‘GOVERNANCE, PEACE AND SOCIAL STABILITY’ ADDRESSED IN THEMATIC SESSION AT BRUSSELS CONFERENCE ON LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Third UN Conference on LDCs
14 May 2001
3rd Meeting (PM)






BRUSSELS, 14 May -- The Third United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries held an interactive thematic session this afternoon on “Governance, Peace and Social Stability”, with high-level panellists providing practical examples of good governance and reconfirming the need to build a culture of democracy, with transparent and accountable institutions.

In his keynote address to the session, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mark Malloch Brown, pointed out that good governance was not a panacea, but only one element of a solution. It mattered only if it was tied to strategies to secure much-higher growth rates. It was a means by which society could decide on the allocation of resources and make development an effective process, instead of a violent one. But, problems could not be resolved at the national level without redressing the problems on the global scale.

For that reason, he continued, imbalances in international development needed to be addressed, including the lack of access to markets and the lack of foreign investment. To that end, a Trust Fund for Democratic Governance was being launched, and he hoped it would be supported. Partners from both the North and the South were important for the work of such a Trust Fund.

Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the importance of the role of human rights in development and governance was no longer accompanied by a question mark. An important shift had taken place in the views on the relevance of the issue. Other speakers had agreed that human rights, in a holistic sense, were becoming an integral part of a broad international consensus.

The representative of Malawi, speaking on behalf of some 40 LCD members of the Africa Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of States, cautioned about any euphoria regarding benefits to be reaped from trade opportunities. “How can we talk of free trade areas when most LDCs have very little, if nothing, to trade”? he asked. The ACP wanted to see the rapid disbursement of funds aimed at debt relief and also the cancellation of all debt.

Among other issues raised this afternoon were migration and refugees, gender equality and participation of civil society and the private sector, capacity-building, anti-corruption efforts and decentralization.

The session was organized in two panels. The panel on improving the parliamentary and electoral systems and improving human rights and access to justice included State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, Abu Hasan Chowdhury; United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson; United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Luud Lubbers; and a member of Parliament from Uganda, Benedict Mutyaba.

The panel on public sector institution performance to enhance good governance, peace and stability consisted of Nepal’s Minister of Finance, Ramsharan Mahat; J. Chicote of Angola; Maj-Inger Klingvall, Minister for Development Cooperation, Migration and Asylum of Sweden, Brunson McKinley, Director-General of the International Organization for Migration; and Cheryl Gray, Acting Vice-President and Director, Public Sector Reforms, World Bank.

The event was co-chaired by Anne Kristin Sydnes, Minister of International Development of Norway, and Leonardo Santos Simao, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mozambique.

On Tuesday, 15 May, the Conference will hold thematic sessions on: enhancing productive capacities -- the agricultural sector and food security; and intellectual property and development -– an instrument for wealth creation.

Thematic Session: Governance, Peace and Social Stability

One of the session’s co-Chairs, LEONARDO SANTOS SIMAO, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Mozambique, said that over the last 10 years the international community had witnessed a dramatic political, social and economic transformation, which had had a significant effect on the situation in the least developed countries (LDCs). Institutional deficiencies, debt burden and the deepening of poverty were among the impediments standing in the way of achieving good governance, peace and social stability. Appropriate guidelines were needed to achieve those goals. As each country had its own peculiarities, no single formula could be found, however.

Among other priorities, he mentioned the importance of decentralizing the system of governance and the participation of interest groups. The rule of law was also an important element, which could be achieved through strong democratic institutions. Governments should be involved in efforts to eradicate poverty and create a culture of peace. Most LDCs lacked the resources to achieve their development needs. The LDCs and their development partners should devote their efforts to improving the standards of living and eradicating poverty. He hoped that the event would result in the adoption of an action-oriented and effective document.

Anne Kristin Sydnes, Minister of International Development of Norway, and also a co-Chair for the session, said there was broad consensus that governance mattered as a means of: preventing and resolving conflict; providing social stability; promoting economic growth; enhancing public sector management; and promoting sustainable human development.

