WITH WIDENING POOL OF BENEFICIARIES AND STEADILY SHRINKING RESOURCES, UN DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES SAID TO BE "AT A CROSSROADS"

Press Release
GA/EF/2870

WITH WIDENING POOL OF BENEFICIARIES AND STEADILY SHRINKING RESOURCES, UN DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES SAID TO BE ‘AT A CROSSROADS’

Operational Activities Should be Country-Driven, Representative of China Tells Second Committee in Wide-Ranging Debate

While good planning and coordination were necessary for strengthening operational activities, ensuring adequate funding was still the crux of the question, the representative of China told the Second Committee this afternoon as it concluded its consideration of operational activities for development.

Shortage of core resources had greatly weakened the capacity of agencies within the United Nations development system to conduct their activities, he said. The interests of a large number of developing countries, particularly in Africa, had been seriously jeopardized. Without dynamic political enthusiasm and will, no modality of funding could achieve its objective of increasing resources. Core resources should continue to come mainly from the government contributions of developed countries, especially those that possessed the capacity but had not assumed their obligations.

In addition, operational activities must be country-driven, he said. Coordination and synergy of United Nations agencies at the country level should aim at helping recipient countries upgrade their capacity building, and at strengthening the capacity of the whole United Nations system to react flexibly to the needs of programme countries. The United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) should be jointly formulated by the Government of the recipient country and United Nations-related aid agencies, based on full consultation and in conformity with the recipient country’s national development plans and priorities.

Operational activities for development were at a crossroads, said the representative of Senegal. There was an increase in the number of beneficiaries, a huge divergence in areas of intervention, and a continuing decrease in resources. Innovations such as the United Nations Multi-Year Funding Framework seemed to be going in the right direction. It was important to ascertain how far the United Nations Framework and the Development Framework of the World Bank needed

Second Committee - 1a - Press Release GA/EF/2870 14th Meeting (PM) 15 October 1999

harmonization, since they were both trying to reach the same goal. However, all those initiatives and efforts to reform would be in vain if they were not supported by a subsequent mobilization of resources.

The representative of Iran said that as serious and new challenges unfolded as a result of the current global economic situation, global trade liberalization and declining resource flows, TCDC/ECDC offered the best hope for solving the development problems of developing countries. Even though TCDC could not be considered to be a substitute, countries of the South increasingly believed that such cooperation had considerable potential for meeting the challenges they faced. The process of globalization had been followed by contraction of both time and opportunities for developing countries, and it had become costly for any developing country to design and follow its own development strategy. The best viable option was to exchange experiences with other successful developing countries.

The Kenyan representative said that ECDC/TCDC would have to play a greater role in enhancing the capacity of developing countries to produce and achieve economies of scale, and at the same time become internationally competitive and fully integrated in the global economy. While legitimate concerns had been expressed by developing countries on their increased marginalization as a result of globalization, it was clear that subregional and regional economic blocs represented the best formula to deal with the challenges ahead.

Statements were also made by the representatives of Ethiopia, Cuba, South Africa, Guatemala, Libya, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, the Philippines, Jamaica, Belarus, Botswana, Venezuela, Namibia, Colombia, Japan, Madagascar, Haiti, Iraq, Ukraine, the United Republic of Tanzania and Nigeria. The Committee was also addressed by the representative of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 19 October, to begin consideration of sustainable development and international economic cooperation.

Committee Work Programme

The Second Committee (Economic and Financial) met this afternoon to continue its consideration of operational activities for development. For background, see Press Release GA/EF/2868, issued this morning.

Statements

HUANG XUEQI (China) said that while good planning and coordination were necessary for strengthening operational activities, ensuring adequate funding was still the crux of the question. Within the United Nations system, shortage of core resources had greatly weakened the capacity of agencies within the development system to conduct their activities. The interests of a large number of developing countries, particularly in Africa, had been seriously jeopardized. With regard to resource mobilization, without dynamic political enthusiasm and will, no modality of funding could achieve its objective of increasing resources. Core resources should continue to come mainly from the government contributions of developed countries, especially those that possessed the capacity but had not assumed their obligations.

