 |
STATEMENT
ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA DELIVERED BY H.E. MR. YOUSSEF
HUSSEIN KAMAL,
MINISTER OF FINANCE OF THE STATE OF QATAR, AT THE HIGH LEVEL MEETING
OF THE TWELFTH SESSION |
Mr. Chairman, On behalf of the G77 and China, I would like to extend to you sincere thanks for affording us this opportunity, and congratulate you on your assumption of the chairmanship of this committee. It gives me great pleasure to welcome His Excellency, the Secretary-General of the United Nations at this meeting. I am also happy to participate with you in this meeting which affirms the commitment of the international community to the advancement of humanity through achieving sustainable development for all. This session has provided the first opportunity to review and assess in dealing with the challenges and difficulties facing developing countries in the areas of water, sanitation and human settlements and the constraints and obstacles they are encountering in implementing the JPOI. The developing countries have taken significant steps to meet their commitments for the achievement of sustainable development. As we heard in the discussions last week, the developing countries have adopted a range of domestic measures, including improved policy formulation and coordination to enhance implementation. The international community should live up to its own commitments to create an enabling international environment at all levels, which has a critical importance for the achievement to the goals and targets of the JPOI and, in meeting the commitments to provide financing, capacity building, and technology transfer. Mr. Chairman, The lack of the means of implementation is a critical aspect of the international environment that makes it difficult for developing countries to fulfil their objectives. The commitment to provide new and additional resources has not been fulfilled. The review also shows that only a few developed countries have met the international target of providing 0.7% of GDP. This situation needs to be substantially improved in order to meet the MDGs and the goals and targets set in Johannesburg. Johannesburg recognized the crucial role of international trade for sustainable development. From the review it is also clear that progress in this area is still slow. The reports of the Secretary-General show that since Johannesburg there has been no progress in market access and in the removal of agriculture tariffs. The lack of market access is a major constraint that denies developing countries important resources they could earn through international trade. Subsidies applied in developed countries also present an obstacle to the efforts of developing countries to achieve sustainable development. These subsidies, which are used by developed countries, cause a distortion of international prices thereby making it difficult for developing countries to make gains from trade. Mr. Chairman, Developing countries have indicated the steps that they are taking to improve the provision of services and infrastructure for water, sanitation and human settlements. However, the developing countries also require capacity building and technology transfer. Technology transfer, as agreed in Johannesburg, needs to be improved to support these efforts. Without movement in these areas it will be difficult for developing countries to fulfil their development objectives. CSD12 should also identify the obstacles in this area and possible approaches to improve the situation. During the first week we heard a lot about what developing countries have been doing at the domestic level. We should also hear from our development partners about what they are doing to contribute to an enabling environment at the international level. Development partners should also indicate the steps taken in the area of improving consumption and production patterns. Provision of water is critical for poverty eradication. The challenges facing developing countries in this area include improving the quality of drinking water, addressing causes of pollution and contamination of water, water leakages, natural disasters, and drought. Efforts of developing countries are constrained by the unavailability of appropriate technologies. Furthermore due to the lack of financial resources developing countries find it difficult to increase investment for water. Capacity building to improve planning and management is also essential for developing countries. Capacity building can also contribute to integrated water resources management, water efficiency, and recycling of water and used water. There is also a need to enhance cooperation between states sharing international watercourses, in accordance with International Law. Partnerships should be seen as complimentary and not a substitute of intergovernmental efforts. We are concerned that the review so far shows that they are still largely financed by Governments and have not managed to mobilise resources from the private sector. We are concerned that the reliance by partnerships on Government resources could see a diversion of resources from the fulfilment of intergovernmental commitments. This needs to be addressed. It was understood that partnerships would attract the participation of other stakeholders such as the private sector. We are also concerned that most partnerships are not yet demand-driven. Partnerships need to reflect the priorities of the recipient countries and not only those of the donors. CSD11 adopted a set of guidelines for partnerships. We suggest that future work on partnerships should follow these guidelines. Future reports on partnerships will need to be qualitative and also reflect on the themes and partners involved in partnerships. The information on partnership in which UN agencies and programmes are involved in, should be provided to the CSD. We also note that partnerships have not yet managed to achieve wider geographical and sectoral balance. In our discussions let us reflect how this could be achieved. Mr. Chairman, UN agencies and programmes have a critical role to play in the implementation of Agenda 21 and the goals and targets of the JPOI. The potential of the UN agencies and their comparative advantages need to be fully utilized in the implementation of the JPOI. We need to ensure that their programmes reflect the priorities set by Governments in the WSSD and other intergovernmental meetings. Coordination amongst agencies is also an important aspect that can assist
the developing countries, in particular, in reducing the burden of reporting.
Interagency coordination should follow the guidelines and the mandates
agreed by Governments. Reports on interagency coordination should be
consistent with the programme of work of the CSD, should not go beyond
the JPOI and the guidelines, deal with the relevant questions identified
by CSD11 and also reflect the contribution of the Bretton Woods Institution. Mr. Chairman, We would like to underscore the special conditions prevailing in SIDS and in the African countries. The scarcity of water and natural resources are chronic problems that impede the population movement and the achievement of sustainable development. It is significant that in 2004 the International Meeting will be held in Mauritius to review the implementation of the BPOA. We believe that the International Meeting should result in a practical
and implementation oriented outcome to improve the sustainable development
in these countries. We urge the international community to work for the
success of the International Meeting. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. |