Chapter I Development policy and international economic...

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Chapter I

Development policy and international economic cooperationIn 2008, the global economy was on the brink of recession, due to the fallout from the financial cri-sis in the United States, the bursting of the housing bubbles there and in other large economies, soaring commodity prices, increasingly restrictive monetary policies in a number of countries, and stock mar-ket volatility. In December, the General Assembly called on countries to manage their macroeco-nomic and financial policies in ways that contrib-uted to global stability, sustained economic growth and sustainable development, and recognized that greater coherence was required among the macroeconomic, trade, aid, financial, environmental and gender-equality policies to ensure that globalization worked as a positive force for all. The Assembly also reaffirmed the need to continue working towards a new international economic order based on the prin-ciples of equity, sovereign equality, interdependence, common interest, cooperation and solidarity among all States.

During the year, the United Nations continued consideration of a number of development issues. The Economic and Social Council, at its high-level seg-ment (30 June–3 July), discussed the promotion of an integrated approach to rural development in develop-ing countries for poverty eradication and sustainable development. As part of that segment, the Council held the first biennial Development Cooperation Fo-rum, which discussed a new vision for development cooperation in the twenty-first century and its chang-ing landscape and dynamics, and a high-level policy dialogue with the representatives of international financial and trade institutions on developments in the world economy. It also held its annual ministerial review on “Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable de-velopment”, and adopted a Ministerial Declaration on the theme. In August, the development needs of middle-income countries were considered at the third Ministerial Conference on Development Cooperation with Middle-Income Countries (mics), held in Wind-hoek, Namibia. The Conference adopted the Wind-hoek Ministerial Declaration, which recognized the importance of reflecting the development needs of mics in the outcomes of the international economic development processes.

The Commission on Sustainable Development re-viewed progress in the follow-up to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and implemen-

tation of Agenda 21, the action plan on sustainable development adopted by the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The Commission’s high-level segment discussed the theme “The way forward”, which focused on investing in Af-rica to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (mdgs) and sustainable development, and interlink-ages among the issues of agriculture, rural develop-ment, land, drought, desertification and Africa, in-cluding adaptation to climate change in the context of sustainable development.

The eradication of poverty and the achievement of the mdgs continued to be a major focus of attention. The Economic and Social Council reviewed imple-mentation of its 2007 Ministerial Declaration on strengthening efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, and requested the UN system to adopt more compre-hensive, coherent and multidimensional approaches in formulating its eradication policies, programmes and operations. During the year, the General Assembly decided that the theme for the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, proclaimed in 2007, would be “Full employment and decent work for all”, and requested the Secretary-General to ap-point a focal point to coordinate implementation of the Decade. The Assembly also considered the legal empowerment of the poor on the basis of the final report of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, entitled “Making the law work for every-one”. It reaffirmed that the rule of law was essential for sustained economic growth, sustainable devel-opment and the eradication of poverty and hunger, and stressed the importance of sharing best national practices. The Assembly held a high-level event on the mdgs, the theme of which was “End poverty 2015: make it happen”. The objective was to review progress and take stock of gaps at the midway point in the global effort to achieve the mdgs by 2015, identify ac-tions and help ensure that the goals and international targets remained on track, and that the momentum was maintained beyond 2008. In that regard, the Secretary-General and the Assembly President pro-posed to hold an mdg Summit in 2010 to galvanize efforts and actions in the final five years before the 2015 deadline, and to convene an informal thematic debate on “Strengthening global health: the health mdgs and beyond”.

The Commission on Science and Technology for Development considered as its priority themes

902 Part Three: Economic and social questions

development-oriented policies for a socio-economically inclusive information society; and science, technology and engineering for innovation and capacity-building in education and research. It also considered progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the first (2003) and second (2005) phases of the World Summit on the Information Society at the regional and international levels.

The UN system continued to address the develop-ment problems of groups of countries in special situ-ations. The Assembly decided to convene, in 2011, the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries to undertake a comprehensive appraisal of the implementation of the 2001 Brus-sels Programme of Action and identify obstacles and constraints encountered, as well as actions and initia-tives needed. It also reviewed progress in the imple-mentation of the 1994 Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Develop-ing States and the 2005 Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action. The Assembly requested UN system agencies to inten-sify efforts for mainstreaming the Mauritius Strategy in their work programmes. It conducted its midterm review of the Almaty Programme of Action, adopted in 2003 by the International Ministerial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and Donor Countries and International Financial and Development Institutions on Transit Transport Co-operation, and called on donors and the multilateral, regional, financial and development institutions to provide landlocked and transit developing countries with technical and financial assistance for its imple-mentation.

International economic relations

Development and international economic cooperation

International economic cooperation issues were considered in 2008 by a number of UN bodies, in-cluding the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council.

On 19 December, the Assembly took note of the report of the Second (Economic and Financial) Com-mittee [A/63/412] on its discussion of macroeconomic policy questions (decision 63/539).

High-level meeting of Economic and Social Council, Bretton Woods institutions and WTO. On 14 April, the Economic and Social Council held in New York its eleventh special high-level meeting with the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (imf)), the World Trade Organization (wto) and the United

Nations Conference on Trade and Development (unctad), in accordance with its decision 2008/203 of 5 February. The meeting discussed the theme of co-herence, coordination and cooperation in the context of the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus, adopted by the International Conference on Financ-ing for Development [YUN 2002, p. 953], including new challenges and emerging issues, and had before it a March note by the Secretary-General on the subject [E/2008/7]. A summary of the meeting by the Council President [A/63/80-E/2008/67] outlined the five sub-themes that served as the focus of the substantive discussions: new initiatives on financing for develop-ment; supporting development efforts and enhancing the role of middle-income countries, including in the area of trade; supporting development efforts of the least developed countries (ldcs), including through trade capacity-building; building and sustaining solid financial markets: challenges for international coop-eration; and financing of climate change mitigation and adaptation.

High-level segment of Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council, at the high-level segment of its 2008 substantive session (30 June–3 July) [A/63/3/Rev.1], discussed the theme of promoting an integrated approach to rural develop-ment in developing countries for poverty eradication and sustainable development, taking into account current challenges, in accordance with its decision 2008/208 of 8 February. It held two panel discus-sions on: bioenergy, sustainable livelihoods and rural poor; and harnessing the current boom in agricultural commodities for poverty eradication and sustainable development: the case of small-scale farmers. The Council had before it a May report by the Secretary-General on the subject [E/2008/68], which reviewed implementation of the Council’s 2003 Ministerial Declaration [YUN 2003, p. 853] on promoting an in-tegrated approach to rural development, discussed current challenges and proposed as a way forward the adoption by the Council of a programme on rural development (see p. 919).

Development Cooperation Forum. As part of the high-level segment, the Council held its first bi-ennial Development Cooperation Forum on 30 June and 1 July. In preparation for the Forum, Egypt sub-mitted the report of the second High-level Sympo-sium (Cairo, 19–20 January) [E/2008/56], which had as its theme “Trends in development cooperation: South-South and triangular cooperation and aid effectiveness”.

The Forum discussed a new vision for international development cooperation in the twenty-first century

Chapter I: Development policy and international economic cooperation 903

and its changing landscape and dynamics. It consid-ered a May report [E/2008/69] of the Secretary-General on trends and progress in international cooperation, as requested by General Assembly resolution 61/16 [YUN 2006, p. 1589]. The main findings of the report were that, despite progress in some areas of the global partnership for development, agreements on trade and investment, as well as on the participation of devel-oping countries in international economic decision-making, were not meeting expectations. Progress was insufficient to ensure realization of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (mdgs). Official development assistance (oda), excluding debt relief, had grown at less than half the rate needed. Most donors were not on track and were not planning sufficiently far ahead to meet their targets. Although increased flows from sources other than the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development were helping diversify financing, aid allocation was not conducive to the achievement of internationally agreed development goals. While a higher proportion of aid was going to the poorest countries, allocations were often not ad-equately based on needs, results or the vulnerability of countries to exogenous shocks. Particularly signifi-cant was the decline in agricultural aid. Development cooperation in the form of budget and sector support was growing slowly. The adoption of the Paris Decla-ration on Aid Effectiveness [YUN 2005, p. 957] marked a change in the articulation of benchmarks for progress, yet negotiations did not engage the full range of stakeholders nor deal with issues of key concern to programme country Governments and those of other stakeholders. Primarily preoccupied with monitoring aid delivery, the Paris process had not demonstrated ability to change donor behaviour or to link the aid effectiveness agenda with sustainable development results. While the capacities of programme countries to coordinate and manage aid were growing, major gaps remained in terms of analytical, policy, strate-gic and evaluation capacities. The Secretary-General made a number of action-oriented recommendations, including on the possible future of the Development Cooperation Forum.

The Forum held round tables on: identifying gaps and obstacles; reviewing trends and progress; and ex-changing lessons learned. Following a special presen-tation on key policy messages and recommendations of the Rome Stakeholder Forum, it also held a round table on aid effectiveness.

Annual ministerial review. On 2 July, the Council held its annual ministerial review on the theme “Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development”. In preparation for the review, a number of countries submitted national reports: Belgium [E/2008/81], Brazil

[E/2008/87], Chile [E/2008/75], Colombia [E/2008/74], Finland [E/2008/86], Kazakhstan [E/2008/79], the Lao People’s Democratic Republic [E/2008/78], Luxem-bourg [E/2008/70], the United Kingdom [E/2008/85] and the United Republic of Tanzania [E/2008/89]. On 25 June [E/2008/88], Bahrain submitted the re-port of the Western Asia regional preparatory meeting (Manama, 1–2 June) on sustainable urbanization.

The Council held a round table on the role of eco-system services in sustainable development. It had be-fore it the Secretary-General’s report [E/2008/12] on the theme of the review, which stated that the three pillars of sustainable development—integrating eco-nomic growth, social development and protection of the environment—had been adopted in principle but not in practice. Although some approaches offered benefits in all three areas, costs and trade-offs were of-ten involved. Striking an optimal balance among the three areas remained a central challenge of sustain-able development. Moreover, while some progress had been achieved in building the economic and social pillars of sustainable development, greater efforts were still required. The long-term sustainability issues of climate change, deforestation, biodiversity and ma-rine resources were in particular need of attention. There was also an urgent need to implement the glo-bal consensus on sustainable development, particu-larly Agenda 21, adopted at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development [YUN 1992, p. 672], the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation adopted at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development [YUN 2002, p. 821] and the mdg on en-suring environmental sustainability [YUN 2000, p. 51]. To that end, the Secretary-General made recommen-dations on, among other issues, strengthening governance and global cooperation, creating markets for sustainable development, increasing financial assist-ance and promoting the transfer of technology.

Policy dialogue. On 30 June, the Council held a high-level policy dialogue on developments in the world economy with the representatives of interna-tional financial and trade institutions.

Ministerial Declaration. On 3 July, the Council adopted the draft Ministerial Declaration entitled “Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development” [E/2008/L.10].

Globalization and interdependence

In response to General Assembly resolution 62/199 [YUN 2007, p. 835], the Secretary-General submitted an August report [A/63/333] on the impact of globaliza-tion on the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the mdgs. The report


examined the new threats to the achievement of those goals, including the current economic outlook and the food crisis (see p. 1343), and the social and envi-ronmental impact of globalization, particularly on the eradication of poverty, hunger and education, gender equality, health and sustainable development.

According to the report, the relationship between globalization and development outcomes was complex. Each of the forces powering globalization—finance, trade, investment, technology and migration—had economic, social and environmental impacts that af-fected the formulation and implementation of poli-cies at the national, regional and global levels. Among significant impacts were the reduction in national au-tonomy in policymaking and the need to harmonize national policy formulation with international obli-gations, commitments and compulsions. The realiza-tion of the mdgs was dependent on the strengthening of the global partnership for development. Buffeted by economic forces outside their control, smaller economies could not succeed by themselves in real-izing the goals. The gloomy economic outlook and inflationary pressures, driven by rising food and fuel prices, pointed to a less supportive environment for meeting the internationally agreed development goals than had been the case since the Millennium Summit [YUN 2000, p. 48]. The dilemma facing policymakers in the poorest countries was particularly stark, given that the surge in fuel and food prices would likely lead to a deterioration of household incomes, reversing many of the gains made by countries in poverty reduction. While emergency support could ease the threat in the short run, the only lasting solution was to raise invest-ment and stimulate productivity in the food-produc-ing sector. Public spending on research and develop-ment and investment in rural infrastructure should be increased, and access to credit improved. That, in turn, would require that macroeconomic policies gave as much priority to investment, employment and eco-nomic security as to fighting inflation.

The report concluded that global forces, such as trade and cross-border flows of capital and labour, had important consequences for the achievement of inter-nationally agreed development goals. Development, therefore, should be central to consideration of how globalization was managed, rather than viewed as a by-product of globalization. Given the nature of link-ages and interdependence in driving globalization and its cumulative impact on growth and development, greater consistency should be achieved among the macroeconomic, trade, aid, financial, environmental and gender equality policies of all countries, so that they supported the common aim of making globali-zation work for all. More international efforts were needed to establish fair and equitable trade, invest-ment, technology and knowledge regimes. Multilat-eral institutions and global governance should be re-

formed. Ensuring greater participation of developing countries was essential in the decision-making proc-esses of international institutions so that their needs in managing globalization were fairly represented and addressed. Domestic resources and institutions should be strengthened and mobilized to ensure that a development strategy advanced the objectives and priorities of national development agendas and ena-bled country-specific responses to global trends and impacts. Safety nets and social protection schemes that sheltered the poor during crises should be given priority; statistics, including data disaggregated by sex and gender-sensitive indicators, should be improved; and monitoring and evaluation capacity should be strengthened.

Communications. On 3 October [A/63/464], Anti-gua and Barbuda, as the Chairman of the Group of 77, transmitted to the Secretary-General the Min-isterial Declaration adopted at the thirty-second annual meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 and China (New York, 26 Septem-ber), which reviewed progress of the world economy and challenges in the economic development and so-cial progress of developing countries. The Declaration recognized that the global food, financial and energy crises constituted a major multidimensional challenge for development and the achievement of the interna-tionally agreed development goals, and emphasized the need for a strengthened global partnership for development, based on the recognition of national leadership and ownership of development strategies.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY ACTION

On 19 December [meeting 72], the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Second Committee [A/63/416/Add.1], adopted resolution 63/222 without vote [agenda item 54 (a)].

Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization

and interdependence

The General Assembly,Recalling its resolutions 53/169 of 15 December 1998,

54/231 of 22 December 1999, 55/212 of 20 December 2000, 56/209 of 21 December 2001, 57/274 of 20 Decem-ber 2002, 58/225 of 23 December 2003, 59/240 of 22 De-cember 2004, 60/204 of 22 December 2005, 61/207 of 20 December 2006 and 62/199 of 19 December 2007 on the role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence,

Recalling also the 2005 World Summit Outcome and all relevant General Assembly resolutions, in particular those that have built upon the 2005 World Summit Outcome, in the economic, social and related fields, including resolution 60/265 of 30 June 2006 on follow-up to the development outcome of the 2005 World Summit, including the Mil-


lennium Development Goals and the other internationally agreed development goals,

Reaffirming that the United Nations has a central role in promoting international cooperation for development and in promoting policy coherence on global development issues, including in the context of globalization and inter-dependence,

Reaffirming also the resolve expressed in the United Na-tions Millennium Declaration to ensure that globalization works as a positive force for all,

Recognizing that all human rights are universal, indivis-ible, interdependent and interrelated,

Recognizing also that globalization, driven largely by economic liberalization and technology, implies that the economic performance of a country is increasingly affected by factors outside its geographical borders and that maxi-mizing in an equitable manner the benefits of globaliza-tion requires developing responses to globalization through a strengthened global partnership for development to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals,

Expressing concern that the number of people living in poverty is higher than previously estimated, despite sig-nificant progress, and that the current financial and food insecurity crises and unpredictable energy prices may pose significant challenges for the achievement of the interna-tionally agreed development goals, including the Millen-nium Development Goals,

Recognizing that domestic economies are now interwo-ven with the global economy and that globalization affects all countries in different ways, and that countries on the one hand have trade and investment opportunities to, inter alia, fight poverty, while on the other hand they face con-straints in the degree of flexibility they have in pursuing their national development strategies,

Reaffirming its strong support for fair and inclusive glo-balization and the need to translate growth into reduction of poverty and, in this regard, its resolve to make the goals of full and productive employment and decent work for all, including for women and young people, a central objec-tive of relevant national and international policies as well as national development strategies, including poverty reduc-tion strategies, as part of efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals,

Noting that particular attention must be given, in the context of globalization, to the objective of protecting, pro-moting and enhancing the rights and welfare of women and girls, as stated in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action,

Reaffirming its commitment to governance, equity and transparency in the financial, monetary and trading sys-tems and its commitment to open, equitable, rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory multilateral trading and financial systems,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;2. Expresses deep concern at the impact of the current

financial crisis and global economic slowdown on the abil-ity of developing countries to gain access to the financing necessary for their development objectives, and underlines the fact that developing countries and countries with econ-omies in transition risk suffering very serious setbacks to their development objectives, in particular the achievement

of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;

3. Recognizes the measures adopted by Governments to address the present financial crisis, and, in that regard, calls upon all countries to manage their macroeconomic and financial policies in ways that contribute to global stability and sustained economic growth and sustainable development;

4. Also recognizes that greater coherence is required among the macroeconomic, trade, aid, financial, environ-mental and gender-equality policies to support the com-mon aim of ensuring that globalization works as a positive force for all;

5. Further recognizes that new and highly globalized financial instruments continue to change the nature of risks in the world economy, requiring continuing enhancement of market oversight and regulation, and underlines the fact that, to strengthen the resilience of the international finan-cial system, reforms will need to be implemented that will strengthen the regulatory and supervisory frameworks of financial markets;

6. Underlines the fact that economies exist in a glo-balizing world where the emergence of rule-based regimes for international economic relations has meant that the space for national economic policy, that is to say the scope for domestic policies, especially in the areas of trade, invest-ment and industrial development, is now often framed by international disciplines, commitments and global market considerations, that it is for each Government to evaluate the trade-off between the benefits of accepting international rules and commitments and the constraints posed by the loss of policy space, and that it is particularly important for developing countries, bearing in mind development goals and objectives, that all countries take into account the need for appropriate balance between national policy space and international disciplines and commitments, and, in this regard, notes with appreciation the outcome of the twelfth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, held in Accra from 20 to 25 April 2008;

7. Reaffirms that good governance is essential for sustainable development, that sound economic policies, solid democratic institutions responsive to the needs of the people and improved infrastructure are the basis for sustained economic growth, poverty eradication and em-ployment creation, and that freedom, peace and security, domestic stability, respect for human rights, including the right to development, and the rule of law, gender equal-ity, market-oriented policies and an overall commitment to just and democratic societies are also essential and mutually reinforcing;

8. Also reaffirms that good governance at the interna-tional level is fundamental for achieving sustainable devel-opment, that, in order to ensure a dynamic and enabling international economic environment, it is important to promote global economic governance by addressing the international finance, trade, technology and investment patterns that have an impact on the development prospects of developing countries and that, to this end, the interna-tional community should take all necessary and appropri-ate measures, including ensuring support for structural and macroeconomic reform, a comprehensive solution to


the external debt problem and increasing the market access of developing countries;

9. Further reaffirms that each country has primary responsibility for its own development, that the role of na-tional policies and development strategies cannot be over-emphasized in the achievement of sustainable development, and that national efforts should be complemented by sup-portive global programmes, measures and policies aimed at expanding the development opportunities of developing countries, while taking into account national conditions and ensuring respect for national ownership, strategies and sovereignty;

10. Reaffirms the commitment to broaden and strengthen the participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition in international eco-nomic decision-making and norm-setting, stresses, to that end, the importance of continuing efforts to reform the international financial architecture, noting that enhanc-ing the voice and participation of developing countries and countries with economies in transition in the Bretton Woods institutions remains a continuous concern, and calls in this regard for further and effective progress;

11. Stresses the need for increased support for investment in agricultural productivity, particularly in developing coun-tries, in order to achieve the internationally agreed develop-ment goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;

12. Encourages all development partners to help to strengthen and support the national health and education policies and plans of developing countries by providing as-sistance and funding in accordance with their development needs and priorities;

13. Calls upon Governments to assign a high prior-ity to education, including by establishing institutions, in particular for basic education and vocational training, and improving access to and the quality of primary, second-ary and tertiary education, including by developing a clear vision for the long-term development of a comprehensive, diversified and well-articulated tertiary education system;

14. Calls upon countries to increase public expenditure and encourage greater private and community investment to achieve international goals and targets in the areas of health, nutrition and sanitation consistent with public pol-icy objectives related to equitable access as well as meeting the specific health goals of reducing child and maternal mortality and reducing the spread of diseases such as hiv/aids, tuberculosis and malaria;

15. Calls upon all countries to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns, with the developed countries taking the lead and all countries benefiting from the process, taking into account the Rio principles, includ-ing, inter alia, the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities as set out in principle 7 of the Rio Declara-tion on Environment and Development;

16. Stresses the need for all countries to harness knowledge and technology and stimulate innovation if they are to improve their competitiveness and benefit from trade and investment, and in this regard underlines the impor-tance of concrete actions to facilitate technology transfer under fair, transparent and mutually agreed terms to devel-oping countries in support of the implementation of their sustainable development strategies;

17. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session a report on the theme “Globalization and interdependence: the role of the United Nations in poverty reduction and sustainable development” under the item entitled “Globalization and interdependence”;

18. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-fourth session, under the item entitled “Globalization and interdependence”, the sub-item entitled “Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence”.

Also on 19 December, the Assembly, by decision 63/540, took note of the report of the Second Committee on its consideration of globalization and interdependence [A/63/416].

Development cooperation with middle-income countries

The third Ministerial Conference on Development Cooperation with Middle-Income Countries (mics) was held in Windhoek, Namibia, from 4 to 6 Au-gust [A/C.2/63/3]. Previous conferences were held in Madrid, Spain [A/62/71-E/2007/46], and El Salvador [A/62/483-E/2007/90] in 2007. The Conference adopted the Windhoek Ministerial Declaration on Develop-ment Cooperation with Middle-Income Countries, which recognized the importance of reflecting the de-velopment needs of mics, including those contained in its Declaration and in the outcomes of the inter-national economic development processes. It invited the UN development system to enhance support to mics and strengthen its coordination and exchange of experiences with other regional and international organizations and financial institutions. The Confer-ence decided to present for the General Assembly’s consideration, at its sixty-third (2008) session, a draft resolution mandating a comprehensive review of the practices of the international cooperation system, par-ticularly international financial institutions associated with the UN system, its cooperation and development agencies and other international organizations regard-ing the development of mics, with a view to achieving more effective cooperation and fostering international support. The Conference would continue to hold yearly follow-up conferences and other meetings on development cooperation with mics. It also asked the UN system and other international organizations to support those endeavours and agreed to carry forward the work related to mic issues, including the possibility of convening the next Conference at UN Headquar-ters in New York.




Development cooperation with middle-income countries

The General Assembly,Recalling the outcomes of the United Nations major

international conferences and summits, including the United Nations Millennium Declaration and the 2005 World Summit Outcome, as well as the relevant provisions of General Assembly resolutions,

Reaffirming its resolution 62/208 of 19 December 2007, entitled “Triennial comprehensive policy review of opera-tional activities for development of the United Nations system”, in which it recognized that middle-income de-veloping countries still face significant challenges in the area of poverty eradication and that efforts to address those challenges should be supported in order to ensure that achievements made to date are sustained, including through support to the effective development of compre-hensive cooperation policies,

Emphasizing that middle-income countries must take primary responsibility for their own development, and that their national efforts should be complemented by support-ive global programmes, measures and policies aimed at ex-panding the development opportunities of middle-income countries, while taking into account their specific national conditions,

Noting that national averages based on criteria such as per capita income do not always reflect the actual particu-larities and development needs of the middle-income coun-tries, and recognizing the significant diversity of middle-income countries,

Taking note of the outcomes of the international con-ferences on development cooperation with middle-income countries held in Madrid, El Salvador and Windhoek, and the regional conference on the theme “Increasing the com-petitiveness of African middle-income countries”, held in Cairo,

1. Recognizes that middle-income countries still face significant challenges in their efforts to achieve the inter-nationally agreed development goals, including the Mil-lennium Development Goals, and, in that regard, under-lines the importance of international support, through various forms, that is well aligned with national priori-ties, to address the development needs of middle-income countries;

2. Acknowledges the efforts made and successes achieved by many middle-income countries to eradicate poverty and achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, as well as their significant contribution to global and regional development and economic stability;

3. Recognizes the solidarity of middle-income countries with other developing countries with a view to support-ing their development efforts, including in the context of South-South and triangular cooperation;

4. Invites the United Nations development system to support middle-income countries, as appropriate, and to improve its coordination and exchange of experiences with other international organizations, international fi-nancial institutions and regional organizations in this field;

5. Acknowledges the initiative of middle-income coun-tries to hold follow-up conferences and other meetings re-garding their development on a yearly basis, and, in this regard, requests the United Nations system to continue supporting these endeavours in collaboration with other relevant international organizations;

6. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a compre-hensive report on the implementation of all the elements of the present resolution to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session under the item entitled “Globalization and interdependence”, with a focus on existing strategies and actions of the United Nations development system on development cooperation with middle-income countries, and taking into account the work of other relevant inter-national organizations, including international financial institutions.

Industrial development

In response to General Assembly resolution 61/215 [YUN 2006, p. 980], the Secretary-General transmit-ted an August report [A/63/309] by the Director- General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (unido) on industrial development co-operation that highlighted trends and developments in the industrial performance of developing countries, explored the challenges of industrialization and ex-amined the response of the multilateral development system to them. The report also highlighted unido’s role in meeting the challenges of industrial develop-ment in partnership with UN and non-UN entities, particularly in ldcs, and outlined its contributions to the African Union New Partnership for Africa’s Development [YUN 2001, p. 900].

According to the report, trends in industrial de-velopment showed that the manufacturing industry was shifting from developed to a number of devel-oping countries, creating disparities in the industrial performance of various regions and within regions in the developing world. East Asia, and China in particular, far surpassed others in growth in manu-factures. Other developing country regions showed a decline in growth, particularly Latin America, or continued to stagnate, as in sub-Saharan Africa. With support from international development partners, the green shoots of economic development could, as in many parts of Asia, transform Africa and the poorest countries of the world. However, the chief obstacles to doing so were: ongoing poverty in the face of an underdeveloped private sector, especially where small and medium-sized enterprises (smes) were concerned; barriers to international trade, which limited exports from developing countries; energy access; and climate change effects and the need for environmental protec-tion to be built into industrial development, as well as access to information and technology.

The report concluded that, to narrow the dispari-ties and fight poverty, private sector-led growth should


be encouraged in those regions and countries left be-hind, particularly in ldcs. Industrial strategy should remove regulatory obstacles to economic activity and focus on building the “missing middle” by supporting the development of innovative and dynamic smes ca-pable of competing locally and internationally. At the international level, equitable globalization required a multilateral trading agreement that reflected the de-velopment intentions of the Doha Round of trade ne-gotiations (see p. 1050). Trade-related challenges fac-ing developing-country enterprises, such as non-tariff barriers, growth in regionalism and over-reliance on primary commodity exports, should be addressed. Climate change should also be addressed, inter alia, through an international mechanism for the devel-opment and dissemination of technologies, with the aim of removing barriers and providing predictable financial resources and other incentives for scaling up investment in environmentally sound technologies, especially in developing countries. The multilateral development system, including international finan-cial institutions and the UN system, should respond to those challenges and adapt to sudden changes or emerging needs. Unido should continue, in partner-ship with other relevant actors, to promote sustainable, private sector-led industrial development in order to help developing countries, especially ldcs, build up human and institutional capacities, enhance their international competitiveness, promote invest-ment and technology transfer, promote small and me-dium-sized entrepreneurship development, develop agro-industries and strengthen its activities in energy for industry and in combating climate change.


