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STATEMENT ON BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA BY AMBASSADOR DUMISANI KUMALO, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ON AGENDA ITEM 113: SPECIFIC MEETING FOCUSED ON DEVELOPMENT, IN THE PLENARY OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY (New York, 6 December 2006) |
Madame President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.
The Group welcomes this specific meeting focused on development in the General assembly in accordance with operative paragraph 56 of the Development follow-up resolution.
The economic development gap between developing countries and developed countries is still increasing. The global imbalances in the global economic, financial and trading regimes remain. The impact of developed countries monetary policies, trade policies and in particular trade distorting subsidies, non-tariff barriers on developing countries remains unresolved. The full and timely implementation of all the outcomes of all the major conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields has still to be achieved. All economic indications, therefore, are that globalization has yet to deliver the poor from dehumanizing hunger and poverty.
Madame President,
The goals and targets of the MDGs are off track, in particular in Africa, in spite of appropriate measures taken and tremendous efforts made by the LDCs and LLDCs themselves to build enabling national environments for the implementation of the Brussels and Almaty Programmes of Action. Their efforts to pursue much-needed development are limited, the support received from development partners is insufficient, or sometimes, even completely lacking.
As a result of the suspension in the Doha trade negotiations the G77 and China has noted with concern that it may result in further protectionist tendencies. We are also of the view that without a rules-based multilateral trading system, trade distorting policies, including distortions caused by subsidies in agricultural trade and non market access will persist unabated which would threaten the credibility of the rules based multilateral trading system, thereby jeopardizing the prospects of developing countries in generating additional export revenue and income from agricultural exports.
Madame President,
Developing countries have already prepared strategies and plans for development and many have accumulated sufficient practice and experience to know what would be required of them to achieve sustainable development. For this reason, the Group of 77 and China has called for developing countries to be allowed full policy space to achieve their own objectives.
On the other hand, leading international monetary and financial institutions such as IMF and the World Bank have as yet not taken into account national strategies including the policy framework adopted by the United Nations to ensure that their policies are in conformity with the developmental objectives of developing countries and are responsive to the needs and concerns of the poor.
The Bretton Woods institutions must play a more active role in close collaboration with the United Nations in formulating a global strategy for the eradication of hunger and poverty in developing countries. Essential to this process is the active voice and effective participation by developing countries in the decision making processes of the Bretton Woods Institutions. This is central to promoting the legitimacy, relevance and effectiveness of the international financial system and crucial if developing countries are to succeed in eradicating poverty and accelerating economic growth in a sustainable manner.
The Secretary-General, as part of his first reform package, proposed the establishment of the Development Account, by which proceeds from the envisaged savings from administrative efficiencies would be transferred to this Account to facilitate the implementation of social and economic projects in developing countries. The expectations that the level of the Account would grow to at least $200 million by 2003 have not been met. A concrete decision by Member States is required to increase the maintenance base of the Account and avoid establishing new mandates from “within existing resources”, which ultimately deplete savings that should be transferred to the Account. The Group of 77 and China wishes to urge other Member States to live up to the political commitments made in December 2005 and increase the maintenance base of the Account by $5 million.
Madame President,
The eradication of hunger and poverty still remains the greatest global challenge facing the international community today. A more concerted, coherent and coordinated approach to saving mankind from the scourge of dehumanising and degrading hunger and poverty and its crippling effect on the most vulnerable, namely women and children, in society is urgently needed.
If we are to succeed in achieving the goals and targets of the MDGs by 2015 then we must ensure that the global partnership for development is fully implemented. It is therefore, imperative that developed countries fully deliver on all their commitments.
In this regard, the integrated and coordinated implementation of, and follow up to, the outcomes of the United Nations major Conferences and Summits in the economic, social and related fields is essential and remains the priority role of the United Nations if we are to succeed in lifting billions of people out of dehumanising and degrading poverty and hunger.
The United Nations has a vital role to play in the promotion of an equitable global economic, financial and trading regime. The United Nations system, and the international organizations and institutions, including the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization, must translate all commitments made at the major United Nations Conferences and Summits in the economic, social and related fields into concrete and specific actions in order to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.
The Group of 77 and China cannot over emphasise the need for the United Nations to play a fundamental role in the promotion of international cooperation for development and the coherence, coordination and implementation of the internationally agreed development goals.
The United Nations and in particular developed countries need to display an unequivocal political will to operationalize and implement all commitments made to enhancing the global partnership for development that has been undertaken in writing and not just display perfunctory service to the implementation of an equitable and balanced financial, economic and social global order.
This is essential if we are to fulfil its mandate of achieving an equitable, integrated, coordinated and comprehensive approach to the global partnership for development to create a better life for all those millions of people who so desperately need to be lifted out of dehumanising and degrading poverty and hunger.
The Development Follow-up Resolution emphasizedthe need to fully implement the global partnership for development including living up to all the commitments already made so as to enable developing countries to achieve the goals and targets of the internationally agreed development goals, including the MDGs by 2015. In this regard, MDG 8, “to develop a global partnership for development”, and the full implementation thereof is critical to the success of achieving the 2015 target.
Madame President now is the time for the full and timely implementation of the Development Follow-up Resolution, which has clearly and succinctly outlined all the actions that must be undertaken in the context of the implementation of all the outcomes of all the major United Nations Conferences and Summits in the economic, social and related fields.
I thank you.