‘Here in Istanbul, as Chapter Closes on Brussels, We Have Opportunity to Rewrite Fate of Least Developed Countries,’ Conference Hears
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| Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York |
‘Here in Istanbul, as Chapter Closes on Brussels, We Have Opportunity
to Rewrite Fate of Least Developed Countries,’ Conference Hears
Speakers Seek to Address ‘Unfinished Brussels Agenda’,
Appeal for New Action Programme Grounded in Policy, Not Charity
(Received from a UN Information Officer.)
ISTANBUL, 12 May — With negotiators edging towards consensus on the outcome of the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, speakers today used the gathering’s penultimate plenary session to press for a 10-year action plan grounded in sound policies that ensured delivery on past pledges for development assistance and brought down the barriers blocking their paths to economic growth.
“The mixed results of the Brussels Programme of Action have been the defining story for the least developed countries over the past decade,” said Indonesia’s representative, referring to the previous strategy on behalf of the world’s poorest countries, agreed at a European Union-hosted conference in 2001.
She said that, even as they worked actively with development partners to overcome structural obstacles, the least developed countries — burdened as they were with fragile economic and political environments — had been largely unable to persuade businesses, markets, and investors to take up the cause of their development.
“Here in Istanbul, as we close the chapter on the Brussels [action plan], we have an opportunity to rewrite the fate of the least developed countries,” she said, urging a path that strengthened those nations’ ownership over their own development. They were in the best position to determine the most optimal means for their growth, and she added national-level action would remain the cornerstone of the success of the least developed countries.
Kenya’s representative, hoping that the Conference would help create a “united front” for dealing with the great challenges facing the least developed countries — many of which were shared by his own nation — and come up with viable actions to remediate them. The Millennium Developed Goals should be embraced as the blueprint for such efforts. He urged delegations to adopt a new, dynamic and proactive approach to meeting the challenges, and added that the least developed countries themselves should improve their governance and regulatory frameworks, and agricultural systems, and identify opportunities.
Many of the more than 40 speakers today acknowledged that the structural challenges the least developed countries faced were daunting, and many outlined their hopes for an Istanbul programme of action, which, among other things, prioritized the objective for those nations and their development partners to strengthen productive capacities over the next 10 years. Others said every effort should be made to ensure that the Istanbul outcome set out initiatives that helped bridge the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor.
Many delegations also emphasized that the new action plan must reflect the important role equitable trade and market access played in driving economic growth, and said duty- and quota-free market access should be ensured for exports from the least developed countries. Today’s meeting also heard repeated calls for concluding the long-deadlocked Doha Development Round of international trade negotiations.
“We strongly believe that the new action programme must bridge the gap between the poor and the rich, address the unfinished Brussels agenda, and bring about more equitable global growth and prosperity,” said the Special Envoy to the President of Kiribati. That could occur only through political commitment at the national level, enhanced partnerships between the least developed countries and their development partners, strengthened coordination among the developed countries and a scaling up of resources.
The success of the new programme of action, said the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, would depend on the poorest countries being allowed to develop independent policies that reflected their own priorities and were not hindered by external conditions. European countries ignored the need for such national leadership, he maintained, expressing deep concern for developed countries’ failure to meet their commitments.
South-South cooperation was rising to the challenge and was crucial, but should not replace the activities of developed countries, which had the greatest responsibility for the development of poor countries. He highlighted the possibility of a new development model, based on solidarity and equality, and proposed the creation of a United Nations-backed development council for that purpose.
From the viewpoint of a major donor, Canada’s representative said the challenge in the years ahead would be to translate the commitments made at Istanbul into concrete and coordinated action — with focus, efficiency and accountability for real results for the least developed countries. “Much work remains to be done, and we can only achieve our objectives by using all the tools at our disposal, including North-South partnerships, South-South and triangular cooperation,” he said, also calling for enhanced engagement of the private sector, civil society, parliamentarians and philanthropists.
On the way forward, he said that since development over the past decade had become increasingly linked to other policy areas and global initiatives, achieving development objectives now depended on success in tackling a wide array of policy challenges in a coherent and integrated manner. Further, while donor Governments still had a responsibility to contribute through providing official development assistance (ODA), they now had many other powerful tools at their disposal, including ensuring market access and domestic economic policies that favoured developing country exports.
Earlier in the meeting, the Conference adopted a resolution on “credentials of representatives to the Forth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries”, contained in the report of its Credentials Committee (document A/CONF.219/5).
Represented at the ministerial level today were the Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Cameroon, Germany, India, Czech Republic, Viet Nam, Brazil, Romania, Thailand and Italy.
Also speaking today were the representatives of the Philippines, Singapore, Moldova, Cambodia, Kuwait, Spain, Japan, Haiti, Pakistan, Cuba, Panama, Dominican Republic, Tunisia, South Africa, Mauritania and Israel.
Statements were made by the Permanent Observer of the Holy See and the Minister of Planning and Administrative Development of the Palestinian Authority.
Representatives from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) also made statements.
Representatives of the Black Sea Economic Corporation, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) also spoke.
The plenary of the Fourth United Nations Conference for Least Developed Countries will resume at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 13 May.
Background
The Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries continued for its fourth day today in Istanbul, Turkey. (For background, see Press Release DEV/2877 of 5 May.)
Statements
MIN DONG-SEOK, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea, noted that his country had transformed itself from a recipient to donor country within the lifetime of many Koreans, with he himself remembering as a child drinking milk provided by the United Nations and United States. The Korean Government and people worked hard, making good use of assistance, to see the economy grow over 800-fold. Capacity-building played a pivotal role. A serious lack of resources, technology and domestic capital had long blocked development, however, so the only abundant resource was the Korean people. Human resource development, therefore, was key.
From the 1960s to the 1980s, he said, an export-led high growth rate revealed a pressing need to build economic and social infrastructure. Foreign aid was used during this period for the building of hospitals, power plants, communications networks and highways. Spurred by the “can-do” attitude of the people, the Government was firmly committed to implementing “five-year” plans, which identified national priorities and directed aid to them. His country’s development experience showed the importance of targeting development resources towards enhancing productive capacity. Agricultural capacity was the first focus, turning afterwards to the full range of manufacturing, with effective trade promotion policies.
