ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL HEARS FURTHER DEBATE

ON SUPPORTING AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 18 July (UN Information Service) -- The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) began this morning a third day of debate on the role of the United Nations system in supporting the efforts of African countries to achieve sustainable development, hearing government officials and representatives of international agencies contend that African "ownership" of development programmes was vital if they were to achieve lasting success, and that such problems as the HIV/AIDS epidemic and external debt had to be addressed.

The subject of African economic advancement and poverty eradication is the theme of the Council's high-level segment, and several speakers noted it was timely that the Organization of African Unity (OAU) adopted last week in Lusaka a New African Initiative stating that development projects should be conceived and run by Africans; that African nations should shoulder the responsibility for preventing and resolving conflicts; that they should firmly establish democracy, the rule of law, and transparent and fair legal and regulatory frameworks to enhance business growth and attract foreign investment; and that the international community needed to increase its financial support of these efforts and to take such steps as eliminating trade barriers and reducing the foreign debts of Africa's least developed nations.

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Uganda, Amama Mbabazi, told the meeting that Africa needed a sustained injection of external financing in amounts large enough that economic growth could be achieved and sustained at higher than

7 per cent per year, along with deeper and faster debt relief and much-improved market access for African products.

Among those stressing that peace was vital for economic progress was Jean-Claude Kamanda, Assistant to the Vice-Minister for International Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who said more than 2.5 million people had perished in territories occupied during the ongoing war in the country; infrastructure had been destroyed; there were 2.1 million displaced persons and some 400,000 refugees; and there was systematic pillaging of the country's natural resources.  All of those problems, he said, had greatly exacerbated poverty.

Others addressing the morning session were representatives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Community, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Norway, Andorra, Romania, Mexico, India, Holy See, Republic of Korea, Nepal, Pakistan, Egypt, Bahrain, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the OAU, and the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO).

The Council will reconvene at 3 p.m. to conclude its debate on African development, and is expected to adopt a ministerial declaration on the topic.

Statements

N. TIJANI-SERPOS, Assistant Director-General for the Africa Department of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said the fight against poverty in Africa was a matter of increasing production capacity and quality.  The proliferation of uncoordinated programmes and action plans developed by the international community had largely remained ineffective and unfulfilled.  Yet the new century gave hope -- economic growth had returned to the continent and although falteringly, population growth rates had begun to decline.  The New African Initiative just adopted by the OAU Summit showed that the leadership and vision for sustainable development existed through following the "African way".

The UNESCO was committed to being guided by and contributing to this genuine African initiative in keeping with the goals and targets of the Millennium Declaration.  Poverty eradication required action in education, science, culture and communication -- all main areas of UNESCO's competence.  UNESCO's specific contribution would stem from the expertise it brought together in these main fields of competence.  It was clear that education was key for African development, and science and technology had to be harnessed in terms of the new information technologies and used to bridge the digital divide.

EBRAHIM SAMBA, Regional Director for Africa of the World Health Organization (WHO), said the continent of Africa was facing the greatest burden of disease in its history.  The HIV/AIDS pandemic had already infected 25 million people in Africa, causing 16 million premature deaths and creating 12 million orphans.  The pandemic had added to the existing intolerable burden of infectious disease, which already overwhelmed the fragile health services and the national economies in many African countries.  On the African continent, the HIV/AIDS catastrophe had already reversed many of the gains made in life expectancy.  It had already been recognized by the United Nations Security Council in January last year as a threat to peace and stability in the region, prompting an international consensus on the need for urgent action.

In addition to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, he continued, the burden of infectious disease in Africa continued to devastate this continent, already plagued by war and conflict and by natural disasters, such as drought and floods, and by the pressure of 10 million refugees and 30 million internally displaced persons.  Against this background of poverty and devastation, the centuries-old burdens of infectious disease were still suffered by the peoples of Africa -- malaria, tuberculosis, polio, cholera, dysentery and the endemic tropical diseases.  The health crisis in Africa was the single most important barrier to all socio-economic development on the continent, and the greatest obstacle to any progress or hope for the future of its peoples.