She said the urgency of the issue of governance was underscored by findings of the high-level panel that reviewed the LDC plan of action for the 1990s. That panel found that weak governance in the LDCs had manifested itself in, among other things, poverty, corruption, erosion of norms, and the culmination of socio-political conflicts. There were also, however, some positive changes in a number of the LDCs. Some had embraced democracy and various civil society organizations promoting good governance had flourished, as well.


The starting point for good governance was political will, she said. Governments must seek policy responses that reflected national will. She emphasized that the role of donors might also not always be as positive as it was claimed to be at international conferences. She further observed that aid for improved governance in the past might have been overly concentrated on the executive sector. She asked, “Have we done enough to support the building of legal and institutional systems?” The plan of action would commit LDCs and their development partners to take sustained action for good governance. The task today was not to hold an academic discussion, but to create a sustained platform that would deliver.

In a keynote address, MARK MALLOCH BROWN, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that good governance had to be looked at in the context of the last 30 years of economic development. The number of LDCs had, in fact, increased over that period, and many in the 1990s had suffered financial losses. There had been a sharp reduction of official development assistance (ODA) and foreign direct investment (FDI), as well as LDC share in the world trade. It was in that context that good governance had to be stressed.

He said, however, strengthening of government institutions in the context of worsening poverty was not “a happy context”. Good governance was not a panacea, but only one element of a solution. Tied to strategies to secure much higher rates of growth, it mattered. It was a means by which society could decide on the allocation of resources and make development a transparent and effective process, instead of a violent one. In the view of the UNDP, there was no such thing as a solution at the national level without redressing the problems at the global level.

As pointed out this morning, many LDCs had followed the way prescribed for them, liberalizing their economies and opening their markets, yet their performance had not led to an improved economic performance. Some countries, including Mozambique, had been rewarded with strikingly high rates of development, but other LDCs had not been blessed with the same rate of success. For that reason, the imbalances in international development needed to be addressed, including the lack of access to markets and lack of foreign investment.

He said a Trust Fund for Democratic Governance was being launched. In many areas, he said, the UNDP was working with other international organizations, including the World Bank and the European Commission. Partners from both the North and the South were important for the work of such a Trust Fund. The building of partnerships should be encouraged for the development of capacity-building. Work against corruption and decentralization was also needed. Efforts were continuing in the development of indicators, which would allow evaluation of the situation in developing countries. He hoped that an international campaign would be built, and that both civil society and the private sector would participate in the international efforts towards poverty reduction, education and health.

Panel I: Improving Electoral and Parliamentary Systems

Abu Hasan Chowdhury, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh, said transparency, responsiveness and accountability to the people were still the basic foundations for good governance. By their very nature, the states of development in LDCs were extremely varied and circumstances affected processes.

He said ensuring an impartial and transparent electoral process was vital for people to exercise their will. Bangladesh was the only country that had instituted a neutral, non-partisan caretaker government. In his country, the electoral process was not a farce and it was the mandate of the people that selected the Government. A grass-roots revolution had been started. There were now 13,000 elected women and members of parliament.

MARY ROBINSON, United High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the importance of the role of human rights was no longer accompanied by a question mark. An important shift had taken place in the views on the relevance of the issue. She said that first there was the broad and balanced approach to human rights that placed equal emphasis on all human rights. That was the approach that made sense to LDCs.

She said development agencies were increasingly adopting rights-based approaches. Those were simple approaches, which were grounded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the two main Covenants, the four key human rights treaties, and encouraged governments to report to the various treaty commissions and committees. She also emphasized that the recent thinking on poverty eradication by the international financial institutions drew on human rights directives, such as empowerment. She also drew attention to the growing demand by people in LDCs for human rights education.

The human rights community was very focused on governance and even had a resolution on the issue. One priority area for her Office was helping LDCs strengthen the rule of law and prison administration. Achieving that, however, required expertise and support. The Conference must, therefore, be used to double support for the priorities mentioned. She concluded by saying that if “deliverables” were not delivered during this Conference, then coming here today would have been a waste of time.

RUUD LUBBERS, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said that refugees were people without a government to take care of them in situations of war and armed conflict. The mission of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was to protect them. That was also a duty of governments, acting together. As one of the most vulnerable groups, refugees should be treated with respect.

