DEVELOPMENT: Arduous Debate Persists on Aid Plan for Poorest Countries

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Apr 10 2001 (IPS) - The preparatory talks for the Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries concluded without agreement on what is to be the final document of the meeting next month in Brussels, but there is still hope for some of the individual points included in the text, said a UN official Tuesday.

The main points of disagreement, following last week’s negotiations in New York, revolve around issues of good governance and financial resources, reproducing the habitual North-South controversies, though disputes have also arisen between developing countries themselves.

The drafting of the text will not be finalised until the Conference, scheduled for May 14-20 in Brussels, with the support of the European Union.

Despite this vagueness in the lead-up to the meet on Least Developed Countries (LDCs), John Cuddy, chief of the Conference and a high official of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), affirms that “we made extremely good progress” in New York.

Nevertheless, sources close to UNCTAD said that the results of the preparatory committee meeting “were very poor.”

The usual lack of enthusiasm among industrialised countries regarding international cooperation for development was evident during last week’s meeting, stated one diplomat, and there were also disputes within the Group of 77, which speaks on behalf of developing countries at the UN.

The preparatory committee met at the UN’s New York headquarters Mar 26 to Apr 6 to draft the programme to promote development in the 48 least developed nations, as well as outlining the essential parts of the plan.

The draft declaration contains a “Framework for Partnership,” and outlines the seven commitments the LDCs and the various partners involved in their development are to accept for the period 2001-2010.

These obligations include fostering a people-centred policy framework, promoting transparent and accountable governance, and building human and institutional capacities.

The signatories are also committed to building productive capacities to make globalisation feasible for LDCs, enhancing the role of trade in development, reducing vulnerability and protecting the environment, and mobilising financial resources.

Cuddy reported that the delegates to the preparatory committee meeting agreed “almost entirely” on the commitments for building human and institutional capacities and on curbing market vulnerability and protecting the environment.

The only point still under debate in the human development portion of the text refers to the role of pharmaceutical transnationals in ensuring the access of impoverished populations to low-cost medicines.

One proposal – which has triggered condemnations from industrialised countries – calls for the multinational drug companies to play an active role in improving the access of LDCs to low-cost or free medications.

Cuddy told the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board, during a meeting Tuesday in Geneva, that efforts “are well on the way” toward finalising commitments for building productive capacities.

However, “some hard-core issues” persist in the debate on governance and financial resources, he added.

Differences also arose when it came time to define the participants in the LDC development programme. Traditionally, the members have included industrialised countries and multilateral financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

But this time, the delegates from industrialised nations want to also include those developing countries that do not form part of the bloc of LDCs.

The prospect of assuming further responsibilities, including financial assistance, has some developing countries concerned, such as Nigeria, Egypt and Iran, and certain Latin American countries, said an UNCTAD source.

These discrepancies in criteria regarding who are to be included among the “partners of development” were reflected in the attitude of G-77 delegates at the New York meeting, the diplomat added.