UNITED NATIONS
Statement by H.E. Mr John Dauth LVO
Ambassador and Permanent Representative
of Australia
to the
ECOSOC 2004: High Level Segment
"Resources mobilisation and enabling environment for poverty reduction in the
context of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed
Countries for the decade 2001-2010"
New York
29 June 2004
Madame President
Australia shares the concerns expressed today that the majority of LDCs are unlikely to achieve the objectives of the Brussels Programme of Action and other internationally agreed development goals.
We welcome the Secretary-General’s Report to ECOSOC which, in this context, examines the question of resources mobilization and creating an enabling environment for poverty eradication. We strongly support its reference to the role of “strong institutional and governance capacity” in creating an enabling domestic environment, and its focus on international trade as an important channel of resources mobilization.
Madame President
A global commitment is required to reduce poverty in LDCs.
Developed countries have a responsibility to LDCs to promote global growth, enhance market access and to provide more and better aid. We need to promote equitable growth through greater trade liberalisation and investment, including between LDCs and non-LDC developing countries.
LDCs, in turn, require stability, good governance and the rule of law and must ensure that domestic resources are used to provide essential services and infrastructure. Experience shows that sustainable reduction in poverty is achieved through greater openness to trade and investment, country led and driven development strategies and sustained and effective investments in human capital.
Madame President
Australia places great emphasis on the role of good governance in creating an enabling environment for poverty reduction and sustainable development. Poor governance stifles and undermines social and economic development and makes countries more vulnerable to transnational crime and domestic corruption.
In line with increasing awareness of the importance of governance, Australian support for governance programs has increased from 15 percent of total Australian ODA in 1999-2000 to 33 per cent, or an estimated $A 674 million in 2004-05.
The importance of governance is well demonstrated by events in the Solomon Islands. Australia and its regional neighbours, through the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), took a practical approach to helping address the problems of weak government structures, failing public services, corruption and lawlessness. It focused on two fundamentals of good governance: return of law and order and stabilising government finances to enable basic service delivery. This stabilisation will now be followed-up by more comprehensive programs of reform to the machinery of government, economic and financial management, and the administration of law and justice.
Madame President
Australia recognises the importance of economic growth and openness to trade in greatly assisting development and poverty reduction. Trade liberalisation would provide LDCs with greater access to developed and developing country markets and also improve the efficiency of markets in LDCs themselves.
The Australian government places high importance on trade liberalisation as a means of reducing poverty. We are supporting this with a number of projects in tariff reform, trade promotion and investment policy formulation.
Australia has also implemented the Brussels Programme of Action commitment to eliminating quotas and tariffs from all goods (and services?) from LDCs, and calls upon all other developed countries to do likewise. In addition, non-LDC developing countries could usefully further open their markets to LDC trade.
Madame President
My delegation hopes that this year’s High Level Segment will renew focus on the importance of implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action, and we look forward to exploring these challenging issues further throughout this session, under your guidance.
Thankyou Madame President.