DELEGATES IN SECOND COMMITTEE CALL FOR COLLECTIVE INTERNATIONAL MOBILIZATION TO HELP DEVELOPING COUNTRIES BREAK ‘VICIOUS CYCLE OF POVERTY’
Speakers Emphasize Importance of Averting Erosion of Hard-Won Development Gains
Although the current multiple global crises made the task of poverty reduction much more difficult, the international community must mobilize together in helping developing countries break out of the vicious cycle of poverty and avert the erosion of development gains, several speakers told the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) today, as it began its consideration of the eradication of poverty and other development issues.
Stressing that progress made during the First Decade for the Eradication of Poverty had been severely uneven and slow, the representative of Antigua and Barbuda, speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said the world lacked the resources and know-how to make poverty history. Even during several years of robust economic growth, almost 3 billion people -- or nearly half the world’s population -- remained trapped in poverty, with hundreds of millions of them living on less than $1 per day. Efforts to reach millions in the most vulnerable countries, particularly the least developed ones and those in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the most vulnerable groups, especially women and children, had failed.
Similarly, Indonesia’s representative, speaking on behalf of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), said that, while the international community was moving in the right direction, it was not moving quickly enough. With multiple crises at hand, the magnitude and complexity of poverty eradication had become larger. Inspired by the current context, and given the adoption of the Second Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, there was a momentous opportunity to build a new approach to poverty eradication. It was timely to encourage an approach based on mutual interests, maximizing the strengths of interconnecting actors and building shared responsibility for the effective functioning of the global economy.
France’s representative, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said poverty affected all countries worldwide regardless of their economic development, including those of the European Union, which would proclaim the European Union Year against poverty and social exclusion in 2010. There was a need for strengthened cooperation among all stakeholders to implement the Second Decade. New donors, emerging countries, foundations, academia, non-governmental organizations and the private sector all had an important role to play in that regard. It was also critically important to maintain a well-balanced mechanism to implement the Second Decade, particularly in terms of financing for development.
Speaking on behalf the African Group, Kenya’s representative underscored the need for the Second Decade to be more than a mere slogan. It should reinforce global alliances for development by creating innovative policies based on new realities. Even though indicators in sub-Saharan Africa showed a slight improvement, progress there was slow compared to that in other developing regions. National development strategies must be broad and inclusive, and countries should integrate holistic approaches that could address poverty in all its dimensions. The Second Decade would benefit from a clear focus and direction, with particular attention to Africa’s special needs.
The representative of Suriname, speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), said the persistence of poverty in many parts of the world pointed not only to an inequitable distribution of economic, social and political opportunities, but also to a violation of human rights. The lives and physical well-being of those living in extreme poverty were continuously threatened by a lack of food, the risk of disease, hazardous work and precarious living conditions. The eradication of poverty, therefore, was a development goal, as well as a central human rights challenge. Although genuine action to alleviate and eradicate poverty seemed ambitious, it was neither a utopian goal nor an impossible one because the global community already had the knowledge and means to achieve it. The real question was whether States had the political will to tackle the problem.
Introducing reports before the Committee were Elissavet Stamatopoulou, Acting Director of the Division for Social Policy and Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and Kandeh Yumkella, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Organization (UNIDO).
The representative of the Dominican Republic was among the participants in a discussion that followed the introduction of reports.
Other speakers in the general discussion were the representatives of China, Tunisia, Bangladesh, United States, Morocco, Myanmar, Kazakhstan, India, Mozambique, Jordan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Israel, Swaziland, Saint Lucia, Armenia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Botswana, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Togo, Mongolia, Brazil, Thailand, Pakistan, Venezuela, Cameroon, Eritrea, Libya, Malawi, Iran, Republic of Korea and Kuwait.
Also making statements were the Permanent Observers for the International Organization for Migration and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
The Second Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 23 October, to conclude its debate on the eradication of poverty and other development issues, and to take up information and communications technology for development.
Background
As the Second Committee (Economic and Financial) took up the eradication of poverty and other development issues, including implementation of the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008-2017) and industrial development cooperation, members had before them a report of the Secretary-General on the Role of microcredit and microfinance in the eradication of poverty (document A/63/159).
The report describes the latest developments in microfinance, including the emergence of new providers, and presents recommendations, noting that it has become clear that the current contribution of microfinance –- broadly defined as the provision of financial services such as credit, savings, insurance and other basic financial products involving very small amounts to poor and low-income people -- lies in improving the lives of the poor, rather than in providing a pathway out of poverty. The General Assembly may wish, among other things, to establish a framework for promoting the development of inclusive financial institutions that offer appropriate financial products and services to all segments of the population, including the poor, and to increase significantly outreach to unserved and underserved enterprises and households.
Also before the Committee was the Secretary-General’s report on Implementation of the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008-2017), which provides a summary of the review of the First Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006); highlights lessons learned from current international decades; summarizes inputs from Governments and civil society on how to make the Second Decade effective; and examines the role of the United Nations system in scaling up poverty eradication efforts in support of the Second Decade.
The report (document A/63/190) notes that, while poverty retreated globally over the course of the First Decade, largely as a result of successful poverty-eradication efforts in China, progress was very slow in other parts of the world. The magnitude and complexity of the challenge to eradicate poverty calls for a much longer time frame, beyond 2015, and the mixed results have underscored the need for a better understanding of the nature and range of the deep-rooted obstacles that countries face. The General Assembly may wish to consider, among other things, adopting an overall action theme for the Second Decade that would convey a sense of urgency towards implementing commitments to eradicate poverty and halve poverty by 2015.