On 19 December [meeting 72], the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Second Committee [A/63/418/Add.2], adopted resolution 63/231 without vote [agenda item 53 (b)].

Industrial development cooperation


49/108 of 19 December 1994, 51/170 of 16 December 1996, 53/177 of 15 December 1998, 55/187 of 20 De-cember 2000, 57/243 of 20 December 2002, 59/249 of 22 December 2004 and 61/215 of 20 December 2006 on industrial development cooperation,

Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Dec-laration, the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development and the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (“Johannesburg Plan of Implementation”),

Recalling further the 2005 World Summit Outcome and resolution 60/265 of 30 June 2006 on the follow-up to the development outcome of the 2005 World Summit, includ-

ing the Millennium Development Goals and the other in-ternationally agreed development goals,

Recognizing that industrialization is an essential driver of sustained economic growth, sustainable development and poverty eradication in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, including through the crea-tion of productive employment, income generation and the facilitation of social integration, including the integration of women into the development process,

Stressing the importance of international cooperation to promote equitable and sustainable patterns of industrial development,

Recognizing the role of the business community, in-cluding the private sector, in enhancing the dynamic process of the development of the industrial sector, un-derlining the importance of the benefits of foreign direct investment in that process, and recognizing also, in this regard, that an enabling domestic environment is vital for mobilizing domestic resources, increasing productiv-ity, reducing capital flight, encouraging the private sector and attracting and making effective use of international investment and assistance and that efforts to create such an environment should be supported by the international community,

Recognizing also the importance of the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms to the developing countries as well as countries with economies in transition as an effective means of international cooperation in the pur-suit of poverty eradication and sustainable development,

Noting that the United Nations Industrial Development Organization was awarded the Africa Investor Award for 2007 in the category “best initiative in support of small and medium-sized enterprise development”,

Taking note of the important role played by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in the de-velopment of the public and private sectors, productivity growth, trade capacity-building, corporate social responsi-bility, environmental protection, energy efficiency and the promotion of renewable energies,

1. Takes note of the note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization;

2. Reaffirms that each country must take primary responsibility for its own industrial development and that national efforts should be complemented by supportive global programmes, measures and policies aimed at ex-panding the development opportunities of developing countries;

3. Also reaffirms the essential contribution of indus-trial development to sustained economic growth and social development and the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;

4. Emphasizes the importance of the creation of wealth for poverty reduction and for pro-poor growth, especially with regard to women, through the development and strengthening of productive capacities in developing coun-tries and countries with economies in transition, including through the development of the public and private sectors and entrepreneurship and through small and medium-sized enterprises, enterprise upgrading, training, education and skills enhancement and an enabling environment for the


transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms, the flow of investments and participation in global supply chains;

5. Underlines the necessity of favourable national and international measures for industrialization in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, and urges all Governments to develop and implement policies that will lead to the development of a dynamic industrial sector through, inter alia, public- and private-sector development, the diffusion of environmentally sound and emerging technologies, investment promotion and en-hanced access to markets;

6. Calls for the continuing use of official develop-ment assistance for sustainable industrial development, the achievement of greater efficiency and effectiveness of official development assistance resources and industrial develop-ment cooperation between developing countries and with countries with economies in transition;

7. Underlines the importance of mobilizing resources for sustainable industrial development at the country level;

8. Calls for the continuing use of all other resources, in-cluding private and public, foreign and domestic resources, for industrial development in the developing countries as well as countries with economies in transition;

9. Recognizes the key role of the United Nations Indus-trial Development Organization in promoting sustainable industrial development and in industrial development co-operation, and welcomes its increased programmatic focus on three thematic priorities, namely, poverty reduction through productive activities, trade capacity-building and environment and energy;

10. Calls upon the United Nations Industrial Develop-ment Organization to take appropriate actions for the full implementation of General Assembly resolution 62/208 of 19 December 2007;

11. Recognizes that the current food crisis represents a serious and complex challenge affecting the world’s poor, and looks forward to discussions and a report on how the United Nations Industrial Development Organization might best contribute to a system-wide solution to the crisis;

12. Stresses the importance of the development of agro-industries and the reduction of post-harvest losses, includ-ing through the introduction of improved technologies and the increased processing of agricultural products in devel-oping countries and countries with economies in transition, and encourages the parties in the ongoing discussions being held in Vienna to consider how the United Nations Indus-trial Development Organization could best contribute to those objectives, including discussions aimed at helping to achieve global food security;

13. Notes the emphasis placed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization on assisting develop-ing countries and countries with economies in transition to strengthen their capacity to engage in international trade through small and medium-sized enterprise development and by helping them to meet international product and process standards;

14. Welcomes the increased cooperation of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the International Trade Centre unctad/wto, the World Trade Organization, the United Nations Development

Programme, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the regional com-missions, and invites the United Nations Industrial Devel-opment Organization to continue to build and strengthen its partnership with other United Nations organizations having complementary mandates and activities with a view to achieving greater effectiveness and development impact and promoting increased coherence within the United Nations system;

15. Encourages the United Nations Industrial Develop-ment Organization to continue to promote environmen-tally sound and sustainable production through, inter alia, its programmes on cleaner production, industrial water management and industrial energy efficiency and the uti-lization of renewable energy for productive uses, especially in rural areas;

16. Takes note of the increased emphasis given by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to South-South cooperation, including triangular coopera-tion, and encourages it to pay particular attention to pro-moting industrial cooperation among developing countries, including through its centres for South-South industrial cooperation and through the promotion of various forms of public/private-sector partnerships and the exchange of experiences in public- and private-sector development, including at the regional, subregional and country levels, with regard to industrial development;

17. Welcomes the support of the United Nations In-dustrial Development Organization for the New Partner-ship for Africa’s Development and other programmes of the African Union, including the Pharmaceutical Manu-facturing Plan for Africa, aimed at further strengthening the industrialization process in Africa, inter alia, through its role as the convener of the industry, trade and market access cluster of the regional consultation meetings led by the Economic Commission for Africa;

18. Recognizes the importance of industrial devel-opment in post-conflict countries, particularly through employment-generating activities and energy supply, and encourages the United Nations Industrial Development Organization to assist in these efforts within its mandate, including, where applicable, by providing assistance in the implementation of the integrated peacebuilding strategies of the Peacebuilding Commission;

19. Encourages the United Nations Industrial Devel-opment Organization to develop further its global forum capacity according to its mandate, with the aim of enhanc-ing, in the context of the globalization process, a common understanding of global and regional industrial sector is-sues and their impact on poverty eradication and sustain-able development;

20. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-fifth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution.

Towards a New International Economic OrderOn 19 December [meeting 72], the General Assembly,

on the recommendation of the Second Committee [A/63/416/Add.1], adopted resolution 63/224 by recorded vote (123-1-52) [agenda item 51 (a)].


Towards a New International Economic Order

The General Assembly,Bearing in mind the purposes and principles of the

Charter of the United Nations to promote the economic advancement and social progress of all peoples,

Recalling the principles of the Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, as set out in resolu-tions 3201(S-VI) and 3202(S-VI), respectively, adopted by the General Assembly at its sixth special session, on 1 May 1974,

Taking into account the fact that the year 2009 marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration and the Programme of Action,

Reaffirming the United Nations Millennium Declara-tion,

Recalling the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and re-lated fields, including the development goals and objectives contained therein, and recognizing the vital role played by those conferences and summits in shaping a broad development vision and in identifying commonly agreed objectives,

Concerned that the current international economic, financial, energy and food crises, as well as the challenges posed by climate change, aggravate the existing interna-tional situation and have a negative impact on the develop-ment prospects of developing countries, while threatening to further widen the gap between developed and developing countries, including the technological and income gap,

1. Reaffirms the need to continue working towards a new international economic order based on the principles of equity, sovereign equality, interdependence, common interest, cooperation and solidarity among all States;

2. Decides to consider in depth the international eco-nomic situation and its impact on development during the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly, and in that regard requests the Secretary-General to include in his next report, under the item entitled “Globalization and interdependence”, an overview of the major international economic and policy challenges for equitable and inclusive sustained economic growth and sustainable development, and of the role of the United Nations in addressing these issues, in the light of the relevant principles contained in the Declaration on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order.

RECORDED VOTE ON RESOLUTION 63/224:In favour: Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Bar-

buda, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bra-zil, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Co-moros, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cuba, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Ghana, Grenada, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, Haiti, Hon-duras, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People’s Democratic Repub-lic, Lebanon, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauri-

tania, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Para-guay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Solo-mon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Swa-ziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uru-guay, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Against: United States.Abstaining: Albania, Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium,

Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Roma-nia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Tuvalu, Ukraine, United Kingdom.

Sustainable development

Implementation of Agenda 21, Programme for Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and Johannesburg Plan of Implementation

In 2008, several UN bodies, including the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on Sustainable Development, consid-ered the implementation of outcomes of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development [YUN 2002, p. 821], particularly the Johannesburg Declara-tion and Plan of Implementation, which outlined ac-tions and targets for stepping up implementation of Agenda 21—a programme of action for sustainable development worldwide, adopted at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Develop-ment [YUN 1992, p. 672]—and of the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, adopted by the Assembly at its nineteenth special session in 1997 [YUN 1997, p. 792].

Commission on Sustainable Development con-sideration. As the body responsible for coordinat-ing and monitoring implementation of the Summit outcomes, the Commission on Sustainable Devel-opment, at its sixteenth session (New York, 11 May 2007, 5–16 May 2008) [E/2008/29], discussed, in line with the multi-year programme adopted by the Council in resolution 2003/61 [YUN 2003, p. 842], the thematic cluster for the 2008–2009 implementation cycle: agriculture; rural development; land; drought; desertification; and Africa.

Intersessional events. The following intersessional events took place in preparation for the sixteenth ses-sion: Water Technologies and Environmental Con-trol Conference (Tel Aviv, Israel, 30–31 October


2007); Seventh Global Forum on Sustainable Energy (Vienna, 21–23 November 2007); International Conference on Combating Desertification (Beijing, 22–24 January 2008); Oslo Policy Forum on Chang-ing the Way We Develop: Dealing with Disasters and Climate Change (Oslo, Norway, 27–29 Febru-ary); and High-level Round Table on International Cooperation for Sustainable Development in Carib-bean Small Island Developing States (Bridgetown, Barbados, 25–27 March).

Thematic issues. For its consideration of the the-matic cluster for the 2008–2009 implementation cycle, the Commission considered the Secretary-General’s reports on: agriculture [E/CN.17/2008/3]; rural develop-ment [E/CN.17/2008/4]; Africa [E/CN.17/2008/8]; review of implementation on land [E/CN.17/2008/5]; review of implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation: drought [E/CN.17/2008/6] and desertification [E/CN.17/2008/7]; integrated re-view of the thematic cluster in small island developing States [E/CN.17/2008/9]; overview of progress towards sustainable development: a review of the implemen-tation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation [E/CN.17/2008/2]; partner-ships for sustainable development [E/CN.17/2008/10]; and review of progress in implementing the decision of the thirteenth session of the Commission on water and sanitation [E/CN.17/2008/11]. It also considered a note by the Secretariat on the outcomes of the regional implementation meetings [E/CN.17/2008/12]; reports on the five regional discussions [E/CN.17/2008/12/Add.1–5]; and discussion papers by major groups [E/CN.17/2008/13 & Add.1–9].

Implementation activities

In response to General Assembly resolution 62/189 [YUN 2007, p. 842], the Secretary-General submitted an August report [A/63/304] on the implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Im-plementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development that pro-vided an update on actions taken by Governments, UN system organizations and major groups of civil society in advancing the implementation of sustain-able development goals and targets, including through partnerships. The report reviewed new and emerging challenges, actions undertaken at the intergovernmen-tal level, implementation by the UN system, activities undertaken by regions and special groups and the crea-tion of partnerships to foster sustainable development. According to the report, the international community was tackling multiple interlinked challenges arising from the food and energy crises and climate change, which adversely affected the most vulnerable popula-

tions and impeded progress towards the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals. In-tegrated and coordinated action was therefore nec-essary to alleviate their impact and create global partnerships for their short- and long-term solutions. Meeting those challenges would require a more in-tegrated and balanced approach to economic, social and environmental policies tailored to each country’s needs, more space for implementing counter-cyclical macroeconomic policies, international support for broader social protection schemes, and more invest-ment in environmental policies, multi-stakeholder dialogues, decision-making, monitoring and evalua-tion. It also required incorporating the three pillars of sustainable development into national strategies. As at February, 82 countries had implemented development strategies, while an additional 16 had formulated, and would soon start implementing, them. Many coun-tries had applied the principles of sustainable devel-opment to the formulation of sector strategies, as the current crises showed the need for more investment in agriculture and rural development, together with the prevention of land degradation, the development of land tenure systems and the sustainable management of natural resources.

At the intergovernmental level, the Economic and Social Council focused on sustainable development challenges, including the state of the world economy and its implications for the achievement of UN devel-opment goals. The sixteenth session of the Commis-sion on Sustainable Development, during its review session, focused on the thematic cluster of agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa. At the inter-agency level, UN-Water—the official UN mechanism for follow-up to the water-related decisions of the 2002 World Summit and the mdgs—continued its work in all aspects related to water and sanitation, including the preparation of a status report on integrated water resources manage-ment and a water efficiency plan for the Commission’s sixteenth session. UN-Water also launched a status report on integrated water resources management and plans for efficient, equitable and sustainable develop-ment and management of the world’s limited water resources and for coping with conflicting demands. It also continued working on the decade’s central themes: scarcity, access to sanitation and health, wa-ter and gender, capacity-building, financing, valua-tion, integrated water resources management, envi-ronment and biodiversity, disaster prevention, food and agriculture, and coordinated activities for the International Year of Sanitation 2008. The Division for Sustainable Development of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (desa) organized a Caribbean workshop on sanitation, entitled “Inte-gration of sanitation policies into national develop-


ment plans in the Caribbean region” (Kingston, Ja-maica, 28–29 April).

At the regional level, the UN regional commissions and offices, regional development banks and other or-ganizations expedited the implementation of sustain-able development goals and targets. The five regional commissions—for Africa, Western Asia, Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Europe—organized ministerial-level implementation meetings and continued to integrate sustainable de-velopment into their work. The Economic Commis-sion for Africa and the secretariat of the United Na-tions Convention to Combat Desertification signed a memorandum of understanding in March aimed at enhancing collaboration in implementing the Con-vention, notably in those countries experiencing seri-ous drought and/or desertification. Major groups im-plemented innovative policies and programmes and made progress in carrying out projects related to the thematic issues addressed in the Commission’s multi-year programme of work and in addressing cross-cutting issues such as poverty eradication, education, health and gender equality.

Voluntary multi-stakeholder partnerships proved to be an important complementary outcome of the World Summit and a viable implementation mecha-nism. They continued to develop and grow, and their wide acceptance was embedded in the international dialogue and had become an integral part of the work of the UN system. By collaborating across all levels, pooling skills and resources, and developing innovative policy and technical and financing solu-tions to overcome barriers to sustainable develop-ment, partnerships contributed to the implementation of internationally agreed sustainable development goals and commitments. They were also useful as a vehicle for effecting change by catalysing Govern-ment action, engaging a wide range of stakeholders and creating new, innovative models for the imple-mentation of goals and commitments. As at July, 344 partnerships were registered with the Commission secretariat, 102 of which had identified agriculture, drought, desertification, land, rural development and Africa as the primary focus of their activities.

The Secretary-General recommended that the Assembly call on Governments, UN system organi-zations and major groups to deepen their commit-ments to sustainable development by redoubling their efforts to implement Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, expediting progress in implementation through the exchange of lessons learned and best practices. Governments should support the Commission and organize in-tersessional activities, taking into account the Com-mission’s 2008–2009 thematic cluster of issues, and emphasize the importance of a consensus outcome

and action-oriented policy sessions; and contribute to the Commission’s trust fund in support of enhanced participation of representatives of developing coun-tries and of major groups in the Commission’s work. The Assembly should invite the United Nations Sys-tem Chief Executives Board for Coordination (ceb) to continue monitoring, through its High-level Commit-tee on Programmes, the operational efficiency and ef-fectiveness of inter-agency collaborative mechanisms, including UN-Energy, UN-Water and UN-Oceans. Donors should target funding support to help devel-oping countries overcome constraints identified dur-ing the review year in the thematic cluster.



Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and

the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development


56/226 of 24 December 2001, 57/253 of 20 December 2002, 57/270 A and B of 20 December 2002 and 23 June 2003, respectively, 61/195 of 20 December 2006 and 62/189 of 19 December 2007, and all other previous resolutions on the implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development,

Recalling also the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, the Johannesburg Declara-tion on Sustainable Development and the Plan of Imple-mentation of the World Summit on Sustainable Develop-ment (“Johannesburg Plan of Implementation”), as well as the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development,

Reaffirming the commitment to implement Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, including the time-bound goals and targets, and the other interna-tionally agreed development goals, including the Millen-nium Development Goals,

Recalling the 2005 World Summit Outcome,Reaffirming the decisions taken at the eleventh session of

the Commission on Sustainable Development,Reiterating that sustainable development in its eco-

nomic, social and environmental aspects is a key element of the overarching framework for United Nations activities, and reaffirming the continuing need to ensure a balance among economic development, social development and environmental protection as interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable development,


Noting that challenges remain in achieving the goals of the three pillars of sustainable development, particularly in the context of the current global crises,

Taking note of the proposal to convene a world summit on sustainable development in 2012,

Bearing in mind the need for further consultations on this matter, in the light of the variety of views expressed by Member States, recognizing that the preparatory process, content, modalities and timing for such a possible high-level event on sustainable development would need to be determined taking into account the work of the Commis-sion, particularly as established in its multi-year programme of work, with a view to avoiding duplication of work,

Recalling the adoption of the Commission multi-year programme of work designed to contribute to advancing the implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannes-burg Plan of Implementation at all levels,

Reaffirming that eradicating poverty, changing unsus-tainable patterns of production and consumption and protecting and managing the natural resource base of eco-nomic and social development are overarching objectives of and essential requirements for sustainable development,

Recognizing that good governance within each country and at the international level is essential for sustainable development,

Recalling that the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation designated the Commission to serve as the focal point for discussion on partnerships that promote sustainable devel-opment and contribute to the implementation of intergov-ernmental commitments in Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johan-nesburg Plan of Implementation,

Recognizing that eradicating poverty is the greatest glo-bal challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in particular for developing countries, and that although each country has the primary responsibility for its own sustainable develop-ment and poverty eradication and the role of national poli-cies and development strategies cannot be overemphasized, concerted and concrete measures are required at all levels to enable developing countries to achieve their sustain-able development goals as related to the internationally agreed poverty-related targets and goals, including those contained in Agenda 21, the relevant outcomes of other United Nations conferences and the United Nations Mil-lennium Declaration,

Recalling that the Economic and Social Council should increase its role in overseeing system-wide coordination and the balanced integration of economic, social and environ-mental aspects of United Nations policies and programmes aimed at promoting sustainable development, and reaffirm-ing that the Commission should continue to be the high-level commission on sustainable development within the United Nations system and serve as a forum for considera-tion of issues related to integration of the three dimensions of sustainable development,

Recalling also that agriculture, rural development, land, drought and desertification are interlinked and should be addressed in an integrated manner, taking into account economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustain-able development, related sectoral policies and cross-cutting

issues including means of implementation, as identified at the eleventh session of the Commission,

Recognizing the problems and constraints that Afri-can countries are facing in the areas of agriculture, rural development, land, drought and desertification, and em-phasizing that those problems and constraints should be adequately addressed during the seventeenth session of the Commission, which will be a policy session,

Recalling the decision of the Commission at its eleventh session, endorsed by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 2003/61 of 25 July 2003, that the Commission, at its policy sessions, to be held in April/May of the second year of the cycle of the Commission’s work programme, would take policy decisions on practical measures and op-tions to expedite implementation in the selected thematic cluster of issues, taking account of the discussions of the Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting, the reports of the Secretary-General and other relevant inputs,

Recalling also the decision of the Commission at its elev-enth session that the discussions of the Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting would be based on the outcome of the review session and reports of the Secretary-General, as well as other relevant inputs, and that, on the basis of those discussions, the Chair would prepare a draft negotiating document for consideration at the policy session,

Recognizing the importance of the Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting in respect of discussing policy op-tions and possible actions to address the constraints and obstacles in the process of implementation identified during the review year,

Noting with satisfaction that the Commission at its six-teenth session undertook an in-depth evaluation of progress in implementing Agenda 21, the Programme for the Fur-ther Implementation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, focusing on the thematic cluster of issues on agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa, taking into account the inter-linkages as well as addressing the cross-cutting issues, and identified best practices, constraints and obstacles in the process of implementation,

Noting with satisfaction also the review of the implemen-tation of the Commission’s decisions on water, held by the Commission at its sixteenth session,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;2. Reiterates that sustainable development is a key ele-

ment of the overarching framework for United Nations activities, in particular for achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium De-velopment Goals, and those contained in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation;

3. Calls upon Governments, all relevant international and regional organizations, the Economic and Social Council, the United Nations funds and programmes, the regional commissions and the specialized agencies, the in-ternational financial institutions, the Global Environment Facility and other intergovernmental organizations, in accordance with their respective mandates, as well as major groups, to take action to ensure the effective implementa-tion of and follow-up to the commitments, programmes and time-bound targets adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and encourages them to report on concrete progress in that regard;


4. Calls for the effective implementation of the com-mitments, programmes and time-bound targets adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development and for the fulfilment of the provisions relating to the means of implementation, as contained in the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation;

5. Invites Member States to express their views on the possibility of convening a high-level event on sustainable development, and requests the Secretary-General, in his re-port on the implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 and the out-comes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to include the views expressed, and decides to consider this matter further at the sixty-fourth session of the General Assembly;

6. Reiterates that the Commission on Sustainable De-velopment is the high-level body responsible for sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as a forum for the consideration of issues related to the integra-tion of the three dimensions of sustainable development;

7. Emphasizes the importance of a consensus outcome and action-oriented policy sessions;

8. Encourages Governments to participate at the ap-propriate level with representatives, including ministers, from the relevant departments and organizations work-ing in the areas of agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa, as well as finance, in the seventeenth session of the Commission and its Inter-governmental Preparatory Meeting;

9. Recalls the decision of the Commission at its elev-enth session that activities during Commission meetings should provide for the balanced involvement of participants from all regions, as well as for gender balance;

10. Invites donor countries to consider supporting the participation of representatives from the developing coun-tries in the seventeenth session of the Commission and its Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting, inter alia, through contributions to the Commission’s trust fund;

11. Reaffirms the objective of strengthening the im-plementation of Agenda 21, including through the mobi-lization of financial and technological resources, as well as capacity-building programmes, in particular for developing countries;

12. Invites donor Governments and international financial institutions to support the efforts of developing countries to overcome barriers and constraints identified during the review year in the thematic cluster of issues of agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertifica-tion and Africa;

13. Reaffirms the objective of enhancing the participa-tion and effective involvement of civil society and other relevant stakeholders, as well as promoting transparency and broad public participation, in the implementation of Agenda 21;

14. Requests the secretariat of the Commission to co-ordinate the participation of the relevant major groups in the thematic discussions at the seventeenth session of the Commission and its Intergovernmental Preparatory Meet-ing and the reporting on the fulfilment of corporate ac-countability and responsibility with respect to the thematic cluster of issues, in accordance with the provisions of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation;

15. Reaffirms the need to promote corporate responsi-bility and accountability as envisaged by the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation;

16. Also reaffirms the need to promote the development of microenterprises and small and medium-sized enter-prises, including by means of training, education and skill enhancement, with a special focus on agro-industry as a provider of livelihoods for rural communities;

17. Requests the secretariat of the Commission to make arrangements to facilitate the balanced representation of major groups from developed and developing countries in the sessions of the Commission, and in this regard invites donor countries to consider supporting the participation of major groups from developing countries, inter alia, through contributions to the Commission’s trust fund;

18. Reiterates the invitation to the relevant specialized agencies, including the Food and Agriculture Organiza-tion of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development, United Nations funds and programmes, the Global Environment Facility and inter-national and regional financial and trade institutions, as well as the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experienc-ing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, and other relevant bodies, to actively participate, within their mandates, in the work of the Commission and its Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting at its seventeenth session;

19. Encourages Governments and organizations at all levels, as well as major groups, to undertake results-oriented initiatives and activities to support the work of the Com-mission and to promote and facilitate the implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implemen-tation of Agenda 21 and the Johannesburg Plan of Imple-mentation, including through voluntary multi-stakeholder partnership initiatives;

20. Requests the Secretary-General, in reporting to the Commission at its seventeenth session, on the basis of ap-propriate inputs from all levels, to submit thematic reports on each of the six issues contained in the thematic cluster of issues on agriculture, rural development, land, drought, de-sertification and Africa, taking into account their interlink-ages, while addressing the cross-cutting issues, including means of implementation identified by the Commission at its eleventh session, and also takes into account the relevant provisions of paragraphs 10, 14 and 15 of draft resolution I of the eleventh session of the Commission;

21. Underlines the importance of setting aside adequate time for all envisaged activities in the policy session, includ-ing for negotiations on policy options and possible actions, at the seventeenth session of the Commission, and in this regard notes the importance of having all required docu-ments, including the Chair’s draft negotiating document, made available for consideration prior to the beginning of the session;

22. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-fourth session the sub-item entitled “Implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementa-tion of Agenda 21 and the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development”, and requests the Secretary-General, at that session, to submit a report on the imple-mentation of the present resolution.


Sustainable development goals and climate change

CDP consideration. At its tenth session (New York, 17–20 March) [E/2008/33], the Committee for Devel-opment Policy (cdp) considered the theme “Achiev-ing sustainable development goals in the context of climate change”. Cdp addressed the key channels through which climate change could affect develop-ment and ways of protecting against those impacts, namely through adaptation and mitigation policies, international cooperation (especially in finance and technology) and policy coherence.

The Committee was of the view that, for develop-ing countries, sustainable development confronted a three-dimensional threat from climate change: its implications for human development and prosperity, which were at the heart of the mdgs; the spillover of climate-related policies in the industrialized world; and the implications of actions by developing coun-tries to adapt to and mitigate it, even as they avoided the previous damaging pattern to the environment of developed countries. The challenge was to ensure that a coherent approach at the national and inter-national levels protected the momentum of develop-ment against the possible adverse impacts of the three sources of threat. Those threats would particularly affect the development prospects of ldcs and small island developing States, which had contributed the least to the emission of greenhouse gases but were the most vulnerable and had the least capacity to adapt. Over time, one likely outcome of climate change was the disappearance of some small island developing States as a result of a rise in the sea level. African coun-tries were among the most vulnerable, owing to a low adaptive capacity caused by widespread, extreme pov-erty and projected changes in precipitation coming on top of an already stressed situation. Achieving the in-ternationally agreed goals on sustainable development would not be possible without deep overall reductions in carbon emissions. The developed countries should take the lead in cutting their emissions and assisting developing countries to take action. However, reduc-tions in developed countries alone could not be glo-bally effective without slowing down the growth of emissions in the developing countries as well. A criti-cal issue was whether and how developing countries could achieve such emission reductions while main-taining the economic growth needed to support their developmental efforts. To do so would require signifi-cant financial support from developed countries, and technology transfer and capacity-building in taking mitigation measures.

