Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee

For Third United Nations Conference

 On Least Developed Countries

1^st Meeting (AM)

MARKET ACCESS, ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE AND DEBT CANCELLATION AMONG ISSUES

HIGHLIGHTED AT OPENING OF LDC PREPARATORY MEETING

Debt cancellation, official development assistance and market access were among the issues the least developed countries (LDCs) would like to see emphasized in the draft programme of action for LDCs for 2001-2010, the Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee for the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries was told this morning as it began its second session.  

During the session, which will run until 9 February, the Committee will conduct the first formal reading of the draft programme of action and hear national reports on preparations for the Conference.

The representative of Bangladesh, speaking on behalf of the Least Developed Countries, added that LDCs had worked hard to identify their concerns and positions.  The social dimension of development also had overriding importance.  More emphasis should be placed on LDC capacity-building and on building an implementation mechanism for the programme of action.  The former was particularly important, because many past failures were due to the absence of effective monitoring.

Eddy Boutmans, Secretary of State for Cooperation for Development of Belgium, said his country would work to ensure the best possible conditions for the event, which would be held this May in Brussels.  He said the international community should not allow doubt to cloud its goals of reducing extreme poverty and infant mortality and of ensuring healthcare and basic education for all.  It was not enough to refer to the goals and action plans of the main international conferences of recent years.  The upcoming Conference should present an opportunity to charge ahead.

The representative of Iran, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, stressed the necessity, during the current process, of the active participation of all stakeholders -- governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental.  He also stressed the importance of achieving consensus on an integrated, focused and action-oriented programme with specific time-bound targets and a clear division of responsibility.

The representative of Sweden, speaking on behalf of the European Union and associated States, said the Union would like to see clear, balanced, mutual commitments in the text regarding major issues such as, among others, democracy,

good governance, respect for human rights, rule of law, gender, transparency and conflict prevention.  It was essential to respect the right and duty of governments to determine their national priorities, to ensure ownership in the development process and to respect partnership between nations.

Jacques Scavee (Belgium), Committee Chairman, said the main challenge in drafting the programme had been to identify national measures that would be essential for the realization of the target of reducing by half the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015 –- a goal affirmed at the highest level at the Millenium Summit.  How to move from rhetoric to action was the key question.  Identifying actions was not enough –- LDCs and their partners must make commitments to undertake the proposed actions within the decade.

Carlos Fortin, Deputy-Secretary-General of the Conference, speaking on behalf of Rubins Ricupero, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), gave a report on various events to be held in anticipation of the Conference.

Statements were also made this morning by the representative of Norway, Mali (on behalf of the Group of African States), Japan, United States, Turkey, Mexico, Brazil, Nigeria and China.

Representatives of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also made statements.

In other business, the Committee adopted its programme of work for the current session.  Sorin Ducaru (Romania) was elected as one of the Committee’s Vice-Chairmen.

The Preparatory Committee will meet again this afternoon at 3 p.m.

Preparatory Committee Work Programme

The Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee for the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) opened its second session

(5 to 9 February) today at Headquarters.  The Committee is tasked with laying the groundwork for the Conference, which will be held from 14 to 20 May in Brussels.

According to the provisional agenda for its second session (document A/CONF.191/17), the Committee will, among other things, hear a report by its Chairman, take up the subject of national country preparations for the Conference, and conduct the first formal reading of the draft programme of action for 2001-2010.

The Committee had before it the draft programme of action for the least developed countries for the decade 2001-2010 (document A/CONF.191/IPC/L.4), which sets out a number of commitments for addressing the problems faced by LDCs.  Those commitments are:  fostering a people-centred policy framework; promoting good governance; building human capacities; strengthening productive capacities; making globalization work for LDCs; reducing vulnerability and conserving the environment; and mobilizing financial resources.

According to the text, the draft programme aims to contribute to a significant improvement in the human conditions in LDCs during the present decade.  It provides a framework for a strong global partnership to accelerate growth and sustainable development in LDCs, fight poverty, inequality and deprivation in these countries, and enable them to beneficially integrate into the global economy.

A major goal of the programme of action, the draft text states, will be to pursue the internationally agreed target of reducing extreme poverty by one-half by 2015.  This will require, among other things, significant and steady increases in growth rates in LDCs.  To that end, LDCs, with the support of their partners, will strive to attain annual growth rates of 5 to 6 per cent by

2006 and 6 to 8 per cent by the end of the decade.

The draft takes into account the outcomes of major global conferences and summits, including their special provisions in favour of LDCs, as well as other recent policy developments in multilateral forums, including those within the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions.  Also, according to the text, the preparation of national programmes of action during the preparatory stage of the Conference provided specific inputs to the draft.  The success of this programme of action will be judged, in the end, by its contribution to progress by LDCs towards these international development targets, as well as towards their genuine graduation from the list of LDCs.

