Group of 77 & China
STATEMENT BY
Honourable Donald Buchanan, M.P.,
Minister of Water and Housing of Jamaica
On behalf of
THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA
TO
THE HIGH-LEVEL PLENARY OF
COMMITSHSEI OTHNI ORNTE SEUNSTTHA SINESASBILOEN D OEVF ETLHOEPMENT
(New York, 20th to 22nd April, 2005)
Wednesday, 20th April, 2005
{Please check against delivery}
Mr. Chairman,
On behalf of my colleague Ministers in the Group of 77 and China, I thank you for
inviting us to be a part of these deliberations. You may be assured of our active participation
during the next two days.
Mr. Chairman,
Let me share with you and my other ministerial colleagues some of our thoughts
regarding these discussions on the themes of water, sanitation and human settlements. I am
certain that you have been left in no doubt as to our position on the issues and would have had
the benefit of our specific detailed recommendations as to how we propose to meet the targets
set by the Johannesburg Programme of Implementation. Allow me therefore to elaborate on a
few of these general principles:
First, on the role of government.
Mr. Chairman,
Governments represent the people. Those who choose us, do so on the basis that
Governments have the primary responsibility for facilitating its citizens' access to affordable,
appropriate and sustainable water, sanitation and housing, particularly for the most vulnerable
in society. When these are not forthcoming, or are seen to be sub-standard, it is the
Government which is held responsible; defamed; sued; even occasionally thrown out of
power.
It was the Governments that committed themselves to the Millennium Development
Goals and who agreed on the Political Declaration and Programme of Implementation at
Johannesburg.
It is the reason that I and my colleague Ministers are here today.
Against this background, we as Governments recognise that we cannot simply
delegate our responsibility in a wholesale manner, to others.
Having said this, Mr. Chairman, the G-77 and China also recognise that, if we are to
be successful in meeting our goals and targets in the three thematic areas, then we cannot act
alone. It is quite obvious that we must all explore public-private as well as public-public
partnerships, in order to leverage the kind of resources - human and financial - to achieve
these goals and targets.
Mr. Chairman,
While we know that water, sanitation and human settlements are linked to issues to be
covered in subsequent cycles; today I will only focus on water, sanitation and human
settlements and the main obstacle to achieving progress in these areas: lack of financial
resources.
2
On that point, Mr. Chairman,
We continue to hear calls for an `enabling domestic environment', particularly for
successful interventions in the water and sanitation sectors. The G77 and China agrees with
calls for increased international support for the creation of this enabling environment, as
requested and indicated by the affected countries. The G77 and China also agrees with
recommendations for increased and better integrated planning incorporating the three sectors;
the involvement of all relevant stakeholders; and tapping into local and indigenous knowledge
including the re-capturing of `lost knowledge'. These were amongst the host of
recommendations that were submitted to this Commission during this Session.
Mr. Chairman, Colleague-Ministers, I have some bad news:
Many developing countries have already put in place all or most of these measures to
some degree. Particularly in the areas of water and sanitation, many of us in the `South' have
laid the necessary foundations, managed to create and sustain - however tenuously - some
kind of `enabling domestic environment'. Despite this, we are still waiting for `success'; still
lagging behind in delivering on our commitments to our respective populations; and many of
us in danger of not meeting the global targets in these three areas. We are literally unable to
move forward in any meaningful way, because we simply do not have and cannot leverage the
kind of financial resources necessary to do so.
Mr. Chairman, Colleague-Ministers, Experts,
I know that you will agree with me that, for the most part, we require a mixed set of
interventions in the three thematic areas to achieve any kind of success.
The G77 and China has highlighted, in our submissions to the Commission, the need
for the small, community-based, innovative approach to the provision of these services.
Often, this is the only way to achieve basic access as well as wider coverage in developing
countries.