Operational activities should be country-driven, he said. Coordination and synergy of United Nations agencies at the country level should aim at helping recipient countries upgrade their capacity building, and at strengthening the capacity of the whole United Nations system to react flexibly the needs of programme countries. The United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) should be jointly formulated by the government of the recipient country and United Nations-related aid agencies, based on full consultation and in conformity with the recipient country’s national development plans and priorities.

Since the New Direction Strategy was launched, encouraging progress had been achieved in technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC), he said. However, its development still faced many hurdles, the most serious of which was the lack of resources. Regarding the financing of TCDC, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) should allocate more funds from its core resources for TCDC programmes. At the same time, all parties should make concerted efforts to further expand and explore non-core resources like the Trust Fund for South-South cooperation, and funding from private sectors. In order for TCDC to attain a fundamental leap, there must be new approaches and initiatives. A possible option in that regard was to transform technical cooperation into technological cooperation. However, South-South technological cooperation was not to replace traditional North-South technology transfer. Another possible option was to explore new ways to integrate TCDC and Economic Cooperation Among Developing Countries (ECDC). The development of TCDC must break through its traditional framework and expand to major sectors of the economy, such as trade, investment and finance.

DANIEL T. TAYE (Ethiopia) said that his Government had developed National Execution Modalities (NEX) for United Nations-assisted programmes. Much had to be done, however, to be in full compliance to the cardinal principles of national execution and government ownership. Some agencies working in Ethiopia did not exhibit uniform levels of commitment to principles endorsed at various triennial comprehensive policy review meetings. The right balance between programme expenditure and the use of international experts in conformity with NEX were necessary. An increasing proportion of funds was being siphoned off, however, to pay expensive expatriate staff and consultants. The recruitment of national expertise was essential, because it would strengthen national implementation capacity and ensure the sustainability of programmes.

It was encouraging that the UNDAF was poised to bring new impetus to the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TCAD II) and the United Nations Special Initiative for Africa, he said. Lessons drawn from pilot countries of the UNDAF implementation would give the opportunity to revisit the Framework, should there be a need to adjust it to the specific situation in each host country. The TCDC was one of the mechanisms available to ensure that developing countries were integrated into the mainstream of the global economy. The modality should be further strengthened through triangular cooperation. The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) promoted the economic and political empowerment of women, enhancement of human rights and the elimination of all forms of violence against women. The UNIFEM’s technical and policy advice support to developing countries in that regard was commendable.

ILEANA NUNEZ MORDOCHE (Cuba) said that the issue of operational activities for development was a high priority for her country. How could there be talk of development when there was a growing trend to reduce ODA and a decline in core United Nations resources? What development could there be, when models of development were imposed on countries which were far from serving the national interests of those countries? Initiatives could not be imposed on governments. The determination of priorities and policies was the right of recipient countries. Neutrality and universality of funding must be maintained. At present, operational activities for development ran the risk of being transformed into emergency responses. The problem lay in the provision of more resources for development, which was not a subject that anyone wanted to talk about. Cuba was concerned about the constant decline of donor countries to the core resources of the United Nations. If that trend was not reversed, the problems of developing countries would become more acute. Neo-liberal globalization had exacerbated the differences between the developed and developing countries. Never before had the differences between rich and poor countries been so great.

In light of those realities, there was no doubt that the South needed the South in order to reverse the damage done to it, she said. Cooperation between the developing countries, especially the TCDC, was part and parcel of efforts to attain development. There was no doubt that the Buenos Aires Plan of Action had served to show the importance of the TCDC/ECDC. It was clear that the majority of developing countries needed both technical and economic cooperation. The TCDC/ECDC activities had a special potential in South-South cooperation. However, the development of the TCDC/ECDC could not constitute a substitute for necessary North-South cooperation. In spite of the economic warfare Cuba had been suffering for decades, many Cuban experts had provided their expertise to other countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. Presently, there were 200 Cuban physicians providing their services, free of charge, in the poorest countries in Africa. Another 2,000 health professionals had offered their services, free of charge, in the neediest areas of Latin America and the Caribbean.

MATHE MATTHEWS DISEKO (South Africa) said that the SADC was born of positive experiences of close cooperation among the peoples of Southern Africa, strong bonds of solidarity, common purpose and collective action against colonialism, racism, underdevelopment and poverty. The SADC continued to make progress in a number of areas. The democratic institution-building process in the subregion was encouraging. It was, however, deeply concerned by the ongoing conflicts in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which constituted a source of instability and underdevelopment. The problem of HIV/AIDS was a major drain on local resources, and depleted the SADC’s human resource deposits. The region was also infested by millions of deadly landmines.

