Editorial by Ambassador S.R. Insanally
Permanent Representative of Guyana to the UN
Chairman of the Group of 77
Volume 12/2
September 1999
The Ad Hoc Working Group which was created by the General Assembly to consider the form, scope and agenda of a high-level forum on the financing for development, recently concluded its work. It is generally agreed that preparations for the important event have been well launched and if carefully managed, could lead to a breakthrough on this critical issue. Certainly, the spirit and substance of these preliminary discussions leads one to believe that the international community can come together to place development on a sound financial footing.
The prevailing situation, in which commitment to the cause of development appears to be flagging, cannot be allowed to continue indefinitely. Poverty and its attendant social ills have risen to new levels of concern. Yet, not only have bilateral and multilateral assistance been drastically reduced, but investment flows have also proved inadequate to generating growth in the majority of our countries. Meanwhile, their debt burdens remain unbearably high and their export earnings relatively low. worse yet, for the lack of adequate attention and resources. programmes for social development, which have been formulated at various summit conferences, remain largely unimplemented.
Against this dismal background, the conclusions of the recent G8 Summit must be seen as promising. The Cologne Debt Initiative which is intended to improve the current HIPC arrangements, together with the commitment made to deepening the development partnership give to hopes that the decline in ODA will be arrested and that new possibilities will be found to promote economic recovery and growth in developing countries.
I would like to think that the joint representation made by the G77 and the Non-Aligned Movement on the occasion of the Summit contributed to this encouraging outcome. Such consultations between the developed and developing countries clearly provide valuable opportunities for dialogue and cooperation. They should therefore be institutionalized and enhanced to strengthen the partnership which is necessary to the promotion of development. If we can do this, the turn of the century may yet lead to new vistas for global peace and prosperity.
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