Unfortunately, this approach alone will not bring about sustainable access to these
services across the national spectrum. For the developing countries to meet the goals and
targets of the MDGs and the JPOI, then the international community will have to face up to
the fact that large infrastructure and management projects, and their attendant programmes
and policies, will have to be financed, implemented and sustained; that this will require
massive capital injections, which often exceed any budgetary allocation that may be made by
developing country governments. In addition, investments in these three areas must not result
in high costs and user fees, as this would defeat the purpose of the projects. This is a serious
challenge faced by many developing countries, especially when we try to enter into
partnerships with domestic or international private sector or multilateral interests.
Mr. Chairman,
We; the international community; should work together to overcome the single-most
difficult obstacle of lack of financial resources.
3
For our part, the Group of 77 and China has suggested some recommendations. Debt
cancellation, debt swaps; increased ODA in keeping with commitments and increased market
access for developing countries together with reform of the international trading regime are
just a few of our suggestions.
We would also ask that international financial institutions place greater emphasis on
lending for infrastructure projects; to redress the decline in funding for this area that has been
occurring in recent years; but that there be significant reduction in the interest rates applied to
such loans, to enable recipient countries to avoid adding to their existing debt burdens and to
manage repayments, without prejudice to competing budgetary demands.
I would be very interested to hear from my fellow Ministers, particularly those
representing the developed donor countries represented here today, about which of these
recommendations they would be prepared to utilise to clear the resource hurdle of which I
have spoken.
For those of my colleagues who have already increased their ODA toward these
efforts, I would only ask that you encourage your counterparts in other developed countries to
join this progressive trend.
We remain eager to hear your response.
Mr. Chairman,
The developing world is home to the world's most populous countries and host to its
most populous cities. The `South' represents the world's fastest-growing urbanisation trend,
which means that the majority of the world's population will eventually be living in urban
centres in the developing world. These statistics call for urgent response to the issue of
human settlements, given the institutional and financial deficiencies that plague developing
countries, including our ability to cope with these kinds of pressures.
In most countries, the challenge of human settlements is generated by pressures
wrought by population movements, mainly rural-urban drifts, as well as the influx of refugees
and economic migrants, who are themselves spurred by poverty, lack of employment
opportunities, lack of access to education and adequate health care services as well as factors
such as war and political instability.
The Group of 77 and China therefore joins in the call for integrated planning and
management of human settlements, incorporating water supply and sanitation, as well as land
use, housing, waste management, employment, income-generation, education, health care and
transportation considerations, among others. We also support the recommendations, (as
reflected in your Report, Mr. Chairman), for innovative approaches to the successful
provision of low-cost housing, including utilisation of community-based institutions.
Similarly, we have called for the integration of slum upgrading and slum prevention into
national development planning. With a view to sharing experiences, I would also be
interested in hearing, from my colleagues, during our upcoming discussions, of their
4
experience and lessons learnt with addressing the social causes of cyclical slum-creation,
particularly social apathy and displacement in large housing development and `dormitory
communities'.
Mr. Chairman,
In the area of human settlements, there is also a need for the international community
to assist developing countries. The G77 and China urges international donors and institutions
to support and provide innovative forms of financing for low-income housing and community
improvements. We also call upon multilateral and regional development banks to increase the
percentage of their allocations to the housing sector.
The G77 and China also calls for increased support to UN-HABITAT, in particular, its
Slum Upgrading Facility. We urge increased support to refugee host countries, particularly
for the development and maintenance of housing, water and sanitation infrastructure, as well
as the development and rehabilitation of eco-systems and other habitat that incur damage in
the process of receiving ad settling refugees. There should be increased support to the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to enhance its capacity to assist
refugee host countries, as appropriate, in a realistic and consistent manner.
Mr. Chairman, Colleagues,
I close by stating categorically, that the G77 and China reaffirms its commitment to
pursuing sustainable development. As difficult and complex as this may seem, we view
sustainable development as the only, logical course for all countries. When we conceive of
the natural environment, we do not envision the world outside and apart from ourselves, but
the world which includes all human beings. It is this vision which makes us anxious to put in
place proper infrastructure and management in the areas of water, sanitation and human
settlements. We have experienced and are experiencing the negative results of human
pressures coupled with inadequacies in these three systems; including the very health, wellbeing
and survival of our own species.
