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New York, 29 June, 2004
Madam Chairperson:
Allow me, first and foremost, to adhere my delegation to the statement made this morning by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Qatar on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.
The item considered in this high level segment of ECOSOC is, undoubtedly, of the highest urgency and interest, mainly due to the fact that the Brussels Plan of Action established that the eradication of poverty, full employment, good governance at the national and international levels, the promotion of capacities, sustainable development, and the special problems of the least developed countries, constitute a priority for the international community.
But it is essential to place such priority in a practical context. Thus, measures would have to be taken in, at least, 8 fields.
First: The industrialized countries should effectively fulfill their commitment of devoting 0.15 to 0.20% of their GNP as official development assistance to the LDCs, thus reversing the current downward trend of those resource flows, in spite of the efforts carried out by the Least Developed Countries for the fulfillment of what industrialized countries and international financial institutions qualify as a “good normative environment”. Likewise, the high political conditionality permeating such assistance and clearly threatening the capacity of LDCs for the taking of sovereign decisions, should be eliminated.
Second: The way in which the LDCs are integrated into the world economy, particularly the Multilateral Trading System, must be substantially transformed. At present such insertion is mainly through their reduced export capacity, which does not support neither their economic growth, nor the necessary efforts for the sustained reduction of poverty.
Third: It is
essential to seek lasting and profound solutions to the external debt situation
facing these countries. Debt payment entails a substantial decrease of resources
for larger public investments in human and material capital. In most cases,
indebtedness is unsustainable and the mechanisms that have been adopted
by the international community, are insufficient and ineffective. We should
avoid the complacency with exclusive initiatives such as the HIPC, that
has achieved scarce results since its inception.
Fourth: It is indispensable to resolve the issue regarding the dependency
of the majority of LDCs to the export of primary products, with low productivity,
little dynamism, and scarce added value. These products have been losing
value in the international markets dramatically and systematically.
Fifth: It is necessary to reverse the tendency leading to the loss of markets and to the deterioration of the exchange levels of the LDCs, resulting from their high rates of poverty linked low level of training, which lead to the scarce mobilization of resources for investment and for the promotion of the necessary skills to improve production and the participation in the supply chains that generate high added value.
Sixth: It is essential to improve substantially the initiatives for preferential market access to industrialized countries, of which the LDCs are supposedly beneficiaries, as at present those initiatives are insufficient, not to say almost inexistent.
Seventh: It would be necessary to favor the contribution of research by international institutions that help the LDCs to understand the structure of the supply chains, identifying the stages in which added value is generated, as well as assessing the potential of LDCs to participate in these chains, and the subsequent application of national politics conducive to the obtaining of greater income as a result of the added value incorporated to the final products.
Eighth: It is essential to promote the recognition that South-South Cooperation should be a complement and not a replacement of North-South Cooperation.
But, Madame Chairperson, the main action that could be adopted in favor of LDCs and of the Third World as a whole, would be the exercise of solidarity.
I believe that by quoting only a few statistical data, we can realize that through a simple reduction of consumerism and sumptuary expenses in the industrialized countries, it would be possible to generate more than enough resources to guarantee the solution of many of the most pressing problems that affect not only the LDCs, but also the Third World as a whole.
With only a part of the 18 billion dollars spent every year in cosmetics in the North, it would be possible to cover the 12 billion required to ensure the reproductive health of all the women of the planet;
With the 17 billion used in the United States and Europe for pet food, it would almost be possible to obtain the 19 billion dollars required to eliminate hunger in the world;
With the 15 billion spent in perfumes in the industrialized countries, it would be able to defeat illiteracy three times over;
With the 14 billion dollars spent in cruisers, the international community would exceed the 10 billion required for the supply of drinking and clean water to all the inhabitants of the planet; and
With the 11 billion spent in ice creams in Europe, all the children of the world would be fully immunized 8 times over.
I do not wish to take any more time of this Council. I would like to conclude by recalling that the only way in which we will be able, in an effective and realistic manner, to implement the measures predicted in the Brussels Plan, and to go beyond it, is by means of supportive, determined and concerted action. We must not forget that a better world is possible.
Thank you.