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Funds should move from developed to developing nations: Annan
United Nations, Oct 31: Asking the General Assembly to face the stark fact that developing nations made the largest ever transfer of funds amounting to USD 200 billion in 2002 to `other countries`, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said the funds should actually move from the developed world.
United Nations, Oct 31: Asking the General
Assembly to face the stark fact that developing nations made
the largest ever transfer of funds amounting to USD 200 billion
in 2002 to "other countries", UN Secretary General
Kofi Annan has said the funds should actually move from the
developed world.
"Funds should be moving from developed to developing
countries, but these numbers tell us the opposite is
happening," Annan told the assembly, as well as heads of the
affiliated international financial institutions, during the
its high-level dialogue on financing for development.
Developing countries were the largest contributor for the sixth consecutive year. "Even taking all subtlety and nuance into account, funds that should be promoting investment and growth in developing countries, or building schools and hospitals, or supporting other steps towards the millennium development goals, are, instead, being transferred abroad," he said. The millennium development goals, worked out at a UN summit in New York in 2000, collectively aim to halve extreme poverty worldwide by 2015. If discussions about financing for development is not to ring hollow, Annan said, the balance sheet must be reversed and the system fixed so that all countries and people, especially the poorest, can benefit.
Trade tariffs and subsidies have been stifling the ability of poor countries to compete fairly in the international trading system and trade their way out of poverty, he said adding too many developing countries have been carrying too much debt. "Many developing countries have also been excluded from meaningful participation in the decision-making of key international bodies on economic, financial and trade issues," he said. Annan said the wish to fix these problems brought about the meeting in Monterrey, Mexico, last year, which, though "not free of tension and disagreement" did achieve real breakthroughs. A major breakthrough was the effort made to reverse a "troubling and devastating" decade of decline, or stagnation, by making new commitments to Official Development Assistance (ODA), he said. The Secretary General called for better, more focused preparation for the annual spring meeting next year of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Bretton Woods Institutions - comprising the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund - and the World Trade Organisation. Bureau Report
Developing countries were the largest contributor for the sixth consecutive year. "Even taking all subtlety and nuance into account, funds that should be promoting investment and growth in developing countries, or building schools and hospitals, or supporting other steps towards the millennium development goals, are, instead, being transferred abroad," he said. The millennium development goals, worked out at a UN summit in New York in 2000, collectively aim to halve extreme poverty worldwide by 2015. If discussions about financing for development is not to ring hollow, Annan said, the balance sheet must be reversed and the system fixed so that all countries and people, especially the poorest, can benefit.
Trade tariffs and subsidies have been stifling the ability of poor countries to compete fairly in the international trading system and trade their way out of poverty, he said adding too many developing countries have been carrying too much debt. "Many developing countries have also been excluded from meaningful participation in the decision-making of key international bodies on economic, financial and trade issues," he said. Annan said the wish to fix these problems brought about the meeting in Monterrey, Mexico, last year, which, though "not free of tension and disagreement" did achieve real breakthroughs. A major breakthrough was the effort made to reverse a "troubling and devastating" decade of decline, or stagnation, by making new commitments to Official Development Assistance (ODA), he said. The Secretary General called for better, more focused preparation for the annual spring meeting next year of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Bretton Woods Institutions - comprising the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund - and the World Trade Organisation. Bureau Report