Women play an essential role for the livelihood and survival of their families and communities, particularly in critical circumstances, the text states.  Achieving gender equality and empowerment of women in LDCs is an important objective of the action programme.  In implementing the programme, particular attention will be given to the need for redressing inequalities between women and men and girls and boys and ensuring their equal rights, responsibilities, opportunities and possibilities.

The text states that human dignity and solidarity, shared responsibility, freedom, democracy, equality, common concern for world peace and security, and the well-being of succeeding generations will nurture and sustain the common efforts of the LDCs and their development partners.  Empowering people in LDCs, particularly the poor among them, will be at the heart of this partnership.

The partnership, the text continues, will revolve around mutual commitments by LDCs and their development partners to take action in a number of areas set out in the programme.  These commitments include:  fostering a people-centred policy framework; promoting good governance; building human capacities; strengthening productive capacities; making globalization work for LCDs; reducing vulnerability and conserving the environment; and mobilizing financial resources.

The LDCs will continue to have the primary responsibility for the formulation and effective implementation of appropriate policies and measures. The LDCs have been implementing, often with success, policy reforms in many areas covered under the programme of action.  Each LDC will translate national policies and measures contained in the draft into concrete action within the framework of its national programme of action, taking into account its particular circumstances and priorities.  This should be accomplished with the full involvement of all domestic stakeholders and the collaboration of its development partners.

The development partners, including bilateral partners as well as organizations of the United Nations system and other relevant multilateral organizations, will assist by facilitating an enabling external environment and providing adequate external support, the text states.  An important function of the programme of action will be to serve as a common framework for development cooperation for LDCs.

The text of the draft states that South-South cooperation has an important role for LDCs' development, particularly in the areas of human and productive capacity-building, investment, transit-transport cooperation, technical cooperation and exchange of best practices.  Such cooperation should be supported by the international community.

The draft programme of action recognizes the following as cross-cutting issues:  poverty eradication, gender and development, employment, involvement of key stakeholders, including civil society and business, in the development process, and special problems of those LDCs that are also land-locked and small island States.

The draft proposes that national policies of LDCs and external support measures by their partners during the decade revolve around the following priorities:  significantly reducing extreme poverty; developing human resources to support long-term development; removing supply-side constraints to accelerate growth and employment generation; and increasing LDCs' share in world trade and global financial and investment flows.

The text states that success in attaining the objectives set out in the programme of action will depend critically on the effective functioning of the arrangements for its implementation, follow-up, monitoring and review at the national, regional and global levels.  The main thrusts of these three tracks of follow-up will be:

-- At the national level, each LDC and its partners will promote implementation of the actions contained in the programme of action by translating them into specific measures within the framework of its national programme of action.  In doing so, special attention will be given to the particular circumstances and priorities of each LDC, and the need to appropriately build upon existing mechanisms such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP), the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF), Common Country Assessments (CCA) and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF);

-- Regional follow-up should focus on cooperation between LDCs and other countries at the regional and subregional level;

-- The global-level follow-up should be primarily concerned with assessing the economic and social performance of LDCs, monitoring the implementation of commitments by LDCs and their partners, reviewing the functioning of implementation and follow-up mechanisms at country, regional and sectoral levels, and policy developments at the global level with implications for LDCs.

Follow-up, monitoring and review of the programme of action along the above tracks should involve all relevant stakeholders, the draft states.  Well-functioning linkages should be built among different levels of follow-up. Through these processes, the actions identified in the programme of action will also be regularly adapted to new and evolving developments.

As long-time partners in the development process of LDCs, the organizations of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, have a special role to play in the implementation of the Programme of Action, the draft states.  The experience, expertise and resources of the system, including at the field level, should be used for this purpose.  The ongoing United Nations system efforts at the country level to help LCDs translate goals and targets of major global meetings into concrete actions in light of national priorities, promote an effective follow-up to the programme’s commitments.

The Committee also had before it a compendium of major constraints on development and desirable actions for the decade 2001-2010 identified in the country-level preparatory process for the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (document A/CONF.191/IPC/18 (includes Corr.1).

The Compendium was prepared by the Conference secretariat at the request of the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee.  It provides additional inputs for finalizing of the draft programme of action and aims to help the Preparatory Committee to make an assessment of preparedness for the Conference at the country level.  It also aims to help those LDCs that have to finalize their national programmes of action for 2001-2010.

Also before the Committee was a report of the High-level Panel for the Review of Progress in the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s (document A/CONF.191/IPC/16). 

The report states that in the 1990s, 48 countries were classified as LDCs, and only one, Botswana, was able to graduate out of the group.  The findings of the Panel indicate that stagnation in LDCs has been caused largely by political instability, civil strife, lack of good governance, intolerance and mismanagement of the economy.  The Panel also finds that the international community has been far less supportive of LDCs, most strikingly in terms of official development assistance (ODA), than foreseen in the Programme of Action for the 1990s.

The report states that during the 1990s, development proved elusive for a significant number of LDCs:  as their economies declined, social conditions worsened, and they remained the group of countries most marginalized from the mainstream of the world economy.  Many LDCs have suffered institutional decline, State failure and internal conflict. 

