ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL HOLDS DIALOGUE WITH UNITED NATIONS COUNTRY TEAM FOR MADAGASCAR

Press Release
ECOSOC/5907

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL HOLDS DIALOGUE WITH UNITED NATIONS COUNTRY TEAM FOR MADAGASCAR

Madagascar had great potential, but was classified among the low-income countries, Ramisandrazana Rakotoariseheno, Director of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet, told the 2000 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council this afternoon, during its dialogue with the United Nations system country team for Madagascar, part of its consideration of operational activities of the United Nations for international development cooperation.

Ms. Rakotoariseheno said Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world, had considerable renewable natural resources, such as marine resources, agriculture and exceptional biological diversity. There were also considerable tourist attractions, and minerals, such as graphite, salt, bauxite and precious and semi-precious stones. The environment had undergone degradation because of non-appropriate methods of exploitation, forest fires, deforestation, soil erosion, mining, and bush fires, which caused desertification. Recurring natural disasters included cyclones and floods.

The economic situation had improved progressively since 1995, she said. The gross national product (GNP) had risen, as had the rate of growth. There was a slight growth in investment, and inflation had been lowered.

Adama Guindo, United Nations Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident in Madagascar, said the Government of Madagascar had set itself a task of fair economic growth, the benefits of which would be distributed fairly. The focus would also be on good governance and human rights. To meet those objectives and obtain a coherent development framework, a coordination network had been set up to meet regularly to discuss development dynamics.

The representative of the World Bank in Madagascar, Hafez Ghanem, said the problem of poverty in the country was a very considerable one and a key priority of the United Nations, the Government and the Bretton Woods institutions. The country was now in its fourth year of positive growth per capita, the first time in more than a decade that such a rate of growth had been sustained for a prolonged period. The Government, with the technical and financial support of the United Nations system, had produced a draft of what was called the “national strategy to fight poverty”. The long-term objectives aimed to reduce poverty by half by the year 2015.

Economic and Social Council - 1a - Press Release ECOSOC/5907 22nd Meeting (PM) 13 July 2000

Eddine Gozaline, of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), identified some of the operational constraints that the country team had experienced, such as the general reduction of resources allocated to the United Nations system -- including those of the resident coordinator -- and the inadequacy of the means of communication and dissemination of information, which reduced the effect of advocacy.

Catherine Hein, of the International Labour Organization (ILO), in presenting some proposals, said an institutionalized mechanism for financing the country coordinator would be preferable to the current ad hoc arrangement and increased decentralization would make coordination among field offices more effective. The capacity of staff in field offices needed to be reinforced. She suggested that, for future consultations, representatives of civil society should be included.

Statements were also made by: Jean Ramanakantsoina, Programme Chief, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); Sergio Soro, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); Bernard Coquelin, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Guy Imboua Bogui, World Health Organization (WHO); Haladou Salha, World Food Programme (WFP); and Rainiketamanga Rasata, Director, Cabinet of Minister of Finance.

The representative of Belgium and the representative of the International Federation of Settlements and Neighbourhood Centres asked questions.

The Council will meet again at 10 a.m. Friday, 14 July, to continue its consideration of operational activities of the United Nations for international development cooperation.

Council Work Programme

The 2000 substantive session of the Economic and Social Council met this afternoon to have a dialogue with the United Nations system country team for Madagascar as part of its consideration of operational activities of the United Nations for international development cooperation.

Country Team Presentation

ADAMA GUINDO, United Nations Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident in Madagascar, said the team had selected as themes the fight against poverty and prevention and control of disasters, operational constraints encountered and future prospects.

RAMISANDRAZANA RAKOTOARISEHENO, Director of Prime Minister’s Cabinet, said Madagascar was the fourth largest island in the world, with diverse climate and geography. The island had considerable renewable natural resources, such as marine resources, agriculture and exceptional biological diversity. There were also considerable tourist attractions, and minerals, such as graphite, salt, bauxite and precious and semi-precious stones.

She said the environment had undergone degradation because of non- appropriate methods of exploitation, forest fires, deforestation, soil erosion, mining and bush fires, which caused desertification. Recurring natural disasters included cyclones and floods. Other natural disasters included cricket plagues and epidemics. The year 2000 had been difficult, with three cyclones having an impact on the entire island. In that regard, she thanked all organizations that had rendered assistance.