Cdp concluded that, as adapting to climate change was critical for sustainable development, the adaptive capacity of developing countries, especially ldcs, should be strengthened. Progress in that regard

would also require mainstreaming adaptation into sectoral and national planning processes, including poverty reduction strategies. Mitigation actions by both developed and developing countries to achieve sustainable development should take place in accor-dance with the principle of common but differenti-ated responsibilities. The most promising mitigation strategy for developing countries would be an investment- based approach that encouraged greater energy ef-ficiency and renewable energy alternatives, with technological support, regulatory and fiscal instru-ments, and research and education, thereby fostering sustainable development. Achieving the mdgs while dealing with climate change would require access by developing countries to sufficient funds and knowledge and the development of new technologies. Cdp recommended that the Economic and Social Council review the adequacy of international commitments on financing for development, particularly the resources required for achieving sustainable development. Urgent consideration should be given to the creation of large-scale global funds to finance the transfer of tech-nology for mitigation and meeting adaptation costs.

Commission on Sustainable Development

The Commission on Sustainable Development held its sixteenth session (policy session) in New York on 11 May 2007 and from 5 to 16 May 2008 [E/2008/29]. On 16 May, it held the first part of its seventeenth session, at which it elected the members of the Bu-reau [E/2009/29]. The Commission’s high-level segment (14–16 May) considered the topic “The way forward”. On 14 May, the Commission held parallel high-level round-table meetings on investing in Africa to achieve the mdgs and sustainable development, and interlink-ages among the thematic issues, including adaptation to climate change in the context of sustainable devel-opment. On 15 May, it held an interactive discussion with UN organizations, regional commissions, special-ized agencies and the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank Group and imf), as well as an interactive discussion with representatives of major groups.

The Commission recommended to the Economic and Social Council for adoption one draft decision on its report on its sixteenth session and provisional agenda for its seventeenth session. It also adopted three decisions on: participation of intergovernmen-tal organizations in the work of its sixteenth session [dec. 16/1]; the review of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Is-land Developing States [dec. 16/2] (see p. 946); and the proposed strategic framework for the period 2010–2011: subprogramme 4, Sustainable development [E/CN.17/2008/14] [dec. 16/3].


Ministers and delegations undertook negotiations on the interlinked issues of the thematic cluster: agri-culture, rural development; land; drought, desertifica-tion and Africa. The Commission devoted a meeting, on 12 May, to the review of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Develop-ment of Small Island Developing States, focusing on the thematic cluster for the 2008–2009 implementa-tion cycle (see p. 945).

On 13 and 14 May, the Commission discussed im-plementation of the decisions on water and sanitation and their interlinkages taken at its thirteenth session [YUN 2005, p. 917]. Various aspects were addressed, in-cluding: the importance of global and national moni-toring of the sector at all levels; the need for reliable data supported by improved knowledge and research; transfer of technology and capacity-building; the importance of water governance and a participatory approach to water and sanitation; the role of part-nerships, including the public-private partnership; and the importance of strengthening water utilities to extend the provision of services.

The partnerships fair (5–13 May) showcased ac-tivities focusing on agriculture, drought, deserti-fication, land, rural development and Africa, small island developing States, and water and sanitation. The fair provided a venue for registered Partnerships for Sustainable Development to showcase progress, network with existing and potential partners, create synergies and learn from each other’s experiences. It also allowed participants to gather information and discuss the contribution of innovative initiatives to supporting the implementation of internationally agreed sustainable development goals and objectives. A learning centre offered 20 courses on topics related to the themes and cross-cutting issues under review, including education, gender, decision-making tools, financing and national sustainable development strat-egies. Some 88 side events and related activities were organized by major groups, Governments, UN agen-cies and other international organizations, focusing on issues related to the thematic cluster.

The Economic and Social Council, on 23 July, took note of the Commission’s report at its sixteenth session [E/2008/29] and approved the provisional agenda for its seventeenth (2009) session (decision 2008/237).

Eradication of poverty

UN Decade for the Eradication of Poverty

In response to General Assembly resolution 62/205 [YUN 2007, p. 847], the Secretary-General, in July [A/63/190], submitted a report on the implementa-tion of the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008–2017), proclaimed by the Assembly in 2007, which provided recommenda-

tions on how to make the Second Decade effective in support of poverty eradication-related internationally agreed development goals. The report summarized the conclusions of the review of the First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997–2006); highlighted lessons learned from other current inter-national decades proclaimed by the Assembly; sum-marized inputs received from Governments and civil society on how to make the Second Decade effective; and examined the UN system’s role in scaling up pov-erty eradication efforts in support of the Second Dec-ade. It concluded with a number of recommendations for consideration by the Assembly.

The Secretary-General considered the Second Decade as a framework for reflection and action to achieve the poverty eradication-related internation-ally agreed development goals, and an opportunity for strengthening social institutions and implement-ing public policies to generate development. Based on a review of practical examples and the experience of the First Decade, the implementation of the Second Decade would depend on national ownership of activ-ities and should be encouraged and supported by the international community. Achievements and failures in fighting poverty during the First Decade pointed to the critical importance of productive employment and decent work. Striving to ensure basic economic security for all in the face of growing job insecurity should be part of collective efforts to make the Second Decade a success. At the dawn of the Second Decade, the theme for the First Decade had become reality: eradicating poverty was universally perceived as an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind, and the onus was on Governments, civil society, including the private sector, and interna-tional organizations to respond effectively.

The Secretary-General recommended that the Assembly adopt an overall action theme for the Sec-ond Decade that would convey a sense of urgency towards implementing the commitments made to eradicate poverty and to halve poverty by 2015; and integrate the observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty into the plan of action for the Second Decade to enhance the role the observance could play in raising public awareness and mobilizing stakeholders. A pragmatic plan of action in support of the Second Decade, critical to ensuring its imple-mentation, should focus on the complementarities of efforts to support national poverty eradication strat-egies and programmes, and make maximum use of inter-agency mechanisms to support those activities. The plan of action would include a programme of substantive work in poverty eradication spanning the work of the United Nations in the area, and would highlight opportunities for collaboration between various other stakeholders, non-governmental organi-zations (ngos) and civil society organizations engaged


in poverty eradication at the national and community levels. Using as its starting point the follow-up activi-ties to the 2005 World Summit, which recognized the need to accelerate progress in countries where current trends made the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals—especially poverty erad-ication—unlikely, the Second Decade should build on the implementation, support for and monitoring of such initiatives to generate greater momentum for global action. The Assembly should request the Sec-retary-General, in consultation with Member States, UN system organizations, ngos, the private sector and civil society, to prepare the plan of action and submit it to the Assembly at its resumed sixty-third (2009) session.

Communication. On 6 November, the Secre-tary-General transmitted to the Assembly President the outcome of the Third High-level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (Accra, Ghana, 2–4 September) [A/63/539], including the Accra Agenda for Action.



Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008–2017)


48/183 of 21 December 1993, 50/107 of 20 December 1995, 56/207 of 21 December 2001, 57/265 and 57/266 of 20 December 2002, 58/222 of 23 December 2003, 59/247 of 22 December 2004, 60/209 of 22 December 2005, 61/213 of 20 December 2006 and 62/205 of 19 December 2007,

Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Declara-tion, adopted by Heads of State and Government on the occasion of the Millennium Summit, as well as the inter-national commitment to eradicate extreme poverty and to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the world’s people whose income is less than one dollar a day and the proportion of people who suffer from hunger,

Recalling further the 2005 World Summit Outcome,Recalling its resolution 60/265 of 30 June 2006 on the

follow-up to the development outcome of the 2005 World Summit, including the Millennium Development Goals and the other internationally agreed development goals,

Recalling also its resolution 61/16 of 20 November 2006 on the strengthening of the Economic and Social Coun-cil,

Welcoming the poverty-related discussions in the an-nual ministerial reviews held by the Economic and Social Council, which play an important supporting role in the implementation of the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008–2017),

Recalling the outcomes of the World Summit for Social Development and the twenty-fourth special session of the General Assembly,

Expressing concern that, after the First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997–2006) and midway to the 2015 Millennium Development Goals tar-get date, while there has been progress in reducing poverty in some regions, this progress has been uneven and the number of people living in poverty in some countries con-tinues to increase, with women and children constituting the majority of the most affected groups, especially in the least developed countries and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa,

Recognizing that rates of economic growth vary between countries and that these differences must be addressed by, among other actions, promoting pro-poor growth and social protection,

Concerned by the global nature of poverty and inequal-ity, and underlining that the eradication of poverty and hunger is an ethical, social, political and economic im-perative of humankind,

Reaffirming that eradicating poverty is one of the great-est global challenges facing the world today, particularly in Africa and in least developed countries, and underlin-ing the importance of accelerating sustainable broad-based and inclusive economic growth, including full, productive employment-generation and decent work,

Expressing concern that the number of people living in poverty is higher than previously estimated, despite sig-nificant progress, and that the current financial and food insecurity crises and unpredictable energy prices may pose significant challenges for the achievement of the interna-tionally agreed development goals, including the Millen-nium Development Goals,

Recognizing that mobilizing financial resources for de-velopment at the national and international levels and the effective use of those resources are central to a global part-nership for development in support of the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals,

Recognizing also the contributions of South-South and triangular cooperation to the efforts of developing coun-tries to eradicate poverty and to pursue sustainable devel-opment,

Acknowledging that good governance at national and international levels and sustained and inclusive economic growth, supported by full employment and decent work, rising productivity, and a favourable environment, includ-ing public and private investment and entrepreneurship, are necessary to eradicate poverty, achieve the internation-ally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and realize a rise in living standards, and that corporate social responsibility initiatives play an important role in maximizing the impact of public and private investment,

Underlining the priority and urgency given by the Heads of State and Government to the eradication of poverty, as expressed in the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic and social fields,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008–2017);


2. Reaffirms that the objective of the Second United Nations Decade is to support, in an efficient and coordi-nated manner, the follow-up to the implementation of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, related to the eradica-tion of poverty and to coordinate international support to that end;

3. Also reaffirms that each country must take primary responsibility for its own development and that the role of national policies and strategies cannot be overemphasized in the achievement of sustainable development and poverty eradication, and recognizes that increased effective national efforts should be complemented by concrete, effective and supportive international programmes, measures and poli-cies aimed at expanding the development opportunities of developing countries, while taking into account national conditions and ensuring respect for national ownership, strategies and sovereignty;

4. Emphasizes the need to accord the highest priority to poverty eradication within the United Nations develop-ment agenda, while stressing the importance of addressing the causes and challenges of poverty through integrated, coordinated and coherent strategies at the national, inter-governmental and inter-agency levels;

5. Reiterates the need to strengthen the leadership role of the United Nations in promoting international cooperation for development, critical for the eradication of poverty;

6. Stresses the importance of ensuring, at the national, intergovernmental and inter-agency levels, coherent, com-prehensive and integrated activities for the eradication of poverty in accordance with the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic, social and related fields;

7. Emphasizes that education and training are among the critical factors in empowering those living in poverty, while recognizing the complexity of the challenge of pov-erty eradication;

8. Calls upon the international community to continue to give priority to the eradication of poverty and on do-nor countries in a position to do so to support the effec-tive national efforts of developing countries in this regard, through adequate predictable financial resources on either a bilateral or a multilateral basis;

9. Acknowledges efforts of developed countries to in-crease their assistance for development, including com-mitments by some developed countries to increase official development assistance; notes with concern, however, the overall decline in official development assistance in 2006 and 2007, and calls for the fulfilment of all official develop-ment assistance-related commitments, including the com-mitments made by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance by 2015 and to reach the target of at least 0.5 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance by 2010, as well as to achieve the target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance to least developed countries; and urges those developed countries that have not yet done so to make concrete efforts in this regard in accordance with their commitments;

10. Welcomes recent efforts and initiatives to enhance the quality of aid and to increase its impact, including the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Accra Agenda for Action, and the resolve to take concrete, effec-tive and timely action in implementing all agreed com-mitments on aid effectiveness, with clear monitoring and deadlines, including through further aligning assistance with countries’ strategies, building institutional capacities, reducing transaction costs and eliminating bureaucratic procedures, making progress on untying aid, enhancing the absorptive capacity and financial management of re-cipient countries and strengthening the focus on develop-ment results;

11. Recognizes that sustained and inclusive economic growth is essential for eradicating poverty and hunger, in particular in developing countries, and stresses that national efforts in this regard should be complemented by an enabling international environment;

12. Also recognizes that, for developing countries to reach the targets set in the context of national development strategies for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Develop-ment Goals, in particular the goal on the eradication of extreme poverty, and for such poverty eradication strategies to be effective, it is imperative that developing countries in-crease their efforts to be integrated into the world economy in order to share the benefits of globalization;

13. Requests the Secretary-General to appoint a focal point from within the United Nations system to coordinate the implementation of the Second United Nations Decade in close consultation with Member States;

14. Considers that a theme for the Second United Nations Decade, to be reviewed at the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly, shall be “Full employment and decent work for all”, and requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Assembly at that session a report that details the current response of the United Nations system to the theme;

15. Recognizes the need to give the highest priority to its consideration of the item on poverty eradication in its agenda, and in that regard, as a contribution to the Sec-ond United Nations Decade, decides to convene, during its sixty-eighth session, a meeting of the General Assem-bly at the highest appropriate political level centred on the review process devoted to the theme for the issue of pov-erty eradication, and stresses that the meeting and the pre-paratory activities should be carried out within the budget level proposed by the Secretary-General for the biennium 2012–2013 and should be organized in the most effective and efficient manner;

16. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-fourth session an item entitled “Implementation of the Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Pov-erty (2008–2017)”, and requests the Secretary-General to brief Member States orally on progress in the implementa-tion of efforts related to the theme for the Second Decade.

On 19 December, the Assembly, by decision 63/544, took note of the report of the Second Committee [A/63/418] on its consideration of the eradication of poverty and other development issues.


Rural developmentCommission on Sustainable Development con-

sideration. The Commission on Sustainable Devel-opment, at its sixteenth session [E/2008/29], discussed rural development as one of the subjects of its thematic cluster for the 2008–2009 implementation cycle. The Commission had before it a February report of the Secretary-General on the subject [E/CN.17/2008/4], which presented an updated analysis of the state of implementation of the internationally agreed frame-work for rural development as contained in chapter 14, “Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural de-velopment”, of Agenda 21 [YUN 1992, p. 672], the Pro-gramme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21 [YUN 1997, p. 792], the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (“Johannesburg Plan of Implementation”) [YUN 2002, p. 821], and various sessions of the Commission.

According to the report, overall progress in reduc-ing rural poverty was slow, but several successful ex-periences showed what could work. While the main thrust of efforts remained in agriculture, reducing ru-ral poverty through agricultural development alone would be difficult, and the challenge was to foster development in rural areas that benefited entire rural communities. The lack of broad-based investments in the rural sector for enhancing agricultural efficiency and rural infrastructure, tapping the potential of the non-farm sector and improving the management of natural resources, was a barrier to growth promo-tion and poverty reduction in rural areas. Further challenges included strengthening partnerships and providing technical assistance on market-oriented farming and small- and medium-scale agro-enterprise development to promote competitive rural agro-in-dustries. Other major barriers included limited access to rural finance, improved agricultural inputs, mod-ern energy services, local markets and market infor-mation, storage facilities, transportation, technology, education and other social services. The overexploita-tion of natural resources in many countries was cre-ating a devastating impact on the living conditions of the rural poor. It was therefore crucial to secure a balance between maximizing the productivity of natural resources and ensuring their conservation. While rural development was essential to achieving sustainable development, it could not be realized without adequate community empowerment and participation. One key obstacle was the lack of educa-tion and literacy in rural communities, as investment in rural education in developing countries was often inadequate. In addition to increasing public spending on education and the participation of civil society or-ganizations and other stakeholders, it was important to bridge the education gaps in remote rural areas and to address the social and cultural constraints to the

full participation of marginalized and disadvantaged groups in the development and implementation of ru-ral development programmes.

During the Commission’s high-level segment on rural development, Commission members were of the view that investment in infrastructure was criti-cal to boosting agriculture and rural development. While priorities would differ according to local, na-tional and regional circumstances, adequate rural roads and other means of transport, irrigation and water storage, electrification and telecommunications were all important, as was infrastructure for social development, including rural health-care facilities and schools. Domestic public investment would be a vital source of finance, and although many Gov-ernments had increased those investments, further resources were needed and oda for agricultural and rural development should be substantially increased. New and innovative sources and methods of finance, including public-private partnerships, could contrib-ute to meeting financing needs. Diversification of rural economies was a priority, including through the strengthening of productive capacity, the devel-opment of value-added agro-processing, the promo-tion of small- and medium-sized enterprises (smes) and other rural industries, rural cooperatives and the expansion of social, financial, infrastructural and tourism services in rural areas. Enhanced access to global markets, technology transfer and sharing of experiences, know-how and best practices were all important, and increased rural finance on favour-able terms should be made available to small-scale entrepreneurs through a variety of means, includ-ing loan guarantees, microcredit and venture capital. Local authorities and communities played a vital role in the management of land, water and other natural resources in rural areas, and their capacities should be strengthened.

Economic and Social Council consideration. In accordance with decision 2008/208 of 8 Febru-ary, the Economic and Social Council, on 3 July, held a thematic discussion for its 2008 high-level segment on promoting an integrated approach to rural devel-opment in developing countries for poverty eradica-tion and sustainable development, taking into account current challenges. For consideration of the theme, it held two parallel panel discussions on: bioenergy, sustainable livelihoods and rural poor; and harness-ing the current boom in agricultural commodities for poverty eradication and sustainable development: the case of small-scale farmers.

In a May report on the theme [E/2008/68], the Secretary-General noted that the Ministerial Decla-ration on promoting an integrated approach to ru-ral development in developing countries for poverty eradication and sustainable development, adopted by the Council in 2003 [YUN 2003, p. 853], outlined


essential elements for pursuing rural development in developing countries. Since the adoption of the declaration, many developments had taken place, including greater awareness of the importance of agriculture and rural development in achieving the mdgs, in particular with respect to attacking poverty and hunger. At the regional level, notably in Africa, countries had committed themselves to strengthening agriculture and, at the national level, to eliminating poverty and hunger. The challenge of rural poverty re-duction was, however, even greater than in 2003: old challenges persisted and new ones threatened to push the rural poor ever deeper into poverty. The impact of the increase in global food prices on the poorest in rural areas signalled the urgency of improving agri-cultural productivity and increasing food production. At the same time, the effects of climate change were undermining agricultural production. An integrated approach to rural development should be pursued, linking environmental sustainability, agricultural pro-ductivity and rural poverty, and the Council should adopt a programme on rural development in the short run, as well as in the medium-to-long term.

In the short run, the international community should protect the most vulnerable against the rapid increase in food prices, sufficient support should be given to humanitarian agencies to cover budget short-falls and additional resources should be provided. Support should also be extended to Governments of net food-importing developing countries to ensure that social protection programmes were not cut back, but still reached those affected. The international community and Governments should ensure access by poor farmers to production inputs, to help them maintain or expand food production. In the medium-to-long term, development partners should: improve the coordination of activities for the integration of rural development initiatives into national strategies and increase investment in rural areas; improve assist-ance for productivity growth through the application of innovation, research and development, with more efforts directed towards bringing about the green rev-olution in Africa; increase assistance for improving infrastructure, and assistance to programmes enhanc-ing the status of women and other vulnerable groups. Stakeholders should: improve the understanding of the impacts of increased biofuels on food prices, liveli-hoods of the poor and the environment; address the impact of climate change on the rural poor, design and develop cost-effective adaptation programmes, mobilize financial support for their implementation and improve early warning systems and vulnerabil-ity analysis to assess the risks associated with climate change; and launch actions designed to manage and use biodiversity. Governments could integrate rural development policies into national strategies; increase public funding on research and development; sup-

port policies and institutions that linked public and private research centres to farmers; improve policy and regulatory frameworks for the management of growing biofuel demand and its potential impact on food security; and intensify the application of science, technology and innovation to traditional agricultural practices.

In their Ministerial Declaration adopted on 3 July, Council members reaffirmed the importance of in-vesting in infrastructure for rural development and agriculture and recognized the importance of non-farming economic activities in eradicating poverty in rural areas. In that regard, they recognized the dis-cussion at the sixteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (see p. 919) and looked forward to the Commission’s recommendations at its seventeenth (2009) session that would advance rural development. Council members further recognized that agriculture played a crucial role in addressing the needs of a growing global population and was in-extricably linked to poverty eradication, especially in developing countries. Integrated and sustainable agri-culture and rural development approaches were there-fore essential to achieving enhanced food security and safety in an environmentally sustainable way. They also recognized the importance of enhanced access of the rural poor to productive assets, in particular land and water, and stressed that priority attention should be given to the adoption of policies and the implementation of laws that guaranteed well-defined and enforceable land- and water-use rights and pro-moted legal security of tenure, while recognizing the existence of different national laws and/or systems of land access and tenure.

Microcredit and microfinance in the eradication of poverty

In July, the Secretary-General, in response to Gen-eral Assembly resolution 61/214 [YUN 2006, p. 996], submitted a report [A/63/159] on the role of micro-credit and microfinance in the eradication of poverty. The report reassessed their role based on recent stud-ies and described the latest developments in micro-finance, including the emergence of new providers. It examined in particular microfinance penetration and client demand, including population penetra-tion, understanding the demand for microfinance, and emerging clients; the impact of microcredit and microfinance on the welfare of the poor, especially in income and employment, consumption smoothing and microinsurance, the impact on poor women and empowerment, and social performance audits; and developments among microfinance providers, such as the growth and transformation of microfinance and its commercialization, increased competition, innova-tions in microfinance, the impact of technology, the


challenges faced by microfinance providers, policy-makers and regulatory authorities.

According to the report, in recent years, micro-finance had experienced tremendous growth and gained wide acclaim in helping the poor, especially women, through increased incomes, self-employment and empowerment. Although there was greater aware-ness of its positive impact, the challenge of scaling it up remained. Its success was due in part to a grow-ing recognition that the poor were viable custom-ers, as well as to the entry of mainstream financial institutions into the microfinance business, which provided alternative sources of funds. By adapting new technologies, microfinance had broadened its outreach and reduced costs to both clients and pro-viders. There was growing concern, however, about increasing commercialization and profit orientation in microfinance, which had led to the promotion of a paradigm shift from microfinance to a vision of in-clusive finance.

The Secretary-General concluded that, while mi-crofinance had contributed to alleviating the condi-tions of over 100 million people living in poverty, the breadth of its outreach continued to be limited and the need to broaden the institutional capacity, focus and approach of its institutions remained. Its current con-tribution lay in improving the lives of the poor rather than as a pathway out of poverty. Self-employment ac-tivities generated by microloans were low-productive in nature and rarely led to the development of small enterprises, because the poor, in particular the rural poor, lived in areas that typically lacked economic op-portunities. Moreover, most microfinance institutions could not provide the financial services that smes, as opposed to microenterprises, needed. Sme develop-ment was critical to the generation of productive em-ployment, which was of central importance to poverty eradication. Catering to their financial needs should be an extension of the traditional lending rationale, and successful microfinance providers should there-fore forge alliances with other financial service provid-ers to build sound, sustainable and inclusive national financial sectors that could cater to the needs of all, from the poorest households to enterprises, and pro-mote business opportunities and productive employ-ment on a significant scale. Governments also played an important role in providing an enabling environ-ment conducive to the achievement of an inclusive financial sector encompassing the poor.

The Secretary-General recommended that Member States: establish a framework for promoting the devel-opment of inclusive financial institutions that offered appropriate financial products and services to all seg-ments of the population; adopt a coherent financial regulatory framework, in consultation with microfi-nance providers, that would protect the stability of the financial system and increase access of the poor

and micro- and small enterprises to financial services; adopt regulatory standards that protected consumers, in particular the poor, given their limited financial lit-eracy, against predatory and abusive lending practices; integrate financial and consumer education for the poor as part of the framework to promote awareness of microfinance programmes; and support the expan-sion and reach of microfinance through the promo-tion of entrepreneurship development programmes.



Role of microcredit and microfinance in the eradication of poverty

The General Assembly,Recalling its resolutions 52/193 and 52/194 of 18 De-

cember 1997, 53/197 of 15 December 1998, 58/221 of 23 December 2003, 59/246 of 22 December 2004 and 61/214 of 20 December 2006,

Recognizing the need for access to financial services, in particular for the poor, including access to microfinance and microcredit,

Recognizing also that microfinance, in particular micro-credit programmes, has succeeded in generating productive self-employment and proved to be an effective tool in over-coming poverty and reducing the vulnerability of poor peo-ple to crisis and has led to their growing participation, in particular the participation of women, in the mainstream socioeconomic and political processes of society, and bear-ing in mind that microfinance, in particular microcredit, has especially benefited women and has resulted in the achievement of their empowerment,

Recognizing further that the majority of the world’s poor still do not have access to financial services and that mi-crocredit and microfinance are the subject of significant demand worldwide,

Bearing in mind the importance of providing access to microfinance instruments and services, such as credit, sav-ings, insurance, money transfers and other financial prod-ucts and services, for poor people,

Recognizing that inclusive financial sectors can offer appropriate financial services and products to poor people,

Noting with appreciation the efforts of the United Na-tions Advisers Group on Inclusive Financial Sectors to promote the building of inclusive financial sectors to meet the needs and demands of poor people, and noting also the recommendations containing key messages to build inclusive financial sectors put forward in June 2008,

Noting events organized for the promotion of inclusive financial sectors, including the convening of the Global Microcredit Summit in Halifax, Canada, from 12 to 15 November 2006,

Welcoming the efforts made in the field of property rights, and noting that an enabling environment at all levels, including transparent regulatory systems and com-


petitive markets, fosters the mobilization of resources and access to finance for people living in poverty,

Noting with appreciation the contribution of awards and prizes to increasing the visibility and awareness of the role of microfinance, including microcredit, in the eradication of poverty, most notably the awarding of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;2. Welcomes the successful observance of the Interna-

tional Year of Microcredit, 2005, which constituted a spe-cial occasion to raise awareness and share best practices and lessons learned on microcredit and microfinance;

3. Recognizes that access to microfinance and micro-credit can contribute to the achievement of the goals and targets of major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic and social fields, including those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, in particu-lar the goals relating to poverty eradication, gender equality and the empowerment of women;

4. Underlines the need for greater access to microfi-nance, including microcredit, in developing countries, in particular for small farmers, which can contribute to in-creased agricultural productivity and rural development;

5. Also underlines the importance of strengthening domestic financial sectors as a source of capital by making them inclusive, thus expanding access to financial services;

6. Recognizes that microfinance has experienced tre-mendous growth in the number of people served and the di-versity of financial services offered, and that, along with the growth in numbers served as well as products and services offered, there has also been a large increase in the number of public and private microfinance providers, all of which share the common characteristic of providing financial services to poor and socio-economically vulnerable people, as well as micro-entrepreneurs who would not normally be served, or are underserved, by traditional financial institu-tions;

7. Notes that, despite progress, there is still lack of relevant statistical data on inclusive financial sectors, in particular microcredit and microfinance programmes, in particular at the national and regional levels, and in this re-gard invites the international community, in particular the donor community, to support developing countries in col-lecting and preserving necessary statistical data and infor-mation on this issue, specifically on defining and measuring access to financial services and products at the country level and measuring the type, quality and usage of such services and products over time;

8. Calls upon Member States, the United Nations sys-tem and other relevant stakeholders to fully maximize the role of microfinance instruments, including microcredit, for poverty eradication and especially for the empower-ment of women and rural populations, and to ensure that best practices in the microfinance sector are widely dis-seminated;

9. Invites Member States, the United Nations system, the Bretton Woods institutions, regional development banks and other relevant stakeholders to support, finan-cially and technically, in a coordinated manner, the efforts of developing countries in capacity-building for microcredit and microfinance institutions to expand their products and

services, including by improving their policy and regula-tory framework;

10. Invites Member States to consider adopting policies to facilitate the expansion of microcredit and microfinance institutions in order to service the large unmet demand among poor people for financial services, including the identification and development of mechanisms to pro-mote access to sustainable financial services, the removal of institutional and regulatory obstacles, the promotion of financial literacy and the provision of incentives to micro-finance institutions that meet national standards for deliv-ering sound financial services to the poor;

11. Encourages Member States to adopt coherent finan-cial regulatory frameworks, including in consultation with microfinance providers, that can effectively protect the sta-bility of their national financial systems and increase access of the poor and microenterprises and small enterprises to financial services, and also to protect consumers, in par-ticular the poor, and in this regard invites the development partners to support the efforts of developing countries in the promotion of entrepreneurship development programmes, including for microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises;

12. Recognizes that the current financial crisis can adversely impact financial flows to microcredit and microfi-nance institutions as well as the services that they provide to the poor, and emphasizes that such instruments should be protected, as appropriate, from potential credit deficiency;

13. Decides to devote one plenary meeting at its sixty-fifth session to the consideration of the outcome of and follow-up to the International Year of Microcredit, with a view to broadening and deepening the discussion about mi-crocredit and microfinance and inclusive financial sectors;

14. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Gen-eral Assembly at its sixty-fifth session a report on the imple-mentation of the present resolution, under the item entitled “Eradication of poverty and other development issues”.

