GOOD GOVERANCE, BALANCE OF MACROECONOMIC POLICIES AND SOCIAL PROTECITON CALLED FOR IN ONGOING FIGHT TO WIPE OUT POVERTY

Press Release
GA/EF/2867

GOOD GOVERANCE, BALANCE OF MACROECONOMIC POLICIES AND SOCIAL PROTECITON CALLED FOR IN ONGOING FIGHT TO WIPE OUT POVERTY

Participation Of Poorest In Their Own Development Seen As One Key To Meeting Poverty-Eradication Goals

Poverty eradication could be achieved only if specific conditions were put in place both domestically and globally, the representative of the Republic of Korea told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) this afternoon as it concluded its consideration of the implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997- 2006).

First, principles of good governance must be strengthened, she said, as an efficient administrative structure and a sound and independent legal system were essential to the implementation of social development programmes for poverty eradication. Secondly, the formulation and implementation of appropriate public policy was fundamental. Macroeconomic policies aimed at economic growth should be balanced with social policies intended to protect vulnerable groups in society. Thirdly, empowerment of the poor was key to eradicating poverty. Investment in poverty-stricken communities and groups through education and health programmes would contribute to equipping the poor with the adequate means and tools to emerge from poverty.

The representative of Kenya said that while an economic growth strategy was key to poverty reduction, it must be complemented with initiatives that ensured equitable enjoyment of the benefits of growth. The international community, including the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions, must provide new and additional financial resources required for eradicating poverty in the developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. International partnerships would be meaningful only if there was sufficient political will to address the question of official development assistance (ODA).

Economic development was a prerequisite for the implementation of social policy, but proper implementation of social policy would stimulate economic development, said the representative of Vietnam, as he outlined a holistic approach to the issue of poverty eradication. The poor, especially women and the disabled, should be rendered all

Second Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/EF/2867 12th Meeting (PM) 12 October 1999

necessary assistance to ensure their active participation in their development. That required better access to land, credit and other support facilities for promoting employment and income generation. Also, gender mainstreaming must be approached in an integrated manner, together with issues such as job opportunities, health care, family planning and education.

The representative of the Philippines was surprised that, as stated in a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report, only 35 of the world's countries had set poverty-eradication goals. Poverty eradication was a global concern, affecting four-fifths of the world’s population. ODA was an essential component of the cost sharing needed for full implementation of the objectives identified at recent international conferences. Assistance should be expeditiously provided, so that countries could quickly implement credible strategies for poverty eradication. Time lost while promised assistance was withheld could only mean additional costs to everybody -- and, perhaps, more death and suffering in receiving countries.

Also this afternoon, the Committee decided to extend the deadline for submission of draft proposals on science and technology for development and the external debt crisis and development under item 97 (d) and (e) to 6 p.m. on Friday, 15 October.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Romania, Ethiopia, Uganda, Yemen, United Republic of Tanzania, Pakistan, Nepal, Tunisia, Japan and Libya.

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Friday, 15 October to begin its consideration of operational activities for development.

Committee Work Programme

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this afternoon to continue its debate on the implementation of the First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006). For background information see press release GA/EF/2866, issued this morning.

Statements

OVIDIU IERULESCU (Romania) said that due to the recent economic slowdown in many developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and in particular to the financial crises of the last two years, there was concern that the specific targets for the First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty would not be achieved. The United Nations remained the only international organization with a broad operational activities system which could tackle the issue of poverty eradication.

Permanent cooperation among the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions would be helpful in finding the best ways to maximize the fight against poverty. International cooperation at all levels; bilateral, regional and global, was crucial for the effective implementation of the goals and targets of the Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, he said.

BERHANU KEBEDE (Ethiopia) said that poverty in Africa continued to be widespread, deep and severe. In sub-Saharan countries it affected the lives of 60 per cent of the population. In order to achieve a 4 per cent annual reduction in poverty levels, an average population growth rate of 2.8 per cent and an economic growth rate of 8 per cent for sub-Saharan countries were necessary. That Herculean task required the mobilization of vast external resources -- resources so massive that they could not be mobilized by sub-Saharan countries alone.

The international community, in order to assist in the fight against poverty, had to take drastic measures to address the debt crisis. It must also create an enabling environment at the international level to facilitate and improve integration of the sub-Sahara countries into the world economy. Levels of Official Development Assistance (ODA) had to be drastically increased as well, in order to reduce vulnerability and emerging inequalities and to fulfil international commitments made in the various global conferences to reduce poverty.

