Statement by Peter Haymond, United States Adviser, Preparatory Committee for the Third UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries, February 5, 2001

In the 10 years since the last LDC conference, there have been many changes in the world. Yet distressingly little has changed in the social and economic conditions for many of the least developed countries. Between.the effects of HIV/AIDS and conflict, and the unfinished struggle to develop effective and accountable government institutions, we see the dismaying paradox of countries sliding backwards in terms of social and economic indicators, in an era of generally strong economic growth around the world.

This is a vital matter for the entire international community to consider - all the development partners and potential partners of the LDCs, including the industrialized nations, the non-LDC developing world, multilateral and regional institutions, civil society organizations, and other interested parties. We have a common goal in addressing the question of how more than 600 million of our fellow world citizens can achieve a marked improvement in their quality of life. Every nation - industrialized, developing, or least developed - must address multiple challenges, and there are ongoing efforts elsewhere to discuss cross-cutting issues of great importance to the international commmunity. In this forum, however, we gather to focus on the state of the Least Developed Countries: why national development efforts have so often been frustrated in these countries, how they can start moving themselves forward, and what support the international community can provide.

The United States wishes to highlight a few themes leading into our joint discussions:

Armed conflict negates all development efforts, and it has been a destroyer of hopes and aspirations in many of the least developed countries. As UNDP has noted in a recent document, of the 34 countries furthest from achieving the international development goals established at UN conferences over the past decade, 22 are affected by current or recent conflict. With hundreds of thousands dying, with millions displaced, with economic growth completely disrupted, one certainty is that sustainable development will not coexist with conflict. Achieving peace must be a central goal of the international community, but even more so a central goal of the LDCs. The U.S. is working and will continue to work both bilaterally and in appropriate UN fora to prevent and resolve conflicts. The key efforts for peace, however, must come from the countries involved. Neither peace nor development can be sustainably imposed from outside.

Many LDCs are also among the countries suffering worst from the ravages of HIV/AIDS, which is both an unprecedented human tragedy and a threat to decades of economic, development and social progress. The working population of these countries is being hollowed out as families are destroyed. Dying teachers cannot teach; dying nurses cannot care for the sick or vaccinate the children. If the spread of HIV/AIDS cannot be slowed, there will be little hope of suitainable development in the worst affected countries, regardless of other domestic policies or international support. It is for this reason the U.S. launched its LIFE Initiative two years ago, supporting local efforts to slow the spread of infection and care for those already infected. The LIFE program is active in 13 of the developing countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS, 12 of them in Africa and 7 of them LDCs. With new Congressional appropriations for 2001, LIFE will be expanded further this year.

Strong, capable government action is essential for sustained economic development. Governments must provide security for their citizens, so they can work, live, and grow in peace. Governments must guarantee the political rights of their citizens, so they can live freely and participate in decisions about their future. And Governments must provide institutions that can implement policy and guarantee rights to property, legal enforcement of contracts, banking and other financial services, to free the power of the private sector and the market system. Without an accountable, transparent, participatory Government on which its citizens can rely to provide a safe, orderly living and working environment, there will be no movement toward sustainable development.

The "market mechanism" is an abstract term that really means the freeing the abilities of every person in a society. The private sector has been the engine driving the development of every industrialized country today, and the engine driving the development of every country currently industrializing. It also is the greatest source of foreign capital available for capital efforts. The key aspect of the private sector for development worldwide, doubling and tripling national incomes within a generation, has been trade. It is in recognition of the benefits of trade for poorer countries that the U.S. at the end of last year began implementing the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), which offers participating countries the most liberal access to the U.S. market available to any country with which the U.S. does not have a Free Trade Agreement. In October 2000, the U.S. named 34 African countries, 23 of them LDCs, as eligible to receive the benefits of AGOA.

The United States is and will continue to be a source of capital, of know how, of best practices, and of economic partnership with the LDCs, whether through trade, direct investtnent, charitable private contributions, or official assistance. The United States is assisting and will continue to assist LDCs in their efforts to deal with HIV/AIDS and other disease scourges, with conflict prevention and resolution, and with the many other challenges noted in the Programme of Action.

This complementary support, however, is just that - complementary. The primary actions, the agenda setting, the policy making, must be done by each sovereign LDC state. The decisions to choose policies that attract investment, facilitate trade, and gain donor support all must be made by each sovereign LDC state.

The United States welcomes this opportunity presented by the Third LDC Conference to review the challenges facing LDCs in their efforts in improve the lives of their citizens and reach the UN social development goals. We thank the EU for agreeing to host the Conference. We appreciate the effort of the Conference secretariat in preparing a draft Programme of Action as a basis for beginning our discussion. We note the secretariat's attempt to fashion a Programme of Action that addresses many of the most important challenges faced by LDCs.

The United States believes the Programme of Action must highlight preconditions for sustainable development, such as a peaceful society and accountable, transparent, participatory government, without which development strategies and development assistance alike are wasted.

The U.S. believes a Programme of Action that can be flexibly adapted to the national strategies of LDCs in differing circumstances, and to the plans of development partners with differing capabilities and differing support systems, will best serve the development aims we share. We are concerned the current draft as it stands includes calls in some sectors for overly specific commitments that inappropriately prejudge negotiations ongoing or anticipated in other multilateral fora. We believe it should focus on areas of international consensus, including on already agreed international goals. We also believe the emphasis in the Programme of Action should be much more on the creation of a constructive national environment for investment and trade, and on the more effective national use of development assistance, than on a simple call for increased assistance. At the end of this discussion process, the United States hopes to see a Programme of Action that helps lead the Least Developed Countries to realize a better future for their people.

The U.S. is also concerned at the short period of time available for discussion and negotiation of a consensus Programme of Action text, and would welcome explanation by the secretariat of how negotiations are to be conducted before the Conference. The U.S. suggests that greater focus on areas of general consensus in the draft text will facilitate a successful and rapid conclusion of the necessary negotiations.