SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR BETTER SUPPORT TO LDCS BY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WITH INCREASED ODA, REDUCTION OF DEBT BURDEN, ENHANCED ACCESS TO MARKETS
Press Release
SG/SM/6721
DEV/2182
SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR BETTER SUPPORT TO LDCS BY INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY WITH INCREASED ODA, REDUCTION OF DEBT BURDEN, ENHANCED ACCESS TO MARKETS
19980928 Addressing Their Eighth Annual Ministerial Meeting, Kofi Annan Says Time Is Ripe To Tackle Development Problems of LDCsFollowing is the text of the address by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the eighth annual ministerial meeting of the least developed countries (LDCs), in New York today:
It gives me great pleasure to join you again as the General Assembly begins a new session. As you know, last year the Assembly decided to convene, in the year 2001, the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries. This is both a challenge and an opportunity, and I would like to share with you today a few thoughts about this process and about the plight of LDCs in general.
Let no one doubt the daunting task implicit in holding such a conference. The nearly 600 million men, women and children who live in the world's four dozen LDCs are looking to you, their leaders, and to us in the international community, for policies and measures that will reverse the long-term decline in their socio- economic conditions; that will end their marginalization in the global economy; that will, in short, give them renewed hopes for a better life.
The time is ripe for bringing the development problems of LDCs to the forefront of the international agenda. A larger number of LDCs have begun to register positive growth in per capita income. This trend, though still fragile, contrasts sharply with the stagnation and decline of the 1980s and the first half of this decade. Moreover, to achieve this performance, these countries have undertaken reforms that have meant hardship and sacrifice for their peoples.
And they have done so amidst an external environment rife with uncertainty and instability. Even as I speak, fears are mounting that the current financial turmoil in different parts of the world could wipe out the gains made by LDCs in recent years. I salute the peoples of LDCs for the courage and determination with which they have faced these adversities and persisted in their painstaking mission of development.
Just as the recent economic gains of your countries arose primarily from domestic measures, so will future growth and progress depend primarily on your own actions. Indeed, there is no substitute for national efforts. There is also no mystery as to what the nature of those efforts must be.
You must, for example, continue to improve your institutions, which are the bedrock of development.
You must put in place the regulations and incentives that will encourage investment, both foreign and domestic. You must persist in the development of your human resources, not only to provide people with opportunities to realize their potential, but also to ensure longer-term competitiveness.
You must create an environment that protects human rights, allows civil society to flourish and promotes transparency and accountability in public administration. And you must strengthen democratic governance and the rule of law.
In a number of LDCs, progress remains threatened by conflict. In this regard, let me say that the recommendations contained in my report to the Security Council on Africa apply to non-African LDCs as well. No amount of assistance and no degree of hope can make the difference between war and peace unless leaders summon the necessary political will to end conflict and bridge differences through peaceful means.
If national action must lead the way, it is also true that the efforts of LDCs merit better support by the international community. There are three areas in which such help would be particularly useful: official development assistance (ODA), debt burdens and market access.
The decline in ODA flows to LDCs is especially troubling, because LDCs are not benefiting significantly from increased private capital flows to developing countries as a whole. I will continue to be a strenuous advocate for reversing this disturbing trend. Increased ODA remains imperative if LDCs are to fight poverty and build the social, institutional and other tools they need to compete in the highly competitive global economy.
A significant reduction of debt is another necessity. So far, only a handful of LDCs have benefited from the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative. It is essential to extend the Initiative, to implement the Initiative speedily and to convert all remaining official bilateral debts owed by the poorest countries into grants.
Enhanced access to markets is equally vital, given the great reliance of LDCs on the export of primary commodities. While the Uruguay Round of
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multilateral trade negotiations resulted in more open markets, LDCs, nonetheless, face high tariffs in key sectors such as textiles and agriculture. I am pleased that some countries have recently announced their intentions to open their markets to specific products from some LDCs, and I will continue to urge other countries to do the same while stressing to LDCs the importance of diversifying their economies.
The United Nations is helping LDCs take advantage of more open markets. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are all involved, along with the World Trade Organization. As the focal point for the Programme of Action for the LDCs for the 1990s, UNCTAD has been carrying out analytical work as part of the overall monitoring and review of the Programme's implementation. Other United Nations funds and programmes are engaged in a wide range of activities that benefit LDCs, including reproductive health and science and technology development.
In the weeks ahead, the General Assembly will take important decisions on the preparatory process for the Third Conference on the LDCs. In choosing the United Nations as the forum, the Assembly has expressed its confidence in the ability of our Organization to promote international solidarity and mobilize new partnerships.
As your close allies, we will do all within our capacity to contribute. I know you share my hope that the Conference will rally governments, civil society, the private sector, the United Nations and other international organizations behind a single, unified purpose.
As we seek to better meet the needs of a new, interdependent era in world affairs, and as we build the global institutions we need for life in a global society, let us ask ourselves what kind of an international society we envisage. Ultimately, global society will be judged on how well -- or how poorly -- it treats its weakest and most disadvantaged. With one tenth of humanity living at the margin of survival, our record is not one that can be celebrated. We must change it. We must act collectively and decisively to bring about this change.
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