A Revised Statement By

Professor Apolo r. Nsibambi, the RT. Hon. Prime Minister of Uganda

Representing H. E. President Museveni of Uganda

At the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries

Held in Brussels, from 14 to 20 May 2001

(Check Against Delivery)

I am here to represent His Excellency President Museveni of Uganda who has not been able to attend this important Conference because of earlier heavy commitments.

I am Professor Apolo Nsibambi, the Prime Minister of Uganda. My circulated Paper has been revised, shortened and enriched through the process of global crosspollination. My statement should be read along with the circulated paper.

What more is needed?

Least Developed Countries must not be treated as patients because doing so is likely to encourage us not to own up our persistent internal weaknesses and solve them. For example,

· Have we nurtured accountable and visionary leaders?

· Have we cultivated the emergence of non-sycomphantic followers who should counter-vail and enrich leaders?

· Have we networked assiduously in order to acquire the clout to cause Developed Countries to honor their pledges?

· Are we harnessing the ethic of industriousness, frugality and investment?

We, the Least Developed Countries, have not addressed these challenges adequately. And yet critical facilitators of development revolve around getting accountable, visionary and enterprising leaders who must be countervailed and enriched by non-sycomphatic and enlightened followers, a vibrant civil society and a strong private sector.

I am happy to inform you that Uganda, which collapsed under the leadership of brutal political robbers, has regained political sobriety and economic recovery largely through focusing attention on accountable leadership and followership. Our Global Partners have accordingly responded generously because of positive internal reforms in Uganda.

I welcome the suggestion that instead of being referred to as Least Developed Countries, we should from today be called emerging countries. Having addressed Leadership and Followership questions, we strongly recommend that additional issues to address include the following:

• Least Developed Countries require increased access to markets of developed countries by removing quotas and barriers on imports into the markets of developed countries. In this regard, we inter-alia welcome AGOA (African Growth and Opportunity Act) and efforts made by the EC to open markets to some Least Developed Countries e.g. EBAs (Everything But Arms initiative).

• We also advocate for the removal of subsidies on Agricultural commodities by the developed countries. In other words, there must be parity of treatment between the semi illiterate peasant farmers of LDCs who are not subsidised and the literate farmers of the developed countries who are subsidised.

The challenge of LDCs is to produce high quality goods and services at competitive prices on time and in the required quantities.

• We urge the developed countries to honour pledges of development aid under the official development assistance to LDCs of 0.15% to 0.2% of their Gross Domestic Product. The LDCs must network and convince the developed countries that ultimately, their interests and the interests of the LDCs are not contradictory.

· We advocate for the relaxation of the conditionalities attached to debt relief under HIPC (Highly Indebted Poor Countries' arrangement). For example, reduction of the level of employment by Government under structural adjustment conditionalities should be flexibly applied to each country. For example, Public Servants who are retrenched must be assisted to get reasonable retrenchment packages. Failure to do so, may undermine marketing the right sizing exercise of the Public Service.

· The Least Developed Countries have to incur high costs in order to use patented technologies. Patented naturally existing life forms indigenous in some countries ( e.g. Neem trees with medicinal properties) also fall in this category. While we recognise that researchers must be rewarded for their effort, the results of the research should not be too expensive.

In the same vein, while the communities with naturally existing life forms have to derive benefits, they should at the same time make it possible for the whole world to benefit from life forms existing in their areas. We request that these matters be urgently resolved by the World Trade Organisation (W. T. O).

· We have to invest heavily into good Governance. For example, because of persistent and fundamental conflicts between the elites in some Least Developed Countries, the state machinery has collapsed. In other words, such states lack territorial integration. This means that the Central Government cannot exercise control over subordinate units.

External vultures have taken advantage of the broken states. The international community must decisively do the following:

1. Assist in restoring the efficacy of the broken state.

2. Ensure that there is a dialogue between the warring elites. I regret to point out that the quick response, which was given to Kosovo by the international community has not taken place in Africa where some states have broken down.

The developed Countries and LDCs must invest heavily in ensuring that skills and other resources are availed to LDCs in ensuring that democratic and visionary leaders are nurtured. It is also essential to nurture non- sycomphatic followers and a vibrant civil society, which will countervail and enrich the Leaders.

We wish to recommend that due recognition be made of Africa's declared commitment to eradicate Tsetse - transmission diseases from the Continent as key pre - requisite for Africa's socio-economic development.

We have already sadly noted that the HIV/AIDS Scourge has significantly undermined our effort to grapple with poverty. We must follow Uganda's example by admitting the existence of the HIV/AIDS scourge; by not stigmatising the people suffering from the problem; and by seeking behaviour change especially in the area of culture under which some men have been marrying the wives of their deceased brothers who may have died of HIV/AIDS. We urge the international Community to ensure that affordable drugs are availed to those afflicted by HIV/AIDS.

A persistent cause of poverty in Least Developed Countries and in some Developed Countries is poor management of time. People lack the discipline to arrive on time and to perform essential tasks within a clear time framework. For example, we started this Conference late. Time is a non-renewable resource, which should be assiduously managed. We must cherish time management, practise time management and market time management. Time mismanagement when translated into money amounts to billions of dollars. Proper time management is therefore an essential requirement of reducing poverty.

We must pay tribute to the European Union and the United Nations for co-hosting this important Conference.

Conclusion.

The interests of the Least Developed Countries might appear to be in conflict with those of the developed World. However, since all of us are committed to globalisation and free flow of goods and services across borders, it is our global challenge to find mutually beneficial solutions to the problems that we face in the struggle to eradicate poverty.

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