In many LDCs, the report states, the share of manufacturing in gross domestic product and in the labour force barely changed or actually declined. Most LDCs remain tied to the export of one or two primary commodities or service activities.  With their weak capacity for domestic resource mobilization, their dependence on external resource inflows, particularly in the form of ODA, has remained high.  Moreover, macroeconomic balances remain fragile, with budget and balance-of-payments deficits, and show little, if any, improvement.

The one area where some positive gains were registered during the 1990s was in moderating inflation, the report states.  In the view of the Panel, however, in some LDCs this reflects the lack of dynamism in their economies as much as the improvement in their monetary management.

Progress in social development has been registered in some LDCs, according to the report.  However, the population growth rate has increased in many LDCs; infant mortality has increased; and life expectancy has actually declined, possibly as a consequence of civil strife and the ravages of HIV/AIDS.  All these indicators were expected to improve significantly during the 1990s.

The Programme of Action for the 1990s outlined a number of principles which should constitute the basis for action for the LDCs and their development partners, the report states.  These principles implied the acceptance of a partnership which depends upon mutually reinforcing actions, with the contribution of each development partner reflecting its capacities and weight in the world economy.  During the 1990s, there have been shortcomings on the part of both LDCs themselves and their development partners in effectively dealing with LDC development challenges. 

Many LDCs remain largely excluded from the benefits of globalization, the report states.  In some, existing production capacities have been progressively weakened; others have faced a long-term decline in the demand for their principal exports.  Also, in many cases, industries established to serve domestic markets have been wiped out as a result of increasingly severe competition from imports under a more liberalized trading regime.

Virtually all the LDCs lack an adequate infrastructure to sustain competitive industries.  Transport is underdeveloped, particularly for land-locked countries.  Power and water capacity is insufficient and irregular, and telecommunications remain both inadequate and technologically primitive; all are competitively costly.  In such circumstances, adequate foreign direct investment has not flowed into the LDCs to fill the domestic entrepreneurial gap. 

Largely as a result of declining flows of ODA, the report states, long-term net capital flows, into LDCs as a whole, have declined by about 25 per cent in nominal terms since 1990.  Private capital flows to LDCs have been increasing, albeit from a very low level and with a strong geographic and sectoral concentration.  Private capital is generally a small proportion of total capital inflows.  Even in LDCs where private capital flows have been increasing, they have been unable to offset the decline in ODA.  One important form of increased capital imports has been remittances from workers from LDCs living in other countries.  

The report states that aid flows to LDCs, as a share of donors' gross national product (GNP), almost halved in the 1990s to a record low of 0.05 per cent.  The Panel notes that the composition of ODA also changed markedly in the 1990s:  there was a significant increase in the proportion devoted to social infrastructure and an equivalent reduction for economic and productive sector infrastructure.  The grant element as a proportion of ODA increased, mainly in the case of  bilateral donors and in the form of debt relief and emergency aid. 

The Panel notes that the rising burden of debt, to which a large number of LDCs have been exposed, derives largely from concessional loans received as part of ODA rather than from commercial borrowing or speculative inflows of short-term portfolio capital.  These debt-ridden countries, notably in Africa, tend to be the more structurally constrained LDCs.  By contrast, a number of LDCs in Asia have been able to expand exports and revenue earnings to keep pace with debt service obligations.

Many LDCs have taken advantage of a variety of debt-relief opportunities and were granted debt forgiveness for a combined total of over $7 billion in the 10-year period up to 1998.  The HIPC Initiative, when fully implemented, widens the coverage of types of debts eligible for relief to also include multilateral credits, which form the major part of LDC debt.  It opens the door for the financing of debt from IMF gold sales, and also envisages the setting-up of a HIPC Trust Fund into which bilateral donors could contribute.  One of the underlying principles of the HIPC Initiative is that debt relief would be targeted at the poorest countries and directed so as to strengthen poverty alleviation programmes.

The High-Level Panel is convinced that expanding LDC exports is essential for poverty reduction and economic growth.  Besides directly contributing to poverty alleviation, expanded exports are important to generate foreign exchange for debt repayments and for attracting foreign investors.

In the judgement of the Panel, the source of underdevelopment in the LDCs lies in their structural rigidities.  It is their weak capacity to mobilize domestic resources, both human and material; to make access to these resources more inclusive; and to use these resources more productively which perpetuates their LDC status and makes them dependent on external resource inflows, notably ODA.  This excessive dependence on ODA has resulted in an erosion in ownership over the direction and implementation of policy and contributed to a crisis in governance.  This, in turn, has impacted on economic performance and domestic resource generation and has thus further perpetuated external dependence and vulnerability.

The Panel goes on to emphasize five major areas of challenge for LDCs if they are to graduate out of their LDC status:  gaining ownership over policy, diversifying production and exports, improving governance, enhancing human capital and responding to shocks.

