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8 March 2002 - The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan,  has appointed Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury (Bangladesh)  to the newly-established post of High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries, and Small Island Developing States. Ambassador Chowdhury, the immediate former and long serving head of the Bangladesh Mission to the UN is a great friend of UNESCO. He was the main instigator within  the General Assembly for  the adoption of UNESCO's Agenda for a Culture of Peace.
Click on the link to read Ambassador Chowdhury's bio-sketch >>>

Poverty Reduction
Dutch Policy in Brief
"Development cooperation: a global task"

"There is more to poverty than having no roof over your head or too little to eat. Poverty also means having no political clout and always being the first to suffer when conflict breaks out. It means that your voice is never heard, and that you have no influence on the developments that keep you poor. For genuine change, we need to do more than treat the symptoms. We need to change the processes that cause poverty and prevent its eradication."
Click on the book cover for more information.

Civil society and structural poverty reduction
Actors in Dutch civil society
Structural poverty reduction: objective of policy
"Structural poverty reduction is the principal objective of policy, which means that everything done within the framework of Dutch development cooperation is part of a strategy to combat poverty. Poverty reduction has to become the core business of development cooperation, and new trends and perceptions are now making this possible."
Click here to read more >>> (opens a new window)

Forthcoming Events

27/01/02:  Draft Final Version of the Monterrey Consensus just published.
"We, heads of State and Government, gathered in Monterrey, Mexico, on 21-22 March 2002, have resolved to address the challenges of financing for development around the world, particularly in developing countries. Our goal is to eradicate poverty, achieve sustained economic growth and promote sustainable development as we advance to a fully inclusive and equitable global economic system." More >>>

In 2002, the United Nations will convene for the first time a summit-level meeting to address key financial and related issues pertaining to global development.

An unprecedented feature of the FfD process is the active participation of the World Bank, the IMF, and the WTO, as well as representatives of civil society and the business sector. In Monterrey, countries will be represented by finance and foreign ministries.

Six key areas have been identified:

• Mobilizing economic resources within countries
• Increasing the flow and broadening the reach of private international investment
• Opening access to markets and ensuring fair and equitable trade regimes
• Strengthening official development assistance
• Addressing developing country debt difficulties
• Improving the coherence of global and regional financial structures and the fair representation of developing countries in international decision-making.

Follow this LINK to access the Official UN website for this Conference >>>

Follow this LINK to access the Official UN website for this Conference >>>

Past Events

G-8 Genoa Summit
Genoa (Italy), 22 JULY 2001

From the final official communiqué:

4. The situation in many developing countries - especially in Africa - calls for decisive global action. The most effective poverty reduction strategy is to maintain a strong, dynamic, open and growing global economy. We pledge to do that.

5. We will also continue to provide effective development assistance to help developing countries' own efforts to build long-term prosperity. Consistent with the conclusions of the LDC III Conference and the Millennium Declaration, we support a strategic approach centred on the principles of ownership and partnership. In the common interest of donors and recipients of aid, we shall ensure the efficient use of scarce resources.

18. We support UNESCO in its key role for universal education.

Click here to read the full text >>>     http://www.genoa-g8.it/eng/attualita/primo_piano/primo_piano_13.html

OUA Lusaka Summit
Lusaka (Zambia), JUNE 2001

http://www.oau-oua.org/Lusaka/index.htm

The OMEGA PLAN takes its name from the fact that it needs not be personalized as the idea, once stated, is meant to grow from the contributions of others in various environments. As a consequence, the Plan as a whole will be everybody's plan : this is the reason why it is given an anonymous name.The objective of the Plan is on one hand to assess the needs of our continent in an attempt to bridge the fundamental gaps between our countries and the developed countries, as such gaps are our major handicaps, and on the other hand to raise the needed funds in the best possible conditions.

These gaps are certainly all important and call for attention, but the Plan will focus on the four significant areas which follow :

•   infrastructures

• education

• health

• agriculture

Full text of OMEGA plan available from >>> http://www.planomega.com/en/intro.htm

WIDER  Development Conference on Growth and Poverty
Helsinki (Finland), 25 –26^th May 2001

While economic growth is a prerequisite for a sustained reduction in poverty, policies aimed at raising growth rates are often associated with a range of adverse short term effects, including rising unemployment, greater economic insecurity, environmental degradation, and the weakening of traditional social safety nets. Pro-poor growth strategies attempt to address these short-term problems. But the ideal mix of policies, and their impact on the prospects for poverty reduction in the longer run, remain controversial topics.
Building on some of the themes covered in the World Development Report 2000-2001, the conference will review what is currently known about the relationship between poverty and growth. It will also provide an opportunity to share views on the direction of future research, including the issues that require attention, the methods of analysis which need to be developed, and new data sets that would facilitate research in this area. Selected conference papers, together with a policy summary, will be included in a conference volume to be published by UNU/WIDER.
More information on >>>      http://www.wider.unu.edu/events/development-conference-2000-1.htm

«...au-delà de toutes les solutions que nous pourrons trouver, au cours de cette troisième Conférence des Nations Unies consacrée aux pays les moins avancés, pour aider ces pays à améliorer le niveau de vie de leurs populations, il en est une qui est la clé de beaucoup d’autres : c’est l’éducation...»
Click here to read the speech > > >

Click here for more information >>>