African Recovery Committee recommends acceleration of Action Programme.

African Governments should continue to concentrate their efforts on agriculture and financial flows to the continent should be substantially increased. These were among recommendations adopted on 24 September by the General Assembly's Ad Hoc Committee of the Whole on the Review and Appraisal of the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development (1986-1990).

The high-level meeting was held from 12 to 24 September in New York. After two weeks of lengthy and intensive negotiations, the body completed its mid-term assessment of how to accelerate and ensure the effective implementation of the Programme during its remaining term.

Tom Eric Vraalsen of Norway, Chairman of the Committee, said in closing remarks that African countries had done their best in their restructuring efforts, and the international community had tried its best to complement those efforts. Yet, obviously, that was not enough and efforts had to be redoubled.

In 1986, the economic crisis devastating Africa was considered at a special session of the General Assembly, held from 27 May to 1 June at Headquarters.

It resulted in the unanimous approval of the five-year Programme of Action (resolution S-13/12), under which African States agreed to farreaching domestic policy reforms, while donor countries pledged increased assistance and action on factors hampering African recovery.

The Programme focuses on five main areas: agricultural development, sectors in support of agriculture, drought and desertification, human resources and socio-economic policy reforms. It provides the framework for what was describe "a new partnership" between Africa and the international community. An important

beginning'

The Ad Hoc Committee considered the Secretary-General's latest report on the African situation (AI431500 and Adds. 1 and 2), which gave a sober assessment of the continent's continuing deteriorating stale and OAU submission also. The situation was, the report stated, worse now than it was when the Programme of Action was adopted. Since then, some favourable results have been achieved in food production, but per capita income fell 2.2 per cent. "The plain fact is that there is widespread and severe personal hardship today throughout Africa," the Secretary-General reported,

The Committee asked the General Assembly to endorse its recommendations and to conduct a final review of the Programme in 1991.

Reform and restructuring now under way in Africa and ongoing international initiatives constitute an important beginning" However, the overall performance of African economics remained unsatisfactory, the Committee reported. Despite earnest efforts to carry out adjustments in their national eccnomic policies, most African States had found little reprieve from the harsh impact of climatic conditions and an unfavourable external economic environment. Internal constraints and the adverse impact of exogenous factors to' which African economies were highly susceptible, were impeding the reform process and severely hampering African development, it stated.

Five target areas

Agricultural development: more than 75 per cent of all Africans depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, The Committee noted the efforts of A&ican countries to ensure food self-sufficiency and to increase their exports. But those efforts have been hindered by certain factors, including: recurring and persistent drought, locusts and floods; decline of international commodity prices; competition from supported food exports; and inflow of lower priced agricultural products.

African countries should continue to concentrate efforts on agriculture and its supporting sectors, the rehabilitation and development of agro-industries, the fight against drought, desertification and pests, and other priorities identified in the Programme. It emphasized the importance due by recognizing the factors critical to increased agricultural production. The role of women as producers of a significant proportion of food should be protected and strengthened as new agricultural production methods are introduced.

Agricultural support sectors

The Committee noted that despite the attention given to agricultural infrastructure and tools, inadequate transportation remained a critical bottleneck in many countries. The agro-based manufacturing sector had stagnated or grown only marginally Increased attention and more resources should be given to the productive infrastructures in sectors supporting agriculture and to agro-based industries.

Drought and desertification

The link between economic wellbeing and the quality of the environment was stressed. The Committee wanted intensified action to more effectively combat environmental degradation arising from drought, desertification, deforestation, floods, locust and grasshopper infestation and the dumping of toxic and industrial wastes.

Human resources

Many internal constraints were linked to weaknesses in education, training and management systems. The Committee noted that human resources play a key role in the long-term development of the continent. African countries, it said, should place more stress on population policies and programmes. It called for broadened participation of people in the recovery and development process through increased access to development resources. Individual initiative and private enterprise should be encouraged. The role of women in development was deemed crucial.

Policy reforms Economic structural adjustment programmes should be realistic and consistent with projected resources and the internal and external environment. They should harmonize with long-term strategies and emphasize self-sustaining economic development and growth. Compensatory programmes should help minimize the adverse effects and social cost of redeployment and adjustment. The process of reform should be implemented as soon as possible in those countries that had not yet done so. It was noted that 30 countries were undertaking structural adjustment programmes.

Trade

African Governments should enhance participation in all major international trade negotiations. African products should become more competitive in international markets. Economies should be diversified and the efficiency of exports reinforced.

Economic co-operation

Existing sub-regional groupings should be strengthened. Measures should be taken to co-ordinate economic and social policies subregionally. Intra-African trade in primary and processed commodities should be promoted.

Political settlements of international and regional conflicts should be sought so that scarce resources could be directed towards recovery and development.

Financial flows

The Committee outlined measures to be taken by the international community to accelerate the Programme's implementation in such areas as resource flows, trade and commodities and external debt.

Financial flows to Africa, especially concessional flows, should be substantially increased, particularly to sub-Saharan countries. They should be provided on a continuous, predictable and fast-disbursing basis. All developed countries should allocate 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) to official development assistance (ODA).

The Committee said that while most resource flows to Africa would continue to be provided through official bilateral assistance and by multilateral institutions, private capital flows should also be encouraged. Donor countries whose aid had either decreased recently or was at a low level should increase ODA in real terms.

Pledges to the World Bank's Special Programme of Assistance for low-income, debt-distressed countries, the African Development Fund and the International Development Association (IDA) should be fulfilled without delay.

The quality of bilateral flows should be improved, particularly through more rapid disbursement of aid already pledged and increased concessionality.

Trade and commodities

An increase in Africa's export earnings and a reduction in the adverse impact on African economies of year-to-year fluctuations in those earnings would contribute to the attainment of sustained non-inflationary growth and would assist African reform efforts. An international environment more favourable to African exports and continued efforts to diversify exports should be sought.

Particular attention should be given to the mid-term review of the Uruguay Round, scheduled for December 1988, which should give a Dew impulse to the negotiations in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Debt

Efforts must continue to limit the burden that debt imposes on African recovery, reform and development. Debt rescheduling should be supplemented by multilateral and bilateral measures, including: rescheduling of debtservice payments of low-income African countries on more generous terms; increasing the grant element in future assistance; and continuing efforts by creditor countries to write off or otherwise remove the burden of ODA loans, through measures such as repayment in local currencies.

Concessional resource flows should be made available to lowincome countries undertaking structural adjustment. New methods to reduce commercial debt should be applied.