Committee members also had before them a note by the Secretary-General on Industrial development cooperation (document A/63/309), which transmits the report of the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in accordance with General Assembly resolution 61/215 of 20 December 2006.
The report highlights recent trends and developments in the industrial performance of developing countries; underlines the critical role of industrial development and private sector-led economic growth in sustainable economic development and poverty reduction; and explores the challenges of industrialization. They include underinvestment in the productive sectors inhibiting the emergence and expansion of a small and medium-sized enterprise sector; inequitable globalization and limited capacity to participate in international trade; access to energy for industry; and environmental implications, especially including climate change.
Examining the response of the multilateral development system to those challenges, the report also highlights UNIDO’s role in meeting the challenges of industrial development, in partnership with United Nations and non-United Nations entities, particularly in the least developed countries, and outlines the continued contributions of UNIDO to the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
Introduction of Reports
ELISSAVET STAMATOPOULOU, Acting Director, Division for Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, introduced the Secretary-General’s report on the role of microcredit and microfinance in the eradication of poverty (document A/63/159), and on implementation of the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (document A/63/190).
She said the report on the Second Decade provided recommendations to make the Second Decade an effective catalyst for poverty eradication. It concluded that the Second Decade should be seen as a framework for reflection and action aimed at boosting efforts to achieve internationally agreed development targets relating to poverty eradication. It also made a relevant observation that national ownership of activities in support of the Second Decade would be vital for its success. A pragmatic plan of action in support of the Second Decade would be critically important in ensuring its successful implementation.
The report on the role of microcredit and microfinance looked into the growth and drivers of recent developments and examined how microfinance could be an effective poverty-reduction strategy, she said. The experience so far was that, while microfinance had a positive impact on the lives of those poor people that it reached, it had yet to expand its outreach to improve the lives of billions of people still living in poverty. The report highlighted the tremendous growth in clients served, and there was now better understanding of client behaviour that drove the demand for microfinance products. The report also noted a paradigm shift away from microfinance to inclusive finance.
KANDEH YUMKELLA, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Organization (UNIDO), introduced the Secretary-General’s report on industrial development cooperation (document A/63/309), stressing that, to really fight and reduce poverty, countries must transform their economies and products, and move into services. The aspiration of developing countries, despite the current world economic crisis, was still to make their economies more viable than industrial or service-oriented economies. That meant demand for energy would increase, with the potential for more greenhouse-gas emissions. However, it also meant a possibility that developing countries could follow a different path to industrialization, such as investing in more and greener technologies which could help create jobs and wealth. In meeting international development targets, the challenge was to create an economic dynamism aimed at growth in productivity. That must spring from the private sector.
Noting that the report also discussed the importance of trade, he said there was obviously some disappointment with the lack of progress in the Doha Round. However, there was hope that there would be progress on the issue. The report, in particular, made the case that trade under the Doha platform must take into consideration market access for higher-value products. It also made the case for cleaner technologies. There was enough technology and knowledge available that poorer and least developed countries could develop a new trajectory for growth based on greener technologies. It was necessary to determine how those technologies could be made available to poorer countries. Any efforts to alleviate poverty must go beyond basket-weaving. Poor countries must be helped in terms of technology transfer and investments for viable small and medium enterprises producing marketable products.
Discussion
The representative of the Dominican Republic, noting that his country was one of the seven pilot countries, said that had forced it to address the lack of financing and human capacity, particularly at the local level. A rapid economic growth rate was needed to implement poverty-reduction strategies. How would high food and energy prices impact achievement of the Millennium Development Goals?
Mr. YUMKELLA said there was no doubt that higher growth rates would be needed to fight poverty. Evidence over the last 30 years had shown that countries that had successfully reduced poverty had grown at least 6 per cent annually. The higher oil and food prices were causing significant fiscal problems within economies. The World Bank was looking at 20 to 30 countries that were very vulnerable, with serious inflation and balance-of-payment concerns, and whether they should subsidize petrol or replace it with kerosene. The Secretary-General’s effort to hold an intense discussion on such key issues on Friday was to be applauded. The development and growth agendas were intertwined.
Statements
JANIL GREENAWAY (Antigua and Barbuda), speaking on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, said that, during several years of robust economic growth and unprecedented wealth, almost 3 billion people, nearly half the world’s population, remained trapped in poverty, with hundreds of millions of them living on less than $1 per day. Progress during the First Decade had been severely uneven and slow, and efforts to reach millions in the most vulnerable countries, particularly the least developed ones and those in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the most vulnerable groups, especially women and children, had failed. Significant pockets of poverty remained in middle-income developing countries, where the current global economic situation could increase poverty.
If current trends continued, most countries would not achieve Millennium Development Goal No. 1 on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, she warned, stressing that the world lacked the resources and know-how to make poverty history. It was important to build on lessons learned from the First United Nations Decade by specifically targeting several areas as part of an integrated and holistic approach. The lessons included incorporating gender equality and the empowerment of women and other disadvantaged groups, including the poor, into the development process through education and training opportunities; investing in science and technology for socio-economic development; and enhancing access to technology by the poor.
She called for investing in agriculture for development because agricultural productivity remained low in many countries, even though it was a crucial aspect of national, regional and international efforts to reduce poverty and hunger. The Group of 77 and China called also for human resources development through education and training; employment, job creation and decent work; and the alignment of official development assistance with the goal of poverty eradication and corresponding targets, in accordance with national plans and priorities.
