Twenty years ago, I attended the first UN LDC Conference in Paris as a young NGO representative. It was my first major UN conference. I was deeply impressed by its size, but I was not at all impressed by its outcome.

Twenty years later, the human suffering of hundreds of millions is unbearable and intolerable. Our obligations to fight poverty are overwhelming - yet the international community has not lived up to these obligations. The number of LDCs keeps increasing - more than a third of them are worse off than 20 years ago. Many LDCs are embroiled in conflict, which is yet another indication of the relationship between poverty and conflict.

What matters for the least developed countries is economic development and sustainable growth. There is no other way to reduce poverty. An effective and accountable public sector is essential. The idea of development without private sector development is an illusion. And between the public and private sectors, partnerships - also with trade unions and civil society - respecting the roles and the right of each, are essential. Capacity building and decent work must be integrated into our approaches to poverty reduction.

But sustainable development and economic growth cannot be adopted or declared. They require an enabling environment, containing at least the following elements:

• Good domestic governance. The economic policy of LDCs must be coherent and conducive to investment. Corruption must be fought. Conflicts must be resolved. Human rights must be respected.
• Good global governance. Trade barriers must be lowered. Markets in developed countries must be opened. The industrialized countries and international institutions must coordinate their policies and serve the LDCs better.
• Debt relief. The debt problems of the least developed countries must be controlled. Scarce resources must be allocated to vital development efforts.
• An enabling physical and human environment: Bring an end to the hiv/aids pandemic. Access to clean water. Adequate education and health services. Sustainable resource management.

This time we have come to Brussels in order to achieve results. And we are bringing with us concrete contributions:

• We have decided to abolish tariffs for all products except arms from LDCs, with a short transition period. We will also intensify technical cooperation in the field of trade.
• We have contributed to the newly established Trust Fund for trade-related technical assistance under the Integrated Framework for LDCs.
• We were active partners in the recent OECD/DAC decision to untie bilateral aid. This is an important step towards improving the quality of aid.

• We have intensified our effort on debt relief - within and beyond the framework of the HIPC initiative, granting 100% bilateral relief and pressing for the full financing of the remaining multilateral effort.
• A major new effort is needed to strengthen the productive capacities of LDCs. Norway sponsored a symposium in Oslo on the role of the private sector, where we advocated promoting private-public partnerships. Increased corporate social responsibility is important.
• We must all do more to promote investment towards LDCs. Within the framework of the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries, or NORFUND, we are considering measures that will direct more investments to LDCs.
• Norway will contribute some 6.7 million US dollars to the new UNDP multi-donor trust fund on governance, with a specific window for LDCs.
• We will continue to live up to our ODA commitments, with a view to reaching 1 per cent of GNP and maintaining the share of support to LDCs above the target set by the Paris Conference.
• We have significantly increased our funding of our main development priorities, - health, education, children, women and HIV/AIDS -, which will mainly benefit the LDCs.
• We are making fresh efforts to put sustainable energy supplies back on the development agenda.

We trust that the next program of action will be a good road map for the period ahead. All multilateral agencies - including the Bretton Woods institutions - must commit themselves to an effective follow up. Existing constraints for a focused effort to give priority to the LDCs should be overcome.

If the program of action is to have more effect where it matters - in the livelihoods of the poor - monitoring and support mechanisms need to be strengthened. Norway believes that the follow-up process should be enhanced on several levels.

-- First, we would like to see a continued and strengthened interagency secretariat to ensure a broad-based and coherent follow-up.

-- We also support the idea of an LDC coordinator with a wide interagency mandate and responsibilities in the multilateral system.

-- Furthermore, we need a stronger mechanism at intergovernmental level. The LDC segment in the UNCTAD Trade and Development Board has not managed to do enough for the cause of the LDCs. Here again, we would be looking to a broader and more comprehensive approach.

The future of the LDCs will - in the end - be determined by these countries themselves. This is the principle of the national plans of action and poverty reduction strategies now being put in place as frameworks for promoting development.

This should be the message coming from this conference: A strong commitment by the LDCs to assume responsibility for their own future. A national commitment to governance is a prerequisite for development.

Our response as partners in development should equally be clear and committed: strong support for capacity-building measures both in the social sector and in the private sector, assisting the LDCs to benefit from access to world markets that are now open to them, stimulating investment, and living up to our ODA commitments.

We cannot afford to fail again.

We must prove that globalization also works for the poor.

Otherwise its legitimacy will be at stake.