I thank you.
Honourable Donald Buchanan, M.P.,
Minister of Water and Housing of Jamaica
On behalf of
THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA
TO
THE HIGH-LEVEL PLENARY OF
COMMITSHSEI OTHNI ORNTE SEUNSTTHA SINESASBILOEN D OEVF ETLHOEPMENT
(New York, 20th to 22nd April, 2005)
Wednesday, 20th April, 2005
{Please check against delivery}
Mr. Chairman,
On behalf of my colleague Ministers in the Group of 77 and China, I thank you for
inviting us to be a part of these deliberations. You may be assured of our active participation
during the next two days.
Mr. Chairman,
Let me share with you and my other ministerial colleagues some of our thoughts
regarding these discussions on the themes of water, sanitation and human settlements. I am
certain that you have been left in no doubt as to our position on the issues and would have had
the benefit of our specific detailed recommendations as to how we propose to meet the targets
set by the Johannesburg Programme of Implementation. Allow me therefore to elaborate on a
few of these general principles:
First, on the role of government.
Mr. Chairman,
Governments represent the people. Those who choose us, do so on the basis that
Governments have the primary responsibility for facilitating its citizens' access to affordable,
appropriate and sustainable water, sanitation and housing, particularly for the most vulnerable
in society. When these are not forthcoming, or are seen to be sub-standard, it is the
Government which is held responsible; defamed; sued; even occasionally thrown out of
power.
It was the Governments that committed themselves to the Millennium Development
Goals and who agreed on the Political Declaration and Programme of Implementation at
Johannesburg.
It is the reason that I and my colleague Ministers are here today.
Against this background, we as Governments recognise that we cannot simply
delegate our responsibility in a wholesale manner, to others.
Having said this, Mr. Chairman, the G-77 and China also recognise that, if we are to
be successful in meeting our goals and targets in the three thematic areas, then we cannot act
alone. It is quite obvious that we must all explore public-private as well as public-public
partnerships, in order to leverage the kind of resources - human and financial - to achieve
these goals and targets.
Mr. Chairman,
While we know that water, sanitation and human settlements are linked to issues to be
covered in subsequent cycles; today I will only focus on water, sanitation and human
settlements and the main obstacle to achieving progress in these areas: lack of financial
resources.
2
On that point, Mr. Chairman,
We continue to hear calls for an `enabling domestic environment', particularly for
successful interventions in the water and sanitation sectors. The G77 and China agrees with
calls for increased international support for the creation of this enabling environment, as
requested and indicated by the affected countries. The G77 and China also agrees with
recommendations for increased and better integrated planning incorporating the three sectors;
the involvement of all relevant stakeholders; and tapping into local and indigenous knowledge
including the re-capturing of `lost knowledge'. These were amongst the host of
recommendations that were submitted to this Commission during this Session.
Mr. Chairman, Colleague-Ministers, I have some bad news:
Many developing countries have already put in place all or most of these measures to
some degree. Particularly in the areas of water and sanitation, many of us in the `South' have
laid the necessary foundations, managed to create and sustain - however tenuously - some
kind of `enabling domestic environment'. Despite this, we are still waiting for `success'; still
lagging behind in delivering on our commitments to our respective populations; and many of
us in danger of not meeting the global targets in these three areas. We are literally unable to
move forward in any meaningful way, because we simply do not have and cannot leverage the
kind of financial resources necessary to do so.
Mr. Chairman, Colleague-Ministers, Experts,
I know that you will agree with me that, for the most part, we require a mixed set of
interventions in the three thematic areas to achieve any kind of success.
The G77 and China has highlighted, in our submissions to the Commission, the need
for the small, community-based, innovative approach to the provision of these services.
Often, this is the only way to achieve basic access as well as wider coverage in developing
countries.