PHILIPPE DELACROIX (France), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said poverty affected all countries worldwide regardless of their level of economic development, including those of the European Union, which would proclaim the European Union Year against poverty and social exclusion in 2010. The bloc had made great efforts to fight poverty in developing countries and would continue to work towards that end. By adopting the Consensus for Development in 2005, the European Union had consolidated its collective efforts. In order to implement the Accra Agenda for Action on Aid Effectiveness, adopted in September, it had pledged to promote, support and strengthen national mechanisms for expanding aid-effectiveness partnerships and to improve results-based management.
Coordinated, coherent and effective aid would help poverty eradication efforts, he said, calling for strengthened cooperation among all stakeholders in order to implement the Second Decade. New donors, emerging countries, foundations, academia, non-governmental organizations and the private sector had an important role to play in that regard. It was critically important to maintain a well-balanced mechanism to implement the Second Decade, particularly in terms of financing for development. The “Delivering as One” initiative would facilitate stronger coherence, and it should be developed through a pragmatic, gradual process. Coherence was important in addressing poverty’s main dimensions, such as access to health, social services and social protection, education, gender equality, social exclusion and voting rights.
Noting that microfinance had proven useful in fighting poverty, he said the growth of microcredit and microfinance had contributed greatly to improve the lives of about 100 million people worldwide. Under certain conditions, microfinance stimulated economic growth and improved the living conditions of the poor, particularly women. Access to savings, credit, transfer and insurance services was making poor people less vulnerable. However, more than 2 billion low-income people lacked access to formal financing services, a number that must be reduced. The European Union had included microfinance in its development policies. In 2005, it had implemented, in partnership with countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific, a framework programme for capacity-building among institutions, co-financing rating schemes for microfinance institutions and financing information systems.
DEWI SAVITRI WAHAB (Indonesia), speaking on behalf of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), said that while the international community was moving in the right direction, it was not moving quickly enough. With multiple crises in hand, the magnitude and complexity of the challenge to poverty eradication had become larger. Inspired by the current context, and through the adoption of the Second Decade, there was a momentous opportunity to build a new approach to poverty eradication. It was timely to encourage an approach based on mutual interests, maximizing the strengths of interconnecting actors and building shared responsibility for the effective functioning of the global economy.
She stressed that it was important for the international community to contribute to national and regional efforts by creating a global economic environment that supported pro-poor growth, emphasizing decent work for all, and accelerated the expansion and empowerment of small and medium enterprises through microfinance. Industrial development would bring structural changes that could set poor economies on a path of sustained economic growth in order to combat poverty and hunger.
For that reason, she continued, the ASEAN Industrial Cooperation Scheme, introduced in 1996, aimed to promote resource-sharing and increase the competitive position of the subregion’s manufacturing industries by means of production integration across borders, facilitated by a tariff preferential rate of no more than 5 per cent. The eradication of poverty and attainment achievement of the Millennium Development Goals was the shared responsibility of both the developing and developed countries. That principle remained largely on paper and must become a reality through transparent and accountable action on the part of the developed countries.
ZACHARY MUBURI-MUITA ( Kenya), speaking on behalf the African Group, said poverty eradication was necessary for sustainable development, particularly in developing countries. Even though indicators showed a slight improvement in sub-Saharan Africa, progress there was slow compared to that in other developing regions. National development strategies must be broad and inclusive, and countries should adopt and integrate a holistic approach that could address poverty in all its dimensions. The Second Decade should be used to reinforce global alliances for development by coming up with innovative policies based on new realities. It should be more than just a mere slogan.
The United Nations must consider how best to supplement the work undertaken to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and have a clear baseline for follow- up, he said. The Second Decade would benefit from a clear focus and direction, with particular attention to Africa’s special needs. It could be made more effective by strengthening monitoring mechanisms that would allow Member States to assess progress in implementing the Millennium Goals. New mechanism intended to review full and timely implementation of all commitments relating to Africa’s development should build on existing mechanisms.
He expressed concern that the current economic and financial turmoil, in addition to the escalating cost of food and energy, would have a greater negative impact on Africa than any other region. The crisis undermined the continent’s ability to achieve the Millennium targets and called for efforts to protect developing countries from its adverse impact. It was also important to help countries that were not responsible for the crisis, but which were suffering losses in jobs and income.
BAI YONGJIE ( China) said the eradication of poverty and freedom from want had a direct bearing on the dignity and happiness of humankind, and constituted important preconditions for the progress of society. Poverty was a persistent ailment, and while the overall living conditions of mankind had improved greatly, many countries and peoples still lived in poverty. Breaking out of the vicious cycle of poverty was not only an aspiration of the poor, but also a common challenge faced by society as a whole.
He said that with the eruption of financial turbulence and the food and energy crises all at once, in addition to the wide impact of climate change, the international community had entered a difficult period in which new and old problems intertwined and new challenges led to disorder in global development. That had imposed greater limitations and constraints on the efforts of a large number of developing countries to emerge from poverty, making the task of poverty reduction much more difficult. The international community should work together to mobilize resources, explore different modes of cooperation and build an international environment favourable to poverty eradication.
Developing countries should, in keeping with their own specific characteristics, formulate poverty-reduction strategies tailored to their own national conditions and set practical targets for helping the poor, he said. In addition to the leading role played by Governments, the initiatives of other parts of society, such as enterprises, civil society, women and youth, should be given full play so that all specialties could be tapped for the joint endeavour of poverty reduction.