CHARLES EGOU-ENGWAU (Uganda) said that in developing his country’s national poverty-eradication strategy, planners recognized that an effective anti-poverty programme must be premised on the correct definition of poverty, its incidence and its historical and geographical trends. Uganda’s Poverty Eradication Action Plan rested on a number of key points. First, public policy recognized that poverty eradication was a priority: it involved attention to economic growth and income distribution, as well as the provision of basic social and economic services. Secondly, political stability, macroeconomic stability and microeconomic incentives (with particular emphasis on issues of governance, liberalization and privatization) were a prerequisite for an effective anti-poverty programme. The Plan also recognized the need for empowerment of disadvantaged people, especially gender mainstreaming, in the poverty-eradication crusade, as well as the importance of adequate levels of health and education.

The Government was imposing stricter budgetary control to ensure that allocations reflected the objective of poverty eradication, he continued. In spite of its poor economic situation and inadequate resources, Uganda had developed a very comprehensive strategy to fight poverty. It was deploying as many resources as it could realistically afford towards its implementation. It was regrettable that the goal of cutting poverty in half by the year 2015 hung in serious doubt. He appreciated that a direct linkage had been established between debt relief and poverty eradication. Similar action was urged to at improve the external economic environment for the development of developing countries, especially in the area of market access for goods of export interest.

ABDULLA AL-MONTASSER (Yemen) said that on the threshold of the third millennium, many questions arose. What, for example, had the Committee achieved in relation to economic and social matters? A review of the implementation of the work done so far should serve as the basis for moving ahead in the Decade -- one of the most noble undertakings of the United Nations. Efforts had been aimed to achieve the objective of poverty eradication, a cornerstone of the Organization’s mission. But, the statistics in the Secretary-General’s report testified to the fact that the objective of poverty eradication was still not achieved. One and a half billion people were living on less than one dollar a day. Many suffered from malnutrition, were homeless and were deprived of basic social services such as education and health care. Sustainable development in developing countries and assistance to them must underpin efforts to lead those countries out of poverty. A poor society could neither be productive nor contribute positively to human security.

Yemen was making serious efforts to improve its economic situation and battle poverty, he said. The national strategy underway since 1995 had yielded positive results, for example stable exchange rates. However, it had also produced some negative effects in the country. The Government, in cooperation with international organizations, was embarking on measures to reduce those negative aspects of the recovery process. The first set of measures sought to provide financial assistance to 250,000 poor families. Yemen was also undertaking five major programmes to tackle poverty. Among them was a fund for professional training. A programme for productive families had created new opportunities for poor people and resulted in more employment opportunities for them. Units of credit for small industries had also created more jobs. Increased assistance through United Nations programmes were only a temporary solution to suffering.

LIBRAN N. CABACTULAN (Philippines) said that according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) poverty report, only 35 of the world's countries had set poverty-eradication goals. That figure came as a surprise. Poverty eradication was a global concern, affecting four-fifths of the world’s population. The support of the international community and the United Nations was vital in assisting individual country’s efforts aimed at poverty eradication. The ODA was an essential component of the cost sharing needed for full implementation of the objectives identified at recent international conferences. Any future trade negotiations must provide early and substantial trade benefits to developing countries by improving their market access and reducing barriers to their trade. Of equal urgency was the need for a new financial architecture, able to address decisively the systemic weaknesses of the global financial system.

The United Nations system could be more coherent in its efforts at the country level when providing the required assistance. There was still a need to clarify how the Development Framework (UNDAF) of the United Nations and the Country Development Framework (CDF) of the World Bank would web together seamlessly in terms of operational linkages. Assistance should be expeditiously provided, so that countries could quickly implement credible strategies for poverty eradication. Time lost while promised assistance was withheld could only mean additional costs to everybody -- and, perhaps, more death and suffering in receiving countries.

SEIF A. IDDI (United Republic of Tanzania) said that in many developing countries, poverty was perpetuated by the incidence of the external debt, lack of adequate resources, weak commodity prices and continued marginalization in the global economy. Poverty was a denial of choices and opportunities. It meant lack of food, shelter, health, clothing, education and clean water. It was the duty of the international community to create a conducive environment allowing access to those services for everybody, particularly those in the developing countries. One way to do so would be to help them contribute effectively in the economic development of their own countries. At the same time, particular attention needed to be focused on the empowerment of women, who worked very hard to sustain their families.

Developing countries needed aid designed to enhance their capacity for ownership of the development process and generate self-reliance. He called for true partnership in resolving the problem of poverty eradication. His country was aware of the responsibilities it had to shoulder to provide better services to its citizens and raise them out of poverty. However, national efforts alone would not bring the desired results. The assistance of the United Nations and the international community was also required.