Background on Conference

To respond to the challenges posed by their situation, the United Nations held the first Conference on Least Developed Countries in Paris in 1981.  At that Conference, the international community unanimously adopted the Substantial New Programme of Action for the 1980s for the Least Developed Countries, containing guidelines for domestic action by the LDCs, which were to be complemented by international support measures.  The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says that despite major policy reforms initiated by many of these countries, and supportive measures taken by a number of donors in the areas of aid, debt relief and trade, the economic situation of the LDCs as a whole worsened during the 1980s.

A Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, also held in Paris, from 3 to 14 September 1990, reviewed the socio-economic progress in those countries during the 1980s, as well as progress in international support measures during that decade.  Drawing on the experience and lessons of the 1980s, the Conference agreed on the strategies and development priorities for those countries in the 1990s.

The outcome of the Conference was embodied in the Paris Declaration and the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s.  In these documents, the international community committed itself to urgent and effective action, based on the principle of shared responsibility and strengthened partnership, to arrest and reverse the deterioration in the socio-economic situation in the least developed countries and to revitalize their growth and development.

The Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s adopted at the end of the Second Paris Conference recognized that effective follow-up and monitoring mechanisms should support the development efforts of the LDCs, and that they were key to the successful implementation of the Programme.  A three-tiered mechanism was agreed upon to cover national, regional and global follow-up to monitor the effective implementation of the Programme.

A mid-term review of the implementation carried out by a high-level intergovernmental meeting held in New York in 1995 concluded that the least developed countries continued to be marginalized.  It adopted conclusions to accelerate the implementation of the Programme of Action during the second half of the 1990s.

In 1997, the General Assembly decided to convene the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries at a high level in the year 2001. The Conference has a mandate covering the following areas:  to assess the results of the Programme of Action during the 1990s at the country level; to review the implementation of international support measures, particularly in the areas of ODA, debt, investment and trade; and to consider the formulation and adoption of appropriate national and international policies and measures for sustainable development of the least developed countries and their progressive integration into the world economy.

      Statements

The Committee began by adopting its agenda, as contained in document A/CONF.191/IPC/17 and Add.1.

The Committee then elected SORIN DUCARU (Romania) as Committee Vice-Chairman.      

JACQUES SCAVEE (Belgium), Chairman of the Preparatory Committee, said the main task before the Committee during the current session was to conduct the first reading of the draft programme of action.  The draft had been based on the outcomes of the major global conferences and summits.  Inputs from various organs and country-level preparations had also been taken into account.  He acknowledged a substantive contribution by the United Nations system agencies. 

He said the main challenge in drafting the programme had been to identify national measures that would be essential for the realization of the target of reducing by half the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015 –- a goal affirmed at the highest level at the Millenium Summit.  How to move from rhetoric to action was the key question.  Identifying actions was not enough –- LDCs and their partners must make commitments to undertake the proposed actions within the decade.  Within the framework of partnership, LDCs would continue to have the primary responsibility, he stressed.  Their partners would enable the external environment and provide adequate support.  He also stressed the importance of the involvement of non-governmental organizations in the process. 

The draft had embraced a comprehensive long-term approach to the situation of LDCs, he said.  The role of market forces had been recognized.  Desirable results would be seen if LDCs were “in the driver’s seat”.  Concrete results alone would sustain public confidence in the development partnerships.  The draft included a number of quantitative goals and other indicators.  Chapter

3 of the draft on arrangements for implementation, follow-up and monitoring and review deserved careful consideration by the Committee. 

He then discussed the Committee’s organization of work and stressed the need to move expeditiously.  The question of how to proceed was essential to the accomplishment of the Committee’s mandate.  By the end of the week, the first reading of the text must be completed and as much progress as possible must have been made.  The plight of LDCs was the driving force behind the Conference and that should be kept in mind during the current session.  Let us not look at each other but look forward in the same direction, he said.  Least developed countries and their partners would need to display courage, goodwill and solidarity to move beyond the status quo.

EDDY BOUTMANS, Secretary of State for Cooperation for Development of Belgium, said that his country was happy to host the upcoming Conference.  It would try to ensure the best possible conditions for the event, which would attempt to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor.

Would the world succeed in reducing the extreme world poverty by 2015, in reducing the infant mortality by two-thirds and ensuring healthcare and basic education for all? he asked.  The international community should not allow doubt to cloud those goals.  It was not sufficient to refer to the goals and action plans of the main international conferences of recent years.  The upcoming Conference should present an opportunity to charge ahead.  He hoped it would find its place in history books for setting the necessary priorities, which should be clear-cut and implementable.

His Government was aware of the problems, he said.  It had decided to increase its cooperation budget by 50 per cent in the course of three years.  It was also continuing to plead for cancellation of debt and for untying international aid from conditions.  He supported every initiative to unilaterally open the markets of industrialized countries in all the regions.  He concluded by saying that if poverty afflicted too many on one hand, on the other hand, too many possessed artistic, cultural and spiritual wealth, which should be defended and used in the fight against poverty.  He was looking forward to the meeting in Brussels.