“Aid,” he emphasized, “should be used as a catalyst to complement and leverage other development resources, including trade, private investment and domestic resources.” He underlined, however, that the Korean model was not something that could or should be repeated by every country. In order to be successful, it was important to capitalize on the uniqueness of the national situation as well as changes in the global environment. He affirmed that development cooperation with least developed countries was a priority of his country, and that aid devoted to that purpose was increasing, along with plans for greater market access and targeted interventions at the international level. His country was also responding to climate change, expanding support for food security and, in late November of this year, it would host a high-level forum on aid effectiveness in the port city of Busan. He looked forward to building a new kind of inclusive development partnership there.
AMANDA ELLIS, Deputy Secretary for International Development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of New Zealand, said that as a small South Pacific nation, her country recognized that the least developed countries continued to face particular challenges. Addressing them required the international community’s full support, including through a multi-stakeholder approach that brought together Governments, civil society and the private sector. Such an approach was one way to apply innovative solutions to issues on the international development agenda. Five of the least developed countries were located in the South Pacific and all of them had to deal with, among other things, a high dependence on remittances, narrow economy bases and the adverse impacts of climate change.
She said that more than half of New Zealand’s aid was directed to its neighbours in the Pacific, but that did not mean that her country was ignoring development needs in the rest of the world. New Zealand provided substantial assistance in South Asia and in Afghanistan, and spearheaded smaller initiatives in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. In addition, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Cambodia were among New Zealand’s development partners. She was pleased to announce that her Government would be providing NZ$2.5 million for a number of multilateral trust funds and programmes aimed at enhancing economic development in small States, many of which were among the least developed.
As for the work at hand, she said the Istanbul programme had an ambitious goal of graduating half those countries by 2020. That could only be achieved with the strong commitment and support of the international community, as well as concerted efforts by the Governments and peoples of the least developed countries themselves to mobilize domestic resources and invest in human capital and good governance. Graduation from least developed country status, which should be celebrated as a sign of progress for the concerned country, unfortunately and understandably raised concerns about the costs of losing preferential treatment and assistance. In that regard, New Zealand welcomed the proposed creation of a working group to study and strengthen ways to smooth the transition process.
YAOUBA ABDOULAYE, Delegate Minister for the Economy, Planning and Regional Development of Cameroon, said the Conference was being held at a time of myriad crises around the world, and therefore was a prime opportunity to consider strategies to assist the least developed countries. Those nations were disproportionately impacted by the financial downturn, climate change, and high food prices, among others. All nations must work together in such times, he said, adding that: “Over and above our discrepancies and differences, we are all responsible for maintaining essential global goods, such as human rights, sustainable environments, peace and stability.”
He went on to say that the 2001 Brussels Programme of Action had fallen short of expectations because of weak mobilization of international resources and the inability of many least developing countries to fully harness the potential for their own development. Cameroon, despite its rich natural resource base and broad range of exports, had been a victim of the various shocks that had occurred over the past decade, including alterations in global trade terms and climate change. Nevertheless, through the Government’s foresightedness and the people’s determination, “we were able to salvage our development and our republican institutions were maintained”. Cameroon had also been able to strengthen its administrative institutions, ensure the rule of law and promote basic freedoms. It had also sought to bolster the participation of civil society at all levels, while strengthening cooperation with multilateral and bilateral development partners.
Continuing, he said Cameroon had also introduced free health care for children under six, and recruited 25,000 youth in public administration services, not only to train those young people, but to bolster the institutions in which they worked. Cameroon was determined to graduate from the least developed category and to share its experiences with other least developed countries. He hoped that the Istanbul action plan, among other things, would truly and explicitly take on board the specificities of least developed countries, especially landlocked or conflict-affected nations.
FRIEDEL EGGELMEYER, Director-General of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, supporting the goal of halving the number of least developed countries by 2020, said: “We need to make a point of setting the bar high. Otherwise we will achieve too little.” The key to reaching that goal lay within the countries themselves, with the fundamental prerequisites for sustainable development, namely, peace and security, good governance, rule of law and respect for human rights. Education also was essential. That was why Germany was pursuing a new balance between supporting and challenging its partners. “We are increasingly calling for good governance as a condition for our support, not as a result,” he said.
External assistance was important, but the mobilization of resources was important as well, he said. “Each country is responsible for tapping its own potential,” he added, pledging that Germany would support countries in tapping their potential to the fullest, notwithstanding the need to consolidate its federal budget. The country was currently working with 24 poorest countries through bilateral country programmes and with another five as part of regional programmes, having doubled financial contributions and being the second largest contributor of funds for climate change adaptation. Germany wanted to be judged, however, not by the amount of funds it contributed, but by the results of its cooperation. Better cooperation with donors and the private sector, free access to trade, and Aid for Trade programmes were key parts of that strategy.
S.M. KRISHNA, External Affairs Minister of India, said: “Supporting the LDCs [least developed countries] goes far beyond the moral argument; it is an economic imperative and a political necessity.” Those countries were facing tremendous challenges, but they had come to Istanbul with high expectations. He was hopeful that those expectations would be fulfilled. Indeed, the Istanbul programme of action was comprehensive. It now needed to be backed by the highest political commitment and a genuine international partnership. He, therefore, urged all stakeholders to pledge their maximum support. He promised that India would do “all it can and more”.
He welcomed steps taken by poor countries to undertake major initiatives to attract foreign direct investment and promote private enterprise to boost growth, as well as the multi-stakeholder approach of the Conference to involve parliamentarians, the private sector and civil society. India’s solidarity with the least developed countries had been nurtured through a shared history and common development deficits, and it remained fully committed to those countries’ needs, having extended capacity-building and economic assistance in key sectors, as well as duty- and quota-free preferential trade treatment. Credit facilities for their benefit had also been established, and India’s private sector had invested more than $35 billion. “The Istanbul programme was an opportunity to give to the least developed countries what they rightfully deserved. Let us make the most of it,” he concluded.
VLADIMIR GALUSKA, Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, said that the major task of the coming period would be to implement the action programme created at this Conference to promote the inclusive and sustainable economic growth of the least developed countries. His country was supporting the achievement of the Millennium Goals, and prioritized development work in Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Cambodia, Angola, Zambia and other countries, many of which were in the United Nations least developed category.
Noting that the environment, water treatment, health, social services, good governance and agriculture were among the priority areas of Czech development cooperation, he stressed that a holistic world partnership was needed to make the most difference at the local level, where, in turn, ownership was crucial. “If we can each step up our efforts, we can make it.” In conclusion, he underlined the importance of good governance and human rights in all development endeavours.
