For the 700 million women, men and children in the least developed countries (LDCs), United Nations’ decisions - and their follow-up - could mean the difference between opportunity and poverty, peace and war, life and death, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette told the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), as it opened its substantive session this morning.
Placing international development cooperation and achievement of real progress on the Millennium Development Goals at the top of the global agenda, she stressed that, for the international community, working to achieve those Goals constituted a vital part of “keeping its word” and advancing the ideals of the Organization’s Charter. Therefore, while sustained economic growth remained a sine qua non for success, specific measures must be taken to ensure that the “green shoots of economic growth blossomed into real progress” towards the Goals and brought benefit and opportunity to the poor.
The four-week session started today with a high-level dialogue focusing on the current developments in the world economy and international economic cooperation, as well as development challenges confronting the world’s 50 poorest nations. The event is part of a three-day high-level segment on the theme: “Resources mobilization and enabling environment for poverty eradication in the context of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010”.
Adopted in May 2001 in Brussels, Belgium, the Programme of Action, a set of key commitments for implementing the Millennium Development Goals, includes seven specific commitments made by the LDCs and their development partners, including mobilization of financial resources, as well as governance, trade and sustainable development.
In his keynote address, Mathieu Kérékou, President of Benin, said that only mobilization of financial resources would ensure the implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action. The LDCs Group hoped that the thinking on the session’s theme would be profound and exhaustive and that special problems faced by the LDCs would be addressed.
Real political will had to back up professions of commitment, he said. The results so far had not been encouraging. Official development assistance (ODA) had not increased, as pledged, and support for exports had negatively impacted the LDCs in world markets. Rare preferential treatment for LDCs remained underutilized and, despite praiseworthy efforts, the LDCs continued to bend under the crushing burden of debt, resulting in the weakening of social protection infrastructure, conflict and the continued ravage of the AIDS pandemic.
The 2015 deadline of reducing by half the number of people living in poverty was approaching rapidly, he added, and global action was needed, which would take into account not only the economic components of the situation, but also social, humanitarian and environmental considerations. It was up to the developed countries to increase ODA, promote direct investment, reschedule debt and open markets to LDC goods. It was up to the LDCs to achieve significant progress in the areas of good governance, respect for constitutional legality for combating corruption, decentralization, and the process of national development without discrimination on the basis of race, sex and religion.
Participating in the morning discussion were heads of multilateral financial and trade institutions of the United Nations system, including Rubens Ricupero, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); Juan Somavia, Director-General of the International Labour Organization (ILO); Ibrahim Gambari, Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser on Africa; and representatives of the World Bank, the International Monetary fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Statements were also made by Ministers from Qatar (on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China) and Ireland (on behalf of the European Union), as well as representatives of Ecuador, the United States, El Salvador, Jamaica, Bangladesh and India, and the Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid of the European Commission.
“If we can’t deliver to the people of less developed, landlocked and small island countries, which are most in need, what is left of other issues?” Mr. Somavia asked. The international community was also falling short on the tremendous potential of “fair globalization” that would create opportunities for all. To address those issues, “decent work as a development tool” must become a global priority. Employment, sustainable livelihoods and income-generating opportunities, were the sustainable way out of poverty. A fair globalization was the external enabling environment for development, and global governance needed a serious upgrade. Follow-up was a priority.
Mr. Ricupero acknowledged that the goal of poverty eradication was daunting. Given current trends, extreme poverty in LDCs would jump from 334 million people in 2000 to 471 million in 2015. Domestic resource mobilization in the LDCs was problematic, given that, after subsistence consumption, only $0.15 per person per day was left for investment in capital formation, public investment and the running of vital services. Thus, alternative sources of financing must be found, including through improved ODA, increased immigrant remittances, foreign direct investment, trade and debt relief.