26 September 2002 Calling for a major overhaul in the http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?774 international policy approach to African development, a http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1072 United Nations study released today says new initiatives http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1167 must be accompanied by outside aid, debt relief and access http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?477 to global markets.
From Adjustment to Poverty http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1048 Reduction: What is New?, produced by the UN Conference on http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?632 Trade and Development (UNCTAD), reviews over two dozen http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?820 recent strategy papers by international financial http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1032 institutions on African development and finds no fundamental http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1108 departure from the past approach which left the poor http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?686 vulnerable to macroeconomic policies. While the papers do http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?422 acknowledge the need for social safety nets to protect the http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?915 poor, they fail to adequately incorporate these concerns http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?469 into overall development policies.
UNCTAD warns against http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1650 quick poverty fixes that redirect government spending to http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1398 health and education at the expense of other types of public http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1495 investment. While welcoming the attention given to raising http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1263 social development standards, the study cautions that calls http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?360 for user fees in health and higher education suggest a http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?833 misplaced faith in markets as the fairest way to deliver on http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1224 these goals.
The strategy papers emphasize improving http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1539 governance as a prerequisite to sustained growth. In http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?445 response, UNCTAD cautions that there should be no illusions http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1007 about the pace of institutional improvement, nor should http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1496 there be any doubt that imposing common standards on http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?684 countries would be counterproductive.
The idea that http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1562 fighting corruption by diminishing government resources and http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1684 responsibilities is off-target, the study warns, calling for http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1173 a focus on quality government, not smaller government. http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?444
Introducing the study at a press conference in New York, http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1369 UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero welcomed the http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?350 renewed emphasis on poverty reduction by international http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?874 financial institutions. We think they are very much aware of http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?295 the need for economic growth as one of the preconditions for http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?590 fighting poverty, and we find much to share with them in http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?883 terms of the need to balance international support with good http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1505 national policy, with good governance. We are [also] in http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1647 favour of the idea of improving access to primary education http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?589 and public health care all those points are very positive. http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?1070
At the same time, he said when UNCTAD closely examined http://www.nefga.org/forum/entry.php?440 the poverty reduction strategy papers, they were not substantially different from past approaches, continuing an overemphasis on conditionalities, or provisions tied to aid.
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