DOAN XUAN HUNG, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam, describing his country’s economic expansion of the past 25 years along with its activities in poverty reduction and participation at the regional and international level, stressed that all developing countries required support and assistance, but what made the difference was the striving within each country’s economy, building on its indigenous resources, taking strong actions to remedy inherent weaknesses and maximizing the use of assistance. “The higher the efficacy of aid utilization is, the more the spin-off effects it has on development and the less aid-reliant LDCs become,” he said.
To raise his country’s competitiveness, he said his Government had placed high priority on infrastructure development, improvement of legal frameworks, administrative reform and, most importantly, the training of human resources. As a new member of the World Trade Organization, his country also believed in the importance of a strong, equitable trade system that worked globally, as the rise of regionalism eroded preferential treatment for poor countries. For that reason, it was crucial for the Doha Round of international trade talks to be completed.
Equally important, he said, was development cooperation within regions, to narrow the development gap among countries, regions and subregions and to better face the development obstacles, such as natural disasters, climate change and diseases. The most important support by major economies to the development of the poorest countries was the establishment of infrastructure for global trade and investment growth. Viet Nam, he pledged, would do whatever it could to work with others in the interest of common development.
VERA LUCIA BARROUIN CRIVANO MACHADO, Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs of Brazil, said the international community must learn from the disappointments of the past and commit to do more, and better, in the future. To that end, much remained to be done to fulfil the pressing needs of nearly one fourth of the United Nations membership, which was currently characterized as least developed. While many of those countries had made significant strides during the Brussels implementation decade, the global crisis sparked by the meltdown of large banks and financial institutions in the developed world had taken its toll.
She urged the international community to prioritize — and scale up assistance for — sectors such as agriculture and trade. It was also necessary to consider establishing humanitarian food stocks, consistent with the guidelines set out by the World Trade Organization, to alleviate or head off food shortages. “This very real problem cannot serve, however, as a pretext for maintaining trade distorting policies that prevented the development of agriculture or disrupting markets in the developing and least developed countries,” she said.
Turning to Brazil’s technical cooperation with other developing countries, she said her Government’s programmes in that regard were based on the country’s own experiences and adapted to the specific needs of partner nations. “We listen to the demands of our partners. We assist them in achieving their objectives and finding their own solutions,” she said, adding that that principle had led to the establishment of horizontal partnerships and the promotion of autonomy and self-reliance. Last year alone, the Brazilian Cooperation Agency had carried out more than 300 short-, medium-, and long-term initiatives in 38 countries, including 22 least developed nations.
Finally, she recalled that Brazil was set to host the June 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which aimed to ensure balanced integration of economic growth, social development and environmental protection. As the least developed countries were most affected by climate change, Brazil invited all such nations to Rio de Janeiro for that conference at the highest level to ensure that their priorities were duly reflected in the outcome document.
DORU COSTEA, Secretary of State of Romania, said his Government strongly supported the European Union’s commitment to collectively meeting the target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national income for the least developed countries, and reaffirmed the need for other donors, including emerging economies, to match those commitments. Romania had become a donor in 2007 and had prioritized official development assistance (ODA) for such sectors as poverty eradication, the rule of law, good governance, health and education and climate change.
He said that Romania was also an active promoter of effective multilateralism, and supported the pivotal role of the United Nations in global governance. Nearly one third of Romania’s ODA had been channelled through multilateral organizations and United Nations agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), as well as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Finally, he said that to be successful, the outcome of the Istanbul Conference must take due notice of current global challenges and contribute to the creation of a favourable environment for sustainable development and for renewing the partnership between the least developed countries and donors.
PEDRO CHAN (Philippines), aligning his statement with that made earlier in the Conference by Argentina on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said it was incumbent upon all members of that Group to assist fellow developing nations, not only by actively advocating their priorities at conferences and meetings such as this, but also by providing them with direct assistance through South-South and triangular cooperation. He recalled that the third ministerial meeting of the Group of 77, held in Manila in 1976, had stressed the promotion of technology transfer and the fostering of economic cooperation among all developing countries.
He said the Philippines believed that, today, not enough was being done to significantly improve the economic, social and environmental conditions in the least developed countries. With that in mind, his delegation was participating in several side events during the Conference to describe how its past and future initiatives might be of value to those countries. It planned to discuss such strategies as cooperating with UN Women, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). It would also be discussing the benefits of public-private partnerships, drawing on its experience participating in the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe international public-private partnership centres initiative.
In conclusion, he said that the future of the least developed countries would be decided by the discussion in Istanbul this week. The Economic and Social Council’s Committee for Development Policy was itself looking at ways the international community could improve its relations with and become more responsive to the need of those countries. “Our goal should be to make [that Committee] irrelevant, by ensuring that all least developed countries are eventually confident enough to graduate […] seize their future, and rise with the tide of sustainable progress,” he said.
VIJAVAT ISARABHAKDI, Director-General of the Department of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, said that, as a middle-income country, Thailand advocates international cooperation for least developed countries as part of the eighth Millennium Development Goal — the global partnership for development. Its past experience showed the importance of such partnership, and it had engaged with poor countries in all corners of the globe, providing nearly $60 million to cooperation programmes in 2009 alone. Priority was given to the neighbouring countries of Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, co-members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
In particular, he said, his country supported the development of transportation and connectivity infrastructure in least developed nations, as that would provide them with greater market access, attract investment, generate employment and stimulate tourism. In terms of policy, Thailand believed that sustainable development must begin with the people, through programmes owned by them and which encouraged them to stand on their own. It also believed that the current ODA to the poorest countries must be increased, and he called for developed countries to increase it to the 0.7 per cent target. Finally, Thailand remained committed to South-South and triangular cooperation, and hoped to become a “regional centre of excellence”, offering knowledge, experience and best practices.
ELISABETTA BELLONI, Director-General for Development Cooperation at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Italy, said “to ensure resilient growth of the LDCs, with a view to achieving the final objective of their graduation, we need, from now on, to be more ambitious and call for a collective and coordinated effort from all stakeholders.” All developing countries had to be seen not as problems, but as centres of future economic growth. Their potential was enormous. “Traditional and emerging donors, as well as other public and private stakeholders, must rally together,” to help realize that potential through a holistic approach. She, therefore, welcomed the activities of the Group of Twenty (G-20) in the field of development, in an overarching context that could not be limited to South-South cooperation.
