"Time to be bold." (General Assembly adopts blunt declaration) (Special Section - Future of the Global Economy: Challenges of the 90s)

"Time to be bold"

The wide-ranging, 38-point Declaration on International Economic Cooperation, in particular the Revitalization of Economic Growth and Development of the Developing Countries was hailed as "a watershed in the history of international economic co-operation" by Assembly President Joseph N. Garba of Nigeria, who said it took 10 years to achieve.

The Declaration states that the most important challenge for the 1990s is the revitalization of economic growth and social development in the developing countries, "which calls for sustained growth of the world economy and favourable external conditions". It also states that "this major challenge has to be addressed in the context of increasing interdependence and integration in the world economy".

The document assesses the 1980s, outlines what it considers to be the challenges and opportunities for the 1990s and sets out specific commitments and policies for all Governments--developed and developing alike--in the areas of debt, development aid, environment, open trading system, stable commodity markets and a large role for the UN in helping revitalize development.

The Declaration (resolution 44/214) was adopted without a vote at the end of the eighteenth special session on international economic co-operation. The session opened on 23 April with the admission of the Republic of Namibia to the UN as the 160th Member State.

The President of Cyprus, the Prime Minister of Peru, three Deputy Prime Ministers and 39 Foreign Ministers were among the 136 speakers addressing the special session.

In an opening speech on 23 April, Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar said that the time had come "to be bold" and asked for "an agreed-upon global agenda" for the 1990s. "Success", he added, "requires that we be more forward and outward looking than our cautious human and political nature normally allows".

A two-day consultation meeting for senior officials on 30 and 31 August, before the Second Conference on the Least Developed Coutries (Paris, 3-14 September), was approved on 17 May at a meeting of the Assembly's resumed forty-fourth session.

All countries involved

The Declaration "spells out the obligations of all groups of countries", Assembly President Garba emphasized only a few minutes after long and arduous negotiations within the Ad Hoc Committee of the special session, chaired by Constantine D. Zepos of Greece, culminated in the adoption of the document by the plenary.

In describing the text, Mr. Garba said that industrialized countries are asked to help restore a favourable international economic environment, give urgent attention "to a durable and comprehensive solution to the debt problems of developing countries", provide substantial external resources and ensure an open and credible multilateral trading system.

Developing countries are urged to mobilize their human, financial and physical resources through effective national policies, he added.

All countries are urged to reduce military expenditures during the 1990s and integrate environmental concerns into their national policies. However, the Declaration states, "as the major sources of pollution, the developed countries have the main responsibility for taking appropriate measures urgently".

The international community is asked to support the efforts of Eastern European countries to integrate themselves into the world economy, without detracting from the high priority placed on international aid to developing countries, he said.

Development with

a human face

In its landmark Declaration, the Assembly stresses that every country shares responsibility for the state of the world economy and strongly backs development with a human face.

Economic policies, it states, "should have as their ultimate objective the betterment of the human condition and the enhancement of the contribution of all persons to development". The full utilization of human resources and the recognition of human rights "stimulate creativity, innovation and initiative".

Economic and social progress requires that "growth be broadly based, offering equal opportunities to all people, both women and men, to participate fully in economic, social and political activities".

Health, nutrition, housing, population policies and other social services are keys to improving individual welfare and successful development, the Assembly states. "Education and training, which must be available to all, are essential for improving the quality of human resources and for sustaining economic growth."

Major challenges everywhere for the 1990s are the eradication of poverty and hunger, greater equity in income distribution and development of human resources, the Assembly declares.

"The international community should support efforts to arrest the current escalation of extreme poverty and hunger. It is essential to reverse the present deterioration of this grave situation", it concludes.

A global commitment

A report of the Secretary-General (A/AC.233/5), issued in January for the preparatory committee of the eighteenth special session, pointed out that industrialized countries frequently failed to consider the consequences of their policies for the developing countries. For example, it said, interest rates in developed countries, which directly affect the debt burden of developing countries, are taken primarily on the basis of the domestic situation in those countries.

The Declaration sets out to correct this situation:

"The major industrialized countries influence world economic growth and the international economic environment profoundly", it acknowledges. Then it adds: "The co-ordination of macro-economic policies should take full account of the interests and concerns of all countries, particularly the developing countries."

Other commitments and policies for international development cooperation are:

* Developing countries should continue to work towards keeping control over inflationary tendencies, promoting domestic savings, achieving favourable conditions for domestic and foreign investment, modernizing their economics and increasing their international competitiveness.

* Developed countries should "enhance the quantity and quality of their aid" and implement the agreed international target of 0.7 per cent of their gross national product to official development assistance and 0.15 per cent to least developed countries (LDCs).

* Appropriate additional resources for the LDCs should be considered at the upcoming global conference on the LDCs in Paris.

* In the 1990s, multilateral financial institutions should be provided with adequate resources to support long-term development, facilitate structural reform and finance programmers to alleviate the adverse social consequences of adjustment for poor and vulnerable groups.

* "Any present or future trends towards unilateralism, bilateralism and the erosion of the multilateral trading system must be arrested. Protectionism should be resisted everywhere; commitments to stand-still and roll-back of protectionism should be honoured."

* Better functioning commodity markets and more stable and predictable conditions are needed.

* Countries should seek to reduce military expenditures. The feasibility of channelling some of these reductions through financial mechanisms for development should be explored.

Large role for UN system

The Declaration affirms that the UN system "has a large role to play in international co-operation for reviatilizing development in the 1990s". The specialized agencies, in particular, have "a major responsibility" in this task. They already make "an indispensable contribution" to development.