unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/16/89)
human potential. Thirdly,
priority should be given to the challenge of poverty in
development, for even in areas where there was economic growth,
certain segments of the population were often left in poverty.
Fourthly, economic development should be linked with
environmental protection, with polluters being held responsible
for the environmental degradation which they cause. Fifthly,
priority should be given to restoring and strengthening the
economic bases of development.
LARS MOLLER (Denmark), speaking for the five Nordic countries --
Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, said acceleration
of growth in the developing countries would be necessary if
those States were to overcome the problems of poverty and
misery. To achieve that, the growth should be economically and
environmentally sustainable. Short-term progress should not be
pursued at the cost of longer-term objectives. Domestic policies
should be growth-oriented, focusing on increases in domestic
investment and on promotion of export-oriented policies. There
was need for greater reliance on the private sector as well as
for a more efficient public sector in developing countries.
He said a favourable international economic climate would be
necessary if the growth required in the developing countries
were to be achieved during the next decade. Therefore,
increased efforts should be made to defeat protectionist
pressures and improve market access as well as closer
integration of the newly industrialized countries in the
multilateral trading system. There should also be further debt
relief measures for the highly indebted developing countries and
the fulfilment of the 0.7 percent target for official
development assistance, with particular emphasis on the needs of
the poorest developing countries. Global solidarity was needed
in efforts to reduce poverty and deprivation, and the plight of
those affected -- mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa -- should be
considered in the IDS. Environmental concerns should be
integrated into the development planning and decision-making
processes in all countries. Efforts in that direction at the
country level should be supported by technical assistance by the
strengthening of international co-operation in the field of
environment. The new Strategy should be credible, realistic and
flexible.
KATSUMI SEZAKI (Japan) said that, at the Committee's session last
June, there had been a convergence of views on many substantive
issues, including the widening divergence in economic
performance among developing countries, the shared
responsibility of both developing and developed countries, and
the need to tailor responses to the situation of a particular
country or region. In approaching the new Strategy, he cited
three key elements. First, it should be realistic, reflecting
the diverse economic trends in the current world economy. It
should be flexible, focus on qualitative objectives, and should
not try to devise an over-ambitious, precise world economic
plan. Quantitative goals should be limited to areas such as
population and nutrition, where results achieved in other forums
could be utilized. Secondly, the Committee should not try to
formulate a strategy to cover every development issue; instead,
the new IDS should be focused and selective, and limit itself to
the most crucial and urgent issues facing developing countries
in the next decade. Thirdly, it should contain an agreed
understanding on the nature of the issues confronting the world
community in the 1990s, and suggest ways of responding to them.
He suggested that the structure of the IDS should focus on five
areas in particular. First, it should focus on reactivation of
growth, in which the international community's main role would
be to support developing countries' efforts by securing a sound
economic environment of sustained growth under open multilateral
trade, finance and investment systems. Secondly, it should
focus on the human and social dimensions of development with
emphasis on education and training, income distribution,
employment, and the status of women. Thirdly, it should focus
on poverty alleviation, especially with regard to nutrition,
health, food, housing and related issues, giving first priority
to reducing the number of people suffering from hunger, poverty
and deprivation. Fourthly, it should focus on sustainable
development, with particular attention to the following:
environmental degradation, which must be addressed from a global
perspective; the adverse impact of population pressures in
certain developing countries; and greater emphasis on
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations
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