PANEL OF HIGH-LEVEL PERSONALITIES ON AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT TO MEET AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS TODAY
Press Release
AFR/105
DEV/2186
PANEL OF HIGH-LEVEL PERSONALITIES ON AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT TO MEET AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS TODAY
19981015 NEW YORK, 15 October (Department of Economic and Social Affairs) -- The reconstituted Panel of High-level Personalities on African Development is scheduled to meet for the first time at United Nations Headquarters today to exchange views on the report of the Secretary-General on "The causes of conflict and the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa", published in April.The report, requested by the Security Council, has been widely acclaimed as it provides a comprehensive and integrated analysis of the political and economic crises in the continent and ways and means for addressing them. The Panel members are expected to focus on three sets of recommendations -- reduction of external debt, opening up of international markets to African products, and harmonization of bilateral and multilateral initiatives on Africa.
On debt and trade, the Secretary-General recommends the conversion into grants of all remaining bilateral debt for poorest African countries. He also recommends that the scope of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) be greatly expanded, and urges the elimination of trade barriers to African products.
In his report, the Secretary-General also called for coordination among donors, both multilateral and bilateral, to be continually re-evaluated until the assistance that is offered to Africa proves more successful in reducing poverty and promoting economic growth than in the past. He further called for a review of ongoing initiatives on African development so as to ensure that the United Nations and its funds and programmes are working most effectively with African and donor countries.
The day-long meeting will be opened by the Secretary-General, followed by general discussions on his report and specifically on the above three sets of issues. The Deputy Secretary-General, Louise Fréchette, is expected to take part in the deliberations of the Panel, and close the meeting.
- 2 - Press Release AFR/105 DEV/2186 15 October 1998
The Panel, first established in December 1992, serves as the Secretary- General's "think tank" on critical issues of African development, advising him on actions to be taken for the creation of an environment conducive to sustainable development. Members also have the specific responsibility of advising and assisting the Secretary-General on the effective implementation of the United Nations Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s (UN-NADAF) and mobilizing political support for the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa.
The Panel consists of 16 members from developed and African countries, as well as from African regional organizations. Members from developed countries include Rainer Barthelt, former Director for Sub-Sahara Africa, Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany; Kunio Katakura, Special Envoy and Chief Coordinator of Japan for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II), Japan; Anthony Lake, Professor of Diplomacy and International Affairs, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; James H. Michel, Chairman, Development Assistance Committee, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Paris; Poul Nielson, Minister for Development Cooperation, Denmark; Michel Rocard, former Prime Minister of France and now President of the Commission for Development and Cooperation of the European Parliament; and Clare Short, Secretary of State for International Development, United Kingdom.
Members from African countries are: Kwesi Botchwey, Director of the Africa Research and Programmes, Centre for International Development, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Francis Deng, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.; Hisham El-Sherif, Chairman of the Advisory Board, Cabinet Information and Decision Support Centre, Egypt; Guy Alain Gauze, Minister for External Trade, Côte d'Ivoire; F.N. Ginwala, Speaker of the National Assembly, South Africa; Speciosa Wandira Kazibwe, Vice-President, and Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Uganda; and Ablasse Ouedraogo, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Burkina Faso.
Other members of the Panel are Salim Ahmed Salim, Secretary-General, Organization of African Unity (OAU); and Omar Kabbaj, President, African Development Bank.
Attending as ex-officio members are James Gustave Speth, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary- General, Department of Economic and Social Affairs; Rubens Ricupero, Secretary- General, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); and K.Y. Amoako, Executive Secretary, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).
The President of the World Bank will be represented at the meeting by Callisto Madavo, a Vice-President of the Bank.
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