She said that all sources of financing for development had their role, including international aid, domestic resource mobilization, debt relief, innovative financing, remittances and private-sector investment. At the same time, good governance, financial regulation, programmes for decent employment and social protection systems were extremely important. Sound and inclusive national strategies required reliable statistics. Italy had joined international initiatives to offer assistance in that regard. She called for the international community to be audacious in shaping a new consensus on aid effectiveness at the high-level forum in Busan, meaning that all the policies, relationships, activities and financial flows in and with partner countries had to be geared towards development goals.
Italy, she said, would continue to work to combat volatility in food prices and to enhance food security according to the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative adopted during Italy’s presidency of the Group of Eight (G-8). It also would continue its preferential trade rules for least developed countries, and encourage the private sector to play a wide role in their sustainable development. It would encourage creative financing and reducing the cost of transferring remittances, and it would maintain the presence of Italian civil society organizations in developing countries. It would also strive to develop a more systematic way of delivering Italian aid.
VANU GOPALA MENON (Singapore) emphasized the importance of the development of human capacity, particularly for a country such as his that was bereft of natural resources. Only the people could fuel a country’s development from within, which was why training formed a cornerstone of Singapore’s international assistance programmes. The country had also developed mechanisms to transfer knowledge in management, health care and other fields, allowing the countries themselves to tailor that help to their needs. So far, tens of thousands of managers had been trained. Regional cooperation, in particular, played a vital role, as the experience of ASEAN showed. Overall, Singapore played a major role in the development efforts of the region.
He said his country also contributed training and capacity-building to poor countries outside the region, through close cooperation with international organizations. He hoped that through the Istanbul Conference, the international community would gain greater knowledge of the development needs of least developed countries and come up with effective strategies for their advancement. Singapore stood ready to support that important endeavour.
VICTOR MORARU (Moldova) said that as a landlocked country in economic transition, his knew first-hand how difficult it was to enhance the capacity to participate effectively in the globalized world economy without consistent external financial support. It learned that success was possible only through concerted and joint efforts with development partners. That experience had led to close cooperation in recent years with other landlocked developing countries, which included a significant group of least developed countries, suffering from isolation from world markets and extreme dependency on a primary commodity.
Regarding the proposed Istanbul action programme, he said it was a well-balanced and focused document, based on international targets, actions by poor countries themselves and support measures from development partners, including emerging economies, which he agreed should provide an increased share of assistance. Full implementation of the programme would greatly assist the least developed countries in their endeavours to overcome existing structural challenges. That, however, required political will and smart polices based on good governance. He urged all stakeholders to fully utilize the monitoring and review mechanisms built into the programme to ensure that the Istanbul Conference, unlike its predecessors, marked a real turning point in the everyday lives of poor people in the least developed countries.
LEONIDAS CHRYSANTHOPOULOS, Secretary General of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC), said that today’s threats and challenges differed markedly from those of the past, when the concept of security only meant preventing conflict between States. The international community now faced new security threats, including threats to human security, which required urgent attention. Such threats included, among others, infectious diseases, environmental degradation, proliferation of nuclear weapons, human trafficking, transnational organized crime and climate change. Against that backdrop, he called for enhanced support to improve governance, the fight against corruption, the rule of law and social equity, not only in the least developed countries, but also worldwide.
Specifically, he said corruption endangered economic and social development, justice, democracy and the rule of law. Joint international efforts to tackle corruption had led to the creation of international treaties and mechanisms. He was pleased to note that BSEC Ministers of Interior had last month adopted a joint declaration on regional efforts to prevent and combat corruption. That document had paved the way for a relevant action plan, which would, among other things, facilitate development of a network of national bodies mandated to enforce anti-corruption measures, with a view to exchanging information and sharing best practices.
TEMIR PORRAS PONCELEON, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, said that the world financial system continued to oppress hundreds of millions of people in developing countries. For that reason, developing countries should not be inserted into the current failed model, but into a new model based on justice and solidarity. The renewed neo-liberal offensive, which put the weight of crises on the shoulders on the poorest, had led to an alarming increase in public sovereign debt throughout the world and to an ongoing food crisis. The modest progress achieved by the least developed countries before those crises struck must be recovered. The Member States of the United Nations had made a clear commitment to helping those countries escape their vicious cycle of extreme poverty, but instead, it had increased.
He said that the success of the new programme of action would depend on the poorest countries being allowed to develop independent policies in accordance with their own conditions, without external conditionalities and with prior knowledge of outside funding. European countries took no account of the need for such national leadership, he maintained, expressing deep concern for the failure of developed countries’ to meet their commitments. South-South cooperation was rising to the challenge, however, including those arrangements in which Venezuela participated, such as the Petrocaribe mechanism for oil access and Caribbean initiatives to assist Haiti.
Such initiatives were crucial, he stressed, but they should not replace those of developed countries, which had the greatest responsibility for the development of poor countries. He reaffirmed the principle of shared but differentiated responsibilities. A new development model based on solidarity and equality was possible and his Government was committed to bringing it about, he said, citing the statements of his President. He proposed a development council at the United Nations for that purpose, which could help end the misery of the least developed countries.
CHHIT KIM YEAT (Cambodia) said that to meet international development goals economic growth and pro-poor policies were needed, along with governance reforms, attention to areas that could generate employment and investment in sectors such as health and education that built human capacity. In addition, developed countries should fulfil their ODA commitments and give more serious consideration to debt relief. In conformity with the Brussels Programme of Action, his country had instituted policies meant to build a society free from hunger, disease, inequality, vulnerability and exclusion. Governance had improved, but more work was needed, in cooperation with the private sector, to build a healthy and dynamic, but well-regulated, environment for business.
Particularly important, he said, was robust improvement in the agricultural sector, which provided livelihoods for 80 per cent of his country’s population. As a post-conflict least developed country, Cambodia still faced enormous challenges that were beyond its control, including effects from the financial crisis and climate change. He pledged his Government’s continued commitment to developing the country, and once again expressed his profound gratitude to the international community for helping rebuild Cambodia to achieve sustainable development and lasting peace.
ABDULLAH A. A. Al-DUWAIT (Kuwait) said the least developed countries suffered from weak economies, poor infrastructure and vulnerability to external economic shocks and natural disasters. As many of them were landlocked or small island States, they were disproportionately susceptible to the impacts of climate change. The international community had last gathered to address the challenges facing the least developed countries in Brussels in 2001, he noted.
In light of emerging challenges and converging crises, he urged negotiators to revise the action plan adopted in Brussels, noting that that had renewed development partnerships, lifted tariffs and trade barriers, alleviated debt burdens, increased ODA, and enhanced productive capacities. The Government of Kuwait was committed to establishing international partnerships for development, as called for in the Millennium Declaration.