The SADC had made much progress in the rehabilitation of the subregional transport and communications network. Successful ventures, such as the Maputo and Lubombo corridors, as well as the Trans-Kalahari highway, were a true expression of inter-government and private sector partnerships. The SADC’s subregional cooperation had involved strenuous efforts to remove barriers to the mobility of capital, goods and services, as well as people. In January 2000, the SADC would announce a trade protocol which would further remove economic barriers between Member States.

Despite the generally positive development trends in the subregion, however, a number of its geographic areas still suffered from the debt burden and low levels of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The SADC was posed to grow even stronger politically, economically and socially. The assistance of the United Nations and the international community at large must continue to help make that effort a concrete reality.

SILVIA CRISTINA CORADO-CUEVAS (Guatemala) said that development ought to remain the highest priority on the agenda of the United Nations. As far as operational activities were concerned, the United Nations was well equipped, for instance, to assist developing countries in capacity-building by helping to overcome their institutional complexities. Guatemala was, therefore, concerned by the financial weakness of the UNDP. Mobilized resources should be allocated in such a way that those with the greatest needs received the greatest proportion, but there was a feeling that by now that principle might have been carried too far. Some resources had to be allocated to middle-income countries.

Guatemala remained committed to horizontal cooperation in general and to the TCDC in particular. The ECDC and TCDC allowed countries to exchange experience and thus to make progress in particular areas. Experience might be easily absorbed and transmitted. But developing countries were far from taking full advantage of such cooperation. Although Guatemala had made good use of technical development, the main obstacle to further progress was the lack of resources. Triangular cooperation was a particularly helpful avenue, while technical cooperation turned out to be a broad two-way street. Developing countries could share their positive experiences. He reiterated the great importance to Guatemala of the operational activities of the United Nations. Peace and development were, after all, closely linked.

ALI AL-AUJALI (Libya) said that the importance of the UNDP in the context of United Nations operation activities could not be overemphasized. In order for the UNDP to be able to contribute to socio-economic development of developing countries, its operational activities must be rooted in the socio-economic realities of those countries. It must also respect their diversity of experience and socio-cultural values, and have an adequate dialogue with them. The value added by the UNDP’s programmes on developing countries should be based on how well its new leadership could shape future activities, taking into account such diversities. On the other hand, if the views of developing countries did not find their way into the process of reworking the UNDP’s future role, and if the UNDP was seen as imposing external values and concerns on developing countries in the name of good governance, the entire future of the Organization would be in jeopardy.

Many developing countries believed that, a few years ago, the UNDP made a departure from its original mandate as the central funding mechanism for operational activities. It was now paying a very heavy price, he said. Wisdom should warn the new UNDP leadership not to repeat such mistakes, and instead to redefine its role, together with the participation of all relevant stakeholders, particularly the governments of developing countries. Bypassing developing countries and reorienting the UNDP’s future work without full consultation with those governments would only serve to undermine the UNDP’s credibility and relevance to those countries.

He was distressed that the United Nations Development Group (UNDG), which was an internal coordination mechanism within the United Nations to deal with operational activities, was venturing into fields that fell within the sovereign jurisdiction of the governments of developing countries. He was referring, he said, to the directive ordering the United Nations Resident Coordinator to include human rights in the operational activities of the Organization’s development agencies. Turning decisions on human rights into development activities was no business of the UNDG. It was a matter for governments to decide.

DJISMUN KASRI (Indonesia) said that South-South cooperation should be seen as a complement to North-South cooperation, rather than a substitute for it. In the era of globalization, it was important that the developing countries were not further marginalized by the increasing impact of the information era. Rather, their capacities should be enhanced to bridge the current research and development and human resources gap. The South Summit should give an added boost to cooperative efforts of developing countries in the vital field of information technology. In order to benefit from the information revolution, the development of communication infrastructure in the developing countries had become a matter of the highest priority. There was a long way to go to redress the widening information gap between developed and developing countries. Likewise, while the recent increased momentum in South-South activity, including growth in intra-South investments, financial flows and trading were all welcome, there was still much more to be done -- particularly when such trade was compared with trade flows among developed countries, and the limited share the developing countries had in overall world trade.