Evaluation

CPC consideration. The Committee for Pro-gramme and Coordination (cpc), at its forty-eighth session (9 June–3 July) [A/63/16], considered the tri-ennial review on the evaluation of linkages between Headquarters and field activities: a review of best practices for poverty eradication in the framework of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. It had before it an Office of Internal Oversight Serv-ices (oios) report on the triennial review of the im-plementation of recommendations made by the Com-mittee at its forty-fifth session on the evaluation of linkages between Headquarters and field activities [E/AC.51/2008/4] and the comments of the Secretary-General thereon [E/AC.51/2008/4/Add.1].

According to the oios report, progress had been made on enhancing collaboration among inter-agency coordinating bodies, and according to ceb, the United Nations Development Group was working within the context of ceb in support of operational activities. Oios noted, however, that the Secretary-General had


not established a working group to review the roles and responsibilities of the inter-agency coordinating bod-ies on common policy issues on the eradication of pov-erty and hunger, and that a structured, facilitated and strategic approach to system-wide knowledge manage-ment networks around issues of poverty eradication had not yet been introduced. Progress was made in establishing institutional mechanisms for informing country offices about the poverty-related work of non-resident agencies, and desa and the regional economic commissions were working with UN country teams in their respective regions. In addition, regional com-missions had agreed to a cooperation framework with the United Nations Development Programme (undp) to enable them to participate and contribute more actively in the work of country offices.

Cpc recommended that the General Assembly request the Secretary-General, as ceb Chairman, to ensure enhanced collaboration among inter-agency coordinating bodies, in respect of poverty eradication within the framework of the United Nations Mil-lennium Declaration, in light of the results already achieved by the Board, and continue implementing the remaining recommendations.

Implementation of Ministerial Declaration on eradication of poverty and hunger

Coordination segment of Economic and Social Council. At its 2008 coordination segment (7–9 and 24 July) [A/63/3/Rev.1], the Economic and Social Council considered the UN role in implementing the Ministerial Declaration on strengthening efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, including through the global partnership for development, adopted at the Council’s 2007 high-level segment [YUN 2007, p. 833]. It had before it a report of the Secretary-General on the subject [E/2008/21], submitted in response to Council decision 2007/261 [YUN 2007, p. 1425].

According to the report, the eradication of poverty and hunger had always been a central objective of UN development work, and all system organizations pur-sued that goal within their respective mandates. They had made progress in integrating the framework into policies, programmes and operations, with a number of initiatives under way to promote system-wide approaches, ranging from joint efforts to evaluate progress towards the achievement of the mdgs to joint studies to advance understanding of the complemen-tarities between relevant policy areas and activities to build national capacity to formulate comprehensive development strategies and mobilize resources. Some of those initiatives were beginning to promote more integrated UN responses in line with the thrust of the 2007 Ministerial Declaration. In response to the Declaration’s emphasis on the importance of the mdg framework to assess progress towards the realization

of the mdg on the eradication of poverty and hunger, the Secretary-General launched a major communica-tions and advocacy initiative to renew political mo-mentum around the mdgs and scale up their imple-mentation in 2007 and 2008 at the midpoint towards the target year 2015. To support that process, he es-tablished a United Nations Millennium Development Goal Gap Task Force to track international commit-ments made under the mdg on a global partnership for development to support the achievement of the mdgs, determine the extent to which they had been fulfilled at the international and country levels; iden-tify gaps preventing faster progress; and suggest ways to addressed them. The Task Force would develop a common methodology for tracking progress and gaps and provide a common framework for monitoring the commitments. Its first report would be submitted to the intergovernmental process in mid-2008. The Sec-retary-General also set up the Millennium Develop-ment Goal Africa Steering Group to scale up progress to achieve the mdgs in the region and implement ex-isting commitments.

The Secretary-General concluded that, while the UN system had made progress in developing and pursuing more comprehensive approaches for the eradication of poverty and hunger, especially in em-ployment generation, trade and rural and agricultural development, more needed to be done to integrate sustainable development and science and technol-ogy dimensions in UN system programmes and ac-tivities in support of national efforts. Country-level experience offered lessons on how UN system sup-port could be strengthened; harnessing its potential would require increasing UN system collaboration at the analytical, programmatic and operational levels, especially in the areas of statistics, labour, trade and information and communication technologies (icts). At the operational level, the UN system should make more effective use of frameworks and instruments for country-level support, such as the United Na-tions Development Assistance Framework (undaf), the poverty reduction strategy paper and the poverty and social impact analysis, to ensure that the various dimensions of poverty and hunger were taken into account in those frameworks.

The Secretary-General made the following recom-mendations: strengthen national capacity to analyse the social impact of rural and agricultural develop-ment, especially on employment, in order to facilitate the integration of social dimensions in such develop-ment; build national capacity to analyse the impact of natural resource management, including water, land and forestry, on the livelihoods of those depending on those resources; promote the integration of an “urban pillar”, focused on the poor of populated slums, in the common country assessment and the undaf processes to facilitate the inclusion of sustainable urbanization


and urban poverty reduction in national strategies, as well as the integration of sustainable development and science and technology in the policies, programmes and operations of all UN system organizations; pro-mote a system-wide programme of work on science and technology, including icts, for poverty reduc-tion, and joint inter-agency efforts to support the unctad sixth tranche programme for strengthening implementation of internationally agreed develop-ment goals, including the mdgs, through innovation, networking and knowledge management; encourage the development of analytical tools for identifying sector imbalances in resource and investment alloca-tions and addressing new resource needs to deal with emerging challenges, such as climate change and ur-ban poverty; and further promote the joint assessment of aid flows and their impact on rural development social indicators. The UN system should continue to support national development strategies to ensure that all relevant dimensions of poverty and hunger were taken into account; and promote national participa-tion in and ownership of poverty reduction strategies through its system-wide coordination mechanism and by promoting multi-stakeholder approaches to enhance the participation of local authorities, civil society organizations and the private sector.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL ACTION

On 24 July [meeting 42], the Economic and Social Council adopted resolution 2008/28 [draft: E/2008/L.22] without vote [agenda item 4].

The role of the United Nations system in implementing the Ministerial Declaration on strengthening efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, including through

the global partnership for development, adopted at the high-level segment of the substantive session

of 2007 of the Economic and Social Council

The Economic and Social Council,Recalling the United Nations Millennium Declaration

and the 2005 World Summit Outcome,Recalling also the Ministerial Declaration adopted at

the high-level segment of its substantive session of 2007,Recalling further its decision 2007/261 of 27 July 2007

on the theme of the 2008 coordination segment,Recognizing that the challenge of eradicating poverty and

hunger requires a comprehensive and multidimensional response by the United Nations system, including the funds, programmes and agencies, as appropriate within their respective mandates,

Reaffirming the commitments to the global partnership for development set out in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development and the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (“Johannesburg Plan of Implementation”),

1. Requests the funds, programmes and agencies of the United Nations system, as appropriate within their

mandates, to make further progress towards more compre-hensive, coherent and multidimensional approaches in the formulation of their policies, programmes and operations supporting the eradication of poverty and hunger;

2. Also requests the funds, programmes and agencies of the United Nations system, as appropriate within their mandates, to strengthen their efforts to provide policy sup-port to developing countries and assist them upon request in building their capacity to analyse the impact of a broad range of policy areas on the eradication of poverty and hun-ger, including through the promotion of interdisciplinary research and studies;

3. Invites all member organizations of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination to enhance policy coherence and cooperation in areas vital to achieving the eradication of poverty and hunger;

4. Requests all member organizations of the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination to approach rural and urban development in an integrated manner and to consider ways to support countries’ strate-gies for reducing urban poverty, as appropriate;

5. Encourages the funds, programmes and agencies of the United Nations system to promote policy coherence and cooperation on science and technology, where rele-vant, including information and communications technol-ogy where appropriate, for poverty reduction that should promote both the formulation of science and technology programmes and the development of national institutional capacities in science and technology in support of the eradi-cation of poverty and hunger;

6. Also encourages the funds, programmes and agencies of the United Nations system, as appropriate within their man-dates, to coordinate their assessments of the impact of develop-ment cooperation on the eradication of poverty and hunger;

7. Requests the funds, programmes and agencies of the United Nations system, as appropriate within their man-dates and in consultation with Member States, to continue to promote multi-stakeholder approaches involving local authorities, civil society and the private sector, inter alia, through its system-wide coordination mechanisms for the eradication of poverty and hunger, as appropriate;

8. Encourages the United Nations system, especially its funds, programmes and agencies, to continue to accord the highest priority to the eradication of poverty and hunger, as appropriate, in developing the common country assess-ment and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework, or other frameworks and instruments guiding country-level operational activities, in consultation with Governments;

9. Encourages the funds, programmes and agencies of the United Nations system, as appropriate within their mandates, to continue to strengthen efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, including through the promotion of the global partnership for development, and supporting countries in that regard.

By decision 2008/252 of the same date, the Eco-nomic and Social Council took note of the Secre-tary-General’s report on the role of the UN system in implementing the Ministerial Declaration of the high-level segment of the 2007 substantive session of the Council.


Legal empowerment of the poor and eradication of poverty

The Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor held its fifth meeting (New York, 6–8 Febru-ary) to finalize its report, agree on modalities for its launch and propose guidelines for implementing its recommendations. The outcome of the meeting included agreement on a plan of action to bring the legal empowerment agenda to the world’s attention. The Commission comprised 21 commissioners, in-cluding former Heads of State and Government, cabi-net ministers, jurists, economic researchers, and other senior policymakers. During the previous three years, it conducted 22 national consultation processes with representatives from local governments, academia, civil society and grassroots movements; launched five technical working groups, which submitted special-ized reports; and debated with national and interna-tional policymakers.

In its 2008 report “Making the Law Work for Every-one” (Vol. I), the Commission argued that at least 4 billion people were robbed of the chance to better their lives and climb out of poverty because they were excluded from the rule of law. In many countries, the laws, institutions and policies governing economic, social and political affairs denied a large part of so-ciety the chance to participate on equal terms, and the outcomes of governance—the cumulative effect of policies and institutions on people—would only change if the processes of governance were fundamen-tally changed. As the poor lacked recognized rights, they were vulnerable to discrimination by the authori-ties, which had massive consequences.

The Commission emphasized that legal empower-ment was a process of systemic change through which the poor and excluded were empowered to use the law and the legal system and services to protect and advance their rights as citizens and economic actors. It was not a substitute for other development initi-atives—such as investing more in education, public services and infrastructure, enhancing participa-tion in trade and adapting to climate change—but complemented such initiatives, multiplying their impact. The Commission developed a comprehen-sive agenda for achieving legal empowerment, en-compassing four pillars that reinforced each other: access to justice and the rule of law; property rights; labour rights; and business rights. To succeed, legal empowerment had to lead to systemic change, in-cluding institutional reform. While Governments were the responsible actors in human rights terms, in a process of legal empowerment of the poor, the United Nations and the broader multilateral sys-tem could help by lending their support. More spe-cifically, the legal empowerment agenda should be integrated as a core concern of global multilateral

agencies, such as the World Bank, undp, the Inter-national Labour Organization, the Food and Agri-culture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme. It should also become a core mission for regional political organizations, banks and UN institutions. Civil society and community-based organizations could contribute by connecting the poor to political institutions at every level, and the business commu-nity could smooth the way for legal empowerment through the United Nations Global Compact and by supporting local and national reform efforts. Re-ligious communities and indigenous spiritual tradi-tions could translate the moral imperatives of legal empowerment into action, and professional associa-tions could gather and disseminate information and offer political support for legal empowerment and access to justice reform, as well as increased fund-ing for legal aid and other services. Those initiatives should support efforts in individual countries; foster a regional and global political consensus; and create new instruments for supporting legal empowerment, such as a “Global Legal Empowerment Compact” as a first step in codifying core rights and spelling out a framework for their realization; mechanisms for tracking progress; a clearing-house for recording, storing and disseminating experiences and lessons learned; public-private partnerships; and a global initiative to promote grass-roots knowledge and in-novation.


On 11 December [meeting 68], the General Assembly adopted resolution 63/142 [draft: A/63/L.25/Rev.1 & Add.1] without vote [agenda item 107].

Legal empowerment of the poor and eradication of poverty

The General Assembly,Recalling the 2005 World Summit Outcome,Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Dec-

laration, the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development and the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustain-able Development (“Johannesburg Plan of Implementa-tion”),

Reaffirming the importance of the timely and full reali-zation of the development goals and objectives agreed at the major United Nations conferences and summits, including the Millennium Development Goals,

Recognizing that empowerment of the poor is essential for the effective eradication of poverty and hunger,

Reaffirming that the rule of law at the national and inter-national levels is essential for sustained economic growth, sustainable development and the eradication of poverty and hunger,


Reaffirming also that each country must take primary responsibility for its own development and that the role of national policies and development strategies cannot be overemphasized in the achievement of sustainable develop-ment, and recognizing that national efforts should be com-plemented by supportive global programmes, measures and policies aimed at expanding the development opportunities of developing countries, while taking into account national conditions and ensuring respect for national ownership, strategies and sovereignty,

1. Takes note of the final report of the Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor, entitled “Making the Law Work for Everyone”;

2. Stresses the importance of sharing best national practices in the area of legal empowerment of the poor;

3. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session on the legal empowerment of the poor, under the item entitled “Eradication of poverty and other development issues”, taking into account national experiences in this regard.

Millennium Development Goals

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2008, published by desa [Sales No. E.08.I.18], summarized progress towards the goals in each region. The single most important success had been the unprecedented breadth and depth of the commitment to the mdgs. Governments of developing countries and the interna-tional community adopted the mdgs as their frame-work for international development cooperation, as did the private sector and civil society in both devel-oped and developing countries. Private foundations in developed countries had become an important source of funding for a wide range of activities intended to achieve the mdgs, and ngos in developing countries were increasingly engaged in those activities. That global collective effort was yielding results. There had been sound progress in some mdg areas, even in some of the more challenging regions, and a number of tar-gets were expected to be reached by their target dates. Some of those successes had been achieved by means of targeted interventions or programmes, but achiev-ing some other goals would depend on country-wide systems of qualified and equipped personnel and an effective institutional infrastructure. Building those capacities would require strong political commitment and adequate funding over a longer period and the delivery of additional oda.

Most developing countries’ efforts to achieve the mdgs had benefited from improved economic growth and relatively low inflation since 2000. However, the immediate prospects of reduced global growth and higher inflation threatened success in reducing pov-erty and making progress towards other mdgs un-less there was a response from all stakeholders. A first component of that response was to ensure that action was accelerated and expanded. All stakeholders should

renew their commitment to the wide range of inter-related activities. Successful policies, programmes and projects should be expanded, and Governments and the international community should respond to the lessons of experience and adjust to changing circum-stances. Additional resources should be mobilized by both developed and developing countries to address long-term challenges in agriculture, rural develop-ment, infrastructure and environmental sustainabil-ity, including climate change. The current food crisis (see p. 1343) called for special attention to the poten-tial escalation in hunger and malnutrition.

That agenda would require a sustained and wide-ranging effort beyond 2015. The task was broad and complex, but the progress achieved demonstrated that success was feasible with sound strategies and political will, which should include a greater financial commit-ment. Despite the potentially less favourable economic conditions, developed countries should provide sub-stantial increases in oda and foster an international environment more conducive to development.

General Assembly high-level event on MDGs

The General Assembly held a high-level event on the mdgs at UN Headquarters on 25 September, the theme of which was “End poverty 2015: make it hap-pen”. Its objectives were to review progress and take stock of gaps at the midway point in the global ef-fort to achieve the mdgs by 2015; identify actions to scale up efforts; and help ensure that the goals and international targets remained on track and that the momentum was maintained beyond 2008. Three par-allel round tables on poverty and hunger, education and health, and environmental sustainability were held, with gender equality and global partnership for development as cross-cutting themes. A 25 July back-ground note by the Secretary-General addressed each of the round-table topics, as well as the cross-cutting themes. The meeting also had before it supporting background documentation, including the report of the Millennium Development Goal Africa Steering Group, the MDG Gap Task Force Report 2008: Delivering on the Global Partnership for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals [Sales No. E.08.I.17] and The Millennium Development Goals Report 2008 (see above).

Partnership events sponsored by a variety of con-stituencies took place during the week of the high-level event (22–26 September), which shared success stories and lessons learned and provided opportunities to forge new partnerships and generate commitments. UN Member States, groups of States and civil society partners, including the private sector and philanthro-pists, made commitments and announced initiatives on concrete next steps for achieving the mdgs by 2015.


The Secretary-General, in his address to the gather-ing, recalled the ambitious goals set eight years before to free humankind from hunger, illiteracy, disease, disempowerment and environmental degradation, and noted the successes achieved: measles vaccinations that had prevented 7.5 million deaths; inroads made against aids; surging school enrolment in several Af-rican countries following the abolition of school fees; and millions of poor households risen out of extreme poverty. He declared that the world was on the way to cutting extreme poverty and hunger in half by 2015, but while things were moving in the right direction, they were not moving quickly enough. Sub-Saharan Africa had actually seen the number of poor increase between 1990 and 2005. Women and girls contin-ued to suffer persistent bias and neglect, evidenced by gender gaps in health, education, employment and empowerment. The financial crisis threatened the well-being of billions of people, none more so than the poorest of the poor, compounding the damage being caused by much higher food and fuel prices. The Secretary-General urged States to rise to those challenges and inject new energy into the global part-nership for development. He also asked participants to be bold and generous in their commitments and to agree to his proposal to hold a formal Summit in 2010 to take stock of mdg achievements.

The Assembly President, in his closing statement, said that he supported the Secretary-General’s pro-posal to hold an mdg Summit in 2010 to galvanize ef-forts and actions in the final five years before the 2015 deadline, and would launch consultations to develop a resolution on its objectives and modalities. Noting that health was an area still lagging far behind, he an-nounced that global health would be made a priority and that he would convene an informal thematic debate on “Strengthening Global Health: The Health mdgs and Beyond”. The process would be advanced through a high-level debate in June 2009 and would comple-ment the work the Economic and Social Council on global public health.

The Secretary-General announced that commit-ments made by participants had generated an esti-mated $16 billion, including some $1.6 billion to bolster food security, more than $4.5 billion for education and $3 billion to combat malaria.

Science and technology for development

Commission on Science and Technology for Development

The Commission on Science and Technology for Development held its eleventh session in Geneva from 26 to 30 May [E/2008/31] and an intersessional meeting in Santiago, Chile, from 12 to 14 November.

It considered as its priority themes: development- oriented policies for a socio-economically inclusive information society, including access, infrastructure and an enabling environment; and science, technology and engineering for innovation and capacity-building in education and research. It also considered progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the World Summit on the Information Society (wsis) outcomes [YUN 2003, p. 857 & YUN 2005, p. 933] at the regional and international levels. The Commission had before it reports of the Secretary-General on the wsis outcomes [A/63/72-E/2008/48] (see p. 930) and on the priority themes [E/CN.16/2008/3 & E/CN.16/2008/4], a summary report by the unctad secretariat on the meeting of the Commission’s intersessional panel (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 28–30 November 2007) [E/CN.16/2008/CRP.1], and an unctad background paper on its follow-up report on wsis.

The Commission recommended a draft resolution and four draft decisions for adoption by the Economic and Social Council, and brought to the Council’s attention a decision by which the Commission took note of the Secretary-General’s reports on the priority themes.

On 18 July, the Council took note of the Commis-sion’s report on its eleventh session and approved the provisional agenda and documentation for its twelfth (2009) session (decision 2008/220). It also requested the Secretary-General to report to the Commission at its twelfth session on science, technology and inno-vation priority themes addressed during its eleventh session (decision 2008/219).

Participation in Commission work

By decision 2008/217 of 18 July, the Economic and Social Council decided, on an exceptional basis and without prejudice to the rules of procedure of its functional commissions, to invite ngos and civil society entities that were not in consultative status with the Council but had received accreditation to wsis to participate in the Commission’s work at its twelfth and thirteenth sessions. It pleaded for volun-tary contributions to facilitate the participation of de-veloping country ngos and civil society entities and to ensure their balanced representation, including in the Commission’s panels, and invited the Commit-tee on Non-Governmental Organizations to consider the applications of such entities as expeditiously as possible.

By decision 2008/218 of the same date, the Eco-nomic and Social Council decided that academic entities accredited to wsis might participate in the work of the Commission, in accordance with the Council’s rules of procedure. It requested the secre-tariat of the Commission to submit for the Council’s consideration and approval the names of those enti-


ties, including academies of science and engineering, that had not been accredited to wsis and wished to participate in the Commission’s work. The Council emphasized that its decision was taken on an excep-tional basis, without prejudice to the Council’s rules of procedure, in particular resolution 1996/31 [YUN 1996, p. 1360] concerning the accreditation and partici-pation of ngos and other major groups in the work of the Council and its subsidiary bodies, and should not be construed as creating a precedent. The Council decided to review in 2010 the list of academic entities, as well as the modalities for their participation in the Commission’s work.

Information and communication technologies

During 2008, the United Nations continued to consider how the benefits of new technologies, espe-cially information and communication technologies (icts), could be made available to all, in keeping with recommendations contained in the Ministerial Dec-laration adopted by the Economic and Social Coun-cil at its 2000 high-level segment [YUN 2000, p. 799], the Millennium Declaration [ibid., p. 49], the Geneva Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action adopted at the first phase of wsis [YUN 2003, p. 857], and the Tunis Commitment and Tunis Agenda adopted at its second phase [YUN 2005, p. 933].

In April, the Secretary-General submitted a re-port on progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the wsis outcomes at the regional and international levels [A/63/72-E/2008/48] (see p. 930) and a note transmitting the report of the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (unesco) on the imple-mentation of Assembly resolution 50/130 [YUN 1995, p. 1438], including the recommendations of the tenth United Nations Inter-Agency Round Table on Com-munication for Development (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 12–14 February 2007) [A/63/180].

The Inter-Agency Round Table reviewed communica-tion for development coordination arrangements around the theme “Towards a common system approach for harnessing communication for development to achieve the mdgs”. It focused on interventions around which UN system organizations could develop a common ap-proach, strategy and action plan for the implementa-tion of communication for development practice. The objectives of the meeting were to increase inter-agency collaboration at Headquarters and UN country team levels, strengthen awareness among UN system organi-zations on ways to measure the impact and effective-ness of communication for development, and introduce mechanisms to harmonize UN system approaches. The Round Table reiterated that communication for develop-ment was critical for the success of the mdgs, acknowl-

edged the vital role of the media in the process, and em-phasized that higher priority allocation was essential for coherent and harmonized country-level actions. It took stock of relevant UN system initiatives and activities in a number of areas.

Participants observed that the methodology of communication for development needs assessments was missing from the UN approach, particularly at the country level. UN system communication was often viewed mainly in relation to channel-ling information downstream to promote specific mandates, methods and policy-related agendas, and to build public image and visibility and sup-port for fund-raising. Its public information strate-gies, which were consolidated through the United Nations Department of Public Information, did not necessarily equal communication for develop-ment practice. Systematic and operational linkages between the United Nations Inter-Agency Round Table and the United Nations Communications Group might improve awareness and capacity-building needs concerning communication for de-velopment practice, and help harmonize United Na-tions programming priorities and communication activities. Similar linkages with the United Nations Development Group might underscore the added value of communication in development planning, and integrating it in upstream policy-setting would guarantee its consideration throughout UN priori-ties and responses.

The general recommendations of the Round Ta-ble were to: impress upon UN specialized agencies, programmes and funds the importance of prioritizing communication for development principles and meth-odologies in all programmatic areas, and the need to allocate human, technical and financial resources for that effort; advise the heads of those bodies to inte-grate communication for development principles and methodologies into programme and project planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation; ensure incor-poration of its principles and methodologies, includ-ing needs assessments, into the common country as-sessment/undaf guidelines, or equivalent exercises, so as to improve development results; call upon the UN resident coordinator system to ensure coherence and coordination of communication for development at the country level; and establish an inter-agency mech-anism for promoting and enhancing communication for development within the UN system.


On 19 December [meeting 72], the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Second Committee [A/63/411], adopted resolution 63/202 without vote [agenda item 46].


