MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries
30.3.2011
pursuant to Rule 110(2) of the Rules of Procedure
Louis Michel, Marielle De Sarnez, Charles Goerens on behalf of the ALDE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B7-0228/2011
B7‑0233/2011
European Parliament resolution on the Fourth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries
The European Parliament,
– having regard that in 1971 the UN recognized the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) as the “poorest and weakest segment” of the international community,
– having regard to the criteria defined by the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP) to identify LDCs,
– having regard to the results of the UN High-Level Meeting on MDG, September 2010,
– having regard to the Brussels Programme of Action (BpoA) for LDCs adopted at the III UN Conference on the LDC, Brussels, May 2001,
– having regard to the decision taken in 2008 by the UN General Assembly to convene the IV UN Conference on the LDCs (LDC-IV),
– having regard that LDC-IV will assess the results of the BPoA as it comes to an end and propose new actions (2011-2020) to address new development challenges faced by LDCs, including climate change, food, energy and economic and financial crisis,
– having regard to the UN Declaration on the Right to Development, 1986,
– having regard to the Millennium Development Goal (2000-2015) with a target of reducing poverty by half by 2015,
– having regard to Rule 110(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas 48 countries are currently classified as LDCs of which 33 in Africa, 14 in Asia and 1 in Latin America; 16 countries are landlocked and 12 small islands,
B. whereas 75% of the 800.000.000 habitants of the LDCs are living with less than 2 dollars per day and the number of Least Developed countries since the establishment of this category by UN in 1971 has risen from 25 to 48 in 2011 and only Botswana in 1994, Cape Verde in 2007 and Maldives in January 2011 graduated from LDC,
C. whereas thanks to the Brussels Programme of Action (BpoA) some positive steps have been made, for instance 'the Everything But Arms' - initiative, the improvement of the Official Development Assistance (doubled between 2000 and 2008), the direct foreign investment which raised from 6 to 33 billions, allowing to 19 countries to have a growth rate of 3%,
D. whereas UN LDC Conference has to tackle crucial issues underpinning LDCs such as governance and fight against corruption, in particular the concept of 'governance contract' (namely the introduction in the contract of a social threshold) between partner and donor countries and human capacity building have to be put on the agenda,
E. whereas the participatory development has to be promoted, in accordance with the provisions of the Cotonou Agreement, permitting the promotion of civil society and its involvement in public affairs,
F. whereas the situation in LDC further worsened by the recent multiple global crisis related to climate change, financial, food and energy crisis in addition to existing structural challenges,
G. whereas there is no significant development without economic development based on improved private-public partnership and security for foreign investments,
H. whereas despite that agriculture forms the basis of many LDC economies and represents up to 90% the workforce, food security is threatened,
I. whereas each LDC needs to identify priorities and solutions appropriate to its national context, based on democratic participation of the population in decision making;
J. whereas the success of the Istanbul conference depends on concrete results (e.g. contract governance, social threshold, alleviation of debt, development aid, innovative financing) and the quality of the input of the participants;
1. Considers that LDC- IV should be resulted-oriented, with clear indicators and the objective to reduce the LDCs by half by 2020, based in efficient and transparent monitoring and follow-up mechanisms;
2. Believes that the UN IV Conference should focus on Policy Coherence for Development as an important factor of policy shift, at national and international level; calls therefore to design all policy areas - such as trade, fisheries, environment, agriculture, climate change, energy, investment and, finance - to support development needs of LDCs in order to fight poverty, guarantee decent income and livelihood;
3. Urges the EU to fulfil its commitments in terms of market access, debt alleviation, reaffirming the importance of reaching the ODA target of 0,15 to 0,20% of GNI for LDC, mobilizing, for this purpose, domestic resources and, as a complementary measure, innovative financing mechanisms;
4. Calls for the necessity to give priority to food security, agriculture, infrastructures, capacity building, inclusive economic growth, access to technologies as well as human and social development to LDCs;
5. Calls for the establishment of fair and equitable trade rules and the implementation of integrated policies across a wide range of economic, social and environmental issues for sustainable development;
6. Calls for the necessity of taking effective measures on prices volatility and prices transparency, better regulated financial markets, protecting and managing the vulnerability of LDC;
7. Calls for the need to contribute to developing countries tax systems, and good governance in tax matters;
8. Calls on LDCs countries to give secured access to land, water and other vital resources to their populations;
9. Stresses the importance of agricultural technologies and knowledge transfer to LCDs, given that their effects on environment are correctly assessed;
10. Underlines the need to enhance aid effectiveness for development, in line with Paris Declaration and Accra Agenda;
11. Considers that the adoption of the new US “Conflict Minerals’ Law is a huge step forward to combat illegal exploitation of minerals in Africa, which fuels civil war and conflicts; is the view that the UN should come out with similar proposal to ensure tractability of imported minerals in the world market;
12. Calls for a systematic climate change risk assessment into all aspects of policy planning and decision including trade, agriculture, food security and demands that the result of this assessment be used to formulate clear guidelines to development cooperation policy;
13. Expresses its concern by the mounting likelihood of environmental disasters causing massive migrations and requiring an urgent need to help this new category of refugee;
14. Stresses the importance of regional cooperation and integration and calls for the strengthening of regional frameworks enabling mostly small countries to gather resources, know-how and expertise;
15. Stresses that the lack of progress as regards the management of public finances still disqualifies most of these countries from receiving budget support, an essential factor in each country capacity building process;
16. Stresses the importance for LCDs of the development of trilateral cooperation, in particular with emerging countries, to push forward in the direction of comprehensive cooperation and mutual benefit and common development;
17. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.