It was widely recognized that primary responsibility for the promotion of South-South cooperation lay with the developing countries themselves, he said. At the same time, in the era of globalization and interdependence, the multilateral system had an important role to play, particularly in sustaining global economic expansion. For that reason, it was important to seek to enhance the integration of South-South cooperation and operational activities. He therefore welcomed the initiatives to further improve the coordination and effectiveness of the system’s support for South-South cooperation, currently being undertaken by the Special Unit in close collaboration with the organizations and agencies of the United Nations system.

KIM YOUNG-SEOK (Korea) said that mainstreaming the TCDC modality into the United Nations system would considerably enhance the Organization’s capacity to promote development. The integration of the ECDC and the TCDC modalities was a prerequisite for the full and effective implementation of South-South cooperation. Increased participation of the private sector in South-South cooperation should be encouraged. However, the lack of financial resources had been a major stumbling block to the development of the TCDC. The triangular funding arrangement should, therefore, be further developed through active participation by the donor community and interested international organizations.

The “Korea International Cooperation Agency” this year planned to invite 1,393 technical trainees from 93 countries and send 56 experts and 105 members of the Korean Overseas Volunteers abroad, with a budget allocation of $32 million destined to international cooperation projects. The Government also planned to host the High-level Forum on South-South Cooperation in Science and Technology, he said. That forum could help reduce the information and technological gaps existing between developing countries.

ANNA DOMINIQUE COSETENG (Philippines) said that developing countries put a premium on national action aimed at poverty eradication. The operational activities of the United Nations must support and adapt themselves to specific national and local situations, and thus be based on country-specific circumstances and decisions made by national authorities. Such activities must take account of the special needs of the most vulnerable groups, the excluded, victims of discrimination and the absolute poor. Mobilization of resources, domestically or externally, was crucial to efforts to lift a majority of peoples living in the developing world out of deplorable conditions of want. It was extremely important for the donor community to augment the resources required for operational activities of the United Nations.

Progress in the developing world would further enhance prosperity in the North, she said. External assistance could mean a long-term investment for global peace and development. Those developed countries that had yet to achieve the internationally agreed official development assistance target of 0.7 per cent of their respective GDPs, should do so as soon as possible. On the subject of the TCDC, she said that the various bodies, agencies, funds and programmes of the United Nations system needed to mainstream cooperation assistance promptly. The donor countries should also be forthcoming in their support for South-South cooperation -- by, for example, contributing to the trust funds designed to advance the TCDC.

PATRICIA DURRANT (Jamaica) said the pursuit of South-South cooperation was increasingly important to the developing world’s efforts to ensure its economic survival. It was heartening to observe that the upsurge in South-South cooperation had continued despite the economic and financial setbacks experienced by some Asian countries. That crisis, which demonstrated the interdependence of the global economy, showed that the South must rely more heavily on the principles of solidarity and collective self-reliance, and develop adequate mechanisms and policies for reaping the benefits of globalization.

The United Nations had an important role to play in such cooperation, she continued. It should draw lessons from various experiences, develop and support more results-oriented and self-sustaining South-South initiatives and facilitate triangular cooperation. The TCDC Unit must continue as the coordinating mechanism for South-South cooperation in the United Nations system. However, funding for the TCDC must be augmented if it was to continue to play a role in building partnerships in the South and ensuring a role for the United Nations system in building South-South cooperation. Jamaica fully endorsed the principles of the TCDC as a strategic and indispensable modality for promoting international cooperation.

South-South cooperation was a means for developing countries to strengthen collective and individual capacities to deal with the challenges and opportunities offered by globalization, she said. South-South cooperation could be strengthened through capacity-building and in the implementation of initiatives in the fields of science and technology, in keeping with the new directions strategy. The United Nations, and particularly the Special Unit for the TCDC, had a role to play in facilitating and providing a framework for cooperation in those two areas. Regarding capacity-building, which was an important focus of many cooperation activities, more tangible and self-sustaining results might be achieved through multilateral initiatives that helped pool and strengthen the South’s capacity to deal with development and integration challenges that were common to all developing countries, as well as those that were specific to the least developed, land-locked and small island developing countries.