WHO's Emergency and Humanitarian Action programme in particular had played a high-profile role in recent humanitarian disasters in Africa, which had both compounded the health catastrophes of the continent as well as deepened the economic crisis.  To strike a note of optimism, recent action on the political front had shown that building up public health systems and national health infrastructures was already happening.

CARLO TROJAN, head of the delegation of the European Community in Geneva, said that every donor was trying to improve its effectiveness, and the European Community, the biggest international donor of development assistance, was no exception.  Its external assistance programmes, together with European Development Fund resources for countries, corresponded to more than 10 per cent of total official development assistance (ODA) worldwide.  The prime objective was poverty reduction, and focus had been placed on six core areas:  trade and development; regional integration and cooperation; macroeconomic reform and social sector programmes; transport; food security and rural development; and institutional capacity building.  Environment, gender equity and human rights were cross-cutting issues relevant for all those areas.

In its activities, the European Community was seeking to link trade and development in a new, more coherent and synergistic way; it was calling for a new round of World Trade Organization (WTO) trade negotiations to focus on the concerns and needs of developing countries; it was seeking to improve market access for such countries; and it was working to prevent conflict.  The European Community was also pursuing other key issues in Africa, such as health concerns and efforts to combat poverty by placing human development at the centre.

ABDOULIE JANNEH, Assistant Administrator and Regional Director of the United Nations Development Programme-Africa (UNDP), said the concept of national ownership should be taken further.  National ownership could be misunderstood by some as national endorsement of programmes devised elsewhere, and national acceptance of policies adopted externally.  There had to be a move to a more dynamic concept of national leadership.  This implied far more than consent to policies.  It necessitated a dynamic leadership of the development process in all its aspects, from conceptualization of development priorities in a fully consultative mode to the preparation of programmes and projects, their implementation and their monitoring.  UNDP's programmes in Africa were about such leadership.  Today, 36 out of 44 sub-Saharan African countries had prepared anti-poverty plans with UNDP support.  The experience of preparing these plans, the comprehensive poverty surveys on which they were based, had led to UNDP's assistance to 25 African countries in the preparation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, providing UNDP support to national leadership in mustering national resources in the struggle to end poverty.

The United Nations development system had the tools to enable it to become a strong advocate for Africa, a trusted companion of Africans as they met the challenges of national leadership in peace and development.  The UNDP would continue to advocate tirelessly for growing aid resources to Africa, and for tangible assistance to Africans as they reached for their dreams.  The UNDP would also provide advice, as friends and partners, bringing to bear the full value of a universal presence in introducing new experiences and greater choice in accompanying African initiatives to broaden sources of finance for development and to engage in new and exciting partnerships.  The Secretary-General had spoken of a turning-point in Africa's history.  As Africa led the struggle to win the battle for peace and development, the UNDP would be a faithful companion and a trusted friend.

SIGRUN MOEGEDAL, State Secretary for International Development of Norway, said the decision by the recent OAU Summit in Lusaka to establish an African Union and to agree on an ambitious programme to eradicate poverty and promote economic development should be applauded; everyone agreed with the main priorities presented, and a thorough consideration of the New African Initiative should be conducted before any new United Nations initiatives were presented.  Meanwhile it was crucial that African countries built confidence in their economies, their policies, their civil services and their judiciaries if they were to attract both ODA and foreign direct investment (FDI) to fuel their economic development.

Africans needed to establish peace, democracy and good governance, and the United Nations needed to develop an integrated approach to peace and development at the country level, with a stress on coordination of all United Nations system activities through joint programming.  Norway supported efforts to establish a broader health fund which incorporated tuberculosis and malaria and which placed a greater emphasis on preventing the further spread of HIV/AIDS and on strengthening health-care delivery systems.  Donor countries, meanwhile, should strive to make ODA contributions amounting to 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP.)

JULI MINOVES-TRIQUELL, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Andorra, said the situation in Africa was one of concern.  Efforts made to achieve economic, social and political development were compromised by the high levels of poverty, the presence of pandemics, and the consistent armed conflicts.  Regarding the vicious circle between poverty and conflict, it was imperative to come to grips with the causes.  Policies that were adopted to eradicate poverty should receive international support.  A series of objectives had been defined in order to improve the situation in Africa.  In May, there was an effort adopted in Brussels that would help further investment in the continent.