PHILIP R. O. OWADE (Kenya) said that poverty eradication was viewed not only as a moral obligation but also as an economic imperative for Kenya’s development framework. Poverty was a major threat to the social fabric of its society. It was also recognized that while an economic growth strategy was key to poverty reduction, that needed to be complemented with initiatives that ensured equitable enjoyment of the benefits of growth. There was no doubt that the assets and efforts of the poor were necessary for sustainable growth and development. The goal of the National Poverty Eradication Plan, launched in June, was to provide measures to increase household incomes and to improve the quality of life for the poor. It was formulated in line with the goals and commitments of the 1995 Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development. Government efforts to improve the quality of life of the poor included investment in and maintenance of main and access roads, markets and infrastructure. Adequate, reliable and universal access to basic social services contributed to the development of human capital, and was an important factor in the eradication of poverty.

He called on the international community, including the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions, to provide the new and additional financial resources required for eradicating poverty in the developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Genuine partnership by the international community at both bilateral and multilateral levels could make a great difference in the development of those countries. That partnership could be meaningful only if there was sufficient political will to address the questions of ODA. Much would also have to done to increase foreign direct investments. The removal of barriers to international trade and technology transfer also needed to be addressed. In addition, debt-relief measures should be directed and invested in viable, priority development projects and programmes, designed to address socio-economic needs in both rural and urban areas of the developing countries, with particular reference to sub-Saharan Africa.

LE HOAI TRUNG (Viet Nam) said that to achieve results in poverty alleviation, national efforts must be accompanied by international cooperation and assistance. In a strategy for socio-economic development, necessary for a holistic approach to the issue of poverty eradication, economic development was a prerequisite for the implementation of social policy -- but proper implementation of social policy would stimulate economic development. The poor, especially women and the disabled poor, should be rendered all necessary assistance so that they could be active in their own development. That required better access to land, credit and other support facilities for promoting employment and income generation, training and so forth. Gender mainstreaming must be approached in an integrated manner, together with issues such as job opportunities, health care, family planning and education.

In order to achieve the goal of halving the global poverty rate by 2015, and ultimately to eradicate the problem altogether, a multidimensional and integrated development approach was required. It should include reductions in infant, child and maternal mortality, and in child malnutrition, improvement in life expectancy, and access to basic social services. Endogenous strength of each developing country was the key to success, but effective joint international efforts would help carry an anti-poverty course forward in a faster and steadier manner, thus facilitating global sustainable development in an ever-interdependent world.

YOUNG-JU OH (Republic of Korea) said that poverty eradication could be achieved only if specific conditions were put in place both domestically and globally. First of all, principles of good governance must be strengthened. An efficient administrative structure and a sound and independent legal system were essential to implementation of social development programmes aimed at eradicating poverty. In particular, due care must be devoted to the problem of pervasive low- level corruption and the lack of access to legal recourse and protection, which adversely affected poor people’s lives. Second, the formulation and implementation of appropriate public policy were fundamental in successfully combating poverty. Macroeconomic policies aimed at economic growth should be balanced with social policies intended to protect vulnerable groups in a given society. Third, empowerment of the poor was key to eradicating poverty. Investment in poverty- stricken communities and groups through education and health programmes would contribute to self-equipping the poor with the adequate means and tools to emerge from poverty.

Although domestic efforts were the first steps to be taken, they were not sufficient to surmount the challenges faced, she said. The international community should assist developing countries in eradicating poverty. International aid could range from direct assistance through an increase in ODA to forging a new global environment, enabling developing countries to integrate successfully into the global economy. Establishing an active partnership among all concerned actors was another critical element in the struggle against poverty. A partnership should be formed to include Governments, multilateral organizations, the private sector and civil society. To obtain optimal results from all of those actors, coordination at the domestic and global levels should be continuously and consistently pursued.

HABIBULLAH TARAR (Pakistan) said that failure to achieve poverty-reduction targets prompted the following question concerning the approach to combating poverty. Was poverty a symptom or a cause of underdevelopment? In a globalizing world everything was deeply interlinked, and efforts to find piecemeal solutions were bound to fail. A holistic approach to eradicating poverty, part of the overall promotion of the goal of development, had to be adopted. Pro-poor macroeconomic policies at the national level could only work when they were supported by pro-development policies at the international level. Pakistan fully endorsed the recommendation in the Secretary-General’s report on the role of the international community in creating an enabling international environment, providing new and additional resources and mobilizing science and technology to address the issues of developing countries.

There was an increased emphasis on the role of the private sector in poverty eradication, he said. Stars and Internet moguls had joined hands to raise funds to help the poor. While those were noble intentions and laudable efforts, charity alone could not eradicate poverty. He urged the private sector to help promote development by lending its support to developing-country efforts towards the creation of a pro-development international economic environment. The targets for poverty eradication should be embedded in the overarching goal of development. The goal of development should be promoted through sustained economic growth, reform of the financial architecture, increased financial flows for development, coherence in global economic policy-making, comprehensive and durable solution of the external debt problem, increased market access and improved terms of trade.

