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SIXTY NINETH SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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INTERGOVERNMENTAL NEGOTIATIONS
FOR THE ADOTION OF THE POST 2015 AGENDA
(Goals and Targets)
STATEMENT
BY
H.E.MR. JEAN -FRANCIS R. ZINSOU
AMBASSADOR PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF BENIN
TO THE UNITED NATIONS,
CHAIR OF THE GLOBAL COORDINATION BUREAU OF LDCs
NEW YORK, 28 JULY 2015
Permanent Mission of
the Republic of Benin
to the United Nations
Mission Permanente
de la République du Bénin auprès des Nations Unies
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Distinguished Co-chairs
Excellencies
Ladies and gentlemen,
I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of LDCs. The Group aligns itself with the statement made by South Africa on behalf of the G77 and China.
On the goals and targets, as we made our position known earlier, some of the revisions have gone to the right direction. We support some revisions that have transformed the targets to a universal nature, such as targets 4.4, 4.6 and few others.
On the contrary, some of the suggested revisions have eliminated the existing level of ambitions. To give such an example, the target number 4.b articulates that by 2020, expand by [x] per cent globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular LDCs, SIDS and Africa. The revised target suggests that by 2030, substantially increase support for scholarships available to developing countries, in particular LDCs, SIDS and Africa. Such a revision actually reduces the measurability, accountability and the level of ambitions captured in the original formulation. We must have a numerical target in this case.
We have not been able to find the current level of scholarships available to LDCs. But we can provide some relevant statistics that would justify our position. The tertiary school enrolment in LDCs was only 9 per cent in 2012 which was 29 per cent in the middle income countries during the same time. Furthermore, education expenditure as a percentage of GNI was 2.9 per cent in 2013 in LDCs against 3.2 per cent in the Middle Income Countries. It is therefore, very clear that the opportunities for higher education in LDCs is quite limited. We therefore need more and more scholarships. Thus, the preference is to secure measurability by setting a target of doubling the scholarships for LDCs in every five years. We would deeply appreciate if the Secretariat could assist us in evaluating merits of our proposals.
We will provide another example where the revision has watered down the level of ambitions. The original target number 9.5 was set to increase the number of research and development workers per 1 million people by [x] per cent by 2030. The proposed revision has suggested increasing this number substantially, which is totally vague. We have done some research and the results are as follows:
Researchers in research and development in the OECD countries were 4,014 per one million people in 2010. During the same time, research and development workers in the Middle Income countries were 569 per one million people. Nevertheless, we found information for only six LDCs during this time. We found that in 2010 there was only 57 researchers in R& D
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in Angola, 52 in Madagascar, 48 in Malawi, 42 Ethiopia, and 37 in Uganda. We therefore need to set an ambitious quantifiable target in such a way that can address the existing inequalities. Our proposal is as follows: add after substantially increasing the number of research and development workers the following sentence “and increasing the number in LDCs with the aim of reaching to the level of MICs or to double the number in every five years”.
The group rejects the target 17.2 both the original formulation and the revised one which suggests that at least 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of GNI should be provided to least developed countries. This target is valid until 2015. What will happen after 2015 has been articulated in para 116.2. (v) of the IPoA, which reads as follows:
“Donor countries should review their ODA commitments in 2015 and consider further enhancing the resources for LDCs”. It's clear the ratios indicated in the paragraph 116 of the IPOA are valid until the end of 2015. Each donor is therefore urged to do so and to inform the UN of its decision in this respect. Henceforth, 2015 is the new beginning for ODA targets for LDCs. The minimum that we can accept here is the last sentence of para 51 of the AAAA, which reads as follows:
“We encourage ODA providers to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries.” Also last sentence of para 52 which reads as follows:
“We are encouraged by those who are allocating at least 50 per cent of their ODA to least developed countries.”
These two sentences set clearly the desired benchmark for this process.
I thank you all for your kind attention.