Another element, he said, was conflict prevention.  National efforts to prevent conflicts also required efforts from the international community.  A culture of peace had to be implemented, and children had to be educated about peace and respect for human rights.  Andorra had contributed to the campaign for peace education.  Several different United Nations departments needed to coordinate among each other to support existing national policies.  In the Lusaka Conference, it was said that one of the major impediments facing African development efforts was the widespread incidence of communicable diseases, in particular HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.  The rate of investment in human capital needed for development had crumbled.  There were many strong commitments taken by national delegations to contribute to the international fund on HIV/AIDS.  Andorra had also pledged and contributed to the fund.  In order to ensure that efforts were not repeated and redundant policies were not adopted, there had to be strong coordination between all United Nations agencies.

AMAMA MBABAZI, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Uganda, said the majority of African countries had entered the new century as the poorest and least developed in the world.  It was clear that the primary responsibility for Africa's development lay with the African people themselves; the international community and the United Nations system, as Africa's development partners, needed to play a supportive and catalytic role.

Everyone knew what needed to be done -- the missing link was the failure to implement in a resolute, coordinated and sustainable manner the various commitments already voluntarily undertaken.  Africa needed a sustained injection of external financing in amounts large enough to give a big push so that economic growth could be achieved and sustained at higher than 7 per cent per year.  For that to happen, ODA contributions had to rise to the target of 0.7 per cent of the GDP of developed countries; increased FDI was needed; appropriate technology had to be transferred to the continent; deeper and faster debt relief was needed; and much-improved market access for African products was necessary.  Total cancellation of debt for the poorest countries remained a viable option so that the additional resources freed could be used for poverty eradication.

IONEL ILIE, Director of the Middle Eastern and African Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, said his country was delighted that it had long friendships with African countries.  It had a long history of providing technical assistance to those countries.  A specific example of the links between the two regions was illustrated by the 25,000 Africans who were trained in Romanian educational institutions.  Romania, as a transition country, understood the problems of African countries as they sought to strengthen the rule of law in their countries.  Romania attached priority to its integration into European structures, but that did not mean it was not interested in establishing further links with African countries.  Romania's policies would be in line with the European Union's policies for Africa.

Romania believed that Africa should be able to exploit its great wealth and its resources, and it should be welcomed into the global economy.  Romania had contributed to various peacekeeping efforts in many African countries.  Its diplomatic efforts sought to be as realistic as possible.  It was its firm intention to strengthen cooperation with African countries in areas of mutual interest -- namely, economic areas.  It was time for responsible action to be taken for African countries that could help them benefit themselves.

GUSTAVO ALBIN (Mexico) said there was a new awareness of the importance of helping Africa to break out of its vicious circle of poverty and marginalization and to achieve sustainable development.  National effort was indispensable and could not be substituted, but it did not suffice -- national efforts often were washed out by imbalances in the international economic system.  International cooperation and development-promotion instruments had not proven to be effective; rather, multilateral, focused, and coordinated action was needed to spur sustainable development in Africa.  More direct foreign investment was needed, along with greater external debt relief.  Mexico was one of the greatest contributors to the international debt-reduction initiative.

United Nations programmes must identify and make use of all ways and means that would contribute to bringing out national African capacities.  Furthermore, there should be an open, fair, and transparent world trading system.  Such a system would be certain to reduce African poverty.  In addition, there had to be greater investment in Africa to reduce the continent's burdens while keeping in view the realities of globalization.

SAVITRI KUNADI (India) said India believed that Africa's efforts towards eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development were predicated on the twin factors of sustained economic growth and external financing.  The growth rate in Africa in 2000 was estimated to be 3.5 per cent.  A minimum of a 7 per cent annual growth rate was required to reduce poverty by half by 2015.  The question was how to achieve this growth rate.  India shared the assessment that with a domestic savings rate of 18 per cent, as compared to a desired level of 25 per cent, the African countries would be unable to mobilize the required resources from their own savings.  After all, there could hardly be any savings at subsistence levels.  International action should concentrate on meeting this financing gap.  This was the crux of the issue.  With 18 per cent of the world's population, Africa produced 3.5 per cent of the global GDP, and its share in global trade was 1.5 per cent, and in global FDI it was 2 per cent.  These figures spoke of the marginalization of Africa in the global economy.  This situation needed to be remedied and steps had to be taken, with international support, to ensure the beneficial integration of Africa into the world economy.

