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Secretary-General urges finance officials to back proposals to tackle poverty

Secretary-General urges finance officials to back proposals to tackle poverty

Kofi Annan
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged international finance officials in Washington to throw their weight behind proposals he is putting forward to tackle poverty, one of the main pilllars of a reform deal he has presented for adoption by world leaders meeting this September at a United Nations summit.

Addressing an International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank dinner in the United States capital, Mr. Annan said by the time that summit convenes, all developing countries must commit themselves to mobilizing their resources in the fight against poverty.

Those which do so, he said, must receive enough aid to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a set of anti-poverty targets – by 2015. Donor countries must aim to achieve the timetables set for allocating 0.7 per cent of their income to official development assistance (ODA).

To make the increase sustainable, he said, "we need a commitment to find new sources of finance for the longer term, as well as new ways to ensure that the debt burden borne by developing countries is genuinely sustainable."

He also called for the Doha Round of trade talks to be completed next year and to approve duty-free and quota-free market access for all exports from the least developed countries (LDCs).

More specific commitments must be made to address the special needs of Africa, to provide the resources for responding to HIV/AIDS and to mitigate the effects of climate change now and in the future, he asserted.

These proposals are outlined in the Secretary-General's recent report "In Larger Freedom," which calls for sweeping reforms of the UN, arguing that the world will not enjoy development without security, nor enjoy security without development, nor either without respect for human rights and the rule of law.

"The threats we face today – from poverty and climate change to genocide and nuclear terrorism – are of equal concern to all," he told the finance officials. "The cause of larger freedom can only be advanced if nations work together; and the United Nations can only help if it is remoulded as an effective instrument of their common purpose."

He emphasized that all participating in negotiations on the report would have to engage in give and take. The development objectives in particular, he said, "are most likely to be achieved in the context of a broader global deal."

Mr. Annan voiced cautious optimism while acknowledging the magnitude of the change he is seeking; the proposals would reshape the UN more radically than any single previous effort in its history. "The stakes are clearly high but I think we can do it," he said.

The Secretary-General also said he looked forward to working with the Bank's new President, Paul Wolfowitz, who attended the dinner, and paid tribute to his predecessor, James Wolfensohn, who will soon work with Mr. Annan on economic and social issues in the Middle East. "We certainly need his leadership, flair and vision there and I am sure that the people from the region will gain from this."