ADAN EDOW ADAWA (Kenya) said that the ECDC/TCDC would have to play a greater role in enhancing the capacity of developing countries to produce and achieve economies of scale, and at the same time become internationally competitive and fully integrated in the global economy. While legitimate concerns had been expressed by developing countries on their increased marginalization as a result of globalization, it was clear that subregional and regional economic blocs represented the best formula to deal with the challenges ahead.

In order to improve the economic situation of developing countries, there was consensus that sound and strong subregional groupings were an essential barometer to potential investors, who might otherwise be hesitant to invest in long-term projects. "In our region", he said, "we have focused our efforts and resources towards the full realization of economic integration at the regional and subregional levels". The vision was to establish an East African Community as one investment destination, one tourist destination, one single market with a common external tariff, and a free flow of goods, services and people.

"In the same vein", he continued, "we are determined to deal with problems of insecurity and conflict in our region". Efforts were, therefore, being made through the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to search for mechanisms to bring lasting peace. Proposals had also been made to strengthen cooperation in project implementation, particularly in those projects where countries had a comparative advantage. In that regard, Kenya was at an advanced stage in the identification of national agencies that would serve as focal points for project coordination in liaison with other developing countries. One such ongoing project was the Avoidance of Double Taxation among developing countries. A bilateral negotiations conference on that subject would be held in Sri Lanka later this year.

SERGEI SHILOVICH (Belarus) said that strengthening the role of the Resident Coordinator was important for the future work of the Organization. In the future, greater attention should be given to the relationship between the Resident Coordinator and the offices of host-country representatives. The problem of enhancing the efficiency of UNDP management still remained relevant. Current UNDP working methods should be brought into line with current technology, so as to increase their efficiency. Belarus was carefully following the renewal of UNDP activities. He shared the Secretary-General’s view that, in an increasingly interdependent world, the task of development could only be achieved through well- planned, adequately funded international action.

In positively evaluating the reform activities of the funds and programmes, he could not fail to mention the concept of the United Nations Framework, he said. That decision related to the method of distributing funds to countries. The added programme work within the United Nations system should be supported by the necessary resources, which should be allocated on a predictable, stable and long- term basis. That required the active effort of the entire international community, and primarily the donor countries and the World Bank. Belarus commended the role of the UNDP in the role of development. The best evidence of that was the support it gave to the UNDP Office in Minsk. He had a special interest in more active cooperation with the funds and programmes in implementing programmes, to help Belarus and other countries in the region to deal with the effects of the Chernobyl disaster.

IBRA DEGUENE KA (Senegal) said that operational activities for development were at a crossroads. There was an increase in the number of beneficiaries, a huge divergence in areas of intervention, and a continuing decrease in resources. Innovations such as the United Nations United Nations Framework seemed to be going in the right direction. In the long run, they should lead to positive results. Regarding inter-institutional coordination, it was important to ascertain how far the United Nations Framework and the Development Framework of the World Bank needed harmonization, since they were both trying to reach the same goal.

However, all those initiatives and efforts to reform would be in vain if they were not supported by a subsequent mobilization of resources. Apart from the $280,000 which his Government had to pay towards the costs of the local office of the UNDP in 1999, it would contribute an extra $20,000 in 1999 as well. The Senegalese Minister of Economy, Finance and Planning had suggested to the governing board of the UNDP that they convene occasional board meetings in one of the programme countries. That could bring the supervising and controlling officers closer to reality. They could thus see in situ both the limitations of the programmes and their positive impacts.

Z.J. NTAKHWANA (Botswana) stressed that strengthening regional economic communities was the goal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which would determine Africa’s ability to be integrated effectively into the world economy. To enhance regional integration, Botswana had signed Memoranda of Agreements and Protocols in the various areas of cooperation. Such agreements represented the beginning of real efforts to achieve policy coordination and harmonization, define the collective aspirations of the region, and lay a sound framework for cooperation.

The management of water resources was critical to the development of Southern Africa, he said. Because most countries in the region, Botswana included, were characterized by sporadic rainfall, and 70 per cent of the region's watercourses were shared by two or more States, it was imperative that inter-State cooperation on water utilization be further strengthened. To that concern, the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Shared Watercourses Systems was a practical measure to ensure equitable and sustainable use of water for the entire region.