Mr. SCAVEE (Belgium), Committee Chairman, stressed the importance of the Minister’s contribution to the process.  He asked the Minister to convey the Committee’s thanks to Belgium for hosting the Conference.

CARLOS FORTIN, Deputy-Secretary-General of the Conference, speaking on behalf of Rubins Ricupero, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, said that all wanted the third Conference to be remembered as a milestone.  He outlined the state of preparations for the pre-Conference events, which comprised a number of meetings on important subjects, some of which had already taken place.  A number of events were under preparation and would be held before the end of March.  He hoped that the recommendations of those meetings would contribute to the preparations for the Conference and the work of the Preparatory Committee.  The global recommendations should help the LDCs with the preparation of national programmes of action. 

MARK MALLOCH BROWN, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, said that as a Chairman of the United Nations Development Group he was happy to inform the Committee that he had been working closely with other players on substantive preparations for the Conference.  He hoped the results would be evident in the draft programme of action before the Committee, which was a result of many country assessments and contributions. 

United Nations resident coordinators had been asked to assist countries in preparing their national programmes of action, he said, and the European Union was closely involved in the preparations as well.  The country teams had worked closely with governments to ensure the participatory nature of the preparatory process, and efforts were underway to ensure broad-based dialogue.  Multi-disciplinary expertise was being made available to countries, and priorities were being identified.  The United Nations was also assisting in the mobilization of resources. 

INGA MANISTAD, of the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway, addressed the results of a symposium on partnership in development, which had taken place in Oslo last week in preparation for the Brussels conference in May.  That meeting had underlined the role of the private sector in LDC development.  Among the questions discussed had been improvement of investments, provision of business development services and financing local enterprises.  The symposium’s objective was to determine ways to draw on the capacities of the private sector in support of development and poverty alleviation. 

She said the symposium had taken place against the background of concern over the inability of the private sector of the LDCs to effectively participate in their countries' development.  The broad conclusion was that if globalization was to deliver its benefits for all, the people of the least developed countries should be empowered towards that end.  Development assistance and trade should contribute to the more equal sharing of opportunities. 

The symposium had stressed that national governments, the private sector and the international community should work together through direct and frank dialogue, she continued.  Addressing the needs of LDCs would also require a new sense of commitment on behalf of all stakeholders.  She hoped that the report of the symposium would contribute to the work of the preparatory committee and the Conference itself.

BAGHER ASADI (Iran), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said what was needed at this stage of work was to move towards achieving consensus on a global compact for the LDCs and to ensure action and implementation of the agreements at the end of the process.  Critical hindsight was absolutely necessary in devising the fundamentals of the needed global partnership for and with LDCs.  It was also necessary in the formulation of the programme of action.  All must take stock of past experiences and take it upon themselves to build a solid foundation for the future without illusion.

The draft represented a positive movement forward in an ongoing process, he said.  It had tried to respond to the views previously expressed by the concerned parties.  The balance between LDCs and their partners achieved in the draft deserved to be supported.  The framework for follow-up should be discussed with due attention.

He stressed, among other things, the necessity, during the current process, of the active participation of all stakeholders -- governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental.  He also stressed the importance of achieving consensus on an integrated, focused and action-oriented programme with specific time-bound targets and a clear division of responsibility. 

LENA SUNDH (Sweden) spoke on behalf of the European Union, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Cyprus, Malta and Turkey and Iceland.  She said the LDCs were very significant partners for the Union, as evidenced by the fact that the Union would host the Conference in May.  The Union would do its utmost in promoting good working conditions for that important event. 

She said LDCs and the international community faced a complex challenge.  Some LDCs had made progress in recent years.  Despite that, the overall LDC picture was one of increasing poverty and increasing marginalization.  Social stability and peace-building must be fully considered in addressing the needs of many LDCs.  It was essential that the programme of action apply a broad, holistic approach, and that it define synergies and coherent, consistent strategies and policies.  The programme must also reflect major issues raised in the national programmes and highlight disadvantages and constraints specific to LDCs.

She said effective national, regional and international follow-up mechanisms and criteria were called for, including policy coherence and coordination, involving all relevant actors.  Benchmarks and performance indicators were essential for monitoring action after the Conference, possibly also integrating an LDC element into major international reports.  Existing international structures should be utilized for follow-up.

The Union believed that the draft could usefully serve as a basis for an agenda for change and was prepared to work constructively and actively with other delegations to produce an effective final document, she said.  However, the draft was too long.  It would benefit from some editing in order to focus more on major strategic issues rather than listing a mix of policies and technical and project-oriented activities in the sections dealing with commitments. 

The overarching focus for the programme should be to eradicate poverty and secure long-term sustainable development and livelihoods in the LDCs.  Gender equality was yet another dimension that would have to be featured throughout the programme, as the full participation of women in national development was essential for sustainable development and progress.  One key issue on the Conference agenda was good governance.  Improved market access for products originating in LDCs was an important dimension of economic development, she added.  An increase in the low share of ODA was also important.