Unfortunately, this approach alone will not bring about sustainable access to these
services across the national spectrum. For the developing countries to meet the goals and
targets of the MDGs and the JPOI, then the international community will have to face up to
the fact that large infrastructure and management projects, and their attendant programmes
and policies, will have to be financed, implemented and sustained; that this will require
massive capital injections, which often exceed any budgetary allocation that may be made by
developing country governments. In addition, investments in these three areas must not result
in high costs and user fees, as this would defeat the purpose of the projects. This is a serious
challenge faced by many developing countries, especially when we try to enter into
partnerships with domestic or international private sector or multilateral interests.
Mr. Chairman,
We; the international community; should work together to overcome the single-most
difficult obstacle of lack of financial resources.
3
For our part, the Group of 77 and China has suggested some recommendations. Debt
cancellation, debt swaps; increased ODA in keeping with commitments and increased market
access for developing countries together with reform of the international trading regime are
just a few of our suggestions.
We would also ask that international financial institutions place greater emphasis on
lending for infrastructure projects; to redress the decline in funding for this area that has been
occurring in recent years; but that there be significant reduction in the interest rates applied to
such loans, to enable recipient countries to avoid adding to their existing debt burdens and to
manage repayments, without prejudice to competing budgetary demands.
I would be very interested to hear from my fellow Ministers, particularly those
representing the developed donor countries represented here today, about which of these
recommendations they would be prepared to utilise to clear the resource hurdle of which I
have spoken.
For those of my colleagues who have already increased their ODA toward these
efforts, I would only ask that you encourage your counterparts in other developed countries to
join this progressive trend.
We remain eager to hear your response.
Mr. Chairman,
The developing world is home to the world's most populous countries and host to its
most populous cities. The `South' represents the world's fastest-growing urbanisation trend,
which means that the majority of the world's population will eventually be living in urban
centres in the developing world. These statistics call for urgent response to the issue of
human settlements, given the institutional and financial deficiencies that plague developing
countries, including our ability to cope with these kinds of pressures.
In most countries, the challenge of human settlements is generated by pressures
wrought by population movements, mainly rural-urban drifts, as well as the influx of refugees
and economic migrants, who are themselves spurred by poverty, lack of employment
opportunities, lack of access to education and adequate health care services as well as factors
such as war and political instability.
The Group of 77 and China therefore joins in the call for integrated planning and
management of human settlements, incorporating water supply and sanitation, as well as land
use, housing, waste management, employment, income-generation, education, health care and
transportation considerations, among others. We also support the recommendations, (as
reflected in your Report, Mr. Chairman), for innovative approaches to the successful
provision of low-cost housing, including utilisation of community-based institutions.
Similarly, we have called for the integration of slum upgrading and slum prevention into
national development planning. With a view to sharing experiences, I would also be
interested in hearing, from my colleagues, during our upcoming discussions, of their
4
experience and lessons learnt with addressing the social causes of cyclical slum-creation,
particularly social apathy and displacement in large housing development and `dormitory
communities'.
Mr. Chairman,
In the area of human settlements, there is also a need for the international community
to assist developing countries. The G77 and China urges international donors and institutions
to support and provide innovative forms of financing for low-income housing and community
improvements. We also call upon multilateral and regional development banks to increase the
percentage of their allocations to the housing sector.
The G77 and China also calls for increased support to UN-HABITAT, in particular, its
Slum Upgrading Facility. We urge increased support to refugee host countries, particularly
for the development and maintenance of housing, water and sanitation infrastructure, as well
as the development and rehabilitation of eco-systems and other habitat that incur damage in
the process of receiving ad settling refugees. There should be increased support to the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to enhance its capacity to assist
refugee host countries, as appropriate, in a realistic and consistent manner.
Mr. Chairman, Colleagues,
I close by stating categorically, that the G77 and China reaffirms its commitment to
pursuing sustainable development. As difficult and complex as this may seem, we view
sustainable development as the only, logical course for all countries. When we conceive of
the natural environment, we do not envision the world outside and apart from ourselves, but
the world which includes all human beings. It is this vision which makes us anxious to put in
place proper infrastructure and management in the areas of water, sanitation and human
settlements. We have experienced and are experiencing the negative results of human
pressures coupled with inadequacies in these three systems; including the very health, wellbeing
and survival of our own species.
I thank you.
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