Not many development projects took into consideration the needs of the refugees and internally displaced persons, he said. What was really needed was to avoid such an approach when dealing with the needs of LDCs. A modest percentage of development assistance should be distributed towards refugees and internally displaced persons. People who wanted to once again participate in human life should be taken into account. They had an enormously rich potential for the goals of development and conflict resolution. He thanked countries for their humanitarian assistance and added that changes were needed to return refugees to their countries, where they could play a key role in reconstruction and development.

BENEDICT MUTYABA, Member of Parliament of Uganda, said that parliamentary institutions and an independent electoral system were needed to bring about good governance and accountability. In many LDCs, such mechanisms were very weak. One of the limitations to their establishment was the lack of resources. That was where the international community could assist developing countries. Civic institutions and political activity were essential components of democratic society.

With more than half the LDCs’ population illiterate, there were no structures to ensure interface among legislature, government and civil society, he said. Uganda had made sure that youth were represented in Government. One third of any council had to be women, and quotas existed for women in all government structures. People with disabilities were also represented. People needed access to justice. It was imperative to introduce government agencies with investigative functions, to redress the wrongs suffered by people unable to go to court. That had been done in his country. Village councils were useful in conflict resolution, which were empowered to make decisions on minor human rights issues.

Panel II: Improving Public Sector Institution Performance

RAMSHARAN MAHAT, Minister for Finance of Nepal, said his country had started serious decentralization after the establishment of democracy. Stakeholders were the principal actors and the development process was more demand-driven. Decentralization was a long process and involved the gradual transfer of authority. As such, there were still more than 50 laws, for example, that needed amendment.

He went on to say that, nevertheless, from this year onward, full responsibility and authority for primary health care and education had been transferred to local bodies. Twelve per cent of the national revenue had also been transferred to local bodies. Yet, although resources had been put at the disposal of those local bodies, many were hesitant to take decisions for decentralized activities. The Government was, therefore, still called upon to play a key part. He said measurable indicators had also been developed to define the responsibility of civil servants.

He said Nepal had suffered from armed conflict through underground attacks by underground Maoist movements. Thousands of lives had been lost. Violence was preached openly, especially on media, and that was undermining the task of guaranteeing human rights.

J. CHICOTE (Angola) said in the last decade Africa had experienced 19 conflicts and seen about 7 million of its people turned into refugees. The challenge for the continent’s governments today was, therefore, how to prevent conflict through sustainable political measures and how to manage policies of national reconciliation. That was the case for Angola in all of its 25 years of independence. Most of all it needed to find solutions to a long-lasting conflict through democratic means.

He said his Government had not given up on possibilities for peace through dialogue and negotiation. It had developed a global strategy for peace. It had also identified that the potential for conflict was bred by poverty, exclusion, and lack of education and information. Angola had put $20 million into a national programme for reintegration and reconciliation that would enable all ex-combatants to start a new life. His Government had also created a $150 million fund dedicated to poverty eradication.

MAJ-INGER KLINGVALL, Minister for Development Cooperation, Migration and Asylum of Sweden, said that to achieve change, it was important to: identify the scale of the problem of poverty; have information and knowledge; and have an effective plan of action. Poverty-reduction strategies were in place to guide national efforts and ensure international support. It was also necessary, however, to challenge the structures that presented obstacles and to prevent armed conflicts. Peaceful mechanisms for conflict resolution must ensure a balanced outcome acceptable to all.

Good governance was a tool for bringing about the desired results through political means and, as such, it entailed clear decision-making procedures and transparent structures, she said. That meant that both women and men must take part in the democratic process and that gender mainstreaming should be at the centre of attention. Responsible use of the resources available was also needed to achieve good governance. To that end, Sweden was planning to increase its contribution to development assistance.

BRUNSON McKINLEY, Director-General, International Organization for Migration, said that the migration issue in the context of LDCs was increasingly important, because those countries were particularly vulnerable to such phenomena as ”brain drain” and population loss through migration. No government was dealing with migration in a completely effective way, but all were trying.

