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57TH SESSSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Mr. Chairman,
Allow me to join other delegations in congratulating you and other members of the bureau for your election to the leadership of this Committee. My delegation has confidence in your abilities, and we are convinced that through your leadership we will be able to achieve the goals ahead of us.
I would also like to commend Mr. Nitin Desai, the Under-Secretary General for the important statement that he made yesterday. My delegation furthermore, wishes to associate itself with the statement made by the delegation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela on behalf of the Group of 77 and China.
Mr. Chairman,
Two years ago world leaders gathered here in New York on the occasion of the Millennium Summit adopted the Millennium Development Goals, a comprehensive guide to the international community in its efforts to alleviate suffering and put the world's marginalized, its majority on the path to development. The Millennium Declaration ushered in an era of hope and excitement to the poor of the world. However the Millennium Development Goals and others agreed at various United Nations conferences of the 1990s, and particularly at the Earth Summit and World Food Summit have remained elusive and far way behind schedule. We need to re-examine our commitment to all the promises that we made.
Mr. Chairman
Marginaralization of developing countries, and especially those in Africa continues unabated resulting in the rising debt burden, lower export earnings, lower levels of capital flows and higher poverty levels. According to the latest report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the proportion of people in the 29 African LDCs living on less than two dollars a day has increased from 82% in the late 1960s, to 87.5% in the late 1990s, while those living on one US dollar or less a day increased from 55.8%, to 64.9% in the same period. The heavy dependence on primary commodities for exports, heavy debt servicing obligations, the persistent net financial outflows, limited access to developed countries' markets, the adverse impact of trade liberalization are the undeniable causes of this scenario. In addition, the high rates of HIV/AIDS pandemic, have further aggravated the global economic imbalance.
Mr. Chairman
Today the internationally agreed ODA targets of 0.7% of GNP, are far from being realized, while investment flows to developing countries continues to be unbalanced with a substantial proportion being concentrated in a few countries. The outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Financing for Development and the just concluded World Summit on Sustainable Development, if implemented effectively, hold the key to the solution of the economic problems affecting developing countries.
Mr. Chairman
Development of our countries can only be achieved through application of policies that are consistent with the local conditions, and development priorities. Past development programmes that have been prescribed for Africa have not taken into account this reality. The current Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility, and the accompanying Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) while preaching ownership and participation, is contradictory, given the conditionalities associated with it.
Mr. Chairman,
My delegation wishes to commend the United Nations and the international community for the warm reception accorded to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), and for holding a plenary meeting of the General Assembly to support this initiative. In this regard, we are looking forward to adoption of NEPAD as the United Nations development framework for Africa to replace the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s(UN-NADAF). However, for NEPAD to succeed, it must retain its guiding principles of ownership, partnership and participation and not as a tool for further conditionality.
Mr. Chairman,
We welcome the decision of the 56th Session of the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements in Nairobi, Kenya (UNCHS), to the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) and its governing BODY bgcolor="#6699FF" to the Governing Council of UN-HABITAT. This decision has placed the UN-HABITAT in a better position to discharge it mandate in the implementation of the Habitat Agenda and the Declaration on Cities and other Human Settlements in the New Millennium. Kenya as the host country to both UN-HABITAT and UNEP, will extend full cooperation to the two bodies in the discharge of their responsibilities.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, my delegation notes with appreciation the efforts of the Secretary General to strengthen the United Nations Office in Nairobi. We however note that the activities of both UNEP and UN- Habitat continue to depend heavily on extra-budgetary resources. This has severely constrained their ability to plan effectively due to the unpredictable financial resources. We therefore call upon the Secretary General to adequately fund both organizations from the United Nations regular budget.
I thank you
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