HABIB MANSOUR ( Tunisia) said the global food, energy and financial crises illustrated clearly the vulnerability of the international system, which was in need of reform. It was a paradox that the current General Assembly session was taking place in the middle of the economic crisis and, at the same time, at the midpoint to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Tunisia supported the Secretary-General’s proposal to hold a Millennium Goals review conference in 2010. At the same time, there was a need to address the current crises and work to prevent the reversal of the gains made towards achieving the Millennium targets. The quality and speed of the response was crucial. Financing and resource mobilization were essential.
Voicing support for the idea of setting up a mechanism to follow up on the commitments made at Monterrey, he said the Global Partnership for Development was a partnership against poverty that drew on cooperation under several support programmes. The United Nations was required to play a leading role in the international economic process and to address in a collective and sustainable way the challenges confronting the global economic order. The international community had become fully aware of the collective need to end poverty. The Global Solidarity Fund set up by the Assembly was a true instrument for intervention. The current crises gave the Second Decade even more meaning. It was essential to set up an action plan to support the Decade, with special attention to the specific needs of Africa.
MD. ABDUL ALIM ( Bangladesh), associating himself with the Group of 77 and China, said States recognized the special initiatives undertaken during the First Decade for the Eradication of Poverty. Developing countries had implemented their national plans for poverty eradication, but their achievements had been mixed and more needed to be done. It was a matter of concern that official development assistance levels continued to decline, and that the international trade regime was far from optimal because negotiations had collapsed. Poverty eradication, therefore, remained a critical challenge.
Pointing out that there were 1.4 billion poor people in the world, he said that, while the percentage of those living in extreme poverty had declined, many countries -- especially developing ones -– lagged behind in striving for similar progress. The complexity of the challenge called for comprehensive action, and there was a need for a better understanding of the deep-rooted causes of poverty. The Second Decade provided a big opportunity for Member States, and they should seize it. Plans should include a programme of substantive tasks, the identification of the specific roles and mandates of specific United Nations agencies, and an annual monitoring mechanism.
Underscoring the huge potential of microcredit in poverty eradication, he said about 500 million poor and low-income people worldwide remained without access to that service. Microcredit could also play an important role in dealing with the current global crises. It could ensure food security against the various forms of adversity emanating from natural hazards, for example. Given that poverty anywhere was poverty everywhere, its eradication was a boundless pursuit of justice, equality and fairness.
WILLIAN HEIDT ( United States) stressed his country’s commitment to working with partners in support of national efforts to overcome poverty. The United States strongly supported the goals of the 2000 Millennium Declaration and the prescriptions of the Monterrey Consensus, and all Member States should join it in reaffirming those goals at the upcoming financing for development review conference in Doha.
He recalled that the President of the United States had hosted a White House Summit on International Development on Tuesday, which had focused on advancing the core United States principles for transforming international development: country ownership; good governance; results-based programmes and accountability; and economic growth. The President had noted that, over the past eight years, the United States had provided more foreign assistance than at any time in the past 50. He had urged both parties in the United States Congress to ensure that development efforts remained an enduring priority, and called on other members of the Group of 8 (G-8) and the United Nations to follow through on their pledges.
Lifting people out of poverty was the cornerstone of economic development work, he said. Economic development rested ultimately with countries, their Governments and citizens, and they must collectively take ownership in formulating their own development objectives and strategies, taking action and accounting for results. Good governance, including the rule of law, was indispensable for development and sustained economic growth. Private-sector growth drove and steadily fuelled development. Private-sector initiative, innovation and financing had propelled growth in countries worldwide since the industrial revolution. Development could only occur in stable, peaceful environments, and it was important to increase efforts to mitigate the special challenges of countries emerging from conflict or suffering from instability, so that development could take root.
HAMID CHABAR (Morocco), associating himself with the Group of 77 and China, and the African Group, said that despite concrete progress in several regions of the world, there were a whole range of targets that might not be achieved if robust action was not taken. In spite of the progress made, extreme poverty continued to affect millions of people. African countries were the most affected, because they were unable to achieve a sufficiently high level of economic growth. Moreover, donors had not fulfilled their commitments to provide the assistance required to meet internationally agreed development targets. Debt-relief efforts had been hindered because multilateral trade negotiations remained blocked. Member States must move to action in order to give hope to millions of people living in poverty.
In order to achieve its development goals by 2015, Morocco had accelerated its economic and social development process, he said. It had allocated a significant portion of the budget to social sectors, increasing that share from 39 per cent in 1993 to more than 55 per cent today. The country’s national human development initiative aimed to reduce poverty, vulnerability and precariousness in rural communities, among other things. The initiative also attempted to improve access to health services and infrastructure, as well as promote the creation of income-generating activities and stable revenue so as to encourage youth to create their own companies. The initiative placed human development at the centre of the State’s actions, and involved citizens in the development of their communities. More than 12,100 projects had been started between 2005 and 2007, and they were currently being carried out.
U THAN TUN (Myanmar), associating himself with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Group of 77 and China, said his country’s National Development Plan accorded top priority to poverty eradication and rural development in order to promote economic growth and narrow the gap between rural and urban areas. The Government had established the Ministry of Progress for the Border Areas and National Races and Development Affairs in 1994 to bridge the development gap between the heartland and the remote border regions, as well as to eliminate poppy cultivation in the border areas by offering alternative economic activities.
As agriculture was a pillar of Myanmar’s economy, the promotion of rural development not only ensured food sufficiency and fought poverty, it also contributed to the socio-economic development of the country as a whole, he said. Education and health care were being promoted in rural areas, and conventional farming was gradually being replaced by mechanization. As a result of its broad, integrated development approach, Myanmar was expected to meet most of its Millennium Goals targets in such areas as health, education and access to safe drinking water. However, many challenges remained, including the country’s reliance on its own resources, but greater success would be achieved with international cooperation and support.