Information and communication technologies for development

The General Assembly,Recalling its resolution 55/2 of 8 September 2000, by

which it adopted the United Nations Millennium Dec-laration,

Recalling also its resolutions 56/183 of 21 December 2001, 57/238 of 20 December 2002, 57/270 B of 23 June 2003, 59/220 of 22 December 2004 and 62/182 of 19 December 2007, Economic and Social Council resolution 2008/3 of 18 July 2008 and other relevant resolutions,

Noting that cultural diversity is the common heritage of humankind and that the information society should be founded on and stimulate respect for cultural identity, cultural and linguistic diversity, traditions and religions, and foster dialogue among cultures and civilizations, and noting also that the promotion, affirmation and preserva-tion of diverse cultural identities and languages as reflected in relevant agreed United Nations documents, including the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Or-ganization, will further enrich the information society,

Recalling the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action adopted by the World Summit on the Information Society at its first phase, held in Geneva from 10 to 12 December 2003, as endorsed by the General Assembly, and the Tunis Commitment and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society adopted by the Summit at its second phase, held in Tunis from 16 to 18 November 2005, and endorsed by the General Assembly,

Recalling also the 2005 World Summit Outcome,Stressing the need to reduce the digital divide and to ensure

that the benefits of new technologies, especially informa-tion and communication technologies, are available to all,

Recalling the first and second meetings of the Internet Governance Forum, held in Athens from 30 October to 2 November 2006 and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 12 to 15 November 2007, respectively, and welcoming the con-vening of the third meeting of the Forum in Hyderabad, India, from 3 to 6 December 2008,

Welcoming, in view of the existing gaps in information and communication technologies infrastructure across Af-rica, the launching in Kigali, in October 2007, of Connect Africa, an initiative aimed at mobilizing human, financial and technical resources to accelerate the implementation of the connectivity goals of the World Summit on the Information Society,

Recognizing the role of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development in assisting the Economic and Social Council as the focal point in the system-wide follow-up, in particular the review and assessment, of progress made in implementing the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, while at the same time maintaining its original mandate on science and technology for development,

Recalling Economic and Social Council resolution 2007/8 of 25 July 2007, in which, inter alia, the Council requested various entities, including the Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development, to submit reports to the Commission on the

implications of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General to the Commission on the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society,

Noting the intersessional meeting of the Commission, held in Santiago from 12 to 14 November 2008,

Stressing that, for the majority of the poor, the devel-opmental promise of science and technology, including information and communication technologies, remains unfulfilled, and emphasizing the need to effectively har-ness technology, including information and communica-tion technologies, to bridge the digital divide,

Recognizing the pivotal role of the United Nations sys-tem in promoting development, including with respect to enhancing access to information and communication tech-nologies, inter alia, through partnerships with all relevant stakeholders,

1. Recognizes that information and communication technologies have the potential to provide new solutions to development challenges, particularly in the context of globalization, and can foster economic growth, competi-tiveness, access to information and knowledge, poverty eradication and social inclusion that will help to expedite the integration of all countries, particularly developing countries, into the global economy;

2. Stresses the important role of Governments in the design of public policies and in the provision of public serv-ices responsive to national needs and priorities through, inter alia, making effective use of information and commu-nication technologies, on the basis of a multi-stakeholder approach, to support national development efforts;

3. Recognizes that, in addition to financing by the public sector, financing of information and communica-tion technologies infrastructure by the private sector has come to play an important role in many countries and that domestic financing is being augmented by North-South flows and South-South cooperation;

4. Also recognizes that information and communication technologies present new opportunities and challenges, and that there is a pressing need to address the major impedi-ments that developing countries face in accessing the new technologies, such as insufficient resources, infrastructure, education, capacity, investment and connectivity and is-sues related to technology ownership, standards and flows, and in this regard calls upon all stakeholders to provide adequate resources, enhanced capacity-building and tech-nology transfer, on mutually agreed terms, to developing countries, particularly the least developed countries;

5. Further recognizes the immense potential that in-formation and communication technologies have in pro-moting the transfer of technologies in a wide spectrum of socio-economic activity;

6. Acknowledges that a gender divide exists as part of the digital divide, and encourages all stakeholders to en-sure the full participation of women in the information society and women’s access to the new technologies, es-pecially information and communication technologies for development;

7. Recalls the improvements and innovations in fi-nancial mechanisms, including the creation of a voluntary Digital Solidarity Fund, as mentioned in the Geneva Dec-


laration of Principles, and, in this regard, invites voluntary contributions to its financing;

8. Recognizes that South-South cooperation, particu-larly through triangular cooperation, can be a useful tool to promote the development of information and commu-nication technologies;

9. Encourages strengthened and continuing coopera-tion between and among stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of the outcomes of the Geneva and Tunis phases of the World Summit on the Information Society, through, inter alia, the promotion of national, regional and international multi-stakeholder partnerships, includ-ing public-private partnerships, and the promotion of na-tional and regional multi-stakeholder thematic platforms, in a joint effort and dialogue with developing and least developed countries, development partners and actors in the information and communication technologies sector;

10. Encourages the United Nations funds and pro-grammes and the specialized agencies, within their respec-tive mandates, to contribute to the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society, and emphasizes the need for resources in this regard;

11. Recognizes the urgent need to harness the potential of knowledge and technology, and in that regard encour-ages the United Nations development system to continue its effort to promote the use of information and commu-nication technologies as a critical enabler of development and a catalyst for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;

12. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of 2009, on the basis of his consultations with all relevant or-ganizations, including international organizations, a report which may contain recommendations on how the process towards enhanced cooperation should be pursued;

13. Invites Member States to support the meaningful participation of stakeholders from developing countries in the preparatory meetings of the Internet Governance Forum and in the Forum itself in 2009 and 2010, and to consider contributing to the multi-stakeholder trust fund created for the Forum, as appropriate;

14. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session, through the Economic and Social Council, a report on the status of the implementation of and follow-up to the present resolution.

Follow-up to World Summit on the Information Society

In response to Economic and Social Council resolu-tion 2007/8 [YUN 2007, p. 853], the Secretary-General submitted an April report [A/63/72-E/2008/48] on progress made in the implementation of and fol-low-up to the wsis outcomes at the regional and international levels. The report reviewed progress made, incorporating analyses of responses provided by 14 inter-national and regional organizations on trends, achieve-ments and obstacles to wsis implementation. It also high-

lighted major initiatives undertaken since February 2007, as reported by international and regional organizations.

At the regional level, UN regional commissions sup-ported wsis implementation through regional action plans. They highlighted the importance of collaborat-ing with other development partners and of bridging the digital divide between and within their regions. The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia led an initiative involving all the regional com-missions in creating knowledge networks through ict access points for disadvantaged communities. Those networks provided a platform for developing and shar-ing knowledge pertinent to those communities in key areas of sustainable development, such as employ-ment, education, gender and health.

At the international level, UN system entities re-ported a wide range of programme activities, and several entities reported on institutional mechanisms to facilitate implementation. To strengthen the secre-tariat of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, unctad formed the Science, Tech-nology and icts branch, while the Secretary-General entrusted desa to oversee and manage the secretariats of the Internet Governance Forum (igf) and the UN Global Alliance for ict and Development. The Inter-national Telecommunication Union (itu), as outlined in its Strategic Plan (2008–2011), established a wsis Task Force to coordinate itu strategies and activities in relation to wsis. Wsis outcomes were also integrated into the unesco 2008–2013 Medium-term Strategy and its 2008–2009 programme and budget.

The Secretary-General concluded that progress to-wards the implementation of wsis outcomes seemed to be on track. UN system activities to implement those outcomes were carried out in multi-stakeholder partnerships with other organizations at the interna-tional, regional, national and local levels. However, while some entities reported on successful mobiliza-tion of relevant stakeholders through electronic net-works and face-to-face consultations and meetings, others encountered difficulty in securing the partici-pation of all stakeholders, and reported low involve-ment of new stakeholders in the facilitation process. The high cost associated with face-to-face facilitation meetings in Geneva deterred participation by devel-oping country stakeholders. Entities called for greater coordination among the leading facilitator agencies, with a view to providing coherent measuring tools to monitor and assess the status of implementation of the main themes. However, progress towards the attainment of the targets and goals set out in the Ge-neva Plan of Action and the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society needed to be benchmarked. In that regard, the Commission, through the unctad secretariat, should collaborate with the United Na-tions Group on the Information Society, the lead moderators and facilitators to group the 11 action


lines into thematic clusters. In addition, the unctad secretariat should consult with action line facilitators during the 2008–2009 intersessional period to define roles and explore ways of streamlining the reporting process. The Commission should also explore ways of maximizing the participation of—and contribution by—civil society and business entities in its work.

By decision 2008/216 of 18 July, the Economic and Social Council took note of the Secretary- General’s report.


On 18 July, the Economic and Social Council, on the recommendation of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development [E/2008/31], adopted resolution 2008/3 without vote [agenda item 13 (b)].

Assessment of the progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society

The Economic and Social Council,Recalling the outcome documents of the World Summit

on the Information Society,Recalling also that access to information and the shar-

ing and creation of knowledge contribute significantly to strengthening economic, social and cultural development, thus helping all countries to reach the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals, considering that this process can be enhanced by removing barriers to universal, ubiquitous, equitable and affordable access to information, and underlining the importance of removing barriers to bridging the digital divide, particularly those that hinder the full achievement of the economic, social and cultural development of countries and the welfare of their people, in particular in developing countries,

Recognizing the efforts by all stakeholders to implement the outcomes of the two phases of the Summit,

Recognizing also the efforts of the United Nations or-ganizations and programmes and of all the regional com-missions in implementing the goals, commitments and recommendations of the Summit,

Recalling its resolution 2006/46 of 28 July 2006 on the follow-up to the Summit and review of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and the mandate that it gave to the Commission,

Recalling also General Assembly resolution 57/270 B of 23 June 2003 and Economic and Social Council resolution 2007/29 of 27 July 2007,

Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on the progress made in the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the Summit at the regional and in-ternational levels,

Evolving challenges and opportunities1. Notes that the digital divide is changing in some

respects and that while in general the divide may be shrink-ing, a new form of digital divide is emerging in terms of

difference in quality and speed of access to information and communications technologies;

2. Also notes the continuing relevance of assisting devel-oping countries in their efforts to overcome the digital di-vide, particularly with regard to both access and capacity;

3. Further notes that the disparity continues between developed and developing countries in respect of the cost and quality of access and that in developed, high-income economies, the average cost of a broadband connection is significantly less than in developing countries, both in nominal terms and as a percentage of the average monthly income;

4. Notes that the gender divide still persists in respect of the quality and variety of means of access to the Internet and information and communications technologies in the building of the information society in both developed and developing countries;

5. Also notes the strong growth of mobile telephony subscriptions, especially in developing countries;

6. Notes with concern the growing number of incidents affecting global network safety and security and provoking service outages in large regions of the world;

7. Notes that in many countries there is inadequate coherence and complementarity between national infor-mation and communications technology policies and na-tional development and poverty reduction strategies and that, especially in the poorer rural areas, the potential of the Internet and information and communications tech-nologies in general for promoting development has not yet been fully utilized;

8. Calls upon all stakeholders to increase efforts to-wards funding of and investment in information and com-munications technologies in order to advance broadband access, including wireless access, in areas and countries in which it is still limited or non-existent;

9. Calls upon all States, in building the information society, to take steps with a view to avoiding, and to refrain from taking, any unilateral measure not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that impedes the full achievement of economic and social development by the population of the affected countries and that hinders their well-being;

10. Reaffirms that the protection of intellectual prop-erty is important for encouraging innovation and creativity in the information society, that, similarly, the wide dissemi-nation, diffusion and sharing of knowledge is important for encouraging innovation and creativity, and that facilitat-ing meaningful participation by all in intellectual property issues and knowledge-sharing through full awareness and capacity-building is a fundamental function of an inclusive information society;

11. Calls upon all stakeholders to increase their efforts to reduce the disparity in cost of access, through, for exam-ple, the establishment of Internet exchange points and the creation of a competitive environment, at both the back-bone network and local levels;

12. Recommends that all States strive for gender equality in access to the Internet and in building the information so-ciety in both developed and developing countries, by ensur-ing the inclusion of the gender approach in information and communications technology policies in national strategies;


13. Calls upon all stakeholders to continue the devel-opment and spread of easy-to-use applications and services for mobile phones and related devices, especially those that are useful in rural areas and work with low bandwidth and high latency;

14. Also calls upon all stakeholders to cooperate more closely in making global networks more stable, resilient and secure and in overcoming outages of, incidents affecting and attacks on those networks;

15. Calls upon international and regional organi-zations to assess and report on a regular basis on the universal accessibility of nations to information and communications technologies, with the aim of creating equitable opportunities for the growth of the informa-tion and communications technology sectors of develop-ing countries;

16. Recommends the mainstreaming of information and communications technology policies into national de-velopment or poverty reduction strategies, in accordance with the priorities of countries;

17. Also recommends increased international coopera-tion at all levels and among all stakeholders to help rural areas to access and benefit from the Internet and informa-tion and communications technologies in general;

Successes and shortcomings to date in respect of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society

18. Takes note with appreciation of the ongoing work of the Internet Governance Forum, its multi-stakeholder approach and its innovative platform, and expresses its thanks to host Governments for their contributions;

19. Acknowledges the progress made towards develop-ing multilingual capabilities on the Internet;

20. Also acknowledges the work of the Partnership on Measuring Information and Communications Technolo-gies for Development on developing indicators for further consideration and decision by the Statistical Commission;

21. Notes the lack of indicators needed to measure progress towards achieving the targets as set out in section B of the Plan of Action adopted by the World Summit on the Information Society at its first phase, held in Geneva from 10 to 12 December 2003, and endorsed by the General Assembly;

22. Takes note of the efforts undertaken by the regional commissions in respect of the coordination of the imple-mentation of the outcomes of the Summit, including in developing e-strategies, capacity-building and measuring of information and communications technologies;

23. Acknowledges the efforts of all action line facili-tators, especially the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in their role as lead facilitators;

24. Notes that the architecture for the implementation of the outcomes of the Summit, as defined in the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society, is rather complex and has also imposed limitations in respect of the participa-tion of all stakeholders, in particular those from developing countries;

25. Takes note of the letter from the Secretary-General addressed to relevant organizations responsible for essential tasks associated with the Internet in which he requested

them to report on the steps they had taken towards achiev-ing enhanced cooperation in accordance with paragraph 71 of the Tunis Agenda, looks forward to the report to be prepared by the Secretary-General, which may contain recommendations on how the process should be pursued, and notes that all stakeholders, in their respective roles, will be included in this process;

26. Reaffirms the relevance of decisions on Inter-net governance in their entirety, as outlined in the Tunis Agenda;

27. Recommends that the Internet Governance Forum, as a multi-stakeholder discussion forum, retain its focus on public policy issues related to Internet governance;

28. Encourages collaboration among all stakeholders, including international organizations, consistent with their mandate and existing budgetary resources, in regard to the multilingualization of the Internet;

29. Recommends that the Partnership on Measuring Information and Communication Technologies for Devel-opment consider the creation of benchmarks and indica-tors, including impact indicators, for further consideration and decision by the Statistical Commission, in order to track progress towards the attainment of the specific goals and targets set out in the outcome documents of the Sum-mit, particularly section B of the Plan of Action adopted in Geneva;

30. Also recommends that action line facilitators, in cooperation with all stakeholders, establish milestones, deadlines and calendars for their action lines, taking into account the outcome documents of the Summit;

31. Further recommends that lead facilitators conduct open-ended multi-stakeholder consultations with a view to improving the effectiveness and coherence of the annual clustering of activities related to the Summit;

32. Recommends that the United Nations Group on the Information Society organize focused, open-ended multi-stakeholder consultations on the implementation of para-graphs 3 to 28 of the Tunis Agenda, concerning financial mechanisms for meeting the challenges of information and communications technologies for development;

33. Also recommends the introduction in the facilita-tion process of electronic collaboration tools such as mail-ing lists, Web 2.0 applications, observatories and clear-ing-house models in order to enhance multi-stakeholder participation, in particular from developing countries;

34. Further recommends that in submitting their re-ports to the secretariat of the Commission on Science and Technology for Development, in accordance with Eco-nomic and Social Council resolution 2007/8 of 25 July 2007, action line facilitators bring to the attention of the Commission obstacles and difficulties encountered by all stakeholders in regard to the commitments and recom-mendations pertaining to their respective action lines at the regional and international levels and make proposals to the Commission for possible actions, whenever deemed necessary;

35. Invites all actors and institutions involved in the implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the Summit to clarify further their respective roles, improve coordination and information-sharing and build synergies to make the most effective use of available resources;


36. Invites the international community to make vol-untary contributions to the special trust fund established by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to support the review and assessment work of the Commis-sion in regard to the follow-up to the Summit;

37. Recommends that all stakeholders redouble their efforts to implement the vision of the Summit of a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society, so as to enhance digital opportunities for all people and help to bridge the digital divide.

UN role in ICT development

CEB consideration. At its fifteenth session (Rome, 17–18 March) [CEB/2008/3], the ceb High-level Committee on Management was briefed by the Chairperson of the ict Network on the three major areas of activity and discussion within that Network: the plan of action for harmonization and reform of business practices, data communications study, and collaboration with the United Nations Development Group. Regarding the business practices proposals, much of the recent work of the Network focused on that subject, with the lead agencies working to refine the proposals and commence planning activities, pending the availability of funding. The Network had not commenced its study on common data com-munications services, owing to the delay in obtain-ing funding from agencies. The final contributions had been confirmed, leaving only the finalization of the memorandum of understanding between the ceb secretariat and the United Nations Children’s Fund, the procuring agency, to be completed.

At its sixteenth session (New York, 18–19 Septem-ber) [CEB/2008/5], the ceb High-level Committee on Management encouraged all agencies that had not done so to closely examine their ict services, with a view to utilizing the services of the International Com-puter Centre more fully.

Internet Governance Forum meeting. The igf, established in 2006 [YUN 2006, p. 1001] to support the Secretary-General in carrying out the wsis mandate to convene a multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on Internet governance issues, held its third meeting in Hyderabad, India, from 3 to 6 December. The over-all theme was “Internet for All”, which looked at the question of the adequacy of the way the Internet was managed, for the day when several billion users with varying cultural and ethical predilections and lan-guage competencies became users.

Economic and social trends

The World Economic Situation and Prospects 2008 [Sales No. E.08.II.C.2], jointly issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

(unctad) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, stated that, in 2007, except for the United States, the growth of the world economy was broad-based. The majority of coun-tries (102 out of 106 for which data were available) increased per capita output by 3 per cent or more. At the same time, the number of countries registering a decline in gross domestic product (gdp) per capita fell to nine, less than the previous year. Nevertheless, the divergence in economic performance remained across countries, particularly the least developed countries, where per capita income growth ranged from close to zero to well over 10 per cent. Africa as a whole showed further strong performance, but still accounted for many of the countries with sub-par performance. Among the developed economies, a continued slump in the housing sector and the associated credit tightening were expected to lead the United States into another year of below-trend growth, expected to reach only 2 per cent in 2008. Private consumption was expected to weaken with the housing downturn, while corporate investment spending and hiring were also likely to decelerate. Growth in Western Europe was also expected to slow in 2008, with gdp growing by 2.3 per cent for the euro area, down from 2.7 per cent in 2007. The economies of the newer European Union mem-ber States were expected to grow to about 5.4 per cent in 2008, compared to 6 per cent in 2007. Vi-brant economic activity in the region was, however, accompanied by weakening indicators of macro-economic stability. Economic growth in Japan was expected to reach 1.7 per cent in 2008, representing a slowdown from the 2 per cent expansion in 2007. In other developed economies, growth in Canada moderated in the second half of 2007 and was expected to remain subdued in 2008. Growth in Australia was strong during 2007, driven by do-mestic demand. Among the economies in transi-tion, growth in the Commonwealth of Independ-ent States maintained a strong pace of 8.2 per cent for 2007, and strengthened further in the South-Eastern European economies to 6 per cent. Robust domestic demand, particularly private consumption and fixed investment, remained the key driver.

Among the developing economies, growth in Af-rica strengthened in 2007, driven largely by buoyant domestic demand, booming mining and gas produc-tion and broad-based recovery in those countries re-covering from economic decline. However, in some countries, it continued to be hampered by political and social tensions. East Asian economies maintained a solid pace of 8.4 per cent in 2007, with exports being the main driver of growth, followed by domestic de-mand. China continued to lead that growth, expand-ing at a pace of 11.4 per cent. In South Asia, growth decelerated to 6.9 per cent, while Western Asia ben-


efited from the favourable effects of high oil prices, propelling growth to 5.7 per cent. In Latin America and the Caribbean, growth seemed to have peaked af-ter the robust performance of the previous four years. The 5 per cent growth rate in 2007 was attributed to an improved economic performance in Brazil, led by domestic demand and strong business and public infrastructure investments. Further slowdown in the United States would pose risks for the region, affect-ing not only Mexico and Central America, but also some countries in South America.

According to the Trade and Development Report, 2008 [Sales No. E.08.II.D.21], published by unctad, in mid-2008 the global economy was teetering on the brink of recession. The downturn, after four years of relatively fast growth, was due to the global fallout from the fi-nancial crisis in the United States, the bursting of the housing bubble there and in other large economies, soaring commodity prices, increasingly restrictive monetary policies in a number of countries and stock market volatility. In that uncertain environment, the world economy was expected to grow by around 3 per cent in 2008, almost one percentage point less than the previous year, with gdp in developed countries expected to fall to about half that rate. By contrast, gdp growth in developing countries was expected to remain robust at around 6.4 per cent. Despite a slow-down, output growth in China in 2008 was expected to expand close to 10 per cent. West Asia (6.7 per cent) and both North Africa (6 per cent) and sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) (7.1 per cent) were the only regions where average rates of output growth were likely to rise compared to the previous two years. The growth in sub-Saharan Africa was the highest annual rate in more than three decades, largely due to higher income from primary commodity exports, particularly oil.

Overall, the financial turmoil, commodity price hikes and huge exchange-rate swings were having an enormous impact on the global economy, casting a shadow on the outlook for 2009. The fallout from the collapse of the United States mortgage market and the reversal of the housing boom in a number of countries were more profound and persistent than expected, and the shock waves spread beyond the countries directly involved, triggering widespread uncertainty in the financial markets. A year after the outbreak of the crisis, it remained unclear how long it would last. For a large number of developing countries, the outlook depended primarily on future trends in the prices of their primary commodity ex-ports. Some developing and transition economies with substantial external debt and large current-account deficits, mainly in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, could face an increase in their financing costs and a reversal of their currency valuations.

One of the reasons for the fragile state of the world economy was the weakness in the system of global eco-nomic governance, in particular a lack of coherence between the international trading system, which was governed by internationally agreed rules and regula-tions, and the international monetary and financial system, which was not. The financial turbulence, the speculative forces affecting food and oil prices, and the apparent failure of foreign exchange markets to bring about changes in exchange rates that reflected shifts in the international competitiveness of countries suggested that there was an urgent need for redesign-ing the system of global economic governance. The meltdown of the sub-prime mortgage market had once again exposed the fragility of the global financial sec-tor, and the complex financial instruments developed in recent years had served to spread the impact of risky investments across continents, institutions and markets. The recurrent episodes of financial volatility seemed to be driven by a mix of opaque instruments and massive leverage with which financial firms at-tempted to extract double-digit returns out of a real economy that was growing at a much slower rate. Since the outbreak of the sub-prime crisis, the risks of secu-ritization had become more evident, and there were concerns over the financial industry’s ability to gener-ate large temporary profits by applying unsustainable refinancing schemes, while passing part of the losses that arose from inevitable market corrections to the public sector and the taxpayer. Indeed, since financial crises could have enormous negative effects on the real economy, policymakers had to bail out parts of the financial sector when systemic threats loomed. Just as with deposit-taking commercial banks, recent ac-tions of the United States Federal Reserve had shown that investment banks and mortgage lenders, too, could be deemed “too big to fail” and that their lia-bilities were protected by implicit insurance. Given the risks to financial stability, the Federal Reserve was right to provide such insurance and prevent the bank-ruptcy of a large investment bank and the two largest mortgage lenders in the United States; but insurance should not come without cost. If the Government decided that different types of financial institutions needed to be bailed out because their failure could lead to a systemic crisis, those institutions should be subject to tighter prudential regulation similar to that imposed on deposit-taking banks. The recent crisis had shown once again that market discipline alone was ineffective in preventing recurrent episodes of “irrational exuberance” and that the market mecha-nism could not cope with massive drops in financial asset prices.

The World Economic and Social Survey 2008 [Sales No. E.08.II.C.1], entitled “Overcoming Economic Insecurity”, stated that, in 2008, rising food prices and a growing incidence of hunger demonstrated the


mismatch between market forces and socio-economic well-being. For many of the countries facing severe food insecurity, the problem was often one of mul-tiple threats from poverty, natural disasters and civil violence; but the outbreak of food riots in rapidly ur-banizing middle-income countries, some with a solid growth record, suggested more serious structural deficiencies. Since early 2008, a growing mismatch between the supply of—and demand for—agricul-tural products had also triggered political unrest in a number of countries and put the issue of food se-curity back in the international agenda. The problem was compounded by energy insecurity, as fuel prices hit new highs and future supplies became entangled in geopolitical calculations, and by increasingly flex-ible labour markets, which also undermined employ-ment security. Instead of providing shelter against the upsurge of that turbulent economy, money markets added greatly to the sense of expanding insecurity. Volatile international financial flows, boom-bust cy-cles, collapsing currencies and speculative panics had put jobs, homes and pensions at risk. Still, heightened insecurity could not be put down simply to the de-structive impulses of markets. Rather, it had much to do with the eagerness with which policymakers ceded economic responsibility to central bankers, corpora-tions and managers of unregulated hedge funds on the promise that they would deliver a healthy invest-ment climate and help secure large economic gains. While the macroeconomic climate had become less volatile, productive investment had not picked up. At the same time, more households, communities and countries were exposed to adverse shocks and downside risks, while their ability to recover from the consequences was sharply diminished. Despite greater price stability and increased openness, the growth record was uneven and the macroeconomic environ-ment unbalanced. Food, fuel and financial markets were not delivering economic security.

Those concerns were compounded by new global threats, such as climate change. Several increasingly destructive natural disasters provided evidence of the threat posed to economic livelihoods in rich and poor countries alike. The attention brought to the presence of those heightened economic risks and compounded threats was often met with the response that the forces behind them were autonomous and irresistible, and beyond collective political control. The call invariably had been to cast aside old institutions and loyalties and embrace the new and efficient market practices of a borderless world. The Survey argued that it was the wrong response to increasing levels of economic insecurity, and that the deepening sense of insecu-rity had just as much to do with the lack of effective policy responses. It associated that failure, in part, with a policy bias built around the misguided idea of a self-regulating market economy, and stressed the

need for a new balance between the market and the public interest along with a more integrated social and economic policy framework, which could provide and preserve a secure and stable economic future.

Human development

The Executive Board of the United Nations De-velopment Programme/United Nations Population Fund, at its 2008 annual session (Geneva, 16–27 June) [E/2008/35], considered an April update on Hu-man Development Report consultations [DP/2008/30], which revealed that 2008 was an exceptional year for the Report and the Human Development Report Office. Given the importance of the topic of climate change, the 2007 Report [YUN 2007 p. 857] covered 2008 also. That decision was taken in order to allow for a more sustained follow-up to the messages and policy implications presented in the climate change report. Moreover, the Director of the Office ceased his functions as at 31 December 2007. Those two facts affected the content and frequency of the infor-mal consultations, and the research and writing of the 2009 Report started later than usual. The update described the consultations held during the transi-tion period. The Executive Board took note of the update[E/2008/35 (dec. 25)].

Development policy and public administration

Committee for Development Policy

The Committee for Development Policy (cdp), at its tenth session (New York, 17–20 March) [E/2008/33], addressed three major themes: achieving sustainable development goals in the context of climate change; the worsening of global economic prospects and im-plications for developing countries; and matters re-lated to the identification and graduation from the list of least developed countries (ldcs). Regarding the first theme, cdp stressed that achieving and sustaining the goals of the international sustainable development agenda required deep reductions in carbon emissions and adaptation policies to address current and future consequences of global warming. Key issues for de-veloping countries were: creating less carbon-inten-sive incentives for economic growth; and enhancing adaptive capacities, particularly in the most vulner-able and poorest countries. An effective sustainable development strategy should be based on investment, innovation and institutional capacity, and interna-tional cooperation was fundamental, as the strategy would require appropriate funds, as well as technol-ogy development, transfer and dissemination. Greater


coherence and integration between climate and devel-opment policies at national and international levels were necessary.