The Union would like to see clear, balanced, mutual commitments in the text regarding, among others, major issues such as democracy, good governance, respect for human rights, rule of law, gender, transparency and conflict prevention.  It was essential to respect the right and duty of governments to determine their national priorities, to ensure ownership in the development process and to respect partnership between nations. 

ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh), speaking on behalf of the least developed countries, said that not much time remained before the Conference, and every opportunity should be put to best use towards achievement of definitive and positive results.  Today's important statements had set the tone of the discussion, and the LDCs joined their voices with the statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. 

Last July, at the first session of the Preparatory Committee, the first priorities had been identified, and he was glad that they had been reflected in the draft outcome document, he said.  The draft already contained the broad directions for the future outcome and offered a good basis for future negotiations.  Meanwhile, the LDCs had worked hard to identify their concerns and positions.  They wanted to see strong emphasis on debt cancellation, official assistance for development and market access.  The social dimension of development also had overriding importance.  More emphasis should be placed on LDC capacity-building and in building an implementation mechanism for the programme of action.  The former was particularly important, because many past failures were due to the absence of effective monitoring. 

It was important to make fast progress in the Preparatory Committee and to avoid multiplicity of negotiating documents, he continued.  All parties should be fully involved in the negotiating process.  Another important issue was that of participation of LDC representatives in the final Preparatory Committee and in Brussels.  The Conference presented an opportunity of comprehensively dealing with concerns and desires of LDCs for the first time in a decade, and such an opportunity should not be missed. 

MOCTAR OUANE (Mali), speaking on behalf of the African Group, said the concerns of Africa in the elaboration of the new programme of action for LDCs had been reaffirmed in recent meetings of the Organization for African Unity (OAU) and Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).  Africa would like to see specific priorities identified and objectives clearly defined.  Those objectives should be targeted and quantified in order to obtain tangible results. It was vital to establish performance indicators to ensure the programme’s implementation. 

Particular importance should be attached to the establishment of implementation mechanisms and regional, subregional and international cooperation, he continued.  Africa had many hopes for the Conference and called for the international community to establish a new global compact with that continent, which should enable countries to invest resources in African countries, alleviate the debt burden and ensure access to markets.  Such a new compact should be reflected in the draft programme of action.  It was gratifying that there was an atmosphere of political will to achieve the basic objectives now.  It was important to maintain that momentum until the adoption of the outcome document of the Conference.

YUJI KUMAMARU (Japan) said his Government would provide its full support to the holding of the Conference.  The programme of action for the decade would be one of the most important guidelines in the development of LDCs.  Japan hoped that a realistic and effective programme would be adopted, so that it could be used as a base for cooperation for both LDCs and their partners throughout the decade.  Development assistance had been a central policy for Japan, which had provided the largest amount of ODA for the past nine years, he noted.  Japan would hold ministerial level talks on development in December.

He stressed the importance of the ownership of the process by LDCs.  He welcomed the initiative taken by LDCs in the preparation of national programmes of action.  He announced that Japan would extend a financial contribution to the pre-Conference workshop on gender to be held in South Africa in March.

PETER HAYMOND (United States) said that despite numerous changes in the world, little had changed in the social and economic conditions for many of the least developed countries in the last 10 years.  The international community had a common goal in addressing the question of how more than 600 million world citizens could achieve a marked improvement in their quality of life. 

Armed conflict negated all development efforts, he continued.  As the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) had noted in a recent document, of the 34 countries furthest from achieving the international development goals,

22 were affected by current or recent conflict.  Achieving peace must be a central goal of the international community, but even more so of the LDCs.  The United States was working to prevent and resolve conflicts.  The key efforts, however, must come from the countries involved.

Many LDCs were also among the countries suffering worst from the ravages of HIV/AIDS, he said, and his country was making efforts to address that problem.  Without an accountable, transparent, participatory government, there would be no movement toward sustainable development.  The key aspect of the private sector for development worldwide, doubling and tripling national incomes within a generation, had been trade.  It was in recognition of the benefits of trade for poorer countries that the United States at the end of last year had begun implementing the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which offered qualified countries the most liberal access to the United States market.

The United States was and would continue to be a source of capital, know-how, best practices and economic partnership with the LDCs, he said.  However, the primary actions, the agenda setting, the policy making, must be done by each sovereign LDC State, and the decisions to choose policies to attract investment, facilitate trade and gain donor support must be made by each sovereign LDC State, as well. 

He said the United States welcomed the opportunity presented by the third LDC Conference to review the challenges facing LDCs in their efforts to improve the lives of their citizens and reach United Nations social development goals.  The programme of action must recognize preconditions for sustainable development, such as a peaceful, healthy society and an accountable, transparent, participatory government, without which development strategies and development assistance were wasted.  The programme must be flexible enough to adapt to national strategies in differing circumstances. 

He expressed concern that some sectors of the current draft as it stood included calls for overly specific commitments that inappropriately prejudged ongoing or anticipated negotiations in other multilateral fora.  Instead, it should focus on areas of international consensus, including on agreed international goals.  The emphasis in the programme of action should be much more on the creation of a constructive national environment for investment and trade, and on the more effective national use of development assistance, than on a simple call for increased assistance. 