The SADC was also committed to addressing poverty reduction through sustained and broad-based economic growth, complemented by equitable distribution of social services like education, health care and sanitation. However, to the detriment of social development, the full economic potential of the region could not be realized while a staggering amount of resources were locked-up in dept payment. Indeed external debt was the single most inhibiting constraint to economic and social development in most of the SADC Member States.

MARIO GUGLIELMELI (Venezuela) said that he was concerned about the decline in international financial assistance, particularly to the core resources of the UNDP. Unlike the decline in core resources, those resources which the developing countries contributed to the United Nations had increased. Fundamental for development was cooperation among developing countries themselves. Venezuela, therefore, looked forward to the first South Summit, to be held in Havana next year.

For its part, he said, Venezuela had persisted in its efforts to contribute to the strengthening of cooperation among the countries of the South. For more than two decades, a broad programme of cooperation had been undertaken with the countries of the Caribbean. And for more than twenty years his country and Mexico had worked to implement the San Jose Agreement, which included financial and technical assistance for the implementation of development projects. Venezuela had also carried out horizontal cooperation programmes with countries of the region to enhance trade and investment. Cooperation among developing countries would enable those countries to meet the challenges brought on by globalization. He stressed the need to involve civil society organizations in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of development programmes. That would make better use of available resources possible.

SELMA ASHIPALA-MUSAVYI (Namibia) said that no economy would prosper amidst conflict. While there was peace, democracy and respect for human rights in the SADC countries, she said, the conflicts in Angola and the DRC affected the economic development of the region. It was in that context that the SADC countries had continued to work towards peace in the region. Peace would consolidate the climate for foreign and domestic investment there. Further, the strong determination of the leaders of the SADC to work to enhance peace and stability in the region was a clear indication that the SADC was taking responsibility for its development. Those efforts, however, needed to be complemented by continued assistance and solidarity from the international community.

At a recent SADC Summit held in Mozambique, leaders had affirmed that the implementation of sound macroeconomic policies and the gradual integration of economic activities in the various national sectors were yielding fruit. For regional programmes on poverty eradication to succeed, a growth rate of at least six per cent was required. For that reason, the SADC was mobilizing regional resources for cross-border investments through joint ventures. The process of regional cooperation, trade and investment would complement Africa’s efforts towards the realization of the OAU-Abuja Treaty for the Economic Community for Africa. He called on the international community to assist the OAU/African Economic Community Secretariat to play its role towards that end.

ALI ZARIE ZARE (Iran) said that the process of globalization had been followed by contraction of both time and opportunities for developing countries, and it had become costly for any developing country to design and follow its own development strategy. The best viable option was to exchange experiences with other successful developing countries. The most institutionalized mechanisms for South-South cooperation were regional and subregional economic cooperation arrangements among developing countries. Such arrangements provided viable opportunities for expansion of trade and investment among developing countries, facilitating foreign investment by setting up larger markets and developing infrastructures.

Although the lion’s share of technical cooperation among developing countries had been focused on hard-core economic issues such as agriculture and industry, there were many opportunities in the areas of finance and capacity-building, utilization of new financial instruments, and so forth. The scope of the TCDC, as well as the role that other potential actors could play, was expanding. It now covered such fields as population, emerging social issues, cultural development and public management, particularly at the regional level and among countries with common historical, social and religious backgrounds. Participation of the private sector and civil society in the TCDC was both necessary and useful, and could contribute to the consolidation and sustainability of such cooperation.

ANDRES FRANCO (Colombia) suggested that in considering the coordination of assistance for development, it was advisable to analyse the effect of multilateral and bilateral cooperation between agencies, in order to avoid incompatible programmes being carried out in the same country and the same sector. That, he added, was because bilateral cooperation did not always keep harmony with the objectives of multilateral cooperation.

The stagnation of ODA flows, he said, had often hindered achievement of goals agreed on in major United Nations conferences, and had further harmed medium-income countries, such as those of Latin America. He added that, as a matter of urgency, the distribution of scarce ODA resources should cover the needs of less developed countries. But it was important not to use per-capita income figures as an indicator base, as those did not always reflect internal inequities. He suggested instead that a different approach should be adopted for different regions.