To that end, the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development, since its inception some 40 years ago, had provided some $15 billion in loans to finance development projects in developing and least developed countries. Kuwait’s efforts sought to alleviate vulnerabilities and promote sustainable development. The Government had created the Decent Life Fund and supplied it with $100 million to provide basic necessities and increase agricultural production for developing countries in the region and beyond. As Kuwait had doubled the amount of its development assistance, it would call on other delegations, especially from the developed countries, to do the same.
CRISTOBAL GONZALEZ-ALLER (Spain) urged all those gathered in Istanbul to make a special effort to ensure that the internationally-agreed development goals, especially those set out in the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and meetings, were fully implemented. Spain believed that a serious effort must be made to increase ODA, particularly before 2015, and Africa should be a priority in that regard. Spain had scaled up its development interventions, and at the same time, had strengthened its decades-long development partnership with Haiti, “the least developed of the least developed countries”.
“We should be able to implement a realistic programme of action adjusted to priorities identified by the countries themselves,” he said, calling also for a focus on, among other things, public-private partnerships and transparency in aid delivery. But, those efforts would not succeed without strengthened participation from private-sector actors, especially those from emerging economies and other developing nations. Triangular cooperation would play a vital role in that effort. There was a connection between growth in the least developed countries and the protection of human rights, peace consolidation and the rule of law. Finally, he called on the international community to give the least developed countries the opportunity to play a greater role in building their economies.
SHIGEKI SUMI (Japan) expressing gratitude for the friendship extended to his country after the earthquake, said Japan would become “more marvellous” in return. It would undertake “post-quake diplomacy” and faithfully implement its international commitments. Japan promoted assistance aimed at poverty reduction through economic growth, a strategy which had proved correct.
He said the time had come for such success to extend to the least developed countries, and he urged the international community to support the new paradigm being established by those nations to improve productive capacity. Strongly supporting the Peacebuilding Commission, Japan also would extend assistance to promote poverty reduction through sustained, inclusive and equitable growth. Japan supported least developed countries through the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security, and would fulfil its commitment made last year to substantively help achieve the Millennium Development Goals related to health and education. Cooperation in the area of disaster management was also important, and Japan was supporting reconstruction work in Haiti.
Elsewhere, Japan would also strongly support Africa’s development, he said, noting that in 2008, it had pledged to double ODA to Africa to $1.8 billion by 2012. Total ODA disbursed to the continent last year had reached a provisional $2.05 billion, exceeding the target. The Government also supported trade in landlocked countries and promoted triangular cooperation by assisting emerging countries with the willingness and capacity to support the poorest nations. Urging a successful conclusion to the Doha Round, he underlined the importance of Aid for Trade and both duty- and quota-free treatment of least developed country exports.
RICHARD ONYONKA (Kenya) expressed hope that the Conference would help form a united front for dealing with the great challenges facing the least developed countries — many of which were shared by his own nation — and come up with viable actions to remediate them. The Millennium Developed Goals should be embraced as the blueprint for those efforts. Kenya was proud to be on track to meet some of them, but fairness must be achieved everywhere. The extreme imbalance between rich and poor must be addressed. He urged Conference participants to adopt a new, dynamic and proactive approach to meeting the challenges. The least developed countries themselves should improve their governance and regulatory frameworks, and agricultural systems, and identify opportunities.
He called for a reform of the international trade system and an increase in South-South cooperation, with a sharing of experience and technology. Poor countries must ensure that all their citizens benefited from their economic growth. They also should accept the rule of law as the norm and eradicate corruption. The social infrastructure also should be improved. Global cooperation was critical in all those endeavours, so the international community must make sure that its interventions added value in all cases.
RETATA RIMON NIKUATA (Kiribati) said that over the past decade, her country had made some notable progress in areas such as access to primary and secondary education, child immunization, reproductive health, and increased participation of women in decision-making. Kiribati’s national development strategies had integrated the objectives set out in the Brussels action plan and other international agreements, such as the Millennium Development Goals. Yet, despite her country’s progress, “more needs to be done and we are fully committed to doing it”, she said.
However, she acknowledged, Kiribati’s national efforts to improve the general social and economic conditions of its people were severely hampered by myriad factors, including its tiny population, which was dispersed across several low-lying atolls, and its increasing vulnerability to external threats such as climate change. Kiribati was also heavily dependent on imported food products from Asia and, as such, had been hard-hit by the recent sharp rise in food and commodity prices. The Government was committed to increasing local food production to ease the country’s reliance on imports; however, changing values and lifestyles had undermined local food producers. Appropriate strategies were under way to address that.
“As a front-line State most vulnerable to external shocks, natural disasters and climate change, our progress in implementing the Brussels Programme of Action and achieving the [Millennium Development Goals] has been understandably slow,” she said. While there might be some criticism inside and outside the country of what some had called “unsustainable economic policies”, the Government had undertaken a course of reforms. Going forward, it was necessary to make tough decisions and sacrifices to address the challenges of all the least developed countries. “We strongly believe that the new action programme must bridge the gap between the poor and the rich, address the unfinished Brussels agenda, and bring about more equitable global growth and prosperity.” That could occur only through political commitment at the national level, enhanced partnerships between the least developed countries and their development partners, strengthened coordination among the developed countries and a scaling up of resources.
LÉO MÉRORÈS (Haiti) said human solidarity was not just an intellectual approach, but a reality that had been seen following the 2010 earthquake in his country, when the international community had travelled to Haiti’s assistance to save lives and help victims. Expressing gratitude to those who had “come from near and far” to assist in difficult circumstances, he especially thanked the troop-contributing countries that had worked for Haiti’s stability.
He said that while Haiti was not entirely ready to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, some progress had been made. The long and difficult electoral process was reaching its end and the President was transmitting his powers to the President-elect. The help of external partners, as well as that of African and Asian least developed countries, had been indispensable for Haiti, which now required new commitments and new development partners, especially in the context of South-South cooperation.
Free access to markets for all least developed country products was essential, he said. At the same time, ODA practices must be reconsidered, as such aid should be assigned to infrastructure and education, among other areas. It also should be based on least developed country priorities and not subjected to political or strategic calculations. Further, debt relief must be granted on a continuous basis. Haiti’s President-elect, following meetings with the Bretton Woods institutions, said countries could not rely on donations alone to rebuild.
