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JOHAN L. LOVALD, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF NORWAY TO THE UN
REAL AID DECLINING
Mithre J. Sandrasagra
Meeting last year in Gleneagles, Scotland, the G8 group of rich
countries pledged to prioritize Africa for debt relief, accelerated
aid, and increased trade. One year later, most of those initiatives have
not bourne fruit. The only part of the programme running according
to schedule is debt relief, which can look very good on paper but
translates into very little on the ground. Poverty is an affliction of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), but the solutions to it lie in
altering the policies of developed countries. |
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There has been an increase in the overall aid LDCs over the last few
years. But, if debt relief, emergency aid and food aid are excluded
from the statistics, "aid to the LDCs has declined," Ambassador
Johan L. Lovald, Permanent Representative of Norway to the UN
told IPS.
Lovald also acted as the Chairman of
the Preparatory Meeting of Experts on LDCs ahead of the 61st
General Assembly sessions.
As far back as the 1970s, the UN General Assembly urged the
world's 22 richest countries to provide 0.7 percent of their gross
national product (GNP) as official development assistance (ODA)
to developing nations, but only five countries have met this target:
Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The
United States, which spends 0.1 percent of its GNP on aid, has not
even provided a timeframe to reach the UN target. What is being
done to encourage developed countries to contribute to the LDCs?
There is no doubt the LDCs need more and better aid.
Norway therefore welcomes the commitments made by most
developed countries to increase ODA and the time-bound
commitments to reach the agreed UN target of 0.7 per cent of gross
national income (GNI). We are also pleased to note an increase in the
overall ODA to the LDCs over the last years. However, if we exclude
debt relief, emergency aid and food aid from the statistics, the
disbursement to the LDCs actually declined. This makes recent
initiatives, such as the Commission for Africa and the G8 countries'
Partnership for Africa, particularly welcome.
The LDCs are the main beneficiaries of Norway's development
assistance. All our main partner countries, seven in total, are LDCs.
More than 43 per cent of our bilateral ODA is channelled to LDCs,
and we have for many years exceeded the target of 0.7 per cent of
GNI as ODA for all developing countries
as well as the target of allocating 0.2 per
cent of GNI as ODA to the LDCs.
Furthermore, Norway is aiming to increase
ODA to 1 per cent of GNI and beyond
during the coming three years. Naturally,
we encourage other developed countries to
do the same.
Is there any hope for the LDCs to
reach the MDGs by 2015? What are the
major obstacles that LDCs face in
reaching the MDGs?
Progress has been made by the
LDCs themselves, with support from
development partners, so I would say we
are on the right path on several of the
MDGs. However, as it is stated in the
Secretary General's report on the midterm
review, the LDCs are the least likely
countries to reach MDG 1 – Eradicate
extreme poverty and hunger. However, the
2001 Brussels Programme of Action
(BPoA), gives us clear guidance on the path
forward. Furthermore, the midterm review
has given us the opportunity to focus on
sharing best practices and lessons learned,
and to identify obstacles and constraints
that have been encountered, and to agree
on actions and initiatives to overcome
them. The Preparatory Meetings of Experts
met in New York on 5-7 September. At the
end of the meeting a Draft Declaration
concerning the mid-term review was
approved and recommended for adoption
by the High-level Meeting of the 61st
General Assembly. This Draft Declaration
represents a consensus by the international
community on the way forward and it must
be hoped that the High-level meeting will
adopt this declaration.
LDCs efforts to improve their
domestic environment through economic
and political reforms, as well as
international initiatives to grant them
duty- and quota-free market access, have
not been matched by economic benefits.
What can be done to reduce structural
weaknesses in the LDCs which prevent
them from taking full advantage of
economic opportunities?
The LDCs need improved market
access and further integration into the
international trading system. Norway is
doing its part in these efforts, and has
granted the LDCs duty- and quota-free
access to the
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