He went on to highlight the great significance of the UNDAF as one of the major initiatives of ongoing United Nations reform process. He added that, as one of the 18 countries selected to implement the UNDAF experiment, Colombia had high expectations of changes in the field.

HIDEAKI MARUYAMA (Japan) said his delegation believed relief programmes related to emergency response and humanitarian assistance could not be phased out and be replaced with normal development cooperation. He suggested that early integration between humanitarian assistance and development cooperation was critical in ensuring sustainable reconstruction and rehabilitation. The Government of Japan was requesting that the Organization work with the Bretton Woods institutions, in particular with the Comprehensive Development Framework of the World Bank, in a coordinated manner, as well as promote collaboration with bilateral donors. Japan had been facilitating "multi-bi cooperation" in an effort to increase the impact of its development activities and to enable multilateral and bilateral agencies to work together more effectively.

He said South-South cooperation, in its new triangular form, was very useful in advancing development, since it represented genuine cooperation between all development actors. His country believed that such cooperation should be emulated in all operational activities of the United Nations. Japan proposed that it should be one of the themes discussed at the twelfth session of the High-level Committee on Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries.

OROBOLA FASEHUN, Chief Coordination Officer, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Coordination Office, New York, said that in this century, scientific discoveries, inventions, innovations, literary and artistic creativity had expanded tremendously. The driving force behind the third-millennium economy would be intellectual capital. The WIPO believed that all States could share in the benefits of a knowledge-based economy. Its task was to assist developing countries to share in the benefits and profits of a knowledge-based economy through capacity-building, exploitation of knowledge capital and respect for intellectual property rights.

The WIPO’s assistance came in many forms, he said, and covered areas of interest to developing countries such as biodiversity, traditional knowledge, licensing and transfer of technology, as well as inventive and innovative activities. The WIPO provided qualified staff and introduced modern management techniques into intellectual-property offices of developing countries at their request. The WIPO’s World Wide Academy was another vehicle to impart and deepen knowledge about intellectual-property issues.

Intellectual-property issues featured significantly in electronic commerce, Mr. Fasehun said. The WIPO was playing a positive role by explaining ways in which intellectual property might be both exploited and protected through the use of digital technologies. Through the establishment of a global information network, WIPOnet, it also assisted developing countries not only to be effective participants in electronic commerce, but also in the larger area of information technology.

JEAN DELACROIX BAKONIARIVO (Madagascar) said that his country attached special importance to operational activities for development of the United Nations. They were the tangible expression of multilateral cooperation for development. The operational activities of the United Nations must reaffirm the aims and fundamental characteristics of multilateral cooperation. The Organization must preserve the universality and neutrality of programmes, as well as respect the needs and priorities of the recipient countries. Its objectives should emphasize national capacity-building, poverty eradication and sustainable development. It was essential that operational activities for development be so executed that countries could reach the objectives of the major United Nations conferences. With regard to the efficiency of programmes, he was carefully following the restructuring of the UNDP activities, and supported the proposed restructuring of its working methods.

Madagascar was seriously concerned by the decline, on a continual basis, of the global transfer of resources. The real reduction of UNDP funds was a matter of grave concern. It was a paradox that all resources except for core resources had increased. The need to increase technical and financial assistance was more pronounced today than ever before for the developing countries. That was particularly true in light of the difficulties they faced, such as shrinkage in aid and decreased access to markets. He reasserted the need to attain the agreed-to target of 0.7 per cent of the GNP for ODA. There was a need to provide a more secure, predictable foundation for operational activities for development. He welcomed the proposals made by the Administrator of the UNDP for the United Nations framework for the distribution of resources.

JEAN MAXIME MURAT (Haiti) said that the twentieth century had witnessed enormous changes on this planet, but humanity had not fulfilled its aspiration to eradicate once and for all the scourges of poverty and underdevelopment. A great number of States, especially in the southern hemisphere, would enter the third millennium without the opportunities offered by globalization and technological progress. A blueprint to solve the problems of underdevelopment and poverty did not exist. Each state had its own particular characteristics, but international integration and cooperation became more and more necessary, especially economically and technologically.

