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STATEMENT
BY AMBASSADOR STAFFORD NEIL, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF JAMAICA
TO THE UNITED NATIONS, CHAIRMAN OF THE GROUP OF 77, AT THE INFORMAL
CONSULTATIONS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON THE REPORTS OF THE HIGH-LEVEL
PANEL ON THREATS, CHALLENGES AND CHANGE AND THE UN MILLENNIUN PROJECT
2005 (New York, 22 February 2005) |
Mr. President, The G-77 and China had opportunity to express our views on the reports of the High Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change and of the Millennium Project during informal meetings of the General Assembly on 27 January and 10 February 2005 respectively. Our present statement must be read in conjunction with those two statements to which we remain committed. Mr. President The two Reports recognise the overarching importance of economic and social development issues for the United Nations and establish the inextricable link with peace and security. The leaders of the world in 2000, recognised the primacy of the development challenge by establishing the Millennium Development Goals to urgently address the worst manifestations of underdevelopment. The G-77 and China believes strongly that while the threats to peace and international security may have increased in recent years, the international community should continue to focus on the fundamental underlying cause of current problems - the persistence of underdevelopment. It should be considered as a basic and fundamental issue in all its dimensions, not simply as an economic and social threat to peace and security. Such a narrow and restricted approach to development issues is untenable. The Millennium Project Report shows us with meticulous and detailed facts and figures that based on performance over the last five years, we will fail to meet most of the Millennium Development Goals by large margins. Without corrective measures, the development gap will continue to widen even further. In our view, the Summit in September must not only recommit to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals and provide the required acceleration to meet the agreed deadline; it must also address the resource needs, the constraining systemic issues and the international governance requirements for the global partnership envisaged in the Millennium Summit, as well as the Conferences of Rio, Beijing, Copenhagen, Cairo, Monterrey, Johannesburg and in the Almaty, Brussels and Mauritius Programmes of Action. Mr President, I wish to address three areas in which the G-77 and China would expect the Summit to advance or give firm direction to creating a concrete programme of immediate and long-term measures. Resources The first relates to resources. Any serious effort to address the Millennium Development Goals and other critical areas of development will require mobilisation of substantial financial resources in addition to that which can be generated domestically. We draw inspiration from the assessments of the Millennium Project Report as well as statements by leaders in donor countries that the required financial resources can be found. We therefore believe that the Summit should:
Policies Second, Mr President, the Summit should address or direct relevant bodies to formulate policies to eliminate systemic inequities which constrain economic growth in Developing Countries in all relevant areas such as:
Global Governance Mr President, The third area is in relation to machinery. We note that while both the High Level Panel Report as well as the Millennium Project Report have identified the need for improved co-ordination and policy co-operation as well as overall global economic management, neither Report made concrete proposals for consideration. It was evidently not part of the mandate of the Millennium Project Report and in the case of the High Level Panel the focus was on security issues and on the Security Council. The fact is, however, that the uneveness and imbalances which characterise the current phase of globalisation, make a compelling case for urgent attention to the international architecture in global economic management. The G-77 and China has continually called for reform in the interest of efficiency and democratic participation. Steps should be taken at the Summit to reform the UN machinery for economic governance. The focus must necessarily be on the ECOSOC which has the mandate under the Charter. We consider unacceptable the analysis of the High Level Panel in paragraph 274 of its Report and the minor role it would assign to the Council. We believe that the ECOSOC should be suitably empowered and its role strengthened in keeping with the primacy we attach to issues of economic and social development. One area which needs attention is the effective monitoring of implementation of UN conference decisions and intergovernmental oversight of the UNDG administered development programmes. A second area is improvement in policy co-ordination to promote greater policy coherence in the international system. The ECOSOC should bring together the major agencies, especially those involved in the formulation of international policies in the areas of trade, technology and finance and build on the current process in the annual High Level Spring meetings with the Bretton Woods Institutions, WTO and UNCTAD. These meetings could be held over a more extended period and structured to provide more action-oriented outcomes in the form of recommendations or guidelines on policy matters. In general, more needs to be done to make ECOSOC more active as a development forum both in terms of economic policy formulation as well as in functional programmes in economic cooperation. General Principles Mr President, The G77 and China believes that the Summit should seek to adopt a development agenda which can provide the basis for sustained economic growth for developing countries by the removal of imbalances and disequilibrium which promote impoverishment and impede the implementation of the MDGs and other intergovernmentally agreed goals. We need to create an enabling international environment in which the collective concerns of the global community are addressed that real progress in social and economic development will be realised. The Summit should call for the ending of occupation, unilateral punitive sanctions and coercive measures which are contrary to the principles of the Charter and the spirit of global partnership. I would also wish to draw attention to the need for the international community to advance clear but specific recommendations to improve the situation of African countries which continue to face severe social and economic constraints. We have a collective responsibility to ensure that the special needs of Africa are comprehensively addressed so that they too can benefit from global economic growth and prosperity. We expect donors who have announced Africa-specific initiatives to translate them into concrete action in support of the objectives and priorities of the NEPAD. We urge the Secretary General to make concrete proposals to address the situation in Africa, including as we have proposed, through debt cancellation and the provision of international financial assistance. Conclusion Mr President, We expect that the Secretary General’s Report will reflect the deep concerns of the developing countries and provide recommendations which would assist leaders at the High Level Event to take the bold actions necessary to stimulate and sustain the level of development required to meet the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals. Thank you, Mr. President.
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