Among the challenges were having the management capacity for migration, the problem of diasporas and migrants’ human rights, he continued. The problem could hardly be resolved on a single-nation basis, and integrated policies were needed for management. The human rights of refugees were not respected in many cases, and countries could hardly defend the rights of their citizens abroad. In the context of the development agenda, the role of migrant communities needed more attention.

CHERYL GRAY, Acting Vice-President and Director, Public Sector Reforms, World Bank, said the message here was that more aid, trade opportunities and governance were critical. Governance, in particular, provided the opportunity to take better advantage of the former two. The Bank had recently adopted a strategy on public sector reform. It was a multi-pronged approach, since there was no one to answer when addressing the issue of governance. It involved getting government’s role right, horizontal and vertical checks and balances, good economic policies and good public sector management.

Yet, that was only one part of the equation, she continued. The second part was the bottom-up approach -- addressing the voices that created the demand for reform, paying attention to feedback from citizens and providing transparency. The third part was the forgotten element of competition, which included both the private and public sectors. The second theme of the Bank’s new strategy was being cognizant of the fact that there was no one size fits all. One had to understand what was on the ground and look for opportunities. There was no perfect recipe for reform.

The representative of Malawi, speaking on behalf of the 40 LCD members of the Africa Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of States, said he wished to formally submit a ministerial declaration on behalf of those 40 nations. The Conference was another attempt to address the special needs and challenges of world’s poorest countries and to help them move out of the LDC category as soon as possible. The Conference should, thus, chart a path for the graduation of the ACP’s 40 LDCs from the list of the 49 poorest countries.

The ACP was not proud of the fact that 40 of its members were on the LDC list, and on 12 May ministers of those countries had met in Brussels to examine the challenges before them. The result was the ACP Brussels Declaration that was now before the Conference. The ministers and heads of delegations felt that in the Declaration it was prudent to stay close to issues identified in the programme of action. The issue of poverty eradication was, thus, at the core of development efforts. The root causes of poverty were multifaceted. The ACP firmly felt that for poverty to be eradicated there must be peace and security at the global level.Also, without good governance, collective efforts to stem the tide of poverty would prove futile.

He cautioned about any euphoria regarding benefits to be reaped from trade opportunities. “How can we talk of free trade areas when most LDCs have very little, if nothing, to trade”? he asked. Capacity-building should be addressed first. In addition, the issue of the debt cancellation had taken on more prominence and urgency. The ACP wanted to see the rapid disbursement of funds aimed at debt relief and the cancellation of all debt.

In his closing statement, Mr. BROWN said that today’s discussion could have hardly been possible 10 years before. There had been a sea-change in attitudes, for even less than 10 years ago good governance had not been considered a necessary ingredient for achieving sustainable development. Practical examples had been presented today of good governance in action, and the vital importance of building a culture of democracy and transparent and accountable institutions had been reconfirmed. A truly global movement towards decentralization was becoming obvious. Speakers had stated that local control was needed to resolve the problems of poverty with the involvement of local communities.

Summarizing the discussion, he said that it had stressed the overwhelming importance of human rights, including the human rights of refugees and migrants. The importance of global action and development cooperation had been stressed. A minister from Sweden had announced her country’s intention to provide additional assistance to LDCs, and he hoped that many countries would follow suit. He hoped many countries would support a trust fund, which was being established to the benefit of democratic governance. There was also demand for advisory support from governments. It was important to establish real respect for democracy and the rule of law, but that would not be an overnight achievement. It was necessary to slowly build on the achievements.

Ms. SYDNES agreed with Mr. Brown that over the last few years consensus had developed on important issues relating to good governance. Human rights in a holistic sense were becoming an integral part of such a broad international consensus. She summarized the preceding discussion, stressing the problems of refugees; institution-building; gender equality; and participation of civil society and the private sector. Common moral obligations were increasing due to the fact that more was known about poverty and more resources were available to fight that phenomenon than ever before.

In conclusion, Mr. SANTOS SIMAO added that the list of LDCs should decrease with years, and if the spirit of today’s discussion prevailed, the next Conference would be able to address the problem of fewer poor countries in the world.



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