Summary: May 20, 2001: Speech by Mr. Poul Nielson, European Commissioner for Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid. Closing Ceremony Speech at the 3rd UN Conference on LDCs.
Mr. Chairman,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
There are many in this room who probably thought that we wouldn't pull this Conference through. Indeed, we have gone through some rocky periods in recent months. Even during this week, things looked somber at times. Fortunately, as I had always hoped, we came to an agreement that was worth waiting for and working for.
We should be pleased about this result, even if not surprised. After all, recent years have seen a rising convergence in the international arena on how to tackle the challenges facing the Least Developed Countries.
The Conference has rightly emphasized the role of the LDCs themselves in strengthening their development prospects. The principles of partnership, ownership and shared responsibility are the basic principles that should guide us in our efforts to address the problems of LDCs.
Thus, it has confirmed the importance of good governance, both internal and external, in ensuring that economies and societies function satisfactorily. Evidently, achieving good governance is a continued and multifaceted process. It needs to tackle at once dimensions as varied as legal predictability, entrepreneurship, corruption, internal conflict and regional strife.
The Conference has also confirmed the need for the international community to support the Least Developed Countries' efforts at improving their conditions. Indeed, without recognizing this need and our interdependence, there would be no real international community. This is the time test.
We also welcome the recognition given to regional integration in LDCs' development and to South-south co-operation especially in areas such as human and productive capacity building, technical assistance and exchange of best practices.
As the Conference comes to its end, we can be pleased about what we now have in our hands. We have a substantive Program of Action. The principles agreed upon in the Millennium declaration have been confirmed and strengthened by this Program and by the Political Declaration. A clear and strong link has been created between the implementation of the Program and national frameworks such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers' (PRSPs).
And we already have a number of initiatives that embody the commitment of many of us to ensure the betterment of the peoples of the Least Developed Countries: the so-called "deliverables" have already been delivered!
Evidently, there are many tasks ahead. For the industrialized world, for the developing countries at large, and for the Least Developed Countries in particular. Tasks, as well, for the UN system and for the WTO.
I am very pleased that this Conference resulted in the first international agreement ever on the aim of giving LDCs duty-free and quota-free market access for all their products. The Conference also rightly pointed to supply-side constraints in the LDCs, so let me stress once again my conviction that the time is ripe to launch a new Round of multilateral trade negotiations, and I hope that this could be launched at the 4th WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha this year.
A new Round of trade negotiations in the WTO would allow the international Community to address the interests of LDCs and other developing countries in a comprehensive manner. I am thinking in particular of concerns relating to existing rules and to implementation. Only in this manner can we ensure full and effective participation of these countries in the multilateral trading system. This round should focus on development, thus ensuring progress on market access for developing countries and
consideration of new actions in the interest of development.
I am proud to say that the EU has worked hard to ensure a good preparation of this Conference. We also did our part in putting forth a number of concrete actions on trade, health and debt. And we have taken steps to strengthen our partnership with the UN system. These efforts are more than symbolic. The broader access to exports from the Least Developed Countries that is provided by our "Everything but Arms" initiative follows a real and difficult discussion in Europe.
At the end of the day, all these efforts, all this diplomatic activity, has only one objective that we should never forget: to make our world a better and more decent place to live.
Poverty is not an abstract concept. It is not a macro-economic notion. It hurts human beings all over the world, physically and also in their dignity. We have all reaffirmed our faith in the dignity and worth of the human person in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The fight against poverty is a translation into reality of this principle.
This is why the EU has reshaped its development co-operation policy, giving it a stronger poverty focus. No one should underestimate the importance of this change and the efforts required by its implementation.
I know that we are not alone in these efforts. This augurs well for the future.
Finally, thank you to all for the efforts before and during this week. Thanks our LDC partners, and other partners in the South. Thanks to UNCTAD and the UN family. Also, you will excuse me for seizing this opportunity to thank also the European Commission's own staff, who has worked literally around the clock. We have been pleased and proud of co-hosting this Conference. You will have noticed that it coincides with our policy announcement of a better and closer working relationship between the
European Commission and the UN. So we can also put this on the long positive list of deliverables that has been delivered.
Thank you.
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