In the last few years, there had been many suggestions for adopting a coordinated and integrated approach to development assistance.  There were many separate initiatives at different stages of evolution, designed for different categories of countries.  While it was believed that there was need for effective coordination, it was firmly held that the recipient countries themselves could best undertake such coordination and harmonization and, therefore, they should be in the driver's seat.  What happened in Africa had always been of abiding concern to India, given the age-old commercial and cultural ties that bound the two.  India attached the highest priority to its cooperation with Africa.  It had implemented infrastructure building projects in African countries, particularly in the railways sector.  India proposed continuing further in this direction and contributing to the efforts of African countries towards growth and self-reliance, particularly in human resource development.

Archbishop DIARMUID MARTIN, Permanent Observer for the Holy See to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said globalization would only serve the human family if it became a process of inclusion.  That required establishment of a network of norms and rules, and also of ideals, including the realization that responding to the needs of the weakest was a long-term investment for the good of all, as Pope John Paul II had stressed.  Africans had to become protagonists for their own future and strong, equal partners in all global endeavours.  There was something about solidarity that placed it above simple calculation -- and a world order based on solidarity could not be built from a narrow notion of national or economic interest.  It was patently unfair to require the world's poorer countries to open their markets while developed countries maintained heavy protection on products in which poorer nations had a comparative advantage.  A truly open trading system should be created.

While discussing Africa's problems it was also vital to highlight Africa's strengths -- its immense human and cultural richness.  Conflicts in Africa had to be ended -- there had to be a concerted effort to bring peace to the women, children and men there who had known only the horrors of war, in some cases, for generations.

EUI-YONG CHUNG (Republic of Korea) said it was high time to address one of the greatest global challenges that African countries were facing in their path towards sustained growth.  While the rapid process of globalization had positive impacts, poverty and the widening digital divide remained strong.  The situation in Africa seemed worse than in any other part of the world.  It was discouraging to note that African shares on the global market and Internet contents remained at less than 2 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively.  To add to Africa's dwindling external financial assistance and worsening debt hangover, the HIV/AIDS pandemic was running rampant, and armed conflicts were prevailing across the continent.  Reversing these trends was, indeed, a daunting challenge.  The United Nations had made unswerving efforts to address underdevelopment and the frustrating regional conflicts since its adoption of the New Agenda for the Development of Africa

10 years ago.  Thanks to United Nations peacekeeping operations, the frequency and magnitude of regional conflicts had been steadily diminishing.

The peace-building and development agenda was a complex and long-term process.  Most recently, a new approach integrating not only political and military action, but efforts in humanitarian, economic, and social areas, as well, was extensively explored to address the complex tasks at hand.  Given these inherently multifaceted challenges, the United Nations should continue to play a leading role in coordinating divergent activities and in assisting African countries in a comprehensive manner.  The Republic of Korea was heavily indebted to the United Nations for the assistance it had provided from the time of its independence, and along its path to development.  In this regard, the Republic of Korea stood ready to support and join United Nations activities for durable peace and sustainable development, particularly in Africa.  As a country transforming itself from absolute poverty to a newly industrialized economy, the Republic of Korea had made the utmost efforts to share its development experience with other developing countries, African countries in particular.  By the end of this year, the Republic of Korea would have registered 30,000 invited trainees from LDCs, the majority of whom came from African countries.

JEAN-CLAUDE KAMANDA, Assistant to the Vice-Minister for International Cooperation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, said the people of the Democratic Republic of the Congo were grateful for United Nations efforts to resolve the conflict affecting the country.  The crisis was caused by an aggressive war being waged against the Democratic Republic by neighbouring countries.  More than 2.5 million people had perished in occupied territories of the country, and record levels of maternal mortality were now occurring; infrastructure had been destroyed; there were 2.1 million displaced persons and some 400,000 refugees; there was forced recruitment of children into fighting units; and there was systematic pillaging of the country's natural resources, thus exacerbating poverty.