As to the second theme, the Committee examined the worsening global economic outlook at the begin-ning of 2008, and its possible impact on economic growth in developing countries through trade and external account shocks, with a potential to further delay the achievement of internationally agreed devel-opment goals. That outlook was set against the accu-mulation of large foreign-exchange reserves by many developing countries, which had been judged costly in terms of the opportunity costs of forgoing con-sumption and investment, and direct financial costs and implications for macroeconomic indicators. The Committee outlined the features of a reformed con-tingency finance architecture, based on a robust and flexible compensatory financing mechanism that, in the face of shocks, would provide sufficient resources in a timely manner, thereby obviating the need for developing countries to maintain large balances of foreign-exchange reserves.

With regard to the third theme, cdp continued de-veloping criteria to be applied to all recommendations regarding the inclusion in and graduation from the list of ldcs. It reconfirmed the reliability of the cur-rent approach and recognized that the criteria should not be used mechanically, particularly in situations where country indicators were very close to inclusion or graduation thresholds. It proposed that the vulner-ability profile take due account of aspects of countries’ economic vulnerability not currently covered by the criteria used in the identification of ldcs, and that the impact assessments address the anticipated im-plications of the loss of ldc status. It also considered practical measures concerning the smooth transition of graduating countries and recommended that the United Nations give concrete leadership in the imple-mentation of such measures.


On 23 July [meeting 42], the Economic and Social Council, on the recommendation of cdp [E/2008/33], adopted resolution 2008/12 without vote [agenda item 13 (a)].

Report of the Committee for Development Policy on its tenth session

The Economic and Social Council,Recalling General Assembly resolution 59/209 of 20 De-

cember 2004 on a smooth transition strategy for countries graduating from the list of least developed countries,

Recalling also its resolutions 2007/34 and 2007/35 of 27 July 2007,

1. Takes note of the report of the Committee for Development Policy on its tenth session;

2. Requests the Committee, at its eleventh session, to examine and make recommendations on the themes chosen by the Economic and Social Council for the high-level segment of its substantive session of 2009;

3. Takes note of the proposals made by the Committee regarding its future work programme, in particular regard-ing the monitoring of the development progress of Cape Verde;

4. Requests the Committee to monitor the develop-ment progress of countries graduating from the list of least developed countries and to include its findings in its annual report to the Economic and Social Council;

5. Invites the Chairperson and, as necessary, other members of the Committee to continue the practice of reporting orally on the work of the Committee.

Public administration

Committee of Experts. The Committee of Ex-perts on Public Administration, at its seventh ses-sion (New York, 14–18 April) [E/2008/44], had before it Secretariat notes on: strengthening governance and public administration capacities for develop-ment [E/C.16/2008/2]; the review of the United Na-tions Programme in Public Administration and Finance [E/C.16/2008/4]; and the public administra-tion perspective on implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustain-able development [E/C.16/2008/5]. It also considered a compendium of basic UN terminology in gover-nance and public administration [E/C.16/2008/3]. The Committee concluded that there should be a much stronger awareness of the importance of capacity-building by the United Nations and Member States. The United Nations, particularly the Economic and Social Council, should prioritize capacity-building for countries in transition for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (mdgs), post-conflict reconstruc-tion and disaster management and preparedness.

Regarding capacity-building for achieving the mdgs, the Committee recommended that the Coun-cil reiterate the need to monitor progress towards the Goals, including time-bound targets and national/subnational action plans. It also recommended na-tional evidence-based reporting, with sets of data disaggregated by socially relevant categories, such as gender, income levels, age groups and subnational fac-tors. The Council should also urge Member States to prepare an inventory of good administrative policies and practices to support the mdgs, which would in-clude the capacities, institutional preparedness aspects and a strategic vision for a modern civil service; the UN system, particularly the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (desa) and other concerned bodies, should support such efforts.

As to capacity-building in post-conflict reconstruc-tion, public administration reconstruction in a post-conflict environment should be done at the systemic,


societal, organizational and individual levels, and start before the end of a conflict. The Secretariat should compile the lessons learned in post-conflict recovery and reconstruction in the next World Public Sector Re-port. At the systemic level, capacity-building involved the basic elements of State-building, including legiti-macy, social cohesion, the value of citizenship, coher-ence between traditional and modern systems, consul-tations with stakeholders—such as eminent members of the diaspora community—and reconciliation. At the organizational level, public administration recon-struction should aim for continuity of administration services, coherence of the public sector and the inclu-sion of different groups. At the individual level, po-litical leadership was required to guide the processes for participation in all aspects of State reconstruction to build a shared understanding, develop an aware-ness of the rights and responsibilities of citizens, cre-ate an environment conducive to reconciliation, and develop decision-making processes that reformulated the citizen/State relationship. Training individuals in a new, common and shared understanding of politi-cal and social institutions, economic development and reconstruction was of the utmost importance, and the international community should strengthen public institutions and leaders. Early warning systems for future conflicts should be identified and mechanisms put into place to eliminate sources of conflict.

Concerning capacity-building in disaster manage-ment and prevention, Member States should conduct post-crisis evaluations and research and make them publicly available so as to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of the resources allocated to disaster management. Such evaluations could be carried out on a country-by-country basis or through peer review or other means, which would allow States to exchange information on best practices and learn from one another. States should also develop capacities at the individual level through the train-ing of public servants in disaster management; desa should expand its disaster management activities; and the UN Secretariat should create a working group or task force jointly with other international organiza-tions to raise global awareness within public adminis-trations and create a trans-administrative response.


On 25 July [meeting 44], the Economic and Social Council, on the recommendation of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration [E/2008/44], adopted resolution 2008/32 without vote [agenda item 13 (g)].

Report of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration on its seventh session

The Economic and Social Council,Recalling its resolutions 2002/40 of 19 December 2002,

2003/60 of 25 July 2003, 2005/3 of 31 March 2005,

2005/55 of 21 October 2005, 2006/47 of 28 July 2006 and 2007/38 of 4 October 2007 on public administration and development,

Recalling also General Assembly resolutions 50/225 of 19 April 1996, 56/213 of 21 December 2001, 57/277 of 20 December 2002, 58/231 of 23 December 2003, 59/55 of 2 December 2004 and 60/34 of 30 November 2005 on public administration and development,

Recalling further paragraph 11 of General Assembly resolution 60/1 of 16 September 2005,

Taking note with appreciation of the pioneering work of the United Nations Programme on Public Administration, Finance and Development in supporting Member States with administrative reforms, public institution-building, civil service training and post-conflict reconstruction of public administrations during the past sixty years, since its inception in 1948,

Recognizing that although the conditions and context of development and governance have changed, public administration priorities, including capacity-building for development and ownership of national development, still remain critical cross-cutting issues for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals,

1. Takes note of the conclusions on the topic of capacity-building for development in the report of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration on its seventh session;

2. Encourages Member States to continue to strengthen their capacities to better utilize the various aid modalities and to disseminate the understanding and implementation of capacity-building as a judicious combination of institu-tion-building and human resource development, whereby people, organizations, States and society as a whole develop and maintain their ability to manage their public affairs suc-cessfully, among other means, by fostering public participa-tion in governance and development processes, harnessing the potential of information and communications technol-ogy to promote people-centred development, effectively combining decentralization and centralization policies, and forging regional and national partnerships with institutions of public administration to provide needed training;

3. Emphasizes that capacity-building is essential and needed in administrative restructuring, civil service reform, human resources development and public administration training, improving performance in the public sector, fi-nancial management, public-private interaction, social development, developing infrastructure and protecting the environment, governmental legal and regulatory capacity, and the management and implementation of development programmes;

4. Invites Member States to continue to monitor the progress made towards the achievement of the interna-tionally agreed development goals, including the Millen-nium Development Goals, and to prepare an inventory of good administrative policies implemented to support the Goals, including the necessary capacities, institutional development aspects and strategic visions concerning a modern civil service, and emphasizes that the United Na-tions system, particularly the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat and other concerned United Nations bodies, should support such efforts and the sharing of best practices and lessons learned;


5. Stresses that capacity-building for public administra-tion is of utmost importance for all transitioning economies, the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction, and disaster/cri-sis management and preparedness, that capacity-building processes in those areas share a number of important com-mon features and experiences concerning the interaction of societal, systemic, organizational and individual levels of action, and that Member States should share those experi-ences in a more systematic and comprehensive way;

6. Emphasizes that in capacity-building for post- conflict recovery and reconstruction, the continuity of ad-ministration and public services, the coherence of the pub-lic sector and a multi-stakeholder approach are important prerequisites, and that in capacity-building for post-disaster and crisis situations, the United Nations system, particu-larly the Department of Economic and Social Affairs and other United Nations bodies, should support efforts to distil and share lessons learned and best practices;

7. Requests the Secretariat to enhance its support for capacity-building, including in the public sector, ensuring that available resources are adequate and existing resource levels are maintained;

8. Also requests the Secretariat to continually focus on the United Nations Public Service Awards, the United Nations Online Network in Public Administration and Finance, the Network of Innovators, the World Public Sector Reports and the Global Forum on Reinventing Government, and further requests the Secretariat to con-tinue its useful role in facilitating the implementation of the action lines contained in the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society;

9. Notes the latest phase of the work done by the Committee of Experts on basic United Nations termi-nology in governance and public administration through a review of proposed definitions;

10. Also notes the input by the Committee of Experts to the theme of the 2008 annual ministerial review: Imple-menting the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development.

On the same date, by decision 2008/254, the Council approved the convening of the eighth session of the Committee of Experts on Public Administration from 30 March to 3 April 2009 on the main theme “The human factor in capacity-building and develop-ment”, and the provisional agenda for that session.

Groups of countries in special situations

On 19 September, the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the General Committee, included in the agenda of its sixth-third session the item enti-tled “Groups of countries in special situations”, cov-ering least developed countries and landlocked and transit developing countries, and allocated it to the Second Committee.

By decision 63/543 of 19 December, the Assembly took note of the report of the Second Committee on the subject [A/63/417].

Least developed countries

The special problems of the least developed coun-tries (ldcs) were considered in several UN forums in 2008, particularly in connection with the implemen-tation of the Brussels Declaration and Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010, adopted at the Third United Na-tions Conference on the Least Developed Countries in 2001 [YUN 2001, p. 770] and endorsed by the Gen-eral Assembly in resolution 55/279 in July of that year [ibid., p. 771]; and the reaffirmation by world leaders, in the 2005 World Summit Outcome document [YUN 2005, p. 48], of their commitment to addressing the special needs of ldcs and the urgency of meeting the goals and targets of the Brussels Programme, particu-larly the official development assistance (oda) target. The Committee for Development Policy (cdp) and unctad also considered ldc-related issues.

LDC list

In 2008, the number of countries officially desig-nated as ldcs stood at 49, following the graduation of Cape Verde in December 2007 [YUN 2007, p. 861]. Maldives had been recommended for graduation from the list of ldcs in resolution 59/209 [YUN 2004, p. 854], however, the General Assembly, in resolution 60/33 [YUN 2005, p. 942], deferred until January 2008 the start of the three-year transition period for its gradu-ation, in the wake of the destruction and damage caused by the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to the country’s social and economic infrastructure and disruption of its development plans. Also in 2007, the Assembly, in resolution 62/97 [YUN 2007, p. 863], noted the Economic and Social Council’s decision to endorse the cdp recommendation that Samoa be graduated from the list.

The full list of ldcs comprised the following coun-tries: Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cen-tral African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bis-sau, Haiti, Kiribati, the Lao People’s Democratic Re-public, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mal-dives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, the Niger, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, So-malia, Sudan, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Vanuatu, Yemen and Zambia.


Smooth transition strategy

CDP consideration. At its tenth session (New York, 17–20 March) [E/2008/33], cdp, which was responsible for adding countries to—or graduating them from—the ldc list, re-examined, in prepara-tion for the 2009 triennial review of that list, the methodology for the identification of such countries, pursuant to Economic and Social Council resolution 2007/35 [YUN 2007, p. 858]. It also deliberated on the graduation process, and the contents of future vul-nerability profiles and of impact assessments. Also reviewed were the question of a smooth transition, guidelines for monitoring the progress of graduated countries and a handbook on the ldc category.

In terms of the graduation procedures, including vulnerability profiles and impact assessment, cdp stated that, for countries found eligible for the first time, a vulnerability profile would be prepared by unctad and an impact assessment by the UN De-partment of Economic and Social Affairs (desa), in cooperation with unctad, in the year prior to the next triennial review. The vulnerability profile and the impact assessment would provide the Committee with information to help it decide whether a country found eligible at the previous triennial review should be recommended for graduation. The vulnerability profile should give the overall background of a coun-try’s economy and development situation, compare the values of the indicators used in the criteria with national statistics, and further assess other vulnera-bilities, such as instability of remittances, dependency on tourism, high infrastructure cost due to geographi-cal conditions and the impact of climate change. The Committee also requested unctad to provide com-parative data for other low-income countries in similar situations; in view of the increased number of coun-tries under review for graduation and the increased demand on the substantive content of the vulnerabil-ity profiles, it stressed the need for the availability of sufficient resources for that purpose. Cdp agreed that the impact assessment should address the expected implications of the loss of ldc status, in particular with regard to development financing, international trade and technical assistance. The effective imple-mentation of the impact assessments would require that desa be able to draw on the cooperation of donor countries, international cooperation agencies, trading partners and the country concerned.

The Committee addressed the question of a smooth transition for graduating countries, as set out in As-sembly resolution 59/209, and reiterated the need to effectively implement the measures contained therein. In that regard, the United Nations should give con-crete leadership in the implementation of smooth transition measures by maintaining the travel-related benefits to delegates from graduated countries over

a period appropriate to the development situation of the country. Cdp stated that an expert group should be convened to consider the phasing out of ldc ben-efits, with a view to identifying those that could be maintained for a period, and proposing specific phasing-out periods. Case studies could be conducted assessing the situation of Cape Verde and countries that had qualified for graduation.

Cdp examined a report submitted by Cape Verde and noted the country’s continued rate of growth and achievements on the mdg indicators, despite continu-ing economic vulnerability. It encouraged Cape Verde and its development partners to make full use of fu-ture meetings of the consultative mechanism (Grupo de Apoio à Transição) to obtain support for its eco-nomic transformation agenda.

The Economic and Social Council, in resolution 2008/12 of 23 July (see es/1/38), requested cdp to monitor the development progress of countries grad-uating from the ldc list and to include its findings in its annual report to the Council. It also took note of the proposals regarding its future work in rela-tion to the monitoring of Cape Verde’s development progress.

Programme of Action (2001–2010)

UNCTAD consideration. Ldc Ministers, meeting on 19 April in the context of the twelfth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Devel-opment (unctad xii) (Accra, Ghana, 20–25 April) [TD/442], issued the Declaration of the Least Devel-oped Countries Ministerial Meeting at unctad xii, in which they accorded high priority to national ownership of the Enhanced Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance to Least De-veloped Countries (eif) as an effective tool for en-hancing economic development, and urged unctad, as an eif-participating agency, to work towards its operationalization so that ldcs could start benefiting from it by mid-2008. They welcomed the graduation of a number of ldcs to developing-country status as a sign of economic progress within the group, but rec-ognized the accompanying challenges and opportuni-ties that needed to be addressed effectively in order for progress in graduating countries to be broad-based and sustainable. They urged the international com-munity to put in place a smooth transition strategy for those countries, and unctad to continue to play a lead role through its policy research and analysis in support of recently graduated countries and those in the transition phase for graduation. Concerned by soaring food prices, against the backdrop of the global financial crisis and economic slowdown, the Ministers proposed that the UN Secretary-General establish a mechanism to address the food crisis in ldcs, in-cluding the establishment of a panel of eminent per-


sons to address the issue and long-term food security issues and the convening of an international meeting. They encouraged unctad to strengthen its policy re-search and analysis, consensus-building and technical cooperation functions in favour of ldcs and to make a substantive contribution to the Fourth United Na-tions Conference on the Least Developed Countries (see es/1/45). Donors that had not done so were invited to make financial contributions to the unctad trust fund for ldcs, which needed urgent replenishment on a more predictable and secure basis.

Report of Secretary-General. In accordance with General Assembly resolution 62/203 [YUN 2007, p. 866] and Economic and Social Council resolution 2007/31 [ibid., p. 863], the Secretary-General submitted, in May [A/63/77-E/2008/61], his annual report on the imple-mentation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010. The Secretary-General stated that most ldcs, except those in the Pacific, had met or were on track to achieve the Brussels Programme growth and investment targets by 2010. Progress made in human development tar-gets was noticeable in the areas of health and educa-tion, but further advances would depend on improved access to water and sanitation, where less progress had been made. Less progress than previously thought had also been made in gender parity in education, and none in maternal mortality. Data on extreme poverty suggested that almost 50 per cent of the population in one half of the ldcs for which data were available lived in extreme poverty, while malnutrition seemed to be worsening, particularly among children and women. The rising costs of basic food exacerbated malnutri-tion; jeopardized efforts to achieve the objective of the Brussels Programme; and risked destabilizing the po-litical situation and triggering social unrest in many countries—including 26 of the ldcs—experiencing political instability.

The Secretary-General concluded that, on the de-mand side, energy consumption could be significantly decreased by adopting cost-effective, energy-efficient technologies, as well as carbon-saving strategies to tackle climate change and secure the provision of sustainable energy. On the supply side, the short-term strategy should include immediate humanitarian as-sistance to countries in food crisis, which required scaling up international assistance and closing a $750 million shortfall in the World Food Programme’s budget caused by high food prices; social protection programmes, such as cash support, food-for-work programmes and school feeding programmes; and financial lending and crop insurance schemes.

In the medium term, the prospects for supply relied on an increase in agricultural productivity by improv-ing farmers’ access to finance and markets, enabling them to purchase agricultural inputs, machinery and

tools and other innovations for obtaining higher yields, as well as better irrigation, transport infrastructure, electricity, investment in research and development and improvement of market information systems. A medium-term solution to the food crisis also re-quired rethinking the use of biofuel, which accounted for between 10 and 30 per cent of the increase in glo-bal food prices. In the long term, the State-led green revolution should facilitate the transition to a high-value agricultural revolution led by the private sec-tor. The agriculture-for-development agenda called for full trade liberalization, which could increase agricultural commodity prices and welfare gains for ldcs. Reduction of deforestation, control of wildfires, management of livestock waste and adoption of con-servation agriculture could reduce the environmental footprint, while sustainable land cultivation, livestock and forest management, and irrigation and watershed management, along with the development of crop va-rieties resistant to pests and drought, could increase the resilience of agricultural production in ldcs to climate change. Carbon trading schemes also could reduce emissions from agriculture.

The global food crisis provided an opportunity to address the issue of high fertility, especially in the African ldcs, as slower population growth would reduce the pressures faced by ldcs in regard to food security, land tenure, environmental degradation and water supply, and strengthen the human capital critical for sustained growth and sustainable develop-ment.


On 25 July [meeting 45], the Economic and Social Council adopted resolution 2008/37 [draft: E/2008/L.38] without vote [agenda item 6 (b)].

Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries

for the Decade 2001–2010

The Economic and Social Council,Recalling the Brussels Declaration and the Programme of

Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010,

Recalling also its decision 2001/320 of 24 October 2001, in which it decided to establish, under the regular agenda item entitled “Integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits”, a regular sub-item entitled “Review and coordination of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010”,

Affirming the Ministerial Declaration of the high-level segment of its substantive session of 2008, and recognizing the impacts of the financial, economic, social and environ-mental challenges identified therein on the implementation of the Programme of Action,


Recalling the Ministerial Declaration of the high-level segment of its substantive session of 2004 on the theme “Resources mobilization and enabling environment for poverty eradication in the context of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Coun-tries for the Decade 2001–2010”,

Taking note of the Istanbul Declaration on the Least De-veloped Countries: Time for Action, adopted at the Min-isterial Conference of the Least Developed Countries, held in Istanbul on 9 and 10 July 2007 on the theme “Making globalization work for the least developed countries”,

Recalling its resolution 2007/31 of 27 July 2007,Recalling also General Assembly resolutions 61/1 of 19

September 2006 and 62/203 of 19 December 2007,1. Takes note of the annual progress report of the Sec-

retary-General on the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010;

2. Reaffirms that the Programme of Action constitutes a fundamental framework for a strong global partnership aimed at accelerating sustained economic growth, sustain-able development and poverty eradication in the least de-veloped countries;

3. Welcomes the Declaration adopted by Heads of State and Government and heads of delegations participating in the high-level meeting of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly on the midterm comprehensive global review of the implementation of the Programme of Action, in which they recommitted themselves to addressing the special needs of the least developed countries by making progress towards the goals of poverty eradication, peace and development;

4. Also welcomes the contributions made in the lead-up to the midterm comprehensive global review of the im-plementation of the Programme of Action, and notes the Cotonou Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010 as an initiative owned and led by the least developed countries;

5. Further welcomes the continued economic and social progress of many least developed countries, which has led to the fact that a number of countries are proceeding towards graduation from the list of least developed countries and that some of them are on track to achieving the growth and investment targets of the Programme of Action by 2010;

6. Remains concerned, however, about the insufficient and uneven progress achieved in the implementation of the Programme of Action, and stresses the need to address, within the time frame set by the Programme of Action, areas of weakness in its implementation and the continued precarious socio-economic situation in some least developed countries, through a strong commitment to the objectives, goals and targets of the Programme of Action;

7. Expresses its deep concern that the number of people living in extreme poverty remains significantly high in the least developed countries, while an increasing number of people are at risk of malnutrition, in particular children and women, and recognizes that there are important link-ages between development, poverty eradication and gender equality;

8. Stresses that the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, can

be effectively achieved in the least developed countries through, in particular, the timely fulfilment of the seven commitments of the Programme of Action;

9. Underlines the fact that, for the further implementa-tion of the Programme of Action, the least developed coun-tries and their development partners must be guided by an integral approach, a broader genuine partnership, country ownership, market considerations and results-oriented actions encompassing:

(a) Fostering a people-centred policy framework;(b) Ensuring good governance at both the national and

the international levels as essential for the implementation of the commitments embodied in the Programme of Action;

(c) Building human and institutional capacities;(d) Building productive capacities to make globaliza-

tion work for the least developed countries;(e) Enhancing the role of trade in development;(f) Reducing vulnerability and protecting the environ-

ment;(g) Mobilizing financial resources;10. Reaffirms that progress in the implementation of

the Programme of Action will require effective implemen-tation of national policies and priorities for the sustained economic growth and sustainable development of the least developed countries, as well as strong and committed part-nership between those countries and their development partners;

11. Urges the least developed countries to strengthen country ownership in the implementation of the Programme of Action by, inter alia, translating its goals and targets into specific measures within their national development frame-works and poverty eradication strategies, including, where they exist, poverty reduction strategy papers, promoting broad-based and inclusive dialogue on development with relevant stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector, and enhancing domestic resource mobilization and aid management;

12. Urges development partners to fully implement, in a timely manner, commitments in the Programme of Action and to exercise individual best efforts to continue to increase their financial and technical support for its im-plementation;

13. Welcomes the graduation of Cape Verde from the list of least developed countries;

14. Reiterates its invitation to all development and trad-ing partners to support the implementation of the transi-tion strategy of countries graduating from the list of least developed countries, to avoid any abrupt reductions in either official development assistance or technical assistance provided to the graduated country and to consider extend-ing to the graduated country trade preferences previously made available as a result of least developed country status, or reducing them in a phased manner;

15. Encourages the United Nations resident coordina-tor system, the Bretton Woods institutions, bilateral and multilateral donors and other development partners to as-sist the least developed countries in translating goals and targets of the Programme of Action into concrete actions in the light of their national development priorities and to collaborate with and provide support to, as appropriate,


the relevant national development forums and follow-up mechanisms;

16. Stresses the crucial importance of integrated and coordinated follow-up, monitoring and reporting for the effective implementation of the Programme of Action at the national, subregional, regional and global levels;

17. Also stresses, within the context of the annual global reviews, as envisaged in the Programme of Action, the need to assess the implementation of the Programme of Action sector by sector, and in this regard invites the United Na-tions system and all relevant international organizations, consistent with their respective mandates, to report on the progress made in its implementation using quantifiable cri-teria and indicators to be measured against the goals and targets of the Programme of Action and to participate fully in reviews of the Programme of Action at the national, subregional, regional and global levels;

18. Reiterates its invitation to the organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system and other relevant multilateral organizations to provide full support to and cooperation with the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States;

19. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure, at the Secretariat level, the full mobilization and coordination of all parts of the United Nations system to facilitate coordi-nated implementation and coherence in the follow-up to and monitoring and review of the Programme of Action at the national, subregional, regional and global levels, includ-ing through such coordination mechanisms as the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, the United Nations Development Group, the Executive Committee on Economic and Social Affairs and the Inter-Agency Expert Group on the Millennium Development Goals Indicators;

20. Expresses its concern about the insufficiency of re-sources in the trust fund established for the participation of the least developed countries in the annual review of the implementation of the Programme of Action by the Eco-nomic and Social Council, and expresses its appreciation to those countries that have made voluntary contributions;

21. Reiterates the critical importance of the participa-tion of Government representatives from the least devel-oped countries in the annual review of the Programme of Action by the Economic and Social Council, expresses, in this regard, its deep appreciation to those countries that have made voluntary contributions to the special trust fund established for this purpose by the Secretary-General, in-vites donor countries to continue to support the partici-pation of two representatives from each least developed country in the annual review of the implementation of the Programme of Action, including by contributing in an ad-equate and timely manner to the special trust fund, and requests the Secretary-General to intensify his efforts to mobilize the resources necessary in order to ensure that the trust fund is adequately resourced and to provide informa-tion on the status of the trust fund;

22. Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to in-clude least developed country issues in all relevant reports in the economic, social and related fields in order to ensure follow-up to their development in the broader context of the world economy and contribute to preventing their mar-

ginalization while promoting their further integration into the world economy;

23. Recalls paragraph 114 of the Programme of Action on holding a fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries towards the end of the current decade, and notes the steps being taken in this regard, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 62/203;

24. Requests the Secretary-General to step up appro-priate measures for the implementation of the advocacy strategy on the effective and timely implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010, in coordination with all relevant stakeholders;

25. Also requests the Secretary-General to submit an analytical and results-oriented annual progress report on the further implementation of the Programme of Action and to make available adequate resources, within existing resources, for the preparation of such a report.

Trade and Development Board action. The unctad Trade and Development Board (tdb), at its fifty-fifth session (Geneva, 15–26 September) [A/63/15 (Part IV)], considered the seventh progress re-port [TD/B/55/8 & Corr.1] on unctad-wide activities in the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010, and adopted agreed conclusions [493(LV)] on the review of progress in the implementation of the Programme of Action. The Board welcomed the recent improvement in the economic performance of many ldcs, but was concerned that growth remained fragile and ldcs were lagging behind in the achieve-ment of the mdgs, notwithstanding some progress in primary education and gender equality. It invited Member States and UN organizations to consider the policy recommendations contained in The Least De-veloped Countries Report 2008: Growth, Poverty and the Terms of Development Partnership [Sales No. E.08.II.D.20] in designing development policies and strate-gies, and the terms of development partnership. Tdb urged ldcs to assume greater ownership of national development strategies by designing and implement-ing inclusive policies suited to their particular needs, and to mobilize domestic resources and build State capacities and good governance, including by adopt-ing transparent aid management policies, bearing in mind the Accra Agenda for Action adopted at the Third High-level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (Ac-cra, Ghana, 2–4 September) [E/63/539]. Ldc develop-ment partners should support country leadership in designing and implementing national development strategies and help strengthen ldcs’ capacity to ex-ercise such leadership. The Board invited ldcs, when designing and implementing country-owned national development strategies, to emphasize productive sec-tors and infrastructure and to make their aid requests support such emphasis. Development partners should fulfil their aid commitments and provide aid consist-


ent with the development priorities identified by ldcs in their strategies.