The island was characterized by a young population of 40 million, she said. There was a low-level of education. The adult literacy rate was deteriorating, and rates of education were still low, despite progress made. The population was basically agricultural, with a high-level of underemployment. The health of the population was stagnating. Thirty-two per cent would not live beyond the age of 40, despite a gain in average life expectancy. Malnutrition was chronic. According to surveys, the infant mortality rate and the mortality rate for children had gone up, but the maternal modality rate was reduced.

The economic basic infrastructure was inadequate and required improvement, she continued. Transportation was costly. The infrastructure for health had improved, but the infrastructure for drinking water was insufficient. Madagascar had great potential, but was classified among the low-income countries. The economic situation had improved progressively since 1995. The gross national product (GNP) had risen, as had the rate of growth. There was a slight growth in investment, and inflation had been lowered.

Mr. GUINDO said the Government of Madagascar had set itself a task of fair economic growth, the benefits of which would be distributed fairly. The focus would also be on good governance and human rights. To meet those objectives and obtain a coherent development framework, a coordination network had been set up to meet regularly to discuss development dynamics.

JEAN RAMANAKANTSOINA, Programme Chief, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), said among the services established for the United Nations in Madagascar were a system of common security, a single dispensary for all personnel, a dedicated travel agency, and two banks to maintain funds. A large step had also been taken through the establishment of information and communication systems.

SERGIO SORO, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said Madagascar was among one of the first groups to do pilot work in the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF). That pilot work was used in the implementation of the second part of UNDAF’s work. Approaches included analysis of the country area and common strategic definitions to solve each problem. Discussions facilitated the establishment of databases to identify priority problems.

He said the focus was on national priorities and improvements to the performance of various socio-economic sectors. In that respect, there was a need to strengthen structures that were already at work; formulate a concentrated approach to development problems; and harmonize intervention strategies. It was also necessary to strengthen national capacities at every level.

He said at the start there were certain groups that did not have the same cycles, so it was necessary to harmonize the programme cycles. It was also essential to have an overall map of the interventions, so as to better assess them and identify the areas most susceptible to risk. Considerable progress had been made in terms of UNDAF, as well. It had eliminated individualistic or egotistic approaches. Also, while investments in education were substantial and had improved the system, the existing situation was still inadequate.

BERNARD COQUELIN, of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), pointed out that a thematic group had been established to diminish the disparity between men and women. The objectives of the group were to support the Platform for Action (adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995), and to further the advancement of women.

The thematic group had supported the drafting of the national follow-up report of the Beijing Conference and supported and prepared delegations to the special session of the General Assembly on the request of the Government, he said. Results had also been reached through several activities aimed at reducing disparities between men and women.

There had also been constraints, such as a numerical weakness in human resources and the fact that cooperation between Government and non-governmental organization (NGOs) should be strengthened. The focal points established by the thematic groups had more women than men, and were in that sense unbalanced. Men should get more involved. The integration of the gender approach had to be improved. The results achieved were the result of teamwork. Everybody had contributed positively and responded to the national priorities of the Government. The tool of thematic groups was a good one.

GUY IMBOUA BOGUI, of the World Health Organization (WHO), said a thematic group had been established on the subject of AIDS. The objective of the thematic group was to maintain and lower the already low rate of AIDS in Madagascar.

As AIDS was a powder keg that could explode any moment, because of the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases, action had to be taken early and effectively. Besides the rapid creation of the thematic group, a technical group had been established, consisting of focal points of agencies, ministries and NGOs. Advocacy and education had been developed for target groups. Social marketing was carried out in contraception and technical assistance was given to the Ministry of Health. A plan of action was also created.

As a result, the Government had been made aware of the AIDS problem as both a health and economic problem, he said. AIDS had been was demystified and religious leaders were participating in the fight against the epidemic. The use of condoms had increased considerably. Surveys among women had shown that 55 per cent were aware of AIDS and were ready to take measures. Sixty per cent of health providers were trained in sexually transmitted diseases. In spite of those results, there were certain shortcomings. There was a strong prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases. Because of poverty and low purchasing power, women often came into contact with individuals carrying the virus.

Since the beginning of the year, the team stressed social mobilization, especially through the schools, among rural communities and among public opinion leaders, he said. Emphasis would also be placed on the necessary resources and the team counted on further involving civil society.