Strengthening regional integration and cooperation was of the utmost importance, he said. Several regional treaties on technological and scientific cooperation had been signed. Countries from the South should increase their South- South cooperation in view of the diminishing ODA from the North. South-South cooperation, however, could never replace North-South cooperation; it could only supplement it. After 20 years of experimentation, South-South cooperation should be revitalized, especially within the United Nations system. Such a renovation required the immediate creation of a formal secretariat in order to streamline cooperation. Cooperation with the private sector and the NGOs was also important.

ABDUL MUNIM AL-KADHE (Iraq) said that he had read the UNIFEM report with great interest. International cooperation must be translated into concrete action to reduce the economic and social burdens borne by developing countries. Certain countries suffered from economic and humanitarian burdens as a result of economic embargoes imposed on them -- especially when such sanctions were imposed open- endedly. The sanctions imposed on Iraq had a negative impact on its women. They had led to a great reduction in their role, particularly in public life. The difficult economic conditions afflicting the country had forced many of its women to give up their professional lives to work at home as housewives. Despite that situation, Iraq attached special importance to its women. It was one of the first countries to develop a national strategy for the development of its women. Those national efforts would not be completed so long as sanctions remained in place. The main step in restoring Iraq to the pioneering role it once played in assistance to developing countries would be to lift the economic embargo imposed on it.

V. RESHETNIAK (Ukraine) said that ongoing reforms in United Nations funds and programmes had resulted in significantly improved efficiency. Unfortunately, those positive changes had not attracted additional contributions to core resources. Among the priorities of United Nations development activities should be the efforts aimed at eradicating poverty, which had been substantively aggravated by the financial crisis of the past years. In its Human Development Report for Europe and the CIS, the UNDP painted a comprehensive picture of the processes taking place in that part of the world, thus presenting the real meaning of the “cost of transition”.

He said that in spite of the relatively recent presence of the UNDP and other United Nations funds in Ukraine, they had achieved success and had gained the respect of the Government and the population. The UNDP should continue to play a central role in coordinating the activities of the United Nations agencies in Ukraine, in particular as they related to implementation of the long-term “Crimea Integration and Development Programme”. In September, the United Nations Office established the Crimea Consultative Forum, with participation of local authorities and civil society, including representatives of various ethnic groups. Such an approach could serve as a good example of prevention of possible conflict situations in other countries and regions.

RICHARD T. DOGANI (United Republic of Tanzania) said that demand for the United Nations operational activities for development was increasing as more developing countries strove to extract themselves from the poverty trap. Unfortunately, however, resources to meet all the demands were not forthcoming, meaning that the Organization’s capacity to assist those countries was reduced. Given that fact of declining resources, it was clear that the ECDC/TCDC, through South-South cooperation, had become one of the most important strategies for enhancing cooperation among developing countries. Developing countries had been able to exchange experiences amongst themselves and also promote collective action in support of their overall development. Such actions had enabled those countries to counter forces and processes eroding their economic independence.

As serious and new challenges emerged from the current global economic situation, global trade liberalization and declining resource flows, the TCDC/ECDC, therefore, offered the best hope of solving the development problems of developing countries, he said. Even though the TCDC could not be considered a substitute, countries of the South increasingly believed that such cooperation had considerable potential for meeting the challenges they faced. In order to improve the relevance and effectiveness of the TCDC, he offered several suggestions, including establishment of cost-effective linkages and programmes at country and institutional levels, and mobilization of adequate resources for implementation of the TCDC/ECDC programmes, particularly directed to least developed countries.

AUSTIN PETER E. OSIO (Nigeria) said he welcomed the trend indicating that developing countries were taking up ownership of technical and economical development among themselves. Triangular arrangements had clearly characterized and accentuated the new forms of cooperation. Such cooperation had also involved NGOs and the private sector. How much that trend could promote the effective integration and participation of the developing countries in the global economy should be the ultimate concern of the interdependent international community.

He said that in the West African subregion, with instruments like the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Travellers’ Cheque and the Brown Card, the people and commerce of West Africa were gradually but surely being integrated. The external debt burden of the developing countries needed to be positively addressed in order to attain sustainable development levels. Market access should be extended to the export interests of developing countries, thereby enhancing their foreign exchange earning capacities. Such external cooperation measures would strengthen national policies and capacities, and enable the people and countries of the South to benefit from the operational activities of the United Nations system.

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