Continuing, he said least developed countries had been the first to suffer the consequences of climate change. The countries directly impacted required additional funds, and Governments must be legally bound to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions on the basis of shared but differentiated responsibilities. The goal of seeing half of the 48 least developed countries emerge from that category in 2021 could be attained if pledges were respected.
ADNAN KHAN (Pakistan) called it very disturbing that the ranks of the least developed had swelled to 48, adding that the notion that poverty in those countries was perpetual was fundamentally flawed. He said that the knowledge and technology to eradicate poverty was available, but the political will to act and the determination to follow up on commitments was needed. In that context, his country offered its sincere support to poor countries in their efforts to attain sustained economic growth and development. Happily, the outcome of the Istanbul Conference’s deliberations had reflected reality well and stressed the centrality of investment in productive capacities, social sectors, a diversified industrial export base and agricultural capabilities.
He said that while countries had the primary responsibility for their development, they needed enhanced and predictable international support for that purpose, and developed countries must take the lead in that effort. ODA commitments must be met, the sectoral composition of aid must be rebalanced, and non-tariff barriers to trade must be removed. Addressing inadequacies in debt relief and concluding the Doha Development Round at an early date were also important steps. Optimum use also should be made of development cooperation from the South. His country, despite its resource limitations, had been offering assistance in education, training and technical assistance to many least developed countries, and been enhancing trade and investment relations with them as well. It already had offered duty-free access to some. He pledged his country’s continued work with the poorest countries, in line with the principles underpinning the United Nations Charter.
JORGE QUESADA CONCEPCION (Cuba) said that poverty was a result of the current unfair global economic order, which was counter to economic, moral and environmental logic and perpetuated a vicious cycle. A new, just economic architecture should be developed, including a new trade system. Whatever development aid was currently given was funnelled into a few countries, ignoring many of the poorest, and those who received aid were subjected to conditions. Meeting ODA obligations was imperative, and investment should be subjected to national priorities. The granting of duty- and quota-free access still had not been sufficient.
He said that Cuba, despite being subjected to a blockade, still had been able to extensively assist the poorest countries, particularly in the health and education sectors. However, South-South cooperation could not substitute for the fulfilment of the commitments of the developed countries, which had a strong historical obligation to redress extreme poverty. Unfortunately, instead, some developed countries spent billions on arms. Generosity, rather than unbounded selfishness, was required.
PABLO ANTONIO THALASSINÓS (Panama), endorsing the statement by the Group of 77 and China, as well as that of the Rio Group, said progress over the last decade had been reversed and turning that trend around required international support. It was particularly important for science and technology, infrastructure, human capacity and food security to be ensured for least developed countries. Businesses and countries with the highest development levels also must increase their investments in job-creating sectors.
Stressing that every country must be the leader of its own development, he agreed that international cooperation, under the principle of shared but differentiated responsibilities, was of the highest moral imperative. Investments in education must be made to compensate for children’s lack of inclusion in that system.
To see the graduation of half of those countries on the least developed countries’ list, it was vital that Governments comply with the Monterrey Consensus and Doha Declaration to allot 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to ODA. The growing importance of triangular and South-South cooperation also must be recognized, with the understanding that it did not replace North-South cooperation. In that context, he said Panama had offered to host the first regional exposition on South-South cooperation.
In sum, he said all least developed countries had worked hard to overcome their structural challenges, and for the Istanbul action plan to achieve its vision, genuine will was needed by Governments, international bodies and non-governmental organizations. Istanbul also should lay fertile ground for least developed countries to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
FEDERICO ALBERTO CUELLO CAMILO (Dominican Republic) said “how a society treats its neediest is the best measure of its human qualities.” Tasks remained for the international community to address least developed country needs. The Dominican Republic had participated in the Conference’s Preparatory Committee seeking conditions for strengthening poor countries’ productive capacities and hoping to realize promised market access opportunities.
He said that such tasks were particularly relevant for Haiti, which lacked equal opportunities in both its rural areas and city slums, resulting in criminality and continued protests. The dissolution of the army two decades ago had allowed criminal networks to emerge, whose activities had accelerated after the 2010 earthquake. No amount of foreign aid could compensate for the absence of domestic capital sources, even if it was delivered in promised quantities or within agreed deadlines.
Supporting the Istanbul action plan, he said it bound States to the accelerated, sustained and equitable growth of least developed countries. It addressed their concerns with responses initially presented by those nations themselves. In their final form, those responses reflected the wealth of contributions by delegations participating in negotiations. With that, he voiced hope that in 10 years, results would be more positively evaluated and Haiti’s graduation confirmed.
SILVANO M. TOMASI, Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, said the development paradigm for the least developed countries for the past decade had been ineffective. The growth that many of those countries had experienced since 2000 had stagnated and the number of poor and vulnerable people worldwide had increased by some 3 million per year between 2002 and 2007. Against that background, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) had last year proposed a new international development architecture that called for more comprehensive measures to address the challenges those countries faced.
He said that the Holy See supported that new approach and would focus its interventions on what he called the pillars of integral development. That principle, drawn from the teachings of Pope Paul VI, emphasized that development could not be limited to economic growth. Rather, it must be “complete” — or “integral” — in that it promoted the good of all individuals and communities. Over the past 40 years, as the global community had called ever more urgently for a “comprehensive and inclusive approach” to development, the framework for such integral development, based on Catholic social theory, had also begun to take shape. It was based on human dignity, promotion and protection of human rights, care of creation, and participation at the community level. With such principles in mind, he said the Holy See looked forward to agreement on a new programme of action for least developed countries over the coming decade and urged all actors to support those nations’ efforts to achieve full development.
ALI JARBAWI, Minister of Planning and Administrative Development of the Palestinian Authority, said that the current turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East were another indication that the aspirations of all people should be met. That certainly included the aspirations of the people of the least developed countries. For that to happen, the principles of international solidarity, good governance, empowerment of women and the fight against poverty must be universally applied.
During the past three years, he said, Palestine had achieved great progress in establishing good governance institutions and social, economic and security structures. The plan for 2008 to 2010 had established priorities based on the Palestinian vision and partnerships. Palestinians had their implementation responsibilities and had worked hard, achieving much with the assistance of the international community. The rule of law and the private sector had been improved, laws and regulations had been adopted to encourage foreign investment and the economy had grown over 8 per cent. More progress could be achieved if the situation was appropriate.