Pillaging of resources also violated international and United Nations covenants and transgressed the principles of national sovereignty and territorial integrity.  What was important was that United Nations efforts in the country, and within Africa, should include post-conflict resolution components so that lasting peace could be achieved.  Without peace there could be no sustainable development.  The root causes of conflicts had to be determined and appropriate solutions proposed, including through regional and subregional projects aimed at economic growth and at prohibiting arms traffic in Africa.

MURARI RAJ SHARMA (Nepal) said Nepal attached great significance to the development of Africa.  It had full faith in the great African peoples, and in their resolve and energy to make history.  In the latter half of the last century alone, Africans had launched several successful revolutions.  The first secured them independence from colonialism and the second gave them freedom from authoritarianism and apartheid.  Yet durable peace and prosperity continued to elude African nations.  Though the richest continent on earth in natural resources, Africa had the largest ratio of poorest people, and 34 out of the

49 LDCs were in Africa.  The vicious cycle of poverty and conflict had completely sapped the vitality and strength of most African societies.  The green revolution did not visit African farms.  And globalization and information technology had not come to the South, particularly Africa.  As a result, disparities in wealth and the digital divide in the world had worsened, and this situation was morally and politically untenable.  It would take a third, and perhaps the most difficult, revolution for Africa to break the circle of conflict and poverty, and to leapfrog to a higher plane of political stability and economic accomplishment.  As with the past two, Africans had to lead and own this quiet convulsion to succeed, as only they knew what was best for them, and where it hurt the most.

Combating poverty, he said, HIV/AIDS and malaria, and educating children topped the African agenda.  But this would not be possible without empowering people and generating incomes, without building physical infrastructure and expanding trade and industry, and without producing sufficient food and resolving conflicts.  Africa could not meet these daunting challenges without sustained external support.  The international community – notably, the advanced countries, the United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions, the WTO, private foundations, multinationals and civil society -- had an obligation and enlightened self-interest to assist Africa.  Nepal wished to work with African countries for an African renaissance and renewal.  Africa had to receive help to rise to its full potential.  Now that African leaders had shown vision, political will and commitment to work for the third African revolution, the international community had to respond with an equal measure of support and assistance.

MUNIR AKRAM (Pakistan) said Africa had assumed responsibility for its own development, but it was obvious that concerted international efforts were required.  If Africans did their part -- ending conflicts, ensuring sound policies, establishing good governance -- that still would not be sufficient in an increasingly globalized world.  Trade negotiators, academics, and activists all agreed that the current development model was flawed, that the current trajectory of globalization was unsupportable and unsustainable.  Processes of trade and financial liberalization did not on their own generate growth, and they could have negative impacts on employment, fragment labour markets, and push millions of workers into the non-formal sector.

The more equitable solution was to re-orient national and international financial and trade policies towards creating jobs, securing livelihoods, and ensuring the wide and fair distribution of the benefits of growth.  The United Nations and related institutions could work here to create the space needed for growth in Africa.  Significant and expanded debt relief was needed, ODA had to be increased, new forms of development financing had to be found, and an equitable global trading system had to be established.

FAYZA ABOULNAGA (Egypt) said the challenges and difficulties facing Africa concerning food, health and shelter had affected its development capacities.  It was believed that once Africa had the appropriate circumstances, the continent could right itself and it would assume its proper place in the global community.  The African countries for the last four decades of the twentieth century had gone through necessary experiences and situations.  It was appropriate that the high-level segment should be about Africa when the Lusaka Summit had just concluded.  The New African Initiative, which represented a mix of several initiatives, represented a real African realization that development would not be realized without the help of the international community, and there could be no sustainable development without continued peace.  The Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) had said that the New African Initiative was similar to the Marshall Plan that had helped rebuild Europe in the middle of the last century.  It was hoped that the powerful and rich developed countries would do their part and help the New African Initiative become a reality.  It would be appropriate if the Initiative was the final new development initiative that had to be taken for Africa.  African governments had to show transparency in order to attract foreign domestic investment.

