Mr David Hansen Political Adviser to the Minister of International Development of Norway

Speech to the launching event of UNDP’s Human Development Report 2003

Oslo, 8 July 2003

As delivered

I am very pleased to be here and to have the opportunity to address the launching of UNDP’s Human Development Report 2003. In Norway this annual report has been given special attention the last three years because our country has been placed as number one on the Human Development Index. Although the report also this year places Norway on top of this development index I will not spend more time on this.

What I find much more worthy of interest is the reality for those many, many countries that hits the bottom of the index. This years report reveals a world where the chasm between the richest and the poorest people is growing. Indeed it provides solid documentation of the intolerable fact that 20 countries falls on the list. 54 countries have become poorer during the last 10-15 years.

Let’s take a look at the issue of poverty and development - and what we need to do in order to nurture development and combat poverty.

First, what are we talking about? The main characteristic of being poor is indeed being left without alternatives, without choice, without rights, without freedom. That is also why we often use the phrase "caught in the poverty trap". The perspective of development as freedom, development as rights, is therefore a vital prerequisite for understanding the overall challenge we face.

The Challenge

To remind us all, of why we need global commitment, allow me to present some simple facts illustrating the illness of our global society all too clearly:

• 1.2 billion people live on less than a dollar a day.

• The same number of people lack access to safe drinking water - twice as many have no access to adequate sanitation.
• 1.6 billion people have no access to electricity. Eighty per cent of these live in Africa and India.
• At the current rate of progress it will take 130 years to eradicate hunger in the world.
• The average Norwegian man can expect to live until he is 75 years old. The average man living in Sierra Leone or Angola at the very bottom of the Human Development Index can only expect to live 39 to 40 years.

The Millennium Development Goals

At the turn of the Millennium world leaders decided that it was enough. It was time to make a major effort, to make a difference, to put and end to world poverty. The centre of this commitment is the eight Millennium Development Goals.

The MDGs constitute a road map for the fight against poverty - a global compact between developing and developed countries. After this agreement all countries have also agreed, - for the first time – to monitor the progress. The MDGs have placed the interest of the poor at the top of the international agenda. Heads of state, including the G8 leaders, cite them frequently, and are agreed that poverty is the greatest scourge of our time. World leaders are saying that they will combat poverty by co-operation, by financial assistance, by making coherent and consistent policies with the fight against poverty. This, ladies and gentlemen, is a major breakthrough in international politics.

And, the MDGs are ambitious. We have committed ourselves to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. We are committed to reducing child mortality by 2/3 and to achieve universal primary education for all, boys and girls alike. We are committed to promoting gender equality and empowerment of women. Poverty and environmental degradation is a most dangerous mixture - we have committed ourselves to ensure environmental sustainability. We have committed ourselves to combat pandemics like hiv/aids and malaria.

The main responsibility lies with the developing countries themselves. They have to improve their performance and policies in all these areas – mentioned in the seven first MDGs.

But with the goal number eight, the rich part of the world has committed itself to do what is necessary in a global partnership to eradicate poverty. We have committed ourselves to change policies, to develop a more open trade and investment system. We have committed ourselves to deal comprehensively with developing countries’ debt problems, and - to provide access to affordable essential drugs. We have committed ourselves to increase development assistance. And there is more. We really have a colossal job to do and there is very little time.

We need not only committed governments, but also dedicated partners in civil society. The role of the NGOs is crucial, not only in delivery, but also advocacy and in being watchdogs - in relation to all the commitments - all of the tasks. Especially there is a great task for policy shapers in helping to build awareness and support amongst people in donor countries so that policymakers can act in accordance with their promises.

The challenges are daunting. We are to lift millions and billions out of poverty, not hundreds or a few thousand. In order to make the MDGs come true, to change the lives of hundreds of millions of people, - we need primarily to work globally and with and through national governments. If the poorest countries are to get out of the poverty trap we need to work with and through the state. Failed states will remain there in the poverty trap, and with them - their poor inhabitants. We need to build functioning states, governments, and a public sector that works. We will not reach the MDGs if we ignore governments, ignore the state.

