STATEMENT
BY
IRELAND - MAY 15 2001
Mr. President,
I congratulate you on your
election as President of the Conference.
I also fully support the statement made by the distinguished
representative of Sweden on behalf of the European Union.
The European Community’s
decision to host this Conference is a strong affirmation of its commitment to
the Least Developed Countries. The
Community through its programme of development cooperation, its trade relations
and its extensive political dialogue with
LDCs plays a major role in our
joint efforts to eradicate poverty and meet the international development
targets.
Mr. President,
All of the priority
countries in Ireland’s national programme of development aid are LDCs. All of them are in sub Saharan Africa. Our programme which is completely untied is focussed
on poverty eradication.
Our relationship with our
developing country partners is based on respect and understanding. We know that the problems confronting many
LDCs are complex, have deep roots and require much political will and patience
to resolve. We accept that there will
be setbacks on the path to development. Donors, beneficiaries and multilateral
organisations have all made mistakes, often with calamitous results.
We have all learned from
past failures. We now need to put these
hard won lessons into practice and to work together for sustainable
development. The Millennium Summit and
the UN Conferences of the past decade have set ambitious targets.
Experience has taught us
that donors cannot impose a development agenda. Instead we must support, in a coordinated way, the development
vision of our partners. We also know
that without a strong commitment to good governance, to human rights, to
democracy and to the rule of law, development aid will not be effective. We have all identified corruption as a major
obstacle to development. Corruption
robs the poor, undermines the trust between donors and partner governments and
makes effective aid impossible.
There must be less emphasis
on flying the donor’s flag over a project, more emphasis on donor wide
coordination in support of a national poverty reduction strategy. What is vital is the deepest possible
dialogue with Governments and civil society on strategies to eradicate poverty.
It is ironic that just when
the international community has moved to a broad consensus on best practice for
development cooperation, ODA has dwindled to a level which is inconsistent with
the much acclaimed international solidarity in favour of the world’s poor. This Conference and next year’s Conference
on Finance for Development should sharpen our commitment to reaching the UN
target of 0.7% of GNP on ODA. That is
the political reality.
Last year Ireland made a solemn commitment to the UN
Millennium Summit that we would reach this target by 2007. It has been our national experience, that
unless the commitment is time bound, and unless it enjoys strong political and
popular support, it can too easily be a meaningless mantra. Placing a time limit on the commitment galvanises
Government to plan ahead to ensure that the necessary resources are
budgeted. It forces a review of
existing activities and structures and motivates the NGO community. Ireland is on target to meet the target which
will see our national development assistance programme increase four fold by 2007.
By 2003, Ireland will
increase spending on ODA by 102 % over the level in 2000 to reach $469m -
the largest ever increase in our national ODA budget. This rate of
expansion is unprecedented for any donor.
It is also a major challenge to our capacity to manage the aid programme
ands to preserve its high quality.
I am currently chairing a
major review of our aid programme which is examining policies and management
structures. This is to ensure that our
rapidly expanding programme will deliver results which reflect the
investment. Results which will have a
real impact on the ground in countries which are struggling with extreme levels
of poverty.
Between 2000 and 2001, we
will have increased our funding to our LDC priority countries by 36 %.
At the same time we are also
strengthening our commitment to the UN Funds and Programmes most directly
involved in fighting poverty. Our
allocations to UNDP, UNICEF and UNFPA will rise by $ 13.8m in this period.
Our relationship with our
NGOs, who have played a key role in promoting public understanding and support
for ODA, and who are playing a crucial role in many of our developing country
partners, will be strengthened both in terms of policy dialogue and funding.
Although not a creditor, we
have already contributed $ 12.4m to the
HIPC Trust Fund and will contribute a further $ 5m this year.
Mr. President,
The Third UN Conference on
LDCs takes place in a world which has been shaped by globalisation. Trade liberalisation,
massive increases in the flows of investment, the increasing interdependence of
economies and rapid advances in information and communications technology have
produced a world full of opportunity.
