ECOSOC PANEL DEBATES 'PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS IN MEETING CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT'

ECOSOC PANEL DEBATES 'PRIVATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS

IN MEETING CHALLENGES OF DEVELOPMENT'

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 4 July (UN Information Service) -- The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) continued the "coordination segment" of its annual substantive session this morning, by holding a panel discussion on the topic of "United Nations-private sector partnerships in meeting the challenges of development".

The panel consisted of Jacques-François Martin, President of the Global Fund for Children's Vaccines; Manuel Acevedo, Coordinator of the E-Volunteering Unit of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV); and Jean-Marie Blanchard, Business-Development Manager for Market Development of Alcatel in the Middle East, Africa and India.

In his opening statement, Mr. Martin said, among other things, that the Global Fund for Children's Vaccines had been set up in response to stagnating immunization rates and widening disparities in vaccine coverage.  Thirty million children born every year were not fully immunized and more than 3 million children a year died from easily preventable diseases, although a child could be fully immunized for $30.

Mr. Acevedo told the meeting that a United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) programme was under way to facilitate efforts to bridge the digital divide.  Under the programme, volunteers were building human and institutional capacity in the application of information and communications technology (ICT) to all areas of human development through a network of partners involving civil society, the private sector, governments, universities, volunteer agencies, and the United Nations system.

Mr. Blanchard said Alcatel had carried out studies in 100 poor countries that contained half of the world's inhabitants and found that those countries lacked the infrastructure that would enable them to establish mainstream communication services such as telephone services.  In developing countries, less than 5 per cent of the population had access to telephone services, and in order to reduce such barriers, Alcatel was engaged in vast regional and transcontinental projects aimed at closing the telecommunications gap between developed and developing countries.

Among the themes mentioned by those contributing to the discussion from the floor were that local content and participation were vital for ICT progress and

use in developing countries; that ICT systems were better for such local input than other media such as television, which often carried content that had nothing to do with local interests and local problems; and that Web sites, to be useful, needed to be localized.

After it concluded the panel discussion, ECOSOC resumed its general discussion on the role of the United Nations in promoting development, particularly with respect to access and transfer of knowledge and technology, especially information and communication technologies.

Statements of Panellists

JACQUES-FRANÇOIS MARTIN, President of the Global Fund for Children's Vaccines, said there were gaps in use of vaccines and immunization.  There was stagnation in immunization coverage in some countries, a decline in others, and regional disparities.  There was also a lack of introduction in poorer countries of newer life-saving vaccines.  There was limited investment into vaccine research for diseases which put a high burden on developing countries.  Thirty million children born every year were not fully immunized, and more than 3 million children a year died from easily preventable diseases.  A child could be fully immunized for $30.

The Vaccine Fund was set up in response to stagnating immunization rates and widening disparities in vaccines coverage.  Its mission was to save children's lives and protect peoples' health through the widespread use of vaccines with a particular emphasis on developing countries.  The financial resources to meet the needs of the Fund had been launched in 1999 by a $750 million grant from the

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with the mission to harness resources and ensure that all the world's children had equal access to life-saving vaccines.  At present, a five-year commitment to the first 36 countries had been approved with immunization services, and new and under-used vaccines for a total amount of

$600 million.  It was estimated that $1.8 billion was needed over five years to meet basic immunization needs, and approximately $1 billion was needed to supplement existing financial commitments.

MANUEL ACEVEDO, Coordinator of the E-Volunteering Unit of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV), said volunteers were especially useful for problems related to the "digital divide" because so much of bridging this gap depended on human resources and training of the sort that volunteers -- people already well versed in the Internet and ICT -- were able to provide.  ICT volunteering had broad appeal, and the training these volunteers could give to developing countries could lead to long-term capacity-building and wide outreach.  Many people were willing to cooperate in this field.

The United Nations Volunteers was the volunteer arm of the United Nations.  It promoted volunteering globally, Mr. Acevedo said.  Currently, volunteers from 157 nationalities were serving in 140 countries.  A United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) programme was under way as a global initiative to facilitate efforts to bridge the digital divide.  It was building human and institutional capacity in the application of ICT to all areas of human development through a network of partners involving civil society, the private sector, governments, universities, volunteer agencies, and the United Nations system.  Among the aims of UNITeS was to provide administrative support, training, a "help" desk, and financial management in relation to projects to improve the ICT status of developing countries.  Countries currently involved in the project included Bosnia, Benin, Burundi, Botswana, Central African Republic, United Republic of Tanzania, South Africa, Bhutan, India and Mongolia.

Corporate-sector and private-sector contributions to UNITeS included corporate volunteers and the provision of financial support.  Indirect contributions were made as well through equipment and services provided.  The private sector was becoming one of the pillars of institutional network.

JEAN-MARIE BLANCHARD, Business Development Director for Market Development of Alcatel in the Middle East, Africa and India, said that while economic globalization was in process, the international community was concerned about the development of the different economic, political, social and cultural dimensions.  Special attention was also paid to the situation of poor countries, as witnessed by the ambitious programme to combat poverty, which was launched by the international political institutions to eradicate poverty by 2015.  Access to information and knowledge was very irregular around the world, and developing countries particularly were penalized in that regard.  They were victims of the digital divide and risked seeing the gap between them and the industrialized countries widen.  If that situation were not improved rapidly, the developing countries would be isolated from the economic circuit and would be further marginalized.

Within the context of the deployment of ICTs, Alcatel had made studies in 100 poor countries that represented half of the world's inhabitants.  Those countries lacked the infrastructure which would enable them to establish communication services such as telephone services.  In the developing countries, less than 5 per cent of the population had access to telephone services, and even if the service existed the quality was not excellent.  The cost of telephones and telephone terminal installation was expensive for populations with low incomes.  In order to reduce the barriers related to the lack of infrastructure in telecommunications, Alcatel was engaged in vast regional and transcontinental projects which contributed to fill in the actual gap between the developing and developed countries.  The "Rascom Project", which would allow communication services to Africa from 2003 onwards, was an example of Alcatel's efforts.

Discussion

Among the remarks from the floor were that local content and participation were vital for ICT progress in developing countries, and that ICT systems were better for such local input than other media such as television, which often carried content that had nothing to do with local interests and local problems.  It was felt that Web sites, to be useful, needed to be localized, and, hence, those setting up Web sites had to operate with local partners.  The Internet was said, at the moment to be glutted with Web sites catering to the interests of citizens of developed countries.  The United Nations and private-sector partnerships in the ICT field should focus on projects that were viable.  In the short term, it was likely that efforts to eliminate the digital divide would be philanthropic in nature, but that profit-making enterprises could be expected to have greater and greater involvement over time as business opportunities presented themselves.  It was noted that developing countries were eager for additional funding for vaccine programmes.

Mr. BLANCHARD, responding to the debate, said it was true that television was not necessarily a lever for development and often had little local application.  He said Alcatel, at least in West Africa, had agents on site who developed localized Web sites.  Efforts to spread ICT knowledge would, it was hoped, enable local grass-roots development of relevant Web sites, although it was true that setting up such sites could be complex and difficult.

Mr. ACEVEDO, in his response, said that an organization for disabled people in Uganda had succeeded in setting up a Web site and worksite with extensive staff that offered valuable information to disabled persons around the country and that even offered information in different languages.

Mr. MARTIN said vaccination programmes from the very beginning had had both economic and philanthropic motivations.  The intent in seeking more effective public-private partnerships was to speed up progress.  It had to be remembered that "scientific time" was often slow.  It could take a long time to develop an effective vaccine, which then had to be funded, produced, and distributed.

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