The four fronts

How can we halve extreme poverty by 2015? How can we reach the Millennium Development Goals? The way I see it actions are needed on at least four areas simultaneously:

1. International framework conditions

If we do not allow for easier access to markets and sustainable debt reduction schemes - the poorest countries will not be able to benefit from globalization. So - our first area fit for reform is international framework conditions; debt reduction, trade and investment regimes. Let’s remember, for most of the developing countries, this is more important than development aid in itself - although maybe not for the very poorest. We must ensure consistency and coherence between the goals the international community has set itself for poverty reduction and the framework that same community is putting in place to achieve them. What we do in development cooperation can even be undermined by bad trade policies.

2. National governments must do better

Second area of change, no less important – is the need for developing countries to put their own house in order, improve their policies and governance. Reforms are needed. Developing countries themselves need to assign priorities, draw up strategies, invest in human resources and implement poverty-oriented policies. Good governance, that is anti-corruption policies, democracy-building and the respect for human rights is crucial to combat poverty and make development sustainable. These are also preconditions to attract investments and to make development assistance constructive. It is a fact that development assistance is most efficient and delivers more in countries with good governance.

In order to transform the opportunities arising from debt reduction and trade reforms into sustainable development, political, economic and social reforms in the developing countries themselves is required. Robust development strategies based on active participation by civil society and elected bodies is required - also to ensure that released funds are being used in a way conducive to development.

3. More and better donor assistance

Thirdly, policies matter, but resources are also crucial. Official Development Assistance must be improved in quantity, as well as quality. Reforms are needed. UN statistics show that in 2002 the world’s total military spending amounted to USD 850 billion. The total development co-operation assistance in 2002 amounted to USD 50 billion. We need another USD 50 billion per year to be able to reach the MDGs. It makes you think – doesn’t it?

The need for more ODA is a fairly simple, but yet an extremely important case to make for the general public in donor countries. Little is often known about the level of ODA one’s own country is contributing. In a poll in the US people were asked if they thought their country could provide additional ODA, and what the level in terms of % of GNI might be now. A majority was willing to see the Government spend more money on ODA – but, most people thought that the level of development aid was above 10% of GNI! We all know the reality - in 2002 it was 0,12%.

The Norwegian Government has pledged to increase its development assistance to 1 per cent of GNI by 2005. We are moving steadily towards this goal, but we now only stand at 0.93 per cent. Support in both Parliament and amongst the public is needed to be able to achieve this goal.

During the l990s we saw a steady decline in the global levels of net official development assistance. The trends seem to change, though, and we expect a 30% increase over the next three years. However we are far behind the necessary doubling-. All OECD countries should therefore fulfil the 3 decade old pledge to reach 0,7% of GNI.

We also need to talk about donor reform. Donor-reform is not only ODA-quantity. In addition to more aid – we need to get more poverty reduction out of every dollar. We need to reform the way in which we deliver aid. We need not only more, but better aid.

4. Private sector and civil society

There is a fourth area we need to look at - we must make a great effort to engage the private sector for the achievement of the MDGs. Civil society matters - in rich countries as well as in poor. There is a lot of unexploited potential in these sectors. Entrepreneurs and agents of change must be given better framework conditions. The private sector is crucial in to the achievement of the MDGs. We cannot manage through ODA alone. NGO’s and civil society must be strengthened so that they can fulfil their roles as watchdogs in democratic societies.

We have to work on all these four fronts simultaneously. All are imperative if we are to reach the MDGs by 2015. If we work along all these fronts to the maximum of our ability, we may have a chance. To help us along the way, we need monitoring of our performance, not only of the progress that the developing countries are making, but also of our own. Here, we also have the issue of coherence. There must be coherence between national policies and their repercussions on our development goals.

Dear friends, decision makers need decision-shapers in order to make the difficult choices. Faced with vested interests we too often choose the easy way out, to do nothing. Decision makers need strong allies advocating for the poor. I would therefore like to thank UNDP’s Nordic Office for organizing this launch, enabling a renewed focus on our responsibilities. The Human Development is one of the most renowned reports of its kind. May it help us and other governments all over the world to rededicate ourselves to our mission, to combat poverty!