Opportunity for countries who have healthy and educated workforces.
Opportunity for countries who have the capacity and infrastructure to attract
investment and to trade. Opportunity
for those who have the expertise to protect their interests in international
negotiations and to put in place the regulatory systems necessary for a modern
economy. Thankfully Ireland is such a
counrty.
However, when a country is
struggling to meet the basic needs of its citizens, when disease is killing its
youth, when resources for investment in infrastructure and communications are
meagre, when the international rules and regulations governing trade have been
put in place by those who can muster the expertise to defend their interests,
and when conflict, corruption and internal strife are diverting resources from
development then globalisation’s promise will always be unfulfilled.
Ireland does not want to
extend ODA for ever. We want to trade
with the LDCs. Our companies and
financial institutions are constantly seeking profitable investment locations. Our
LDC partners have huge human resources,
significant mineral and hydrocarbon assets, untapped potential for a major expansion in agricultural trade,
tremendous potential for tourism. In
short they can benefit from globalisation providing we work together to ensure
that the foundation for sustainable development is in place and the
international trade system works in their interest.
The EC’s Everything But Arms
trade initiative is a first step in the direction of a more equitable
international trade system. It offers
the prospect to LDCs of duty and quota free trade with the largest internal
market in the world. We must work to
ensure that LDCs can now seize this opportunity by a real increase in the
exports to the EU.
I welcome the recent review
of the Integrated Framework and the efforts which are being made to ensure that
it delivers on its original promise of a coordinated response to the trade
capacity needs of LDCs. The Integrated Framework Trust Fund should help take
this work forward. Ireland will commit $300,000 to the Trust Fund. I expect, however, that the Framework will
now result in real progress on trade capacity building based on the needs
assessments produced by the LDCs.
Ireland is also contributing
$3.0m over five years to the Advisory Centre on WTO Law to help developing
countries, particularly LDCs, avail of their legal rights under the WTO
Agreements.
The HIPC process is
providing debt relief to a large number of our LDC partners. However, there are real questions to be
answered as to whether HIPC will
deliver its promise of a sustainable exit from the debt treadmill for the most heavily indebted poor
countries. Already it seems that
economic projections were too optimistic and the level of debt relief in some
cases will not result in a lowering of the burden to a sustainable level.
We have, in particular, to
take the impact of HIV/AIDS into account when looking at debt repayments. To my mind, there is a compelling case for
further debt relief, cancellation if possible, in cases where levels of
HIV/AIDS infection are posing huge new burdens on poor Governments. This is an urgent issue on which we should
all reflect with a view to considering a step forward at the UN Special Session
on HIV/AIDS next month.
In many LDCs, political
leaders face the daunting challenge of dealing with the budgetary impact of the
spread of the disease while also facing demands from many national programmes
dealing with poverty eradication.
Seeking to set funding priorities in a context where AIDS infection
rates are in double digits is an impossible challenge. It is here that the global partnership must
act, funds must be provided and the funding must be channelled in a manner
consistent with nationally and community owned strategies on the development of
health systems. It is also essential
that the international funding is additional and not diverted from areas where
it is being used in support of poverty reduction programmes.
Mr. President,
The decade since the last
LDC Conference has not seen rapid progress in eliminating extreme poverty. Marginalisation from world trade,
unsustainable debt burdens, the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS, conflict and civil
strife and a continuing decline the
level of donor support have frustrated our efforts.
I profoundly regret that in
a decade which has seen huge economic growth and progress in much of the
developed world that we could not have achieved more for the poor, particularly
in sub Saharan Africa.
We must not wait another
decade before meeting and evaluating our efforts. The international community, through the UN system, must keep an
unrelenting focus on our goal of halving the number living in extreme poverty
by 2015. In our interconnected and interdependent
world, we have a common obligation to implement the right to development and to
help those living in extreme poverty to live a life of dignity and respect.
Thank you.