In conclusion, he said that at the end of the discussion, the United States hoped to see a programme of action which would help lead the LDCs towards a better future for their people.  The objective in the Preparatory Committee should be to identify the best ways to work together in support of real and sustainable development of the LDCs.

OKTAY OZUYE (Turkey) said the Conference would be a good opportunity to discuss the formulation of a new approach to international development.  His delegation was satisfied with the draft programme –- it was a well-prepared and extensive document.  He was sure further progress could be made on it before the Conference.  International economic institutions and organizations, multinational companies and non-governmental organizations could play an important role in reaching the targets and goals of the Conference.  A special section for them could therefore be added to the programme of action.

He said it was of primary importance to strengthen the domestic financial markets and to address macroeconomic imbalances so that LDCs could fully benefit from opportunities in a closely integrated world economy.  At the same time, the obstacles posed by that process must be examined.  One of the greatest challenges of the time was to eradicate poverty through sustained development.  Progress in this area was not encouraging.  In the past decade, long-term capital flows to LDCs had declined by about 40 per cent in real per capita terms.  The external debt burden of LDCs continued to hamper efforts to mobilize more resources and acted as a constraint on their capacity to accelerate the expected growth.  The Conference would be a good opportunity to address these questions.

All countries should share the benefits of globalization equally, he said.  A proper and balanced functioning of the multilateral trading system could only be achieved by ensuring the full participation of all countries, particularly the least developed countries.  Turkey had already announced its intention to introduce additional preferential market access measures for the benefit of LDCs.  Turkey provided financial and technical assistance, project credits and grants on a bilateral basis to LDCs.  Turkey would continue to provide assistance to LDCs within its capabilities.

MAURICIO ESCANERO (Mexico) said his Government was firmly committed to ensuring the success of the Conference.  The programme of action must recognize that sustainable development was challenged by internal and external obstacles, which could only be overcome by action at the national and international level.  Only a solid international alliance in conformity with international long-term and integrated commitments could overcome the challenges.  The most should be made of the results of the relevant conferences and United Nations summits organized over the last 10 years that had addressed the challenges of sustainable development. 

The draft programme constituted an excellent basis for the Committee’s deliberations, he said.  Mexico would make a significant contribution to the document during the upcoming deliberations.

EIMI WATANABE, Assistant Administrator of the UNDP, said the Conference would be a key forum to review progress made, identify challenges and achieve policy coherence to accelerate development.  She commended the Conference secretariat, which had built on the countries' contributions to present the draft programme of action.  Its value was in its integrated and holistic framework, identifying actions to be taken by both LDCs and their development partners.  Demonstrating commitment to performance and reform, it highlighted cooperation between various actors, including international organizations, LDCs and civil society.

Poverty reduction was the major goal of international efforts, she continued, and that objective should be pursued at all levels.  The draft programme of action contained both short- and long-term goals, and its people-centred approach harmonized with the UNDP’s approach.  On the part of development partners, the programme called for better integration and meaningful coordination, as well as rationalization of various frameworks.  It was also necessary to support national mechanisms for monitoring implementation of the programme, setting indicators for monitoring progress.  Development of relevant legal systems and new dedication to fight corruption were also important. 

Human rights and democratic principles should also be incorporated into the draft,she said. For its part, the UNDP was already engaged in supporting the LDCs at the country level.  The UNDP was actively involved in the preparation of so-called "ten deliverables" to be presented at the Conference in Brussels with participation from LDC experts. 

She went on to say that the objective of halving poverty by 2015 required faster growth, and to achieve that goal, it was important to substantially increase domestic savings and improve trade conditions, including free market access.  Development partners needed to undertake a range of complementary actions to improve governance and social investments.  One such initiative was the integrated framework for technical assistance, which recently had been revamped with participation of six international agencies.  A group of bilateral donors was also now behind that initiative.  The UNDP would report on the progress of the programme at the Conference.

The international community still lacked a quantified target to improve its cooperation for sustainable energy, which was of critical importance for LDCs, she said.  That required targeted regulatory, financial and training efforts, as well as increased investments.  For the LDCs to achieve growth rates, the issue of the digital divide needed to be addressed.  Along with the need to promote growth, other challenges before the least developed countries included an HIV/AIDS epidemic, conflicts, climate change and related natural disasters.  International cooperation was required to support their actions to mitigate the worst impact of those problems. 

She said it was also an issue for priority attention on behalf of the UNDP, which in recent years, had been reallocating resources towards LDCs, despite serious financial constraints.  She hoped that the global community would find ways and means to build a new compact with countries in greatest need.

MARIA LUIZA RIBEIRO VIOTTI (Brazil) associated herself with the position of the Group of 77 and China and reaffirmed her country's support for the Conference.  Brazil had been promoting several partnership initiatives for the least developed countries, detailed information on which would be provided to the Preparatory Committee.  However, it was important to recognize that the main responsibility rested with the developed countries, which had greater capacity to contribute.  South-South cooperation was of utmost importance, and support from development agencies also played an important role. 