The Board recommended that unctad should promote the exchange of country experiences and best practices among ldcs in trade and develop-ment and the interrelated areas of finance, technol-ogy, investment and sustainable development. It acknowledged the importance of eif and invited the unctad secretariat to intensify cooperation with the Framework to complement its technical cooperation activities and capacity-building for ldcs. Unctad should provide technical assistance to ldcs, many of which were suffering from the effects of the food crisis, climate change and natural disasters, and donors and other countries in a position to do so should contribute to the unctad ldc trust fund and regularly replenish it, so as to diversify the funding sources. Unctad should also focus on the needs of ldcs across all areas of its mandate and contribute to the upcoming Fourth United Nations Confer-ence on the Least Developed Countries (see below). It should undertake further studies on sectors of specific interest to ldcs, especially new and non-traditional sectors; reallocate part of its regular budget to fund The Least Developed Countries Report; and increase its operational effectiveness so that funds for the report were provided with the least possible disturbance of its other activities.

Preparatory process for Fourth UN Conference on LDCs

Report of Secretary-General. In August, the Secretary-General, in response to General Assembly resolution 62/203 [YUN 2007, p. 866], submitted a re-port on the outline of modalities of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Coun-tries [A/63/284]. The Conference would convene to as-sess the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010 and formulate new strategies and an ac-tion plan for the sustainable development of ldcs in the following decade. An analysis of past performance would shed light on the most critical constraints on the realization of the goals of the previous programmes of action and suggest new strategies to reverse them. The Fourth Conference should: assess the implemen-tation of the Programme of Action during the first decade of the twenty-first century towards halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty and suffering from hunger, and promoting sustain-able and steady increases in gross domestic product growth rates in ldcs; review the implementation of international support measures, particularly in the areas of oda, debt, investment and trade; and con-sider the formulation and adoption of national and international policies and measures for the sustainable

development of ldcs and their progressive integration into the world economy. The Conference would pro-vide an opportunity to share lessons learned and best practices; identify international and domestic policies in light of the outcomes of the appraisals; agree on additional international support measures in favour of ldcs; enhance partnerships between stakeholders; reaffirm the commitment to poverty eradication and sustainable development in ldcs, as well as the com-mitment to address their needs, made at major UN conferences and summits, including the Millennium Summit [YUN 2000, p. 47] and the 2005 World Sum-mit [YUN 2005, p. 47]; mobilize international support and action; and identify new challenges and opportu-nities for ldcs and means to address them.

The preparatory process for the Conference should promote dialogue between stakeholders, es-tablish linkages and ensure synergies at all levels. To that end, various multi-stakeholder events were encouraged. National preparations would build on country review processes to avoid duplication and ensure UN system coordination at the country level. They would also take into account the recent stock-taking exercise in preparation for the mdg-based national development strategies, undertaken by most ldcs, with the support of UN resident coor-dinators, as well as the national reviews held within the framework of the annual ministerial reviews during the high-level segments of the Council’s substantive sessions. Regional preparations should bring the regional perspective into the review proc-ess. The global preparatory process would build on the reviews of other major UN conferences and stocktaking exercises between 2008 and 2010. To that end, the Secretariat would map out all ma-jor reviews between 2008 and 2010 and prepare a road map, consisting of a comprehensive list of preparatory events. Offers to host the Conference had been received from Turkey and Austria. The Secretary-General recommended that the Assembly should decide at its sixty-third (2008) session on the convening of the Conference, including its dates and venue. The United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States would serve as the focal point for the preparatory process. The UN Secretary-General would designate the Conference Secretary-General following the Assembly’s decisions on the convening of the conference.

Communications. On 17 November, Bangladesh transmitted to the Secretary-General the Ministerial Declaration of the Least Developed Countries, issued at their meeting held in New York on 29 September [A/C.2/63/8]. The Ministers expressed their concern about the fact that two years after the midterm com-prehensive global review of the implementation of the


Brussels Programme of Action [YUN 2006, p. 1014], the progress achieved in its implementation was insuffi-cient and uneven. Economic growth in ldcs had not translated into poverty eradication and improved well-being. If the trend continued, many of their countries would not meet the mdgs and other internationally agreed development goals. They welcomed the conven-ing of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which would be an op-portunity for their countries and development partners to establish a new strategic framework for the follow-ing decade for development efforts in a complex and changing world.

The Foreign Ministers of the Group of 77, at their thirty-second annual meeting (New York, 26 Sep-tember) [A/63/464] (see also p. 904), recognized the special challenges and needs of ldcs, particularly in the face of new and emerging challenges. They sup-ported the convening of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which would represent an opportunity for ldcs and their partners to review past performance—especially in areas of failures and weak implementation—and es-tablish a new strategic framework for the next decade for development efforts.



Implementation of the Brussels Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries

for the Decade 2001–2010

The General Assembly,Recalling the Brussels Declaration and the Programme of

Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010,

Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Declaration,Recalling further its resolution 57/270 B of 23 June 2003

on the integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations con-ferences and summits in the economic and social fields,

Recalling the 2005 World Summit Outcome,Recalling also its resolution 62/203 of 19 December

2007,Taking note of Economic and Social Council resolution

2008/37 of 25 July 2008,Taking note also of the Ministerial Declaration adopted

at the Annual Meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Least Developed Countries on 29 September 2008 in New York,

Reaffirming that the Programme of Action constitutes a fundamental framework for a strong global partnership, whose goal is to accelerate sustained economic growth,

sustainable development and poverty eradication in the least developed countries,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General and his note on the modalities of the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries;

2. Welcomes the contributions made in the lead-up to the midterm comprehensive global review of the implemen-tation of the Programme of Action for the Least Devel-oped Countries for the Decade 2001–2010, and notes the Cotonou Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010 as an initiative owned and led by the least developed countries;

3. Also welcomes the Declaration adopted by Heads of State and Government and heads of delegations participat-ing in the high-level meeting of the sixty-first session of the General Assembly on the midterm comprehensive global review of the implementation of the Programme of Action, in which they recommitted themselves to addressing the special needs of the least developed countries by making progress towards the goals of poverty eradication, peace and development;

4. Decides to convene, as called for in paragraph 114 of the Programme of Action, the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries at a high level in 2011 for a duration of not more than five working days, with the following mandate:

(a) To undertake a comprehensive appraisal of the implementation of the Programme of Action by the least developed countries and their development partners, share best practices and lessons learned, and identify obstacles and constraints encountered as well as actions and initia-tives needed to overcome them;

(b) To identify effective international and domestic policies in the light of the outcome of the appraisal as well as new and emerging challenges and opportunities and the means to address them;

(c) To reaffirm the global commitment to addressing the special needs of the least developed countries made at the major United Nations conferences and summits, including the Millennium Summit and the 2005 World Summit, in particular the needs related to sustainable development in its economic, social and environmental dimensions, and to support the least developed countries in eradicating poverty and integrating beneficially into the global economy;

(d) To mobilize additional international support mea-sures and action in favour of the least developed countries, and, in this regard, to formulate and adopt a renewed part-nership between the least developed countries and their development partners;

5. Also decides to convene, towards the end of 2010 and/or early in 2011, an intergovernmental preparatory committee, which would hold no more than two meet-ings;

6. Further decides that the meeting of the preparatory committee will be preceded by two regional-level prepara-tory meetings, one in collaboration with the Economic Commission for Africa and the other in collaboration with the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pa-cific, in the context of the regular annual sessions of each Commission, those regional-level meetings to be supported by broad-based and inclusive country-level preparations;


7. Stresses that the Conference and the preparatory ac-tivities should be carried out within the budget level pro-posed by the Secretary-General for the biennium 2010–2011 and should be organized in the most effective and efficient manner possible;

8. Decides to take a decision on the organizational as-pects, date and venue of the Conference, and on the venue, duration and dates of the preparatory committee meetings, before the end of its sixty-third session;

9. Recognizes the importance of the contributions of civil society actors at the Conference and in its preparatory process, and in this regard stresses the need for their active participation in accordance with the rules of procedure of the General Assembly;

10. Decides that the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Develop-ing Countries and Small Island Developing States will be the focal point for the preparations for the Conference, in accordance with mandates given in General Assembly reso-lution 56/227 of 24 December 2001, to ensure that those preparations are carried out effectively, and to mobilize and coordinate the active involvement of the organizations of the United Nations system;

11. Requests the organizations of the United Nations system, including the United Nations Development Pro-gramme, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the regional commissions, the specialized agencies, and funds and programmes, and invites the Bret-ton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization and other relevant international and regional organizations, within their respective mandates, to provide necessary support and actively contribute to the preparatory process and to the Conference itself;

12. Requests the Secretary-General to ensure, as appro-priate, the full involvement of resident coordinators and country teams in preparations for the Conference, in par-ticular in the country- and regional-level preparations;

13. Also requests the Secretary-General to ensure the active involvement of the organizations of the United Na-tions system in the preparatory process for the Conference in a coordinated and coherent manner, inter alia, by mak-ing use of the existing coordination mechanisms of the United Nations system;

14. Further requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session a report on the further implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2001–2010 as well as on the implementation of the present resolution, including a report on the state of the substantive, organiza-tional and logistic preparations for the Conference.

Small island developing States

During 2008, UN bodies continued to review progress in the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (Barbados Programme of Action), adopted at the 1994 Global Conference on the subject [YUN 1994, p. 783]. Member States also reviewed the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Im-plementation of the Programme of Action for the

Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, adopted by the 2005 International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the 1994 Programme of Action [YUN 2005, p. 946].

Commission on Sustainable Development con-sideration. On 12 May, the Commission on Sustain-able Development, at its sixteenth session (New York, 11 May 2007, 5–16 May 2008) [E/2008/29], reviewed implementation of the Mauritius Strategy, focusing on the thematic cluster for the 2008–2009 imple-mentation cycle. It had before it a February report of the Secretary-General [E/CN.17/2008/9] on the in-tegrated review of the thematic cluster of agriculture, rural development, land, drought, desertification and Africa in small island developing States, which de-scribed continuing challenges faced by those States in advancing implementation of the Mauritius Strat-egy as a basis for consideration of a way forward. The Commission expressed concern at the slow rate of implementation of the Strategy and noted that, while the small island developing States had made some progress at the national and regional levels in building institutional capacity for sustainable devel-opment, formulating strategies and action plans and carrying out policy reforms, many continued to en-counter constraints which impeded their sustainable development, including limited technical, financial and human resources. It also addressed the means of implementation to advance the agenda for the sustain-able development of small island developing States, inter alia, the need to reverse the downward trend in international financial flows to those States, includ-ing oda; improve terms of trade; facilitate the trans-fer of technology; and strengthen capacity-building in support of their efforts to adapt to climate change. Attention was drawn to the structural disadvantages of those States in terms of their small land area and population and resource base, and high dependence on imports. Many of them had been particularly af-fected by the dramatic rise in food and energy prices, and most had not benefited from the expansion of global trade and investment.

An integrated review of the thematic issues under consideration by the Commission was undertaken through two panel-led discussions on sustainable land management and drought and desertification. The panel discussions also addressed land policy ad-ministration and management and the challenges and impacts of desertification, drought and invasive spe-cies in small island developing States. Also considered were the need for effective land-use strategies to ad-dress the increasing pressure on their limited land re-sources, as well as agriculture and rural development. Discussions focused on agro-tourism and a range of niche markets which offered scope for the develop-ment of rural industries. The sustainable management


of fisheries, forestry and agriculture and freshwater re-sources was also highlighted as important for improv-ing food security and access. Support was expressed for the opportunity to review the achievements and challenges faced by small island developing States in respect of the thematic cluster of issues under dis-cussion, and commitments of continued support for their sustainable development efforts were renewed. The need was underscored for strengthening the Sec-retariat unit for small island developing States to sup-port the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy.

The Commission also had before it the conclu-sions [E/CN.17/2008/16] of the High-level Round Table on International Cooperation for Sustainable Development in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (Bridgetown, Barbados, 25–27 March), which launched new partnerships between Iceland and Car-ibbean small island developing States.

On 16 May [dec. 16/2], the Commission decided to devote one day of its review sessions exclusively to the Mauritius Strategy.

Reports of Secretary-General. In the context of that review, the Secretary-General submitted an August report [A/62/945] on measures to strengthen the capacity of the Small Island Developing States Unit of the desa Division for Sustainable Development to fulfil its mandate and to strengthen, in particular, its Technical Assistance Programme (sidstap) and its Network (sidsNet). The Secretariat had taken mea-sures to strengthen the Unit by deploying additional established posts, and had secured extrabudgetary resources to provide for an Interregional Adviser for one year and an Associate Expert for two years. The Unit would also continue to benefit from its interac-tion with the Division for Sustainable Development. Consultations were ongoing with donors to secure extrabudgetary resources to revitalize sidsNet and to restore, for two years, the technical posts lost in 2005 for lack of resources. The Secretary-General concluded that, in view of the new and emerging challenges facing the small island developing States, systematic efforts were needed to scale up the capacity to deliver the Unit’s mandates. Special consideration should be given to expanding the established posts in the Unit beyond the current three Professional and two General Service posts, in particular by assigning additional established posts for the management of sidsNet.

In another August report [A/63/296], submitted in accordance with General Assembly resolution 62/191 [YUN 2007, p. 868], the Secretary-General presented a comprehensive review of efforts by the UN system, the international community and small island developing States to operationalize the Mauritius Strategy. He also gave an account of recent initiatives to promote

the mainstreaming of the Strategy in small island developing States’ sustainable development plans.

The Secretary-General concluded that concerted efforts were being made at the national, regional and international levels to further implement the Mau-ritius Strategy. Continued support for the develop-ment and strengthening of national sustainable de-velopment strategies would enhance national capacity for more effective and coherent development admin-istration. In that regard, support for the design and implementation of those strategies in small island developing States would continue in the Pacific re-gion, and the possibility of pursuing similar projects in the other regions would be explored. Further work on the design of a framework for mainstreaming and monitoring the implementation of the Strategy would be pursued, while promoting its coordinated imple-mentation with existing development strategies and plans, including the mdgs. Particular attention would be given to the challenges of capacity that small island developing States continued to face in implementing the Strategy.

Significant attention had been given in the previous year to the impact of climate change on the well-being and security of small island developing States. The Assembly’s decision to review at its sixty-fifth (2010) session progress made in addressing their vulner-abilities through implementation of the Strategy was therefore both relevant and timely, and substantial attention would be given in the coming year to prepa-ration for that review.


On 19 December [meeting 72], the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the Second Committee [A/63/414/Add.2], adopted resolution 63/213 without vote [agenda item 49 (b)].

Follow-up to and implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation

of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States

The General Assembly,Reaffirming the Declaration of Barbados and the Pro-

gramme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, adopted by the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, and recalling its resolution 49/122 of 19 December 1994 on the Global Conference,

Reaffirming also the Mauritius Declaration and the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (“Mauritius Strategy for Implementation”), adopted by the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States on 14 January 2005,


Recalling its resolutions 59/311 of 14 July 2005, 60/194 of 22 December 2005, 61/196 of 20 December 2006 and 62/191 of 19 December 2007,

Recalling also the 2005 World Summit Outcome,Reaffirming that the Commission on Sustainable Devel-

opment is the primary intergovernmental forum for moni-toring the implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation,

Recalling the convening of one half-day session of the Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for the fifteenth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, as called for by the General Assembly in its resolution 61/196, to discuss policy options for addressing the barriers and constraints facing small island developing States in the four thematic areas of the session, taking into account the review of the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation conducted during the fourteenth session of the Commission,

Reaffirming that the adverse effects of climate change and sea-level rise present significant risks to the sustainable development of small island developing States, that the ef-fects of climate change may threaten the very existence of some of them and that adaptation to the adverse effects of climate change and sea-level rise therefore remains a major priority for small island developing States,

Recognizing the urgent need to increase the level of resources provided to small island developing States for the effective implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation,

Underlining the importance of developing and strength-ening national sustainable development strategies in small island developing States,

Recalling its request to the Secretary-General to submit a report on actions taken to strengthen the Small Island Developing States Unit of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat,

Recalling also the decision to review progress made in ad-dressing the vulnerabilities of small island developing States through the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation at the sixty-fifth session of the General Assembly,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the follow-up to and implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation;

2. Also takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on actions taken to strengthen the Small Island Developing States Unit;

3. Welcomes the renewed commitment of the interna-tional community to the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States;

4. Urges Governments and all relevant international and regional organizations, United Nations funds and pro-grammes, the specialized agencies and regional commis-sions, international financial institutions and the Global Environment Facility, as well as other intergovernmental organizations and major groups, to take timely action for the effective implementation of and follow-up to the Mauri-tius Declaration and the Mauritius Strategy for Implemen-tation, including the further development and operation-alization of concrete projects and programmes;

5. Calls for the full and effective implementation of the commitments, programmes and targets adopted at the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States and, to this end, for the fulfilment of the provisions for the means of implementa-tion, as contained in the Mauritius Strategy for Implemen-tation, and encourages small island developing States and their development partners to continue to consult widely in order to develop further concrete projects and programmes for the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation;

6. Reaffirms the decision taken by the Commission on Sustainable Development at its sixteenth session that one day of its review sessions should be devoted exclusively to the review of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation, focusing on that year’s thematic cluster, as well as on any new developments in the sustainable development efforts of small island developing States using existing modalities;

7. Invites the Commission to devote one half-day of its Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting to discussing policy options for addressing the barriers and constraints facing small island developing States identified in the the-matic cluster of each implementation cycle, taking into ac-count the review conducted during the respective review session;

8. Encourages enhanced, closer and early consultation with small island developing States in the planning and co-ordination, as appropriate, of the activities of the Commis-sion devoted to the review of the Mauritius Strategy for Im-plementation, and emphasizes the importance of enhanced interaction between small island developing States and the relevant agencies of the United Nations system addressing issues concerning small island developing States;

9. Calls upon the international community to enhance support for the efforts of small island developing States to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, including through the provision of dedicated sources of financing, capacity-building and the transfer of appropriate technolo-gies to address climate change;

10. Requests the relevant agencies of the United Na-tions system, within their respective mandates, to intensify efforts aimed at mainstreaming the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation in their work programmes and to establish a focal point for matters related to small island developing States within their respective secretariats to support coor-dinated implementation of the Programme of Action at the national, subregional, regional and global levels;

11. Calls upon the international community to en-hance its support for the implementation of the programme of work on island biodiversity as a set of actions to address characteristics and problems that are specific to islands, adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity at its eighth meeting, in 2006;

12. Calls for continued support for the design and im-plementation of national sustainable development strategies in all small island developing States;

13. Encourages the implementation of partnership ini-tiatives, within the framework of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation, in support of the sustainable development of small island developing States;


14. Underlines the importance of providing the Small Island Developing States Unit with adequate, stable and predictable funding to facilitate the full and effective imple-mentation of its mandates in accordance with the priority accorded to the Unit and in view of the demand for its serv-ices, in particular with respect to the provision of assistance and support to small island developing States;

15. Reiterates the importance of ensuring sufficient and sustainable staffing of the Small Island Developing States Unit so that it may undertake its broad range of mandated functions with a view to facilitating the full and effective implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementa-tion, and in this regard requests the Secretary-General to take the necessary actions;

16. Calls for the provision of new and additional vol-untary resources to ensure the revitalization and sustain-ability of the Small Island Developing States Information Network;

17. Reaffirms its decision to review, at its sixty-fifth ses-sion, the progress made in addressing the vulnerabilities of small island developing States through the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation, decides to convene a two-day high-level review in September 2010 as a part of that session, and requests the Secretary-General to report to the Assembly at its sixty-fourth session on possible arrangements for the review;

18. Decides that the two-day high-level review should be preceded, where necessary, by national, subregional, regional and substantive preparations in a most effective, well-structured and broad participatory manner and that, for this purpose, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat, through its Small Island Develop-ing States Unit, the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and the rel-evant agencies of the United Nations system, including re-gional commissions, within their respective mandates and existing resources, should organize, facilitate and provide necessary support to the review process at the national, re-gional and international levels; and stresses that the review should provide the international community with an op-portunity to conduct an assessment of the progress made, lessons learned and constraints encountered in the imple-mentation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation and agree on what needs to be done to further address the vulnerabilities of small island developing States;

19. Invites the small island developing States to con-sider at their relevant intergovernmental meetings assess-ments of and relevant contributions to the review process;

20. Calls upon the international community to sup-port the efforts to review progress made in addressing the vulnerabilities of small island developing States through the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implemen-tation, including by facilitating the participation of small island developing States in review activities;

21. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a report to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session on the follow-up to and implementation of the Mauritius Strategy for Implementation;

22. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-fourth session, under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, the sub-item entitled “Follow-up to and im-

plementation of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Im-plementation of the Programme of Action for the Sustain-able Development of Small Island Developing States”.

Landlocked developing countries

Ministerial Communiqué of Landlocked Developing Countries. Trade Ministers of land-locked developing countries, meeting within the framework of unctad xii (Accra, Ghana, 20–25 April) [TD/442], issued on 22 April the Ministerial Communiqué of Landlocked Developing Countries, in which they called on World Trade Organization (wto) member States to take into account the spe-cific needs and problems of landlocked developing countries in the process of wto accession negotia-tions. Unctad should give special attention to those countries’ needs in its analytical work and technical assistance activities that helped attract foreign direct investment (fdi), including in unctad investment policy reviews, investment guides and fdi Blue Books. Ministers welcomed the forthcoming midterm review of the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action (see below) as an opportunity to take stock and focus on the next steps. They requested the unctad Secretary-General to strengthen unctad institutional and operational capacity for addressing the develop-ment challenges faced by landlocked developing countries and, in cooperation with the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Coun-tries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and other UN organizations and international agencies, to assist landlocked de-veloping countries in organizing a meeting of their trade Ministers in 2009. The UN Secretary-General should strengthen the Office of the High Representa-tive, and donors should increase financial and techni-cal assistance to landlocked developing countries to enable them to meet their special development needs and overcome the impediments of geography, with a view to helping them participate effectively in the multilateral trading system.

Report of Secretary-General. In response to General Assembly resolution 62/204 [YUN 2007, p. 870], the Secretary-General submitted a July re-port [A/63/165] on the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action: Addressing the Special Needs of Landlocked Developing Countries within a New Global Framework for Transit Transport Cooperation for Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries, adopted by the International Ministerial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and Donor Countries and International Financial and Development Institutions on Transit Transport Cooperation in 2003 [YUN 2003, p. 875]. The report described the overall socio-economic situation in


landlocked developing countries and the four prior-ity areas of the Programme of Action: fundamental transit policy issues; infrastructure development and maintenance; international trade and trade fa-cilitation; and international support measures. It also detailed the preparatory process for the midterm review and monitoring of the implementation of the Programme of Action.

The Secretary-General said that the high cost of in-ternational trade was a serious constraint to the trade and economic development of landlocked developing countries. Measures to deal with their transit prob-lems addressed inadequate infrastructure, trade im-balance, inefficient transport organization, and weak managerial, procedural, regulatory and institutional systems. Without real solutions to the disadvantages that beset the landlocked developing countries, those States would continue to be driven to the outer fringes of the global economy. While tangible progress had been registered in the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action, its implementation should be further accelerated. Both landlocked and transit de-veloping countries, with the support of development partners, produced notable achievements in all of the Programme of Action’s priorities. Development partners were more actively engaged with respect to transport infrastructure development, trade facilita-tion, aid, debt relief and market access, while mul-tilateral and development institutions and regional organizations had allocated much greater resources to the establishment of efficient transit systems. The Secretary-General proposed further strengthening of regional cooperative arrangements for transit coop-eration and of the role of regional and subregional organizations. The United Nations and other inter-national organizations should support regional ini-tiatives in that regard, including the development of regional integrated infrastructure networks, viable multimodal transport, ways to complete missing links, trade facilitation measures and broader applica-tion of information technology. Transit transport pol-icy reforms and trade facilitation measures that had a positive impact on transit costs should be facilitated at all levels, including the commercialization and lib-eralization of transport services and efforts to improve institutional, procedural, regulatory and managerial systems, and reduce excessive paperwork and red tape requirements. The international community should provide greater market access for goods originating in landlocked developing countries, and extend to them increased technical assistance to ensure their effective participation in wto trade negotiations, particularly those related to trade facilitation. Donor countries and financial and development institutions, in particular the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, should provide greater financial

resources to transit transport infrastructure projects in landlocked and transit developing countries, and special attention should be given to them in the con-text of the Aid for Trade initiative.

Midterm review of Almaty Programme of Action. The General Assembly conducted its midterm review of the Almaty Programme of Action on 2 and 3 Oc-tober, in accordance with its resolutions 61/212 [YUN 2006, p. 1019] and 62/204 [YUN 2007, p. 870]. As part of the preparatory process, substantive/thematic meet-ings were organized in 2007 on transit transport in-frastructure development in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia [ibid. p. 870]. Re-gional review meetings were held during 2008: the Regional Preparatory Expert Group Meeting of Euro-Asian Landlocked Developing and Transit Countries for the Midterm Review of the Almaty Programme of Action (Bangkok, Thailand, 22–23 April) [CSN/2008/EGM/APA/3]; the African Regional Review Meeting of the Almaty Programme of Action (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 18–20 June) [E/ECA/ALMATY/08]; and the Latin American Regional Review Meeting for the Midterm Review of the Almaty Programme of Ac-tion (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 30 June) [LC/L.2922]. Other events included: the Euro-Asian Transport Links Ministerial Meeting (Geneva, 19–21 February); the Meeting on Trade Facilitation and Aid for Trade: keys for unlocking the landlocked (Accra, Ghana, 19 April); the Workshop on Logistics Performance In-dex and New Approaches on Improving Trade and Transport Services to and from Landlocked Coun-tries (New York, 2 June); the Briefing on the progress in the trade facilitation negotiations at wto and on developments in the Aid for Trade initiative (New York, 27 June); the Meeting on Trade Facilitation Opportunities for Landlocked and Transit Develop-ing Countries (Geneva, 8–9 July); and the High-Level Investment Forum “Investing in Landlocked Devel-oping Countries: Trends, Experiences and the Way Forward” (New York, 1 October).


On 3 October [meeting 19], the General Assembly adopted resolution 63/2 [draft: A/63/L.3] without vote [agenda item 52 (b)].