He described extensive progress in the educational, health, transport and energy sectors, but cautioned that Palestinian success was not complete. Palestinians were still under Israeli occupation. Permission for all activities had to be obtained from Israeli authorities and many parts of the Territory were isolated. The Gaza Strip had been under a blockade and had suffered a war and needed to be completely rebuilt. In spite of such obstacles, the Palestinian Authority had achieved much progress, but Palestinians needed to achieve true development in the form of self-determination.
ELHADJ GLEY (Tunisia) said the young peoples’ revolution that took place in his country would enable it to rise to the economic ranks it deserved. The situation was being stabilized and normalized, with a view to establishing democratic elections next July. Investment and export recovery had begun and he was confident of Tunisia’s prospects with a more favourable climate for the private sector. “We are betting on economic growth above 7 per cent,” he said, while also cautioning that Tunisia was facing large challenges and regional disequilibrium.
He went on to say that human development was at the heart of South-South cooperation, especially towards Tunisia’s African brothers, and the growing efficiency of that cooperation had been included in his country’s foreign policy. That commitment would be enhanced by support from developed countries in a triangulation, with mobilization of additional resources for the global South.
Further, he said, insecurity had economic root causes, and development must be placed at the heart of current and future challenges. It was essential to find the means to promote a shared development and to draw lessons from the Brussels action plan for a new decade-long programme that included commitments to bring least developed countries into middle-income status. Information and communications technologies — which constituted 11 per cent of Tunisia’s GDP — had an important role to play in Africa.
NAHARI AGUSTINI (Indonesia) said the mixed results of the Brussels Programme of Action had been the “defining story” for the least developed countries over the past decade. Even as they worked actively with development partners to overcome structural obstacles, those countries — burdened as they were with fragile economic and political environments — had been largely unable to persuade businesses, markets, and investors to take up the cause of their development.
“Here in Istanbul, as we close the chapter on the Brussels [Action Plan], we have an opportunity to rewrite the fate of the least developed countries,” she said, expressing her delegation’s hope that a new strategy would finally put those countries on a path towards completing their journey to graduation from the least developed category. She acknowledged that the structural challenges were enormous and that the Istanbul outcome must, among other things, support regional, as well as global, initiatives for the development of those countries. It must also prioritize the objective for those nations and their development partners to strengthen productive capacities over the next 10 years.
She urged a path that strengthened the least developed nations’ ownership of their own development, especially as they were in the best position to determine the most optimal means for their growth. Indeed, national-level action remained the cornerstone of their success. She also called for further exploration of innovative financing mechanisms and enhanced partnerships. Trade was also critical and duty- and quota-free market access should be prioritized, as should the speedy conclusion of the long-stalled Doha Round of talks. While Indonesia had also been affected by the recent global crises, it had not wavered in its support to the least developed countries. Her delegation hoped the Istanbul outcome would generate strong momentum and concrete actions towards strengthening the global development partnership. “This time, we can make a difference, and it is up to us to seize this opportunity,” she said.
DOCTOR MASHABANE (South Africa), aligning with the Group of 77 and China, said States agreed that work must be undertaken to streamline development cooperation in line with the priority actions identified in the proposed Istanbul action plan, including those aimed at building productive capacity, ensuring food security and reducing vulnerability to climate change and external shocks. The “monumental” task of graduating half of the 48 poorest countries was a test of the highest magnitude, and his Government was committed to seeing fellow Africans liberated from poverty.
In addition, he said, South Africa was committed to economic development through regional and international cooperation, and it would continue to advocate for the global North to be more responsive to developing country needs. His Government also would continue to support least developed country growth as part of the G-20 agenda and lobby those member nations to improve outreach with non-Group members, with a view to ensuring that the G-20 agenda remained relevant to those who stood to benefit from its initiatives.
ABDERRAHIM OULD HADRAMI (Mauritania), noting the severe challenges facing the least developed countries, said that the importance Mauritania placed on the Conference was shown by the wide representation of the country in Istanbul. Mauritania had established extensive programmes corresponding to the Brussels Programme of Action, based on acceleration of growth, stabilization of the macroeconomic framework, better utilization of natural resources, development of human resources and many other areas. However, the economy was still faced with huge challenges, including widespread poverty and vulnerability to shocks, which required the assistance of the international community. Much remained to be done to strengthen productive capacity.
He said that debt relief and resolution of the Doha trade talks were also very much needed. The new plan of action should shelter least developed countries from external shocks. The implementation of that plan required monitoring and strong solidarity from the international community, with adequate resources and partnerships.
VINCENT RIGBY (Canada) said the challenge in the years ahead would be to translate the commitments of the Istanbul programme into concrete and coordinated action — with focus, efficiency and accountability for real results for the least developed countries. “Much work remains to be done, and we can only achieve our objectives by using all the tools at our disposal, including North-South partnerships, South-South and triangular cooperation,” he said, also calling for the enhanced engagement of the private sector, civil society, parliamentarians and philanthropic actors.
Highlighting some aspects of Canada’s contributions to the betterment of the least developed countries, he noted, among other things, that his Government had and would continue to deliver on its international pledges and, in that regard, had last year exceeded its commitment to double its international assistance, making Canada the eighth largest OECD Development Assistance Committee donor. Canada had also met its commitment to double aid to Africa, where two thirds of the least developed countries were located, from 2003-2004 levels to $2.1 billion in 2008-2009. “We continue to meet that commitment,” he added.
On the way forward, he said it would be important for all stakeholders to be aware of, and adapt to, the changing landscape of international development in 2011 as compared to when the previous work plan had been launched ten years ago. In particular, he said that globalization must be mainstreamed into development. “We can no longer speak about ‘development’ as a discrete topic, addressed only by aid agencies and partner governments,” he said, stressing that development over the past ten years had become increasingly linked to other policy areas and international initiatives.
Moreover, the international community’s achievement of development objectives was dependent on its success in tackling a wide array of policy challenges in a coherent and integrated approach. Also, while donor Governments still had a responsibility to contribute to development through the provision of ODA, they now had many other powerful tools at their disposal. Those included, for example: ensuring market access and domestic economic policies take into account the effect on developing country exports; supporting their private sectors to invest responsibly in developing countries; providing technical assistance and capacity building; and working with foundations and other private actors, new donors, and civil society organizations.
BENJAMIN ABILEAH (Israel), noting the many references to Israel in the Palestinian representative’s speech, recalled that his country had coordinated many training sessions for Palestinian professionals over the past 15 years. Given the challenges least developed countries faced in meeting the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, he said: “We must now pull together and increase our investment so that the largest number of LDCs can meet these milestones.” Since 1958, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation had striven to share its development experience and transfer both know-how and technology adapted to nations’ specific needs, notably through training.