TAPAS ADHIKARI (Nepal) said the problem of poverty in developing countries today was so pervasive and severe that it was no longer just an economic or social problem, but a humanitarian problem as well. The number of poor people in the developing countries, was growing alarmingly in spite of the implementation of different declarations and programmes of action. It was time the problem was recognized as the global community’s first priority. Against that background the world community, especially donor countries and agencies, should fulfil the commitments they had made from Rio to Beijing. The miserable amounts of foreign direct investment flowing towards Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and declining ODA, should serve as moral reminders to responsible donor countries.

Nepal’s difficult topography, largely made up of fragile Himalayan foothills, had an immense impact on the country’s poverty eradication efforts. Every year heavy monsoons, floods and landslides affected Nepal’s rural and urban infrastructure. Lack of technological means and knowledge to manage natural calamities and recover from them had adversely affected the poverty eradication programme, he said. The sparse distribution of population, coupled with the remoteness of inhabited sites, made the delivery of services intolerably expensive. The developing countries themselves were, and should be, the main actors in expanding social services within their territories. But donor countries could play a greater role, primarily by fulfilling their ODA commitments.

MOHAMED FADHEL AYARI (Tunisia) said that, as the Secretary-General had indicated in his report, the elimination of poverty was among the major international concerns at the threshold of the new millenium. Notwithstanding scientific and technological progress, half of the world’s population today could be described as poor. World poverty required immediate intervention, given its potential threat to international peace and security. The United Nations system should support additional measures in support of the poor. Tunisia looked forward to the holding of a special session of the General Assembly next year to review implementation of the World Social Summit. Effective efforts to tackle poverty must also address sustainable growth. An international economic environment must be created that favoured the integration of developing countries into the world economy.

Social programmes were high on Tunisia’s national agenda to eradicate poverty, he said. That priority was reflected in the Government’s budget allocations to the social sector. As a result, Tunisia had achieved positive results in poverty eradication in the past few years. It had seen a rise in per capita income and an expansion of the job market. Some successes had been scored through the establishment of a national solidarity fund in 1993, designed to bring rurally isolated people into the mainstream. That fund had allowed the Government to fight marginalization. An international solidarity fund should be created to help everyone fight poverty and marginalization, with contributions coming from voluntary sources. The elimination of poverty must be seen not only as a political struggle but as a sacred duty.

HIDEAKI MARUYAMA (Japan) said that an output-oriented approach, based on clear goals and measurable indicators, should be pursued by all development partners as they carried out their development activities. All actors needed to define the expected outcome of their efforts at the outset, and then monitor and evaluate performance against benchmarks and indicators. Most importantly, the results should be fed back so that they would influence the formulation of new development policies and activities. That result-based approach should be pursued in a collaborative manner, making the most of the comparative advantages of each organization. The comparative advantage that the United Nations enjoyed was its neutrality, impartiality, universality and the fact that it operated in such a wide range of areas. At the same time, it played a crucial role in the international community as an advocate. He therefore requested the organizations of the United Nations to collaborate and coordinate actively with each other and with other development actors, fully utilizing their comparative advantages. He also called on them to continue raising the international community’s awareness of the importance of eradicating poverty.

More than ever before, what was needed now was for all development actors to work together, utilizing the limited economic and human resources available, so that the fight against poverty would be waged more effectively and efficiently. The private business sector also had a crucial role to play in development. He encouraged the international community to integrate private-sector efforts into development activities. Developing countries should be encouraged to integrate poverty-reduction measures into all development policies and elaborate poverty reduction strategies with clear, time-bound goals. At the same time, the international community should further intensify its support for such efforts. In collaboration with developing countries, it should monitor the progress made under poverty reduction programmes and encourage appropriate policy adjustments based on ownership and partnership.

ALI AL-AUJALI (Libya) said that unfavourable international conditions had impeded the long-term development efforts of developing countries. At present, however, there was a consensus about the gravity of the poverty problem. Abject poverty and social exclusion amounted to a violation of the dignity of the human being. Strengthening of the capacities of developing countries was necessary in order to involve the poor and the destitute in the process of development. This called for a holistic approach.

Development strategies must make social care a key target component, he said. Special attention should be paid to vulnerable groups and marginalized sectors that were unable to fight for their rights, like children, women, the handicapped and displaced persons. Failure to address social ills could fuel enmity and social violence. The international community should work to ensure development for all, including free education and medical care. Failure to address the needs of disadvantaged groups would lead to a great waste of resources that might otherwise have been put to productive use.

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