2007 Substantive Session of the ECOSOC

Statement on behalf of the Group of 77 and China by Ambassador Munir Akram during the Annual Ministerial Review at the 2007 Substantive Session of the ECOSOC 4 July 2007, Geneva

Mr. President,

It is honour and great personal privilege to speak on behalf of the Group of 77 and China at this first ever Annual Ministerial Review of the ECOSOC High Level Segment.

Mr. President,

2. For Pakistan, it is indeed an added pleasure since it was partially due to the initiative Pakistan took along with other countries to strengthen the ECOSOC during our Presidency of the Council, in 2005.
3. This session is historic one because it will not only hold the first Annual Ministerial Review but also launch the Development Cooperation Forum under ECOSOC and the proceedings of the Council in the first few days do confirm our hope that ECOSOC will become revitalized and an active player in international economic relations.

Mr. President,

4. In further elaborating the decisions taken at the 2005 World Summit regarding ECOSOC's new responsibilities, the General Assembly, in its resolution 61/16 decided that the AMR should be conducted by way of a cross-sectoral approach focusing on thematic issues common to the outcomes of the major UN Conferences and Summits including MDGs and other Internationally Agreed Development Goals (IADGs). Furthermore, it should review progress made in the implementation of the outcomes of the Conferences and Summits and their follow up processes.
5. Implementation of the commitments that have been undertaken under the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals remains the Achilles' heel of the development agenda. Presentations which were made yesterday by several developing countries confirm that the developing countries are making a sincere effort to implement their part of the commitments to devise national development strategies improve governance and create a macroeconomic climate conducive for growth, trade and investment. Regrettably, I believe it is fair to say that a similar commitment and alacrity in implementing the MDG and IADG commitments is not visible from our partners. Yesterday, this was very visible in the restricted participation by our partners in the open discussions which took place. I hope that next year there will be presentations voluntarily made by both developing and developed countries since this is consistent with the sprit and substance of the General Assembly Resolution 61/16 which provides for participation by both partners.
6. The Group of 77 and China, Mr. President, have consistently called for effective monitoring of the implementation of the MDGs and the IADGs. Notably there are some indicators to measure progress achieved with regard to the first seven MDGs but specific benchmarks and targets are not so far available to measure the implementation of MDG 8 that is on global partnerships or on the other internationally agreed development goals. We have been calling on the United Nations specifically DESA, UNCTAD, UNDP as well as on the IMF, World Bank and the WTO to contribute to the elaboration of such specific benchmarks to facilitate of the monitoring of the implementation of MDG 8 and the IADGs. As the first step, we believe that the United Nations and other concerned organizations should help in preparing a comprehensive matrix of the commitments that have been undertaken under MDG 8 and the other internationally agreed development goals. Thereafter, specific benchmarks could be indicated and developed, for example, through the committee on development policy as well as the Statistical Commission. We hope that a concrete decision to do so will be indicated to us during the session.
7. The purpose of this Annual Ministerial Review, Mr. President, in addition to reviewing the status of implementation of various commitments should also be to identify the gaps shortcomings and successes both at the national level and at the level of our development partners and to further develop policy recommendations to advance the implementation process. We hope that the Declaration to be issued by the ECOSOC after this review will contain both an assessment as well as recommendations for action. This year, we have chosen the topic of 'Strengthening efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger including to the global partnerships for development' as the theme of this first AMR. We have heard a succinct and incisive account of the status of efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger in the opening statement of the distinguished Under Secretary General yesterday and we also commend the review that is contained in the report of the Secretary General.

Mr. President,

8. . With regard to efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, it is clear that the level of the extreme poor is projected to fall from 29 % in 1990 to 12% in 2015 but progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals has been limited in many part of the world, especially among the Least Developed Countries and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Not a single country in Sub-Saharan Africa is on track to achieve the internationally agreed targets of halving extreme poverty by 2015 and approximately 40% of all developing countries are considered to be off-track. Similarly, on the implementation of the other MDGs, the level of performance and of expectation is decidedly mixed.
9. The global partnership for development as set out in Millennium Declaration, the Consensus and the Johannesburg Conference is essential for the realization of the MDGs as well as the Internationally Agreed Development Goals. The present is a good opportunity when the international economy is growing to press for the fulfillment of the promises of the partnership for development. Unfortunately, as the Group of 77 reviewed in detail in its statement yesterday, the level of implementation of the commitments undertaken by our partners in all fields indicates that the glass is less full than it is empty.
10. On ODA, there is a decided decline 5% and indications to further decline. The calculation of ODA flows incorporates debt cancellation to two large countries while financial flows to the rest of the developing countries have remained stagnant. Innovative financing has made a small contribution but FDI flows are restricted to a few emerging markets. There is in fact a growing net outflow of resources from developing to the developed countries which amounted to seven hundred billion dollars ($700 billion) last year. At the same time, the global financial situation remains imbalanced and fragile and could have a serious negative turn, if not managed appropriately.
11. On the trade front, the Doha Round is an impasse and it benefits if concluded for most developing countries are at best marginal, if not neutral. Several problems outside the WTO framework including commodities remain to be addressed fully. The developing countries are being asked to integrate into the world economy on terms that are onerous and without the policy space required to proceed from the stage of under development to industrialization. And in the present knowledge-based economy that constraints that have been put on the transfer of technology to the developing countries is a growing impediment to the achievement of the MDGs and the IADGs. There is need for a fuller analysis and perhaps these should be conducted by the UNCTAD and DESA on the constraints imposed by the TRIPS regime and other technology restraint regimes on the development of the developing countries. We should revive the efforts to formulate a code of conduct for the transfer of technology to the developing countries and more conscious efforts are required to conduct research and development, that is focused on the problems of the poor rather than, as at present, 90% of research allocations are going to the problems of the rich.

Mr. President,

12. It is our hope that this Annual Ministerial Review will look honestly at the status of implementation by both developed and the developing countries and come to conclusions that will invigorate the process of implementation of the commitments undertaken under the MDGs and the IADGs and advance the development agenda in comprehensive and universal manner so that we can make poverty history.

Thank you