Citing food security, health and education as fields vital for overcoming poverty, he said failure in any of those sectors would negatively influence various aspects of development, whereas improving women’s empowerment and community development would strengthen advances in other areas. Only harmonization of all development fields could ensure the effectiveness of the development agenda.
With that in mind, Israel sought to provide capacity-building at the country level, which was the most effective way for Israel to contribute to projects in least developed countries, he said. Israel viewed partnerships as the best way to offer its skills and resources and, for decades, had worked in areas such as agriculture and rural development, where it had a comparative advantage. It stood ready to work with least developed countries on local and regional projects.
Finally, small- and medium-sized enterprises and women’s empowerment were vital to economic advancement, he said, adding that those enterprises required Government assistance in the form of training and microcredit. To enable women’s productivity, for the good of national economies and family incomes, there was much work to do; that aspect must be included in the 2011-2020 action programme.
HAMEED OPELOYERU, Assistant Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said that his organization’s participation in the current Conference was part of the global responsibility to preserve world peace and encourage collective economic prosperity and social welfare. The organization was exploring ways to scale up partnership with the United Nations system, sharing best practices and reviewing strategies to create the international synergies needed for the implementation of the Istanbul programme of action. OIC’s own programme of action already addressed the twin issues of poverty eradication and building productive capacity, with two new funds, in addition to already existing educational programmes, resulting in a wide range of interventions in strategic areas, many in cooperation with international and regional partners.
Joint action in the future, he said, should be based on national ownership, and OIC sought to ensure that development strategies were comprehensive, home-grown and aimed at strengthening the absorptive capacities of the economies of recipient countries. International partnership should also enhance coordination and exchange best practices for the most efficient use of available resources. Multilevel support and foreign direct investment should be encouraged, in addition to fulfilment of ODA and other aid obligations. To encourage responsible investment in agriculture and food production in land-rich countries, he endorsed the elaboration of guidelines on good land governance. The Organization of the Islamic Conference was committed to far-reaching monetary reforms, including the introduction of new culture-friendly financial products. He renewed his organization’s commitment to contribute to the success of the Conference.
ACHILLE BASSILEKIN III (African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States) said that Group comprised 40 of the least developed countries. Noting that per capita income in those nations had dropped over the last decade and that progress towards their structural transformation had been “lacklustre”, he said technologies required for such change had not been forthcoming. Events in the Middle East and Northern Africa, triggered, in part, by suppressed freedoms, called for bold new approaches to mainstreaming youth and job creation into the development equation.
He said that the Group’s partnership with the European Union was focused on reducing and eradicating poverty, as well as integrating member States into the world economy. Its poorest members had been accorded special treatment to help them overcome economic and social difficulties. Agriculture, food security and rural development must be properly addressed, while countries, notably in Africa, must be supported to achieve food self-sufficiency. He also underlined the need for policy coherence in the treatment of poor nations at the multilateral, regional and bilateral levels when negotiating trade and related agreements.
SAFIYE CAGAR, Director, Information, Executive Board, and Resource Mobilization Division of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), speaking on behalf of her Executive Director, Babatunde Osotimehin, said that much progress had been made in population issues in the least developed countries in the past decade, but there were still many challenges. There was an urgent need to promote equity and integrate vulnerable people. Young people, making up a large percentage of the population of those countries, were a powerful force for development if they grew up healthy and became empowered. She pledged that her agency would work hard towards that goal. Reproductive health and gender equality also paid off in development dividends. Support to those areas was not charity, but an investment in the world’s collective future.
ALI MCHUMO, Managing Director of the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), said that from 2001 to 2010, in support of the Brussels action plan, the Fund had approved 62 regular projects and 65 smaller ones, with a value of nearly $190 million covering commodities of economic interest to least developed countries and aimed at enhancing incomes of small-holder producers through increases in productivity, diversification, value-addition, increased access to markets, capacity-building and risk management. The benefits of those projects came, not through large expenditure, but through modest spending on effective measures to address particular problems affecting commodity production and marketing.
He said that in the larger international strategy, it was necessary to reduce the high dependency of poor countries on a few commodities. However, commodities and agriculture had suffered from continued neglect since the 1980s, at both national and international levels. It was now heartening to note that more attention was being focused on commodity issues. Commodity-sector stakeholders still required more consistent and predictable financial support to respond to opportunities in the commodity sector and to make their economies viable and sustainable. For that reason, it was important for least developed countries to use this Conference to secure sustained commitments to international cooperation, leveraging the inherent power of the commodity sector for development.
JOSÉ MANUEL SALAZAR-XIRINACHS, International Labour Organization (ILO), said less than 10 per cent of the economically active population in least developed countries had access to social protection. The young were increasingly migrating across borders and continents in search of decent work. Of more concern was that growth in those nations was led mostly by commodity exports, which neither accelerated structural transformation nor deepened the diversification of the economic base.
He urged thinking of ways to turn lessons learned from the worst global economic crisis ever into a forward-looking agenda for the coming decade, explaining that it also should target job creation and encourage structural diversification and redistribution. Of particular relevance to the poorest nations were policies that supported investment and productivity in agriculture, and the urban informal economy, as well as social protections. Policy dialogue was key, as the diversity of national conditions and cultures mattered.
BAKARY KANTE, Director of Environmental Law and Conventions, United Nations Environment Programme, said that to lift more people out of poverty and find decent jobs for the 1.3 billion young people under- or unemployed, growth must become more intelligent on the planet, whose population was expected to rise to an estimated 10 billion in 2050.
Recalling that UNEP’s report, Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, concluded that jobs and growth could be catalyzed while keeping humanity’s footprint within ecological boundaries, he said it also made clear that such work was as much a developing as a developed country agenda. Further, the “Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity” initiative found that, not only was $4.5 trillion in natural capital being lost annually, but that goods and services represented by such systems amounted to close to 90 per cent of the GDP of the poor.
Those findings showed that least developed countries were rich in the kinds of natural resources that other economies had damaged, degraded or “simply used up”; resources that would be increasingly sought in a resource-constrained world, he said. Meanwhile, many least developed countries were in the early stages of industrialization and energy access and ODA that promoted clean and renewable energy systems, for example, would allow them to “leapfrog a dirty development path”. The Istanbul action plan could be a critical tool in assisting poor nations onto a “fast runway” for sustainable development.
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For information media • not an official record