BYRGANYM AITIMOVA ( Kazakhstan) said her country had already achieved the Millennium Development Goals relating to poverty reduction, the eradication of extreme hunger, universal primary education, gender equality and the empowerment of women, in addition to having just implemented the MDG Plus agenda. Classified as a higher middle-income country by the World Bank, Kazakhstan’s gross domestic product (GDP) per capita had risen from $700 to $5,100 over the past decade, and the country had attracted more than $70 billion in foreign direct investment as it had increasingly invested abroad.
She said the national Government had helped citizens gain jobs and access to affordable, quality education and health-care services; increased direct social aid to marginalized groups; and taken other measures to boost the nation’s living standards. At the same time, the poverty problem remained urgent and 1.4 per cent of the population earned less than the minimum subsistence level at the end of 2007. Rural poverty levels were three times higher than those in urban areas. Those numbers would rise as the country’s welfare balance was very vulnerable to the recent financial crisis and to volatile fuel and food prices.
Kazakhstan had already moved to mitigate those crises and boost its agricultural production, she said. To sustain development during the financial crisis, it had allocated $15 billion, about 15 per cent of the national GDP, from the $40 billion National Fund. Those funds would be channelled to the National Welfare Fund SamrukKazyna, the national financial securities markets, and into liquid assets for private-sector organizations, including small and mid-size enterprises. Kazakhstan would also rely on the best foreign practices and technical assistance from United Nations entities in developing its economic policy, which would entail a socially responsible private sector and a stronger public administration system.
VISHVJIT P. SINGH ( India) said measures to implement the Second Decade must contain a sense of urgency and fully involve Member States. Poverty eradication also required the highest attention from the United Nations and the international community. It was critically important that the international community contribute to national poverty-eradication efforts by creating a global economic environment that produced growth and jobs in developing countries. The international environment must also respect each country’s policy space as it shaped and implemented its own pro-poor and inclusive development strategies.
He said his country considered industrial development, which was at the core of its own development strategy, as fundamental for strong national economic growth. It also had a significant impact on socio-economic transformation. Yet, many countries were unable to develop their industries and needed international support, especially cooperation in the expansion, diversification and modernization of production capacity.
Noting that the UNIDO report aptly emphasized that inequitable globalization and trade barriers were key obstacles to the industrial development of developing countries, he expressed concern that demands by developed countries for non-agricultural market access during the Doha Round of trade negotiation threatened to undermine the limited industrial advances made by the developing countries. Developed countries should transfer technologies to the developing world countries as a key element of international development cooperation. Steps must also be taken to reverse the trend of directing bilateral aid to sectors or programmes chosen by the donors, which contravened the core principle of national ownership.
MARIA GUSTAVA ( Mozambique) said rising food and fuel prices, the international financial crisis and climate change were exacerbating the living conditions of the world’s poorest people, in addition to threatening their survival, human rights and dignity. The crisis had pushed 100 million more people into poverty, and 40 million more were facing malnutrition. The prospect of a global economic downturn would have a negative impact on poor countries, reversing some of their gains in reducing poverty and making it harder for them to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Against that backdrop, she said, there was a need for better understanding of the nature and range of the obstacles faced by countries in their efforts to reduce poverty by addressing it comprehensively and holistically, taking into account that poverty caused political and social instability. Mozambique was implementing its second Action Plan for the Reduction of Absolute Poverty for the 2006-2009 period, which outlined strategies to achieve national development targets in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals.
Mozambique had maintained a high level of economic growth, 7 per cent on average in the first two years, and it had reduced poverty, she said, adding that the country had achieved some progress in basic education, child mortality, maternal mortality and immunization. However, it still faced challenges such as rising unemployment, food security and HIV/AIDS, which were aggravated by the food and fuel crises, as well as drought and flooding. Collective action during the Second Decade must ensure that all people lived in peace and security, had access to resources, knowledge and skills, and that pro-poor policies spread incomes and services to those at the bottom of the social ladder.
SOUHAD KHRIESAT (Jordan), associating herself with the Group of 77 and China, said that, although the world was halfway to the deadline year for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, the elimination of poverty was still a major challenge and an obstacle to sustainable development. Poverty was the greatest ethical challenge of the day because it took away human freedom and put human rights in danger. People living in poverty faced social exclusion and were deprived of fundamental rights because their lack of resources did not allow them to benefit from those rights. Developing countries and those with economies in transition faced particular difficulties in overcoming those challenges. Poverty, by its nature and consequences, was an international problem and it could only be dealt with by collective measures.
She said her country was supporting the fight against poverty on many levels. At the national level, it had enacted laws to attract foreign investment. Jordan had also created special economic and industrial loans, and signed free trade agreements with the United States and the European Union. Its services had broadened over time to include savings, insurance and other financial services. The Government spent more than $1 billion on programmes for employment and fighting poverty. A national microfinance bank had also been created to ease the burden of social development and to train and empower the poor, while encouraging them to launch their own projects that could guarantee them a decent life.
HILARIO DAVIDE, JR. ( Philippines) said simple logic dictated that the best test or measure of adherence to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was the condition of the poor, the marginalized and the underprivileged in society, or how they were treated or looked upon. The link between human rights and the dignity of people living in poverty was much more than just an abstract concept. A solemn Philippines declaration stated that those who had less in life should have more in law. Constitutional provisions and laws passed by the Philippine Congress guaranteed that balance.
