration of the Social Summit. The Russian Federation supported the main conclusions of the report and was ready to participate and implement measures to observe the International Year in 1996.

SELMA ASHIPALA-MUSAVYI (Namibia), speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), said countries of the Community were reintegrating women in education and training as well as addressing the overall discrimination against them in the home, workplace and society. A major challenge confronting their governments was the provision of education to adult women to help them overcome the effects of past discrimination.

Their governments were continuing efforts to provide non-formal education to empower women as well as promote family life education and life skills, she said. Most of their education systems were being overhauled to improve exposure of women and girls to science and technology. They called on the international community to complement their efforts by providing scholarships to women and girls specifically for science, technical and vocational training.

She said their governments had also recognized the urgent need to provide public infrastructure to ensure market access for women and to develop their entrepreneurship skills. They similarly called for international assistance to meet that challenge. The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) should be given the necessary resources to effectively increase options and opportunities for women's economic development in developing countries.

ESPEN RONNEBERG (Marshall Islands) addressing the issue of entrepreneurship said it was interesting to note the support being entrusted to the private sector. That was consistent with the policies which his Government had been forced to adopt by the harsh economic realities facing most developing countries and which had been highly recommended by the Bretton Woods institutions. Most of the public sector was being sold off to private interests, since it was found that his country's past practice was not

Second Committee - 17 - Press Release GA/EF/2708 35th Meeting (AM) 16 November 1995

sustainable in the long run. There had been no end to good advice received by his Government on how to improve its economy. But there had been silence when outside assistance was required to implement some of those ideas. Of particular concern were problems with airline cooperation.

The principle of free market embodied in the World Trade Organization should not simply mean that the developing countries should open their markets to luxury goods from the developed world, he said. There was an urgent need to address the lack of market access granted to products from developing countries. It would be impossible to produce an entrepreneurial private sector in developing countries if there were no markets where the goods could be sold. His country would co-sponsor the resolution that would disseminate the insights and recommendations contained in the initiative and opportunity report.

SHARAD PAWAR (India) said poverty eradication required strategies which combined efforts for general economic growth with programmes designed to address specific population groups. Note should also be taken of the needs of communities and groups deprived of socio-economic rights and benefits for historical reasons. Equally important was the gender issue which should be addressed. Guaranteeing a certain level of employment to the rural poor, taking care of nutritional, educational and health needs of women and the inclusion of mass community-led literacy programmes were central to those strategies.

He said India was making attempts to achieve those goals through a variety of programmes, including an innovative scheme to empower women to gain access and control over their own resources. There could be no universally applicable models of development. In India, the Constitution had recently been amended to devolve considerable financial and administrative powers to local bodies at the village and town levels. Commitments entered into at the World Summit for Social Development provided another opportunity to enhance international cooperation to meet the challenge of poverty eradication.

FREDERICK H. WEIBGEN, of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said more concrete policies should be developed at the national level to facilitate women's particular roles as producers and providers of food security and sustainability. The mandate of FAO for poverty eradication stemmed from its constitution which committed the organization and its member countries to raising nutrition levels, improved food and agricultural production and distribution, and the betterment of conditions of rural populations. In fulfilling that mandate, it was assisting low income countries to increase food production on a sustainable basis and to increase agricultural employment and income.

He said FAO member countries also benefited from other activities such as the formulation of rural development and agrarian reform policies, the design of anti-poverty strategies and the reform of land tenure policies. Investment in those areas was critical to genuine and lasting poverty eradication.

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