[World Development Movement] 'Developing country demands ignored' in UN poverty action plan'

One World UK

PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release: 22 August 2005

Research released today by the World Development Movement (WDM) shows that the anti-poverty demands of developing countries have either been ignored or significantly watered down in the draft declaration of the UN Millennium Development Goals summit (to be held from 14 to 16 September in New York).

Anti-poverty campaigners today expressed shock at the lack of strong development policies in the document. Peter Hardstaff, WDM's Head of Policy said today: "The policies being pursued by rich countries are failing to tackle poverty, especially in Africa. In fact in many cases they are contributing to it. This summit should be an opportunity to push well beyond the existing settlements on aid and debt and set clear criteria for a real development round in trade negotiations. Instead it looks set to rubber stamp the failing policies of the G8. Many of the key demands of developing countries, representing three quarters of the world's population, have been ignored or watered down."

"The draft declaration represents business as usual; free markets, deregulation and so-called 'free trade'. There is no mention of the need to abolish the unsuccessful, undemocratic and unfair economic policy conditions foisted upon poor countries in return for aid, loans and debt relief. Also there is no mention of the need to regulate multinational companies. It is particularly telling that the draft declaration makes no reference at all to the UN's own World Summit on Sustainable Development that agreed to develop rules on corporate accountability."

The G77 group of developing countries along with China submitted proposed changes to an early draft declaration for the UN Millennium Development Goals summit in June 2005. WDM has compared the G77's proposals on key development issues of debt, trade and aid, with the draft declaration released on 5 August. Negotiations on the text restart in New York today.

In their June submission the G77 and China want the declaration:

* To reject any conditions attached to the provision of development assistance (aid). The 5 August draft declaration contains no reference to removing any of the conditions that are currently attached to aid, loans and debt relief.

* To state that the focus of the WTO Doha Round of negotiations should be on ensuring that the interests of developing countries are fully reflected. The G77 and China specifically note reaching the 2006 deadline for negotiations should not take precedence over an outcome which reflects the interests of developing countries. In contrast the subsequent draft declaration prioritises hitting the 2006 deadline, and makes no reference to it reflecting the interests of developing countries.

* To reaffirm the commitment of developed countries to provide 0.7 per cent of their national incomes in aid. The draft declaration only "invites" developed countries "to establish timetables in order to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent".

* To specify that developing countries should have the policy space to formulate development strategies. The draft declaration makes no reference to protecting policy space.

* To emphasize the need to provide an immediate solution to the question of commodities and stress the need for more effective international action to address the problems of weak and volatile commodity prices. In reference to Africa, the draft declaration focuses on 'market-based' arrangements with the private sector for addressing the problem of commodity prices, rather than the intergovernmental arrangement called for by the G77 and China.

* To make a reference to commitments made at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002. The draft declaration makes no reference to the summit at all.

Peter Hardstaff said: "The draft Millennium Review Summit declaration does not constitute a challenge or a change to the disastrous free market agenda imposed on poor countries over the past 20 years.

"The draft offers a few crumbs to poor countries on aid although there is little new of any significance - except endorsing a plan to borrow money to fund aid increases because rich countries are too stingy to meet the targets which they committed themselves to 35 years ago.

"This plan has some soft edges, but at its heart lies the cold hard reality that benefiting multinational companies is seen by rich countries as being more important than providing a route out of poverty for the poorest people in the world."