He said that during his tenure as Chief Justice, the Philippine judiciary had “blazed new trails” in terms of protecting, promoting and enhancing the human rights of the poor. It had adopted an Action Programme for Judiciary Reform addressing six main areas, including the “Access to Justice by the Poor” component ensuring that marginalized, vulnerable sectors would always have affordable but efficient means to obtain justice. Likewise, the Second Decade should be based on the human rights perspective.
Respect for the human rights of the poor must be the cornerstone of all policies, programmes and efforts to eradicate poverty, he stressed. The Philippines had tried to coordinate its poverty-alleviation programmes through the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan, in consultation with the National Anti-Poverty Commission, an advisory board that helped implement the 1998 Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act. Prior to the current global food, fuel, financial and climate change crises, the Philippines had been making headway in the fight against poverty, creating more than 1 million jobs annually. Those gains were now in danger of being diminished or lost.
ALI MOHAMMED AL-ABBAD AL-HURABI ( Saudi Arabia), associating himself with the Group of 77 and China, said his Government had realized that the local and limited character of poverty in Saudi Arabia should not minimize the importance of fighting it. The Government had taken important measures to establish an anti-poverty fund, financed largely by the State and including contributions from the private sector and individuals. The Government intended to hold an important seminar to define ways to implement initiatives for needy families, individuals and small enterprises. It had also increased social allocations and supported housing projects for needy citizens. Such projects had been granted 10 billion riyals.
The Government also supported volunteer associations, having granted them 300 million riyals, he said. In addition, it had increased allocations for orphans and disabled people, and given 300 million riyals to the international fund to fight poverty. The Government would continue its action to fight poverty at the national level and would spare no effort to take actions that would overcome poverty once and for all. Despite Saudi Arabia’s status as a developing country, it had not spared any effort and was aware of its humanitarian responsibility towards others. Saudi Arabia offered large amounts of money as humanitarian assistance and to help poor and developing countries.
SAIDOU ZONGO ( Burkina Faso) said the food crisis, rising energy costs and financial turmoil would worsen poverty in Africa. The causes of poverty were known and included a lack of resources and access to global markets, and difficulties linked to land and environmental problems. Opportunities had been missed in African and other developing countries in terms of education, agriculture, health care and job creation. The Second Decade must benefit from certain lessons of development and poverty-reduction objectives and focus on key questions.
He stressed the need to take due account of all internationally agreed initiatives, including the 2005 World Summit, the Millennium Development Goals and the financing for development agenda, among others. Burkina Faso had focused on that path by updating its national programmes and launching an anti-poverty strategy in 2000, in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals. Coordination was crucial; the role of the United Nations in addressing poverty and coordinating existing inter-agency mechanisms to do that was crucial in ensuring full consistency and cooperation to further the Second Decade, which must be seen as part of an active and positive global partnership for development involving the international community.
HIRUT ZEMENE (Ethiopia), associating herself with the Group of 77 and the African Group, said poverty eradication would require a longer time frame stretching beyond 2015. However, it had become a central issue for many United Nations development schemes and, as such, it had become the leading national development objective for many countries like Ethiopia. It was important to have a broad and inclusive approach that, among other things, ascertained access to health and education, and created an environment for employment and decent work for the poor and disadvantaged. Partnership between Governments, civil society and the private sector, as well as improved government efficiency, were essential means to that end.
Underscoring the need to do more in terms of national efforts to address the poverty, she said the Second Decade should give new impetus to addressing Africa’s development needs by keeping in mind the close link between poverty eradication and peace and security. Mechanisms that allowed grass-roots participation in poverty issues were quite central to addressing the challenge of poverty eradication. That was why the first round of Ethiopia’s Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan had been debated openly before its adoption by stakeholders from all walks of life.
Noting that her country was on its second strategic five-year plan, she said it had helped reduce the proportion of the population living below the poverty line from 48 per cent in 1990 to about 34.6 per cent in 2006. Central to the Government’s overall poverty eradication efforts were the achievement and sustainability of broad-based growth through the transformation of the agricultural sector; the encouragement of private initiatives for small-enterprise development; and job creation. Due to deep-rooted poverty and the complexity of economic and social problems, concerted and sustained efforts were needed to deepen the gains achieved thus far in order fundamentally to transform the Ethiopian economy. The challenge was to accelerate growth and development in a sustainable manner.
ELI BEN-TURA ( Israel) said that poverty, when linked to hunger, disease and illiteracy, was a multidimensional economic and social phenomenon that transgressed human rights. Poverty and hardship were counterproductive to market demands and development, because they permitted economic expediency and exploitation of cheap labour instead of harnessing and developing modern technology. They brought about political intimidation caused by population movements, which, in turn, caused demographic and cultural changes, which could sometimes trigger the growth of local terrorist movements that exploited inequality and those suffering from despair.
The financial crisis, the food and energy crises, and the effects of climate change would require a scaling up of existing efforts, as well as innovative strategies to tackle those interlinked obstacles to development, he said. Developing countries must develop a strategy that would identify clear goals to eliminate poverty, while the anti-poverty efforts of developed countries should include gradual investments in many areas with a long-term view based on a system of cross cooperation.
Civil society would be strengthened by empowering citizens and groups with special needs and by developing social and community-based grass-roots organizations, he said. For the last 50 years, Israel had engaged in poverty eradication through the Mount Carmel Centre and the Centre for International Cooperation (MASHAV). Its demand-driven, grass-roots approach served as a healthy paradigm for a sustainable approach to combating poverty through community empowerment, managing external investment and resources from external sources, socio-economic development, and developing data channels and data flow, among other things.