Outcome document of the midterm review of the Almaty Programme of Action: Addressing the

Special Needs of Landlocked Developing Countries within a New Global Framework

for Transit Transport Cooperation for Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries

The General Assembly,Recalling its resolution 62/204 of 19 December 2007,

in particular paragraph 11 thereof,Adopts the following outcome document:


Declaration of the high-level meeting of the sixty-third session of the General Assembly on the midterm review of the Almaty Programme of Action

We, the Ministers and heads of delegations participat-ing in the high-level plenary meeting of the General As-sembly on the midterm review of the Almaty Programme of Action: Addressing the Special Needs of Landlocked Developing Countries within a New Global Framework for Transit Transport Cooperation for Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries, held in New York on 2 and 3 October 2008,

Recalling the United Nations Millennium Declaration, in which Heads of State and Government recognized the particular needs and problems of landlocked developing countries and urged both bilateral and multilateral donors to increase financial and technical assistance to that group of countries to meet their particular development needs and to help them to overcome the impediments of geography by improving their transit transport systems, and resolved to create an environment, at the national and global levels alike, that is conducive to development and to the eradica-tion of poverty,

Reaffirming our commitment to urgently addressing the special development needs of and challenges faced by the landlocked developing countries through the full, timely and effective implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action, as called for in the 2005 World Summit Outcome,

Also reaffirming that the Almaty Programme of Action constitutes a fundamental framework for genuine partner-ships between landlocked and transit developing countries and their development partners at the national, bilateral, subregional, regional and global levels,

Recognizing that the primary responsibility for establish-ing effective transit systems rests with the landlocked and transit developing countries, which need to seek to create conditions in which resources can be generated, attracted and effectively mobilized to address their development challenges, but that their efforts need to be given contin-ued international support by the development partners and international and regional organizations in a spirit of shared responsibility, including South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation, and taking into account regional integration agreements,

Also recognizing that the private sector is an important stakeholder, whose contribution to the development of in-frastructure and productive capacity should be increased, including through public-private partnerships,

Further recognizing that cooperation between landlocked and transit developing countries results in better transit transport systems. This cooperation must be promoted on the basis of the mutual interest of both landlocked and transit developing countries,

Reaffirming the right of access of landlocked countries to and from the sea and freedom of transit through the territory of transit countries by all means of transport, in accordance with applicable rules of international law,

Also reaffirming that transit countries, in the exercise of their full sovereignty over their territory, have the right to take all measures necessary to ensure that the rights and fa-cilities provided for landlocked countries in no way infringe upon their legitimate interests,

Expressing support to those landlocked developing coun-tries that are emerging from conflict, with a view to ena-bling them to rehabilitate and reconstruct, as appropriate, their political, social and economic infrastructure and as-sisting them in achieving their development priorities in accordance with the goals and targets of the Almaty Pro-gramme of Action, as well as the Millennium Development Goals,

Taking note of the outcome documents of the Thematic Meeting on Transit Transport Infrastructure Development, held in Ouagadougou from 18 to 20 June 2007, and of the Thematic Meeting on International Trade and Trade Facili-tation, held in Ulaanbaatar on 30 and 31 August 2007,

Also taking note of the respective outcome documents of the regional review meeting for Asia and Europe, held in Bangkok on 22 and 23 April 2008, the regional review meeting for Africa, held in Addis Ababa from 18 to 20 June 2008, and the regional review meeting for Latin America, held in Buenos Aires on 30 June 2008,

1. Reaffirm the commitment made in the Almaty Programme of Action to address the special needs of the landlocked developing countries, taking into account the challenges confronted by their transit developing neigh-bours, through measures identified in the five priorities of the Programme of Action;

General assessment2. Acknowledge that despite persisting problems, land-

locked developing countries, as a group, have achieved some progress in their overall economic development and growth. They have recorded increased growth rates of gross domestic product and foreign direct investment in the past five years; and exports have surged, particularly for oil and other mineral resources;

3. Express concern that the economic growth and social well-being of landlocked developing countries remain very vulnerable to external shocks as well as the multiple chal-lenges the international community faces;

4. Acknowledge that landlocked and transit developing countries, with the support of their development partners, have registered some progress in implementing the specific actions agreed upon in the Almaty Programme of Action. Landlocked and transit developing countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America have strengthened their policy and governance reform efforts. Donor countries, financial and development institutions and international and regional organizations have paid greater attention to the establishment of efficient transit systems;

5. Recognize that, although the difficulties of being landlocked permeate every aspect of the development process and poverty eradication, their negative impact on external trade is particularly severe. While some progress, even though uneven, has been made, landlocked developing countries continue to be marginalized from international trade, which prevents them from fully using trade as an instrument for achieving their development goals;

6. Stress that the higher cost of moving goods across borders for landlocked developing countries puts their products at a competitive disadvantage and discourages foreign investment, and that landlocked developing coun-tries continue to face challenges in their efforts to establish


efficient transit transport systems, such as inadequate trans-port infrastructure, insufficient carrying capacity at ports, port and customs clearance delays, transit dependence, fees and obstacles owing to cumbersome customs procedures and other regulatory constraints, an underdeveloped logis-tics sector, weak legal and institutional arrangements, as well as costly bank transactions. Also, in most cases, the transit neighbours of landlocked developing countries are themselves developing countries, often of broadly similar economic structure and beset by similar scarcities of re-sources. These challenges need to be urgently addressed through acceleration of the implementation of the specific actions under each of the priorities laid out in the Almaty Programme of Action;

Fundamental transit policy issues7. Welcome the efforts made by many landlocked and

transit developing countries to reform their administrative, legal and macroeconomic policies on the basis of an inte-grated approach to trade and transport. Reform measures have included the liberalization of transit and transport services, accession to relevant international conventions, the establishment of regional intermodal transport corri-dors and the development of transparent, streamlined and common rules and standards that have strengthened private and public sector dialogue to address the bottlenecks that exist at different segments of transit services. Continued efforts need to be made to ensure the effective implementa-tion of those positive reforms and to ensure that transport strategies and programmes, particularly where they involve the regulation of transport operations or the construction of major new infrastructure, take full account of environ-mental aspects and development needs to ensure sustain-able development at the local and global levels. The inter-national community, including financial and development institutions and donor countries, should provide greater assistance to landlocked and transit developing countries in this regard;

8. Recognize the important role of regional cooperation and integration involving landlocked developing countries and their transit neighbours for the effective and integrated solution to cross-border trade and transit transport prob-lems. In this context, we particularly welcome regional initiatives aimed at promoting the development of regional rail and road transit transport networks, such as the agree-ments on the Asian Highway and Trans-Asian Railway, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development Short-term Ac-tion Plan on Infrastructure, the Sub-Saharan Africa Trans-port Policy Programme, the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America, the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia, the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic study for infrastructure development in Africa and the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa;

9. Also recognize that international conventions on transport and transit, as well as the regional, subregional and bilateral agreements ratified by landlocked and transit developing countries are the main vehicles by which the harmonization, simplification and standardization of rules and documentation can be achieved. We encourage both landlocked developing countries and transit developing countries to effectively implement the provisions of those conventions and agreements;

Transit transport infrastructure development and maintenance

10. Acknowledge that, in spite of some improvement in the development of the transit transport infrastructure in landlocked developing countries, inadequate and de-teriorating physical infrastructure in rail transport, road transport, ports, inland waterways, pipelines, air transport, and information and communications technology in many landlocked developing countries, along with few harmo-nized rules and procedures, little cross-border investment and private-sector participation, are the major obstacles to developing viable and predictable transit transport systems. Physical links of landlocked developing countries to the regional transport infrastructure network fall well short of expectations. Missing links are a major problem and need to be addressed urgently;

11. Recognize that the construction of transit transport infrastructure, especially the missing links to complete re-gional networks, and the improvement and maintenance of existing facilities play a key role in the process to achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals;

12. Encourage landlocked and transit developing coun-tries to allocate a greater share of public investment to the development and maintenance of infrastructure supported by, as appropriate, financial assistance and investment from donors, international financial institutions and develop-ment assistance agencies. We note that private sector par-ticipation should also be encouraged in this regard;

13. Emphasize that the development and improve-ment of transit transport facilities and services should be integrated into the overall development strategies of the landlocked and transit developing countries and that do-nor countries should consequently take into account the requirements for the long-term restructuring of the econo-mies of the landlocked developing countries;

International trade and trade facilitation14. Note that some progress, although limited and un-

even, has been achieved by landlocked developing countries in the area of international trade;

15. Express concern that the share of world merchan-dise trade of landlocked developing countries has remained small. Most landlocked developing countries are still de-pendent on the export of a limited number of commodities. Their continued marginalization from the international trading system prevents them from fully using trade as an instrument for achieving the Millennium Development Goals;

16. Note with concern that approximately one third of all landlocked developing countries are still outside the rules-based multilateral trading system. Therefore, we stress that the accession of landlocked and transit develop-ing countries to the World Trade Organization should be further accelerated. In this respect, the accession process for landlocked and transit developing countries should take into account their individual level of development, includ-ing the special needs and problems caused by geographical disadvantage. The development partners should provide assistance in this matter;

17. Recognize that one of the main causes of the mar-ginalization of landlocked developing countries from the


international trading system is high trade transaction costs. Therefore, we stress the need for the current negotiations on market access for agricultural and non-agricultural goods to consider giving particular attention to products of special interest to landlocked developing countries;

18. Reaffirm that, in accordance with the commit-ments contained in the Doha Ministerial Declaration, in particular paragraphs 13 and 16 thereof, and the rules of the World Trade Organization, current trade negotiations should give full attention to the needs and interests of de-veloping countries, including landlocked and transit devel-oping countries;

19. Note that ongoing World Trade Organization ne-gotiations on trade facilitation, particularly on the relevant articles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, such as article V on freedom of transit, article VIII on fees and formalities, and article X on transparency, as per the modalities contained in annex D to the decision of the General Council of the World Trade Organization of 1 August 2004, are particularly important for landlocked developing countries to gain a more efficient flow of goods and services as well as the improved international com-petitiveness that result from lower transaction costs. In this context, technical assistance should be provided to devel-oping countries, in particular, to landlocked developing countries;

20. Recognize that some progress has been reached on coordination of border crossings, infrastructure investment, facilities for the storing of merchandise, normative frame-works and other facilities that benefit both landlocked and transit developing countries;

21. Acknowledge, however, that a large number of bot-tlenecks related to trade facilitation persist in many land-locked and transit developing countries. Those bottlenecks need to be urgently addressed. They include: an excessive number of documents required for export/import; the mul-tiplication of scheduled and unscheduled roadblocks; lack of adjacent border controls; unnecessary customs convoys; complicated and non-standardized procedures for custom clearance and inspection; an insufficient application of in-formation and communications technology; non-transpar-ency of trade and customs laws, regulations and procedures; lack of institutional capacities and trained human resources; underdeveloped logistics services; lack of interoperability of transport systems and absence of competition in the tran-sit transport services sector; slow progress in establishing or strengthening national trade and transport facilitation committees; and a low level of adherence to international conventions on transit transport;

International support measures22. Acknowledge the increase in development assistance

and debt relief measures in favour of landlocked developing countries. However, we note that much of the official devel-opment assistance goes to emergency and food aid. The al-location of development assistance to transport, storage and communications has not changed over the past five years, whereas the need for increased financial support for the construction and maintenance of infrastructure remains valid and urgent. In spite of enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries and Multilateral Debt Relief Initiatives, which have provided debt relief to several landlocked and

transit developing countries, the debt burden remains high for many of those countries;

23. Stress the need to attract private investment, in-cluding foreign direct investment. Private sector participa-tion through co-financing can play a catalytic role in this regard. We recall that notwithstanding the increase of flows in foreign direct investment, private sector involvement in infrastructure development still has a considerable po-tential;

24. Acknowledge the increased attention and resources devoted by the United Nations system and international organizations to the challenges facing landlocked and tran-sit developing countries. We recognize with appreciation the progress made towards developing effective monitoring mechanisms to measure the progress in implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action. We appreciate the work undertaken by the United Nations Office of the High Rep-resentative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States on a set of macroeconomic, trade and transport indicators, by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific on the time/cost methodology and the World Bank with its Logistics Performance Index and the Doing Busi-ness indicators that provide quantifiable data to measure the progress, and emphasize that these efforts should be pursued further;

Future actions to accelerate the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action

25. Call upon landlocked and transit developing coun-tries to undertake the following measures to speed up the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action:

(a) Promote the learning of lessons from existing regional infrastructure initiatives that aim to encourage integrated cross-border infrastructure investment;

(b) Further strengthen the legal framework governing transit transport operations, including through full and effective implementation of bilateral, subregional and regional agreements;

(c) Promote inter-railway cooperation with a view to facilitating the operation of through trains;

(d) Facilitate road transit operations by harmonizing road transit charges, vehicle dimensions, axle load lim-its and gross vehicle mass, third-party motor insurance schemes and contracts of carriage of goods by road;

(e) Effectively implement trade facilitation measures, including the implementation of regional customs tran-sit schemes, the reduction/minimization of the number of trade and transport documents, the harmonization of working hours at national borders, the publication of tran-sit formalities and fees and charges, inter-agency coordina-tion of border control services and the establishment of port communities and promotion of their effective opera-tion;

(f) Consider the possibility of negotiating and grant-ing duty-free zones at maritime ports, where this has not been done;

(g) Make efforts towards eliminating the practice of customs convoys. For this purpose, negotiate mutually beneficial arrangements to introduce a system of approved secure vehicles for transit operations and, where escort is warranted, arrange daily customs escorts;


(h) Take appropriate and effective measures to monitor control agents on road transport corridors in order to re-duce roadblocks. In this context, the regional commissions should assist transit developing countries in addressing the issue of diversion of transit goods to domestic markets;

(i) Improve border infrastructure facilities and intro-duce a one-window/one-stop border system along with nec-essary capacity-building programmes;

( j) Make full use of available information and com-munications technology in order to enhance trade facili-tation and to facilitate information-sharing between and among transport and trade stakeholders;

(k) Widen and deepen public and private sector co-operation and collaboration and, in this context, expand platforms for public-private sector dialogue, such as trade and transport facilitation committees or corridor manage-ment committees;

(l) Mobilize adequate investment from all sources, in-cluding the private sector, for the development and main-tenance of transport networks, as well as the construction of missing links;

(m) Where appropriate, use mutually beneficial public- private partnerships for securing additional financial resources and modern technological and management systems;

(n) Keep abreast of changing technologies and man-agement systems which have an impact on trade and trans-port. In this context, the expansion of container capacity is urgent in many maritime ports;

(o) Consider designating a focal point who would be re-sponsible for the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action and its coordination at the national level;

26. Welcome the proposal to set up in Ulaanbaatar an international think tank to enhance the analytical capabil-ity of landlocked developing countries needed to maximize the efficiency of our coordinated efforts for the effective implementation of the internationally agreed provisions, particularly the Almaty Programme of Action and the Mil-lennium Development Goals. For this purpose, we urge international organizations and donor countries to assist them in realizing this initiative;

27. Call upon donors and the multilateral, regional, fi-nancial and development institutions to provide landlocked and transit developing countries with appropriate, substan-tial and better coordinated technical and financial assist-ance, particularly in the form of grants or concessionary loans, for the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action, in particular for the construction, maintenance and improvement of their transport, storage and other transit-related facilities, including alternative routes and improved communications, to promote subregional, regional and interregional projects and programmes;

28. Call upon the development partners to effectively operationalize the Aid for Trade initiative so as to support trade facilitation measures and trade-related technical as-sistance, as well as the diversification of export products through the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and private sector involvement in landlocked developing countries;

29. Encourage the international community to enhance efforts to facilitate access to and encourage the transfer of

technologies related to transit transport systems, including information and communications technology;

30. Also encourage the further strengthening of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation with the in-volvement of donors, as well as cooperation among subre-gional and regional organizations in support of landlocked and transit developing countries towards the full and effec-tive implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action;

31. Call upon the relevant organizations of the United Nations system, the regional commissions, the United Na-tions Development Programme and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and invite other international organizations, including the World Bank, the regional development banks, the World Customs Organi-zation, the World Trade Organization, regional economic integration organizations and other relevant regional and subregional organizations, to further integrate the Almaty Programme of Action into their relevant programmes of work, taking into account the midterm review, and encour-age them to continue, as appropriate, within their respec-tive mandates, their support to the landlocked and transit developing countries, inter alia, through well-coordinated and coherent technical assistance programmes in transit transport and trade facilitation. In particular, we:

(a) Encourage the United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Land-locked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States to continue to ensure coordinated follow-up and ef-fective monitoring and reporting on the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action, in line with General Assembly resolution 57/270 B of 23 June 2003, to step up its advocacy efforts to raise international awareness of the Almaty Programme of Action as well as mobilize resources; and to further develop cooperation with the United Na-tions system organizations in order to ensure the timely and effective implementation of the Programme of Action;

(b) Encourage the regional commissions to continue to strengthen their efforts to work with landlocked and transit developing countries in order to develop integrated regional transit transport systems, harmonize regulatory requirements and procedures for import/export and tran-sit with international conventions and standards, promote intermodal transport corridors, encourage accession to and more effective implementation of international conventions on transit transport, and assist in the establishment of na-tional trade and transport facilitation coordination mech-anisms and in improving the planning and development of the missing links in regional infrastructure networks, especially in Africa;

(c) Encourage the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to continue to strengthen its tech-nical assistance in the areas of infrastructure and services, transit transport arrangements, electronic commerce and trade facilitation, as well as trade negotiations with and accession to the World Trade Organization. The Divi-sion for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes should, within its mandate, strengthen its analytical work and technical assistance to the landlocked developing countries. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development should also develop pragmatic tools and investment guides, as well as identify best prac-tices, to assist the landlocked developing countries in their


efforts to attract a larger share of flows of foreign direct investment;

(d) Encourage the United Nations Development Pro-gramme to enhance its provision of trade-related technical assistance and capacity-building programmes to landlocked developing countries;

(e) Invite the World Trade Organization to continue to provide technical assistance to landlocked developing countries in order to enhance their negotiating capabilities;

(f) Invite the World Bank to continue to give priority to requests for technical assistance to supplement national and regional efforts to promote the efficient use of exist-ing transit facilities, including the application of informa-tion technologies and the simplification of procedures and documents;

(g) Invite the World Customs Organization and other relevant international and regional organizations to con-tinue to strengthen the provision of technical assistance and capacity-building programmes to landlocked and transit developing countries in the area of customs reform, the simplification and harmonization of procedures, and enforcement and compliance;

32. Invite the General Assembly to consider, at the appropriate time, undertaking the final review of the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action, in accordance with paragraph 49 thereof.

Also on 19 December [meeting 72], the General Assembly adopted, on the recommendation of the Second Com-mittee [A/63/417/Add.2], resolution 63/228 without vote [agenda item 52 (b)].

Groups of countries in special situations: specific actions related to the particular needs

and problems of landlocked developing countries: outcome of the International Ministerial Conference

of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and Donor Countries and International Financial and Development Institutions

on Transit Transport Cooperation


60/208 of 22 December 2005, 61/212 of 20 December 2006 and 62/204 of 19 December 2007,

Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Declara-tion, and the 2005 World Summit Outcome,

Recognizing that the lack of territorial access to the sea, aggravated by remoteness from world markets, and pro-hibitive transit costs and risks continue to impose serious constraints on export earnings, private capital inflow and domestic resource mobilization of landlocked developing countries and therefore adversely affect their overall growth and socio-economic development,

Expressing support to those landlocked developing coun-tries that are emerging from conflict, with a view to ena-bling them to rehabilitate and reconstruct, as appropriate, political, social and economic infrastructure and to assist-ing them in achieving their development priorities in accor-dance with the goals and targets of the Almaty Programme of Action: Addressing the Special Needs of Landlocked

Developing Countries within a New Global Framework for Transit Transport Cooperation for Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries,

Recalling the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, an initiative for accelerating regional economic cooperation and development, as many landlocked and transit develop-ing countries are located in Africa,

Reaffirming that the Almaty Programme of Action con-stitutes a fundamental framework for genuine partnerships between landlocked and transit developing countries and their development partners at the national, bilateral, subre-gional, regional and global levels,

Recalling its resolution 63/2 of 3 October 2008, by which it adopted the Declaration of the high-level meeting of the sixty-third session of the General Assembly on the midterm review of the Almaty Programme of Action,

1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action;

2. Reaffirms the right of access of landlocked countries to and from the sea and freedom of transit through the territory of transit countries by all means of transport, in accordance with the applicable rules of international law;

3. Also reaffirms that transit countries, in the exercise of their full sovereignty over their territory, have the right to take all measures necessary to ensure that the rights and facilities provided for landlocked countries in no way infringe upon their legitimate interests;

4. Further reaffirms its full commitment to the Decla-ration adopted by the Ministers and heads of delegations participating in the high-level plenary meeting of the Gen-eral Assembly on the midterm review of the Almaty Pro-gramme of Action, in which they recommitted themselves to urgently addressing the special development needs of and challenges faced by the landlocked developing countries through the full, timely and effective implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action;

5. Acknowledges that landlocked and transit develop-ing countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America have strengthened their policy and governance reform ef-forts and that donor countries, financial and development institutions and international and regional organizations have paid greater attention to the establishment of efficient transit systems; notes with concern, however, that the land-locked developing countries continue to be marginalized from international trade, thus preventing them from fully using trade as an instrument for achieving their develop-ment goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and face challenges in their efforts to establish efficient tran-sit transport systems; and therefore notes the importance of the ongoing World Trade Organization negotiations on trade facilitation, particularly on the relevant articles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade that are important to landlocked developing countries, such as those referred to in the Declaration on the midterm review of the Almaty Programme of Action;

6. Calls upon landlocked and transit developing countries to take all appropriate measures, as set out in the Declaration, to speed up the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action;

7. Calls upon donors and multilateral, regional, finan-cial and development institutions to provide landlocked and transit developing countries with appropriate, sub-


stantial and better-coordinated technical and financial as-sistance, particularly in the form of grants or concessionary loans, for the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action, in particular for the construction, maintenance and improvement of their transport, storage and other transit-related facilities, including alternative routes, completion of missing links and improved communications, so as to promote subregional, regional and interregional projects and programmes;

8. Calls upon the development partners to effectively operationalize the Aid for Trade initiative so as to support trade facilitation measures and trade-related technical as-sistance, as well as the diversification of export products through the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and private sector involvement in landlocked developing countries;

9. Encourages the international community to enhance efforts to facilitate access to and encourage the transfer of technologies related to transit transport systems, including information and communications technology;

10. Encourages the further strengthening of South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation with the involvement of donors, as well as cooperation among subregional and regional organizations, in support of the ef-forts of landlocked and transit developing countries to-wards achieving the full and effective implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action;

11. Calls upon the relevant organizations of the United Nations system, the regional commissions, the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and invites other international organizations, including the World Bank, the regional development banks, the World Customs Organization, the World Trade Organi-zation, regional economic integration organizations, and other relevant regional and subregional organizations, to further integrate the Almaty Programme of Action into their relevant programmes of work, taking full account of the Declaration on the midterm review, and encourages them to continue, as appropriate, within their respective mandates, their support to the landlocked and transit de-veloping countries, inter alia, through well-coordinated and coherent technical assistance programmes in transit transport and trade facilitation;

12. Encourages the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States to continue to ensure coordinated follow-up to and effective monitor-ing and reporting on the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action, in line with General Assembly reso-lution 57/270 B of 23 June 2003, and to step up its advocacy efforts directed towards raising international awareness and mobilizing resources, as well as to further develop coopera-tion and coordination with organizations within the United Nations system in order to ensure the timely and effective implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action and the Declaration on the midterm review;

13. Encourages the Economic Commission for Africa, the Economic Commission for Europe, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific to continue their efforts to work with landlocked and transit

developing countries to develop integrated regional transit transport systems, harmonize regulatory requirements and procedures for import/export and transit with international conventions and standards, promote intermodal transport corridors, encourage access to and more effective implemen-tation of international conventions on transit transport, and assist in the establishment of national trade and transport facilitation coordination mechanisms and in improving the planning and development of the missing links in regional infrastructure networks, especially in Africa;

14. Encourages the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to continue to strengthen its tech-nical assistance activities and analytical work related to logistics and transit transport cooperation;

15. Encourages the United Nations Development Pro-gramme to enhance its provision of trade-related technical assistance and capacity-building programmes to landlocked developing countries;

16. Invites the World Trade Organization to continue to provide technical assistance to landlocked developing countries in order to enhance their negotiating capabili-ties;

17. Invites the World Bank to continue to give priority to requests for technical assistance to supplement national and regional efforts to promote the efficient use of exist-ing transit facilities, including the application of informa-tion technologies and the simplification of procedures and documents;

18. Invites the World Customs Organization and other relevant international and regional organizations to con-tinue to strengthen the provision of technical assistance and capacity-building programmes to landlocked and transit developing countries in the area of customs reform, simpli-fication and harmonization of procedures, and enforcement and compliance;

19. Encourages donors and the international financial and development institutions, as well as private entities, to make voluntary contributions to the trust fund established by the Secretary-General to support the activities related to the follow-up to the implementation of the outcome of the Almaty International Ministerial Conference;

20. Requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth session an analytical report on the implementation of the Almaty Programme of Action and the Declaration on the midterm review;

21. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its sixty-fourth session the item entitled “Specific actions re-lated to the particular needs and problems of landlocked developing countries: outcome of the International Min-isterial Conference of Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries and Donor Countries and International Finan-cial and Development Institutions on Transit Transport Cooperation”.

Economies in transition

In response to General Assembly resolution 61/210 [YUN 2006, p. 1021], the Secretary-General, in an Au-gust report [A/63/256], reviewed progress made in the integration of the economies in transition into the world economy during the period 2006–2007, and


highlighted major policy challenges facing them. According to the report, the high prices for primary commodities and increased capital inflows had sup-ported robust growth in South-Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (cis) in recent years. However, the weakening of the global economy since mid-2007, due to the global financial turmoil and the food crisis, had affected economic performance, especially in the more vulnerable smaller economies, where economic vulnerability was linked to limited diversification of domestic pro-duction sectors and high dependence on a few export commodities of low value-added content. Therefore, a major challenge for those countries was promoting economic diversification and upgrading their produc-tion to higher value-added activities, thereby reduc-ing their exposure to the volatility of world markets. Despite the recent significant increase in fdi inflows to those countries, more investment was required to revitalize their industrial capacity and diversify their output and export base. To attract more fdi, however, economies in transition needed to continue focusing on systemic and market-enhancing reforms, institu-tions able to support markets, legal and regulatory systems designed to promote competition, intellectual and property rights, the rule of law, good governance and financial services.

The countries of South-Eastern Europe, in par-ticular, faced multiple challenges with respect to en-hancing their gains from further integration into the world economy. Regional cooperation within the con-text of the Central European Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Cooperation Council needed to be strengthened and non-tariff barriers eliminated in or-der to boost intraregional trade. In addition, market access for exports should be enhanced through wto- compatible export promotion activities and completion

of wto accession, while further export and output di-versification would require attracting more fdi inflows and the upgrading of physical infrastructure. Further integration into European markets would be helped by the adoption of European and international standards and further harmonizing of those countries’ legislation with that of the European Union. To improve market access for South-Eastern Europe and cis countries, in-ternational organizations should support export and in-vestment promotion activities in the region. Assistance could be provided in securing potential customers and business partners for exporters and in reaching the re-tail networks in potential markets. Adequate resources should be mobilized, including through multilateral development banks, to help those countries develop infrastructure, including the revitalization of regional road and rail networks, particularly in cis landlocked countries. Special attention should be given to the de-velopment of telecommunications, which lagged well behind European standards, and the energy shortages in the region should be addressed. The issues of mi-gration and protection of migrant workers should also be addressed, and the fight against human trafficking intensified. The International Labour Organization should continue to provide advice on improving labour migration policies and the protection of the rights of migrant workers, and work towards the ratification of all relevant conventions by more countries. The bank-ing systems, as well as non-banking transfer services in the region, should be developed in order to reduce transaction costs for remittances and to divert flows of funds to official channels. It was also important to encourage policies aimed at channelling those funds into productive investment.

On 19 December, the Assembly took note of the Secretary-General’s report (decision 63/542).

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