Procedures of multilateral institutions involved in development and financing of technical cooperation should be simplified and made more accessible.  Brazil was giving support to development through cooperation in technical, scientific, and educational capacity-building through partnership.  The existing mechanisms for cooperation with Africa should be supported by the United Nations.

OSITADINMA ANAEDU (Nigeria) said his delegation fully endorsed the statement made previously on behalf of the Group of 77.  It was easy to promise LDCs heaven when they did not have the capacity to get there.  While the draft was commendable and what was expected from LDCs was very specific, what was expected from their development partners was vague.  This issue must be resolved.  Specifics were needed to tackle constraints blocking progress.  He was optimistic about the process, but stressed the need for concrete objectives, particularly in the area of development partnership.

WANG XINGGEN (China) said the draft would serve as a good basis for negotiations.  Owing to declining development aid, heavy debt burdens and falling commodity prices, the development of LDCs in the 1990s had not taken a turn for the better.  The implementation of the Programme of Action for that decade had not been satisfactory.  Only through absorbing past experience could a new, realistic action-oriented programme be produced.

The impact of globalization, economic development and poverty alleviation should be highlighted in the draft programme, he said.  To make progress, LDCs should rely on themselves, but adverse external conditions were the main cause of their predicament.  The international community should assume its obligations and adopt more practical actions in the areas of ODA, debt relief, trade and investment. 

The draft programme failed to properly address the balance between economic and non-economic factors, he said.  These should be complementary. China had always, within its means, provided economic and technical assistance to LDCs, he noted.  He called on the countries concerned to lessen or cancel the debt of LDCs.

JEAN-LOUIS LAWSON of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) spoke about that organization's contribution to the preparatory process.  The goals of the proposed programme of action were important to IFAD.  It was necessary to address the real needs of the LDCs, and those countries themselves should take action against poverty.  IFAD for the past 25 years had emphasized rural development as a means to overcome poverty. 

The United Nations Secretary-General would launch the IFAD rural poverty report this afternoon, he continued, which showed that the majority of the poor lived in rural areas.  The flood of rural, poor migrants to cities contributed to the entrenchment of urban poverty.  The central role of rural poverty must be recognized to effectively combat the problem.  It was also important to reverse the declining flow of resources to the rural areas.  Among the main points affecting the situation of the poor were access to assets, marketing and institutions.  The draft programme of action should emphasize those areas. 

The International Fund for Agricultural Development was one of the United Nations organizations providing funding to LDCs at extremely favourable rates, he continued, with three-fourths of its concessional loans being made to LDCs in various parts of the world.  The IFAD projects included those directed at eliminating the exclusion of the rural poor from decision-making.  IFAD was also a pioneer in promoting community-based approaches to enhance local capacity to plan and undertake activities for community transformation. 

The elimination of the burden of debt had now become a necessity, he said, and the recent provisions to write off the debts of LDCs were very important in that respect.  The Fund was prepared to incorporate into its own activities any relevant parts of the programme of action that would be adopted at the Conference.

URI DADUSH, of the World Bank said that he looked forward to concrete results from the Conference.  Efforts to arrive at a comprehensive programme of action were commendable.  The report of the high-level panel for the review progress in implementing LDC Action Programme for the 1990s showed that development had proven elusive for many LDCs.  The international community had been less supportive than expected.  The diagnosis showed disappointment in recent progress and demonstrated the magnitude of the problem.  However, there still was "some water in the glass".

The Bank's analysis of performance of the poorest countries testified that there was no iron-clad law that precluded the poorest from development, if they avoided war, acute inflation and overvalued exchange rates, he said.  The decline of aid for assistance was a source of disappointment, and clearly a large increase in aid was called for.  The Bank's survey showed that aid was increasingly directed towards countries which had adopted policies towards poverty reduction, taking ownership of the problem.  Despite the fall in aggregate aid flows, the adoption of sound policies was very significant.

He said that duty-free and quota-free access for LDCs should be granted to markets of all developed countries.  As LDCs occupied only a tiny share of world trade, the cost of providing such access would be negligible.  The LDCs themselves should also take steps to integrate into the world economy.  In

2000, there had been unprecedented progress on debt relief, and the HIPC initiative would significantly improve the situation of the heavily indebted countries.  However, unconditional debt cancellation might not be in the best interests of the indebted countries.

REINHARD MUNZBERG, International Monetary Fund (IMF), said he was very much in agreement with the statement made by the World Bank, particularly with regard to his remarks on debt relief.  The Fund wished to be engaged in the preparations for the Conference and the elaboration of the draft programme.  It supported placing emphasis on the role of domestic efforts, macroeconomic stability and ownership of the process.

He stressed the importance of technical assistance, which the Fund was providing.  Noting the upcoming High-level Event on Financing for Development, he said different efforts within the United Nations system should be harmonized.

* *** *