HENRY L. MACDONALD (Suriname), speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and associating himself with the Group of 77 and China, said the persistence of poverty in many parts of the world pointed not only to an inequitable distribution of economic, social and political opportunities, but also to a violation of human rights. The lives and physical well-being of those living in extreme poverty were continuously threatened by a lack of food, the risk of disease, hazardous work and precarious living conditions. The eradication of poverty, therefore, was a development goal, as well as a central human rights challenge.
Globalization could be a major force in the fight against poverty, owing to its capacity to open up vast avenues of wealth creation. Globalization should provide access to markets for poor and disadvantaged producers. However, experience confirmed that growth alone could not reduce poverty and income inequality. The CARICOM stressed the importance of an equitable and just trading system that would foster the dignity and integral development of the human person, and would, therefore, continue to promote pro-poor growth strategies, maintain macroeconomic stability and enhance agricultural productivity in an environmentally sustainable manner.
Experience also indicated that poverty was inseparably linked to a lack of access to, or loss of control over, resources, including land, skills, knowledge, capital and social connections, he said. Without those resources, people normally had limited access to institutions, markets, employment and public services, a situation that particularly affected young people and women in the Caribbean. Those groups must be mainstreamed into national development strategies, including poverty-reduction strategies. They must also be consulted in the policy-development process.
Women all over the world, and particularly in developing countries, should be empowered more, because the existing inadequate socio-economic conditions in many countries had resulted in the accelerated feminization of poverty, he said. In addition, the need for genuine action to alleviate and eradicate poverty was most urgent. Although that seemed an ambitious goal, it was neither a utopia nor impossible because the global community already had the knowledge and means to achieve it. The real question was whether States truthfully had the political will to tackle the problem.
JOEL NHLEKO ( Swaziland) said that to combat unprecedented levels of poverty, his country had adopted a Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan, in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals. It aimed to reduce poverty by more than 50 per cent by 2015 and eventually eradicate it by 2022. That was in line with Swaziland’s goal of joining the top 10 per cent of middle-income developing countries as classified by the UNDP Human Development Index. While ambitious, the Action Plan was based on several Government commitments, which included maintaining macroeconomic discipline, particularly fiscal discipline. That would require the nation to build the institutions and infrastructure necessary for accelerated and sustainable economic growth, including efficient and equitable revenue collection, efficient use of public funds, good governance and human security.
Lifting up the poor would require a transformation of the agricultural sector, effecting structural reforms, investing in the lives of the poor to reduce their vulnerability, and restructuring the public expenditure pattern, he said. That would create linkages with the manufacturing sector through support for industrial output, while obtaining the means to increase the income of the poor and, thus, helping them fulfil their basic needs. In August 2007, the Government had organized an agricultural summit aimed at reorienting production systems to encourage sustainable agricultural production. The Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan included a new set of pro-poor development programmes that enabled the poor to participate in areas in which they could dominate and, thus, achieve equitable distribution of gains from economic growth. Such programme would reverse the distortions inhibiting their access to services.
ROSE ANNE EVELYN ( Saint Lucia), associating herself with the Group of 77 and China, said her country had made progress towards financing its own development, and attaining the Millennium Development Goals. However, experiencing the negative effects of the global economic slowdown, it had become even more evident that some policy directions must focus on self-sufficiency. It was in that vein that Saint Lucia had striven to be proactive in its own development. It saw the urgent need to invest more in industrial development, especially in small and medium enterprises.
While Saint Lucia was fully committed to ownership of its own development, it could not cope with the challenges faced by the developing world in its efforts to achieve industrial development without help from its partners, she said, stressing the imperative of striving to create closer partnerships with Governments and other stakeholders. Saint Lucia and other Caribbean economies were under intense pressure from international circumstances. Economic uncertainty placed tighter restrictions on the creativity and entrepreneurship of locals wishing to make a contribution to their national economy. While the outlook was dismal, the Government saw it as an opportunity to craft a response base upon which to build capacity.
LILIT TOUTKHALIAN ( Armenia), noting that her country had continued its aggressive economic reform in the last year, said democracy, economic development and peace were critical to Armenia and the world. While the country was committed to achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, the importance of United Nations assistance could hardly be overestimated. The Goals had become “guiding lights” for the Government in setting priorities and mobilizing resources.
Describing national efforts, she said her country’s 2008 poverty report showed that 300,000 residents had been elevated from poverty in the 2004-2007 period, results primarily due to continuous economic growth, a steady labour market and an increase in pensions. While Armenia had registered double-digit economic growth since 2002, current poverty levels and income distribution inequalities were major threats to development, particularly as the poverty rates were considerably higher in rural areas than in the capital. The 2008-2021 poverty reduction plan would be essential to Armenia’s sustainable development strategy. Overall, globalization made lives better by opening markets and moving capital and technology on a scale never seen before. Hopefully, it would also help reduce poverty.
MARIA FERNANDA ESPINOSA ( Ecuador), associating herself with the Group of 77 and China, said the financial crisis jeopardized the basics of a system that lacked clear mechanisms of audit control. It was a matter of urgency that States foster an analytical and progressive debate in the General Assembly aimed at establishing a new and transparent global financial architecture. On the upcoming financing for development conference in Doha, a major commitment by developed nations was necessary in order to meet official development assistance objectives.
Describing her country’s poverty-eradication efforts, she said the Government had recently approved a new constitution that would transform Ecuador into a State focused on peoples’ welfare. The 2007-2010 national development plan aimed to attain the minimum standards established by the Millennium Goals and promote a sustainable economic system that reaffirmed national identity. In the social sector, Ecuador had developed, in the past year, an inclusive economic agenda based on “micro-productive unities”.
