Ladies and gentlemen,

I have a new grandchild. He is a wonderful little boy with a happy smile. He comes from Brazil. He will grow up in one of the richest and safest countries in the world.

Four weeks ago I visited Africa. In the slums of Nairobi I met a girl only four years old, carrying her little brother. She looked after him all day while their mother was at work.

It struck me that life is a lottery. It is a matter of luck whether you are growing up in Norway with all opportunities or in a slum struggling to survive.

We know that 1.2 billion people are living on less than a dollar a day. We are committed to changing this dismal figure. I am encouraged by the successful work of Synergos. All my political life I have been strongly committed to fighting poverty.

The challenges are daunting. We need to do more and we need to do better.

It is a dilemma that some of the richest families in the world come from the poorest countries. We need to change political systems that enrich the few and make the poor poorer. Corruption steals schooling and health care from the poor. My government is ready to hold back support if concrete measures are not taken to root out corruption and promote good governance.

In 1970 a commitment was made at the United Nations to spend 0.7 of GNI on development assistance. It is a dilemma that now, almost 35 years later, the average in the rich OECD countries is still at 0.27 %. Our credibility as partners for development is at stake. It is encouraging, however, that both the US and the EU countries have promised increased funds. I am happy to say that we expect to increase Norwegian development assistance to 0.95% for 2005.

Also, we need a breakthrough on trade. We must move forward on the Doha Development Agenda. It is a dilemma that protectionism in rich countries costs developing countries 100-150 billion dollars a year. This is at least twice the amount they receive in development assistance.

It is a dilemma that poverty can lead to environmental degradation. Village women cut down trees for firewood. This leads to desertification, which in turn undermines their livelihood. But because these women are poor, they have no choice. We have to break this vicious circle.

Governments, the International Financial Institutions, NGOs and individuals all play key roles in development assistance. As governments, we must work with the private sector and civil society, in order to unleash their potential in poverty reduction. Indeed, it was civil society, church organisations and dedicated individuals who started Norwegian development cooperation 50 years ago.

However, it is a dilemma that scarce government resources in developing countries are being spent on satisfying donors. Let me give you an example. Until recently, Tanzania has had to submit 10 000 reports to donors every year and receive 2 000 delegations. We must ask ourselves if we focus too much on flags and visibility and too little on the end result. Improved donor co-ordination is key to improving results.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Synergos says that poverty and inequity breed mistrust and fear – leading to a world in which we are all less secure. This is very true. We know that humiliation, abuse of human rights and occupation can fuel hate and terror. We know that terrorists and religious extremists misuse people’s hopeless situation to mobilise support for their extremist causes.

Without peace and stability our fight against poverty is doomed to fail.

An African man who had experienced great poverty said:

Poverty is like heat
you cannot see it.
So to know poverty
you have to go through it.

We cannot possibly understand the reality behind these words. What we do understand, however, is that the ultimate test of our efforts is whether we have made a real difference in the lives of people.

I want to see the same wonderful, happy smile from the little girl in Nairobi that I see on the face of my grandchild.

Together, we can make that happen.