Mr. President,

We are here to add our voice and join with you in your commitment to the claim that this century should be the Century of Africa – the century of the full utilization of Africa’s potential, by and for its people. The UN Millennium Declaration highlighted the role the UN will have to play in order to realize this potential.

Over the past year we have seen remarkable efforts by African leaders to mobilize leadership and show the way. A framework is emerging for new, forward-looking partnerships with a greater degree of mutual commitment. It is in this context that Norway welcomes the opportunity to discuss the role of the UN in supporting sustainable development in Africa at this year’s high-level segment.

1. New African Initiative

The efforts now being made by Africa to learn from the past and move forward to confront the new globalized economy are indeed creating new opportunities.

The mobilization of new energy, drawing on the rich heritage and capabilities of the countries on the African continent, has a value far beyond anything that can be achieved by the transfer of external resources and technology. Indeed, this mobilization is a prerequisite for moving forward. The UN cannot produce sustainable development in Africa. Neither can other development partners. This is Africa’s task.

But it is also the task of the entire global community, especially the relevant agencies and development partners, to respond to and to expand the opportunities that Africa is now generating from within. We are all stakeholders in a common future. We need Africa, its tenacious hope, its optimism, its skills and its understanding of the shared reality of which we are all a part.

The OAU Summit established the African Union. It also agreed on an ambitious programme for eradicating poverty and promoting economic development. This has added strength to our shared global ambition and commitment to achieve, as we promised each other in the Millennium Declaration. We now need to demonstrate that together we can deliver.

2. Responding to our commitments

In many donor countries, including Norway, questions are being raised by the public about the effectiveness of our development efforts and the value of foreign aid. As governments, we all face a growing demand for focus and for results. The same applies to the UN agencies. This is why we all, governments and the UN alike, should waste no more time spinning out words that do not lead to action.

This has a great deal to do with governance and accountability – both nationally and internationally. There was a heavy focus on this in the general debate at the recent annual meeting of the African Development Bank. What does it take to qualify as a partner? Much has been said about what the international community expects from the countries of Africa. But there is also a code of conduct required of the development partners in terms of governance, accountability and relationships. Here there is still a lot more work to be done in order to establish predictability, transparency and mutuality.

The UN should now embrace the New African Initiative and build upon it in its partnerships, working closely with African leaders to unite pro-poor growth in Africa with ownership firmly rooted in Africa.

Norway is looking forward to a detailed response from the UN system. This response should indicate how the New African Initiative may lead to more successful programmes than former initiatives, which, although they have made important contributions, have largely failed to achieve comprehensive change.

It is generally agreed that the African countries need to build confidence in their economies, in their policies and in their civil services and judiciaries. Only then can they attract ODA and the foreign direct investment required to fuel their economic development. They must also diversify their economies to enable them to compete in global markets. Taking these factors together, it is clear that we need to take a new look at policy coherence across national boundaries and to examine how the development institutional framework can serve this purpose.

There is a need to link efforts and create better synergies across the different arenas where pro-poor policies are being discussed and negotiated. As one example, we should make a shared effort to build more effective bridges between the efforts of our finance ministers and finance institutions on the one hand and those of our foreign ministries and the development community, including the UN, on the other. In this regard, the UN Conference on Financing for Development holds a promise that needs to be further nurtured.

We all talk about national ownership as a prerequisite for effective development. Now we must learn to listen and to discern that ownership is there – in this case as reflected in the New African Initiative – if we would only allow it to unfold. We need to build partnerships based on realities – the many realities of Africa – not on sweeping, generalized perceptions.

Mr President,

While speaking of perceptions and reality, I would like also to highlight the realities of women in Africa – as a tremendous potential and a force for economic development, political action and peace. We need to put this reality up front. Perhaps the New African Initiative could also incorporate a Pan African Women’s Peace Initiative, as was suggested by one of the prominent African women leaders in a conversation during this meeting.

3.Peace, democracy and good governance

The potential and possibilities in Africa are evident, but so are the challenges and obstacles to sustainable development. First of all, Africa is still the poorest of all continents, though a number of its countries have made important strides in their economic development. Moreover, protracted internal conflicts and wars are having a detrimental effect on the development of the affected countries and regions.

Peace is essential in order to achieve development. Those African countries that have avoided conflict have also experienced the highest economic growth. Lack of democracy and respect for human rights, as well as corrupt or malfunctioning governments, are also serious impediments to economic and social development. These in turn often lead to conflict, further diminishing the outlook for development. Africa’s experience has demonstrated that peace, democracy, economic freedom and development are indivisible and inseparable.

4. An integrated approach

To strengthen its role, the UN should develop an integrated approach to peace and development at country level as well as at sub-regional level. This should include the harmonization of activities in the political, security, human rights and development fields. This is a core premise for Norway’s work as a member of the Security Council. Comprehensive peace operations in recent years address in an integrated manner the twin challenges of building durable peace and sustainable development.

The Brahimi Report rightly points out that there is a need to strengthen the UN’s capacity to plan and implement peace operations. In our view, implementing the recommendations of this report is one of the most concrete ways in which we could contribute to the promotion of durable peace and sustainable development in Africa.

5.Coordination

We have talked a lot about coordination of efforts. We need to push on. It is even more important to engage in processes that nurture dynamic national and local leadership and build on broad consultative approaches, as pointed out in the UNDP statement at this Council meeting. Basing policy choice on a democratic process of popular consultation and dialogue is essential for a functional PRSP process. There continues to be an urgent need to reduce the burden on the recipient governments. Closer cooperation between the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions on harmonizing the PRSP and CDF processes with the CAS, CCA and UNDAF should be strived for. Coordinating all these instruments with the New African Initiative is a formidable challenge. National leadership must pave the way.

6. HIV/AIDS

The effect of the HIV/AIDS scourge on the African continent is well documented. Norway is following with close interest the current process of establishing a global health and HIV/AIDS fund. Furthermore, we are supporting the efforts to establish a broader health fund, which also incorporates tuberculosis and malaria. We are particularly concerned, however, that the African countries should be allowed to define the critical issues and the modalities under which such a fund can be most useful.

This and the vaccine initiative (GAVI) are efforts through which we feel we can demonstrate new partnerships and show better results, provided we take the trouble to refine the approaches as we go, so that they can serve as pathfinders in a new style of development cooperation.

7. Increased ODA

Given the enormous challenges facing the African continent, the international community needs to mobilize additional resources to eradicate poverty and reach the target of the Millennium Declaration. Norway views the enhanced HIPC initiative as an important measure for achieving these aims. Further initiatives to reduce the burden of debt should be considered. However, ODA is still the most important source of development funding. Norway contributes 0.84 per cent of its GNP to ODA. We would urge other donor countries to step up their ODA funding to reach the target of 0.7 per cent of GNP. Norway stands ready to back this appeal with a commitment to high ODA levels and to partnerships and political cooperation. The Financing for Development conference will be an important landmark in this regard.

Mr. President,

We believe in the UN as a key actor. I would therefore conclude by emphasizing the importance of the role played by the Economic and Social Council in giving direction to the UN system in its efforts to strengthen support for poverty eradication and sustainable development and for combating disease and pandemics in Africa. The Secretary-General rightly points to the mobilization of political will in the African countries themselves and in the international community as a crucial factor. A stronger partnership with Africa calls for a more comprehensive framework and more closely coordinated efforts. Only a strengthened UN system can achieve this.