She said that, in order to help nations eradicate poverty, the right path should include a new global financial architecture; increased global cooperation; compliance with the Monterrey compromises; support for the upcoming Doha Review Conference; enhanced South-South cooperation; and participation by middle-income countries in the international context. Ecuador was committed to working towards achieving the Millennium Goals, combating poverty and pioneering a new development model based on respect for human rights, culture and dignity.
CLAUDIA LOZA ( Nicaragua) said the first Millennium Development Goal -- halving the proportion of people living on less than $1 a day -- was not within reach in many areas. There were many solutions to the food, energy, financial and climate crises, but the main crisis was the lack of political will to change the international model whereby the minority exploited the majority on the basis of the slave trade model. The international financial institutions had excelled in incompetence and their policies had, in fact, compounded poverty. The food crisis was killing millions of people through hunger. Agricultural production of the developed countries had been more competitive than that of the developing world because for years it had enjoyed the benefit of subsidies.
There must be a distribution of wealth so that all people could achieve economic and social development, she said. The economy must be at the service of man, not the other way around. The Bolivarian Alternative of the Americas and Petrocaribe had formed an integral cooperation framework that was making it possible to fight poverty. It was also enabling Nicaragua to invest in social projects, particularly in education. The country intended to eradicate illiteracy by 2009 because education was one of the principal tools for poverty eradication. Health care had been made free of charge. Petrocaribe and the Bolivarian Alternative showed that political will could overcome any crisis and achieve any Millennium Development Goal. Solidarity was not just an empty concept, but rather the foundation of Nicaraguan society. Nicaragua expressed its solidarity with Cuba and denounced the United States blockade against that country, which was in violation of international law.
CHARLES T. NTWAAGAE ( Botswana), associating himself with the Group of 77 and China and the African Group, said the reality that one third of the world’s poorest people lived in sub-Saharan Africa should “invoke urgent action at all levels”. The critical areas of the First Decade -– among them, access to health, education and food; women’s empowerment; and social protection for the most vulnerable groups -- should be pursued in an environment of peace, stability and good governance, which were prerequisites for sustainable development.
While poverty was at the core of the global development agenda, coordinated action to address the interrelated aspects of sustainable poverty eradication was lacking, he said. As such, mobilizing support among donors was critical to strengthening national capacities. Given that the African countries most in need of capital had been bypassed by investors, the review of the Monterrey Consensus should focus on implementing the recommendations by the MDG Africa Steering Group, global governance and the special needs of middle-income countries. It was regrettable that donors had turned those countries, including Botswana, into “economic orphans” by denying them official development assistance.
He said it was equally important to put the World Trade Organization negotiations back on track as they were vital for countries with a strong correlation between agricultural productivity and poverty. The role of the private sector must be facilitated, and access to microcredit would benefit from the global community’s assistance. The challenges of the Second Decade would lie in harnessing the resources of United Nations agencies to strengthen system-wide coherence and in fostering global alliances and innovative strategies to make the Decade a results-oriented one.
BOVONETHAT DOUANGCHAK (Lao People’s Democratic Republic) said poverty eradication was the greatest global challenge facing the world today, particularly the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States. The Second Decade should be built on implementation of, support for and monitoring of initiatives to generate greater momentum for global action towards poverty eradication. That would entail strengthening, among other things, national ownership; partnership between Governments, civil society and the private sector; and coordination and alignment of United Nations country programmes with national development objectives. Concurrently, the related United Nations agencies must achieve greater coherence and effectiveness in their development activities.
Although the least developed countries and their development partners had made some progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals-based Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001-2010, that progress was insufficient and uneven. As a landlocked least developed country, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s priority was to combat poverty and hunger. To support the implementation of its socio-economic development plan, the Government had identified 11 priority programmes on which to concentrate its efforts. Over the past decade, with strong commitment by the Government and support from international donors, poverty had declined from 46 per cent in 1992, to 33 per cent in 2002, and to 28.7 per cent in 2006.
KOMI BAYEDZE DAGOH ( Togo) said that, in September 2007, his country had adopted a long-term development strategy based on the Millennium Development Goals. In March 2008, the Government had adopted a poverty reduction strategy paper aimed at promoting Togo’s human capital through education and training, developing health services, improving nutrition and access to potable water and sanitation, and creating employment and community-based development. That meant mobilizing appropriate financial resources, which required political commitment.
He said his country had undertaken robust economic, political and administrative reforms, and its partners were now re-engaging with its development. At a conference with development partners in Brussels last September, participants had aimed to implement reform and mobilize the necessary external resources for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The Second Decade could only meet expectations if the international community lived up to its promises of aid and development. More attention should be given to microcredit and microfinancing. The United Nations must commit more to the noble ideals that had justified its creation -- to save humankind from poverty, destitution, hunger and a multitude of diseases. Solidarity among States and peoples must be affirmed through concrete action.
CH. BAATAR ( Mongolia), associating himself with the Group of 77 and China, said the international community must have a clear vision of what it wanted to achieve by the end of the Second Decade. It was time to recognize what had worked in previous decades and what had not. A new approach was needed, and developing countries must adopt the right mix of policies that would make better use of market mechanisms and the power of incentives. The Secretary-General’s report on the role of microcredit underscored its remarkable contribution in alleviating the hardships endured by more than 100 million people living in poverty around the world. It was important to note that even insignificant amounts of capital had given many poor people the means to increase, diversify and protect their sources of income. Therefore, helping the poor the help themselves
Published on: 2008-10-23
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