By IPS Correspondents
UNITED NATIONS, Sep 15 2006 (IPS)

Meeting last year in Gleneagles, Scotland, the G8 group of rich countries pledged to make African debt relief, accelerated aid, and increased trade their top priorities. One year later, most of those initiatives have not borne 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 improvement on the ground.

There has been an increase in overall aid to the world’s 50 Least Developed Countries (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, Norway’s permanent representative to the United Nations, told IPS.

Poverty is an affliction of the LDCs, but the solutions to it lie in altering the policies of developed countries, according to Foreign Policy in Focus, a Washington-based think tank.

The hard facts about hunger and poverty have not changed much over the past 10 years. In some cases the situation has even gotten worse. According to UN statistics, only South America and the Caribbean are even approaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, by 2015.

Lovald, who also served as the chairman of the Preparatory Meeting of Experts on LDCs ahead of the 61st General Assembly sessions now under way, spoke with IPS, as did Edouard Aho-Glele, Benin’s Minister Counsellor to the UN and chairman of the Group of LDCs. Following are excerpts from those conversations.

IPS: 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 domestic product (GDP) 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 GDP 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?

IPS: Is there any hope for the LDCs to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015? What are the major obstacles that LDCs face in that effort?

LOVALD: 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, Sep. 5-7. At the end of the meeting a Draft Declaration concerning the midterm 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.

IPS: The 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?

LOVALD: 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 Norwegian market since 2002. We encourage all other developed countries to follow suit. Advanced developing countries should also contribute to improved market access for the LDCs’ exports.

IPS: Since 1981 there have been three high-level meetings on the plight of the LDCs. There have been successes, but the number of people living in poverty in the LDCs continues to increase. What are your expectations for next week’s LDC meeting? Is another event being planned to further consider this problem?

LOVALD: The High-Level Meeting is the finale of a long process, which started with national and regional reviews. The LDCs have showed leadership in this process and I would like to commend them for their very thorough review, including the elaboration of the Cotonou Strategy for the further implementation of the BPoA.

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If today’s trends continue, the world’s 50 LDCs have no chance of meeting the eight MDGs, Benin’s Aho-Glele, chairman of the Group of LDCs, told IPS.

IPS: Over the next 10 years the number of people living in abject poverty in the LDCs are expected to rise from 370 million to over 470 million, amounting to nearly half the populations of these countries. While other developing countries are making strides forward, the LDCs are sinking deeper into poverty. Is there any chance for the LDCs to achieve the MDGs, particularly cutting extreme poverty in half?

AHO-GLELE: If the current trends of implementing the LDCs Brussels plan continues, we don’t have a chance. But we hope that by taking necessary corrective measures we could overcome obstacles and accelerate implementation of the Programme of Action and reach the targets.

IPS: According to the Secretary General’s latest report on LDCs, unilateral tariff cuts by developed and developing nations have been of “limited benefit.” At the December World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting, rich countries agreed to abolish export subsidies on cotton in 2006 and to allow duty- and quota-free imports of cotton from LDCs. This is a step forward, but it is “tempered by the fact that there was no agreement on eliminating the subsidies on domestic production.” Do vulnerable economies like LDCs need special treatment within the global trading system?

AHO-GLELE: Sure. It has been agreed on. But, now we do not see any action – specifically by developed countries. We need special attention. We call on developed countries to give more preferences to LDCs, otherwise we will not be able to integrate with the global economy.

IPS: The United States insists that its food aid must originate from the U.S., be shipped on U.S. carriers, and distributed by agencies like CARE and Catholic Relief Services. As a result, 60 cents out of every aid dollar goes to middlemen for transport, storage, and distribution, according to Foreign Policy in Focus. Oxfam has lobbied for putting aid money directly into the hands of local farmers rather than handing it out to agricultural and transport corporations. Would your government support this type of grassroots investment in Benin?

AHO-GLELE: Yes. We have put in place a programme to address our weaknesses and we don’t care how the assistance comes. As long as we are addressing our needs, we will accept aid.

IPS: How can civil society, the private sector and non-governmental organisations be mobilised to focus attention on the plight of the LDCs?

AHO-GLELE: When we adopted the BPoA we recognised the tremendous role of civil society in its implementation. The way civil society can be engaged is primarily at the national level. We have set up national committees for the implementation of the BPoA, and civil society participates in those. At a global level, there is a global partnership that we are building and this falls under the advocacy role that the Office of the High Representative for LDCs has to play to bring together civil society and the private sector to support LDCs in the implementation of the Brussels plan.

IPS: How is civil society being involved in Benin’s development strategy?

AHO-GLELE: We regularly organise meetings where we invite civil society to play a role. They are very active in Benin. They are involved in developing the actual projects and programmes on the ground.

IPS: The majority of the populations of LDCs live in rural areas. In Benin, is special attention being paid to reducing rural poverty through agricultural and rural development?

AHO-GLELE: Yes. We have been devoting a lot of attention to rural development. Now we are encouraging people to go to rural areas and expand and develop projects. We encourage those who have the means to invite local populations to participate in their projects so that they will have a multiplied benefit for the whole country.

IPS: Despite some successes, but the number of people living in poverty in the LDCs continues to increase. What are your expectations for the High-Level Plenary Meeting beginning Monday?

AHO-GLELE: What we will do Sep. 18-19 is recommit ourselves to the goals and targets of the Brussels Programme of Action. In June, in Cotonou, Benin we agreed on a set of measures to accelerate the implementation of the BPoA. If these are done properly, then we will meet the midterm review targets by 2010. We are confident that our partners will join us in accelerating the implementation of the programme. So far there is no follow-up scheduled. However, the measures agreed upon in June will be followed closely. We are calling on UN Under Secretary General Anwarul Chowdury, High Representative of LDCs, to make very good use of the Cotonou Strategy so that we will have a concrete result.

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