HAFEZ GHANEM, Resident Representative of the World Bank in Madagascar, said the problem of poverty in the country was a very considerable one and a key priority of the United Nations, the Government and the Bretton Woods institutions. The country was now experiencing a period of positive growth per capita, which was now in its fourth year. It was the first time in more than a decade that such a rate of growth had been sustained for a prolonged period.

He said the last four years has seen positive results in fighting poverty. Macroeconomic stabilization in terms of fighting inflation had taken place. There was more investment in the education and health sectors although much more needed to be done. With the support of the United Nations and other partners, the Government was also working on a strategy to fight poverty.

The objective, he continued, was to develop an acceptable and appropriate operational strategy to fight poverty that could be carried out by a large proportion of the population. The Government, with the technical and financial support of the United Nations system, had produced a draft of what was called the “national strategy to fight poverty”. The long-term objectives aimed to reduce poverty by half by the year 2015. The draft was still being discussed by the Government, as well as by the various regions. At the same time various working groups were preparing an operational document for the next three years that would define priority areas for investment. The objective was to produce an interim document by the end of the year. In addition he informed the Council about a food security and nutrition programme, financed by various partners, along with the World Food Programme (WFP) and the WHO, that aimed to reduce malnutrition among children.

HALADOU SALHA, of the WFP, said natural disasters were a big threat to Madagascar. The damage caused by them was both great and accumulative. Reconstruction costs exceeded national capabilities. Three types of natural disasters had struck the island this year. In January, flooding in the South West resulted in a 50 per cent loss in production. In February there was one cyclone, followed by another in March and yet another in April. In addition, the island experienced a drought caused by rains that were two-and-a-half months late. Many people had died, many needed aid and shelter and millions of dollars of damage was done to the infrastructure.

He said two joint evaluation missions were established. A rapid evaluation of immediate needs was followed by a more in-depth survey on the ground. The missions were associated with a crisis cell, which was set up by the United Nations. Committees under the auspices of various United Nations agencies were set up to address logistics, health and to work in disaster prevention. Assisting the victims of the disasters was one of the greatest challenges. There were some institutional weaknesses, but the Government and the United Nations system were able to deal with them during the emergency.

EDDINE GOZALINE, of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), said that one of the operational constraints experienced was the general reduction of resources allocated to the United Nations system, including those of the Resident Coordinator. Another constraint was that the concept of joint programming was not homogeneous, which rendered coordination difficult. Regulations did not make the pooling of resources easier. The inadequacy of means of communication and dissemination of information reduced the effect of advocacy. The inadequate resources of some agencies prevented them from taking part in all activities.

CATHERINE HEIN, of the International Labour Organization (ILO), in presenting some proposals, said that the overall goal to serve was to provide Madagascar with a United Nations system intervention framework that was harmonized, decentralized and competent. An institutionalized mechanism for financing the country coordinator would be preferable to the current ad hoc arrangement. Also, increased decentralization would make coordination among field offices more effective. Regarding competency, she said the capacity of staff in field offices needed to be reinforced and offices needed sufficient staff at the country level. She suggested that, for future consultations, representatives of civil society should be included.

RAINIKETAMANGA RASATA, Director, Cabinet of Minister of Finance, said the encouraging results had been obtained due to the political will of the Government and the contributions of the agencies. Vigilance, however, was necessary to ensure that the strong start would lead to a higher level of cooperation and support.

His Government would do everything to pursue the commitments of the State, he said. It would continue to open up the economy by restoring confidence and encouraging foreign investment, in order to get a higher growth rate of gross domestic product (GDP). It would strengthen the capacities of provinces, means of communication and infrastructure and it would continue to strengthen the law, while not neglecting the most vulnerable sections of the population.

Questions and Answers

The representative of Belgium said poverty in the country had gotten worse since the 1960s. He noted that the target of 50 per cent reduction by 2015 was in 15 years’ time. Was that commitment feasible?

Mr. RASATA, Director, Cabinet of Minister of Finance, said if one looked at the figures since the 1960s, what was being witnessed was a beginning. He underscored that the results of growth were not often equitably distributed. The effects of programmes, particularly those established by the United Nations system, was attracting foreign investors and helping to improve the rate of growth. There could be no growth without information and education, and the current trend was due to the quality of the workforce and the effect of investment in education. All of those factors permitted a reasonable degree of confidence for the future.

The representative of the International Federation of Settlements and Neighbourhood Centres wanted to know who were the NGOs in Madagascar? And were they local, regional or international?

Ms. RAKOTOARISEHENO said the NGOs were local, regional and national.

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