Ban: Africa is most at risk

2008-04-22 08:20

Accra - United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon cast doubt on whether sub-Sahara Africa will meet a 2015 deadline for eradicating extreme poverty, despite an economic boom linked to higher commodity prices.

"Many countries are falling behind," Ban told the ongoing UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in Ghana's capital, Accra, which opened on Sunday and runs through Friday.

"This region, sub-Saharan Africa, is most at risk here. Not a single country is on track to meet all the MDGs by 2015," he said, referring to the Millennium Development Goals agreed by all UN member states in 2000.

Soaring food prices worldwide were making it harder to meet development goals, he added. "High prices threaten to undo the gains achieved so far in fighting hunger and malnutrition," Ban said.

"They call for a substantial increase in investment and expenditure in agriculture. They underscore the importance of pushing for an open trading system in agricultural commodities, which will benefit countries around the world."

Universal primary education

The Millennium Development Goals notably call for extreme poverty - defined as living on less than one dollar a day - to be slashed by half by 2015. Other targets included universal primary education and halting the spread of HIV/Aids.

The UN secretary-general urged African states benefiting from a boom in commodity prices to increase their development spending, and he called on international donors to make good on their own foreign aid commitments.

"Today's high commodity prices present a unique opportunity to reduce trade-distorting subsidies and tariffs on agricultural products," said Ban at a UNCTAD session titled: "Trade and Development for Africa's Prosperity."

He encouraged all countries - and especially developed nations - to do more to reduce trade-distorting subsidies that had hindered progress at the Doha round of global trade talks that began in 2001.

Benefits of globalisation

World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy on Sunday said a breakthrough on the Doha round could be achieved in the next few weeks.

Global food prices and the plight of the world's poorest had been at the fore of the conference, which brought together political leaders, the private sector and representatives of civil society.

Ban said: "The benefits of globalisation, especially increased trade and investment are some of the surest drivers of long-term growth and human development. Regrettably, Africa has yet to benefit from these worldwide trends."

The most high-profile foreign head of state at the conference, Brazilian President Luiz Ignacio Lila da Silva, who was to return home on Monday, had spent much of his visit pressing for an end to farm subsidies in rich nations.

He also urged rich countries running out of arable land to transfer their agricultural know-how to developing countries that have such land, but which lacked the means to cultivate it.

- AFP