It would not be possible to achieve the necessary economic growth in Africa based solely on domestic savings.  The international community should enhance ODA to its agreed levels.  That was a necessity.  A commitment like that could ensure that private flows would go to the continent, and there would be a smaller reliance on ODA in the future.  Despite efforts to attract foreign direct investment, figures showed that there had been a recession of flows.  Trade was also one of the most effective means for development.  Africa had had great hopes for a multilateral trade system, however, dividends had been very disappointing for many countries.  Opportunities for market access had not been appropriately utilized.  In many cases, where the African countries had products that could be exported, tariff barriers often prevented these products from entering industrialized countries.  Priority must be given in combating diseases like

HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.  These diseases sapped the continent of its human capital.

SAEED AL-FAIHANI (Bahrain) said the United Nations had a vital role to play in helping Africans to achieve sustainable development, as the continent had so many impediments facing it.  Those African countries that had been making economic progress should be encouraged and fostered.  Bahrain had done much to assist African countries, and that was well known, and it was much involved in political, health and development issues.  Bahrain had in addition provided relief and assistance to African nations.  Recently, it had focused on ending conflicts in Africa and on establishing lasting peace there.

The international community should support the struggle of Africans and should understand that absence of development was an important factor in causing conflicts.  The role of the United Nations should not be confined to peacekeeping; it was important that peace and development be treated as two complementary elements; in fact it was not possible to separate peace and development.  Long-term assistance should be linked to emergency reactions to African problems -- a coordinated approach was necessary.  More comprehensive efforts also were needed to expand educational systems in Africa.

YOSHIO UTSUMI, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), said one of the core purposes of ITU was to extend the benefits of new telecommunications technologies to all the world's inhabitants.  Nowhere was that challenge greater than on the continent of Africa.  During the last five years, Africa's share of the world's population had grown to around 13 per cent, but its share of the world's Internet users had fallen to just 1.1 per cent.  By contrast, over the same period, Asia's share of the world Internet users grew from 15 per cent in 1995 to 28 per cent by 2000.  It was clear that Africa should be the focus of the international community’s efforts to address the digital divide.  At the G8 summit in Genoa this weekend, the world's leaders would review the report of the "Digital Opportunity Task Force", which they established last year.  Millions of dollars had been spent in preparing the various input documents to this report, but not a single cent of those funds had yet been spent on practical actions to reduce the digital divide, in Africa or elsewhere.  The real test came now, as the recommendations of the Dot.Force report were implemented.  Two key elements to take this work forward would be the establishment of the United Nations Information Communication Technology Task Force, and the holding of a World Summit on the Information Society.

The digital divide, he said, was a reflection of underlying differences in wealth, employment and access to education.  Inequalities of this nature took generations to resolve.  But the digital divide also reflected differences in the availability of infrastructure.  Here it was possible to make a big difference in a short time.  The success of Asia, for instance, in doubling its share of the world's Internet users was based on a period of heavy investment in new infrastructure during the second half of the 1990s and on moves towards market liberalization.  It was time to make the same commitment to infrastructure investment in the continent of Africa.  A key measure of success would be the extent to which there was success in extending the level of Internet connectivity on the continent of Africa.  In many countries of Africa, the market had not been fully explored: the lack of supply meant high prices, which meant few users, which meant a lack of supply.  Yet, with sufficient political will, the international community could greatly increase the level of Internet connectivity available to Africans. 

WORKNEH DEGEFU, Director Coordinator for Support to Scientific Programmes of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), delivering a statement on behalf of G.O.P. Obasi, Secretary-General of the WMO, said the organization helped its

185 members, including 52 in Africa, to address issues involving socio-economic development and preservation of the environment.  Through its technical cooperation programme, with support from cooperating partners, it had been possible through pilot projects in Africa to increase agricultural yields by as much as 30 per cent through judicious use and application of climate information and services.  The WMO's World Hydrological Cycle Observing System had carried out several projects in Africa aimed at improving the database for strategic economic development and sustainable use of water resources.

The WMO also contributed to capacity building in African countries aimed at helping them to manage natural disasters, which had increased dramatically over the last decade.  It was known that 70 per cent of natural hazards were meteorological or hydrological in origin.  The WMO and national meteorological and hydrological services in Africa continued to play a primary role in disaster preparedness and early warning through information and prediction of extreme or abnormal weather and climate conditions.

A representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), delivering a statement on behalf of Carlos Magarinos, Director-General of UNIDO, said it was UNIDO's strong belief that the economic stagnation in most African countries, and their marginalized positions, was linked to insufficient attention being paid to productive capacities in industry and, in particular, in manufacturing.  It was industry, more than any other productive sector, that drove the process of economic growth and global integration.  With a stagnant manufacturing sector, African countries could not achieve sustainable development in a globalizing economy.  Manufacturing industry was a major conduit for the transmission of technological knowledge to the rest of the economy.  Industrial development contributed to alleviating poverty by raising productivity, creating employment, reducing risk exposure and enhancing the physical income-generating assets of the poor.  Thus, industry and industrial growth were essential for poverty alleviation and sustainable development in Africa.  Industrial activity put more value added into basic raw materials than the intrinsic value of most of the commodities themselves.  Moreover, export prices of manufacturers were both less volatile and less susceptible to long-term deterioration than those of primary goods – hence, industry's greater contribution to sustainability.

It was becoming more and more evident that a stable and healthy industrial sector was important for social stability and peace.  With higher average wage levels than agriculture or services, industry had the potential to ensure a more even distribution of national incomes through national budgets and social programmes.  It was industry that eventually created a stable, peace-oriented middle class.  For African industry, the challenge of going global was primarily a matter of improving competitiveness.  That could be best achieved within the context of dynamic stable economies, solid export bases, reform programmes and, above all, by avoiding political, civil and economic turmoil.  Although competitiveness ultimately originated at the enterprise level, the role of economic and industrial policy in fostering competitiveness was crucial for improving infrastructure, reducing transaction costs, and enhancing governance.

SOPHIE ASIMENYE KALINDE, Executive Secretary of the permanent delegation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) to the United Nations Office at Geneva, delivering a statement for OAU Assistant Secretary-General Lawrence O.C. Agubuzu, said African governments had gathered in Lusaka to acknowledge the need for urgent action to address development issues.  They understood that new strategies were necessary. The Lusaka Summit had taken decisions on the modalities for the African Union, which had become a legal entity on 26 May.  The decision to create the African Union was based not just on the necessity of accelerating the process of integration but on the need to facilitate development and to ensure the effective integration of African countries into the world economy.

In addition, the Summit had adopted the New African Initiative, which identified priority areas, long-term objectives and goals for development in Africa.  However, given the present state of globalization and the extremely weak position of most African countries, it was clear that the cooperation of the international community would be required to complement national and regional aspects of the Initiative.  Action also was needed to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic and to make sure that humanitarian assistance to Africa was well coordinated, so that it had the maximum positive impact.

RENATE BLOEM, President of the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CONGO), said African non-governmental organizations (NGOs) urged support for the Declaration of the recent special session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS.  They underlined that poverty affected health, family, economy and was a continuum on which HIV/AIDS had appeared not as an accident but as a consequence, and now a cause.  She also said that African women still had limited access to the power to control their lives, to achieve dignity and escape from poverty.  They called for new funding, not loans, to help confront the pandemic, which was now Africa's greatest development crisis.  It was urged that funding and other assistance exploit creative forms of cooperation involving regional entities, governments and civil society and particularly help support the abundant resources that existed in Africa's local communities, as well as making no distinction between prevention and care.  Further, CONGO asked that there be a higher quality of care, whether the problems came from war situations, HIV/AIDS, poverty or other causes of vulnerability.

Most peacemaking and peace-brokering mechanisms established in Africa had been entirely composed of and run by men.  Half of the population affected by the conflicts had been excluded from their solution, as had aged persons, who could bring wisdom to the process since they constituted the moral guarantors of African societies.  On debt, it should be cancelled, as laid down by the Jubilee Campaign for African countries.  As all alternatives proposed and tried in the past had

been abject failures, cancellation was the only way to renew economic viability and bring closure for creditors, most of whom were prepared to absorb their losses.  From the standpoint of global justice, cancellation was necessary to help reverse the continued outflow of wealth from African nations to the richest ones via debt service.  Only through the cancellation of debts could African countries devote significant resources to the basic human needs of their peoples, instead of servicing loans prompted by international lenders to misguided and often corrupt regimes of the past.

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