UN-OHRLLS :: Statement at the High-Level Segment of the ECOSOC Session "Promoting an integrated approach to rural development in developing countries for poverty eradication and sustainable development"

Statement at the High-Level Segment of the ECOSOC Session "Promoting an integrated approach to rural development in developing countries for poverty eradication and sustainable development"

Geneva, 30 June 2003

Mr. President
Excellencies
and Distinguished Delegates,

We have before us the excellent report of the Secretary-General on "Promoting an integrated approach to rural development in developing countries". It addresses a broad range of issues relating to rural development and provides policy recommendations on how to promote rural development in an integrated and cohesive way. Furthermore, the report has rightly touched on the relevance and importance of rural development for Least Developed Countries (LDCs).

Mr President

The 700 million people living in the least developed countries represent the poorest part of the world population. Majority of them live in rural areas. The Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA) for the LDCs for the Decade 2001-2010 recognises the pivotal role of rural development for the LDCs. It emphasizes that "lack of food security is the most typical face of poverty for both urban and rural people in LDCs. Some 70 per cent of the poor and food insecure are rural dwellers, many of whom are small farmers who produce on the brink of survival, or landless people trying to sell their labour".

Rural development is an integral part of the Brussels Programme. It is based on the principles and objectives of the Millennium Declaration. Commitment 4 of the Programme focuses on "Building productive capacities to make globalisation work for the LDCs" and contains specific recommendations to the LDCs and their development partners in the area of rural development and food security.

In order to eradicate poverty and hunger, agricultural productivity needs to be raised. However, the LDCs represented only 5 per cent of global agricultural production in early 1970s and that has gone down to less than 1 per cent in the late 1990s due to the sluggish growth in agriculture and fluctuations in agricultural output and prices. Increase of agricultural production must equally be accompanied by its diversification and competitiveness and supported by rural research and credit and marketing services that ensure better coordination between various stakeholders in the development of rural areas. The Secretary-General's report states that a reversal of the decline in the proportion of ODA going to rural areas and agriculture is vital for strengthening the rural economy in the LDCs. It also mentions that debt relief for LDCs is an important means to mobilize resources for poverty eradication in rural areas.

Access to productive assets of poor rural people, especially women and smallholder farmers, needs to be enhanced. These productive assets include land, water and other natural resources. Additionally, there is a need for increased access to financial services in rural areas, including micro-finance, savings and insurance facilities, and appropriate technologies for rural communities.

In LDCs effective rural development ensures better access to education, health and social services to their rural populations. Existing data shows that 19 out of 33 African LDCs have maternal mortal rate above 1 per 100 live births. One quarter of the children in 33 out of 43 LDCs are undernourished.

Moreover, rural development empowers poor people by providing them access to land, water, energy, services and markets. It also ensures participatory decision-making, capacity-building, strengthening of democratic institutions, decentralization of power and better governance. Enabling poor rural people to have a larger voice in decision-making processes on resource allocation empowers them to overcome poverty.

Mr. President,

Broad based, all-inclusive and sustainable rural development is impossible without the empowerment of women. They play a very special role in rural development as users and managers of natural resources. This role derives from the primary responsibility of women for food security, water, fuel and family welfare in their households. Such empowerment of women could contribute positively to ensure good governance. Furthermore, women and girls achieve most of the food production in many areas, and must play a key role in any rural development plans. They must have the right to own and inherit land, and to have a say in the distribution of their production. The education of girls pays a particularly high rate of return, improving the health and well-being of their future families, and enabling them to take a leadership role in their communities. The Brussels Programme for the LDCs refers to microcredit as a relevant and powerful engine for employment creation, poverty eradication and reduction of gender inequality.

Making rural development work for the poor requires the liberalization of agricultural trade. It means reduction of trade barriers, phasing out agricultural subsidies in developed countries and minimization of the effects of commodity price fluctuations. As stated in the Secretary-General's report, emphasis needs to be placed on practical ways of increasing agricultural and food production in a way that promotes food security and nutrition improvement, taking into account specific economic status and characteristics of each country. In particular for the LDCs, augmenting staple production merits special emphasis, since in the early stages of development, cultivation of staple foods and/or off-farm employment provides most of the income of the poor.

Genuine partnership of all stakeholders is crucial for an integrated approach to rural development. Civil society and NGOs have already proved to be active partners of the governments in poverty reduction, agricultural production, food security and development programmes. Public-private partnership has also been very fruitful in ensuring technological progress and innovation in a number of areas such as agriculture, water and land development. This partnership needs to be fostered and further developed.

Mr. President,
Excellencies
and Distinguished Delegates,

In concluding, I would like to reemphasize the importance of international partnership in the development of rural areas in the LDCs. As the report of the Secretary-General points out, the development partners need to provide sufficient development assistance, especially for the productive sectors and debt relief. There is an urgent need for eliminating supply-side constraints at the national level in LDCs and increasing their productive capacities.

Recognising that poverty affects a substantial proportion of rural households, national and international poverty reduction strategies need to target rural areas and households more systematically by integrating poverty eradication and food security objectives more firmly into Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, the common country assessments and the United Nations Development Assistance Framework.

Rural development can be an engine of the LDCs with international cooperation. Appropriate policies and support measures by the international community could reduce the economic vulnerability and thus accelerate socio-economic development in the LDCs. Very rightly, the Secretary-General has emphasized at the General Assembly last September: "Only by multilateral action can we give people in the least developed countries the chance to escape the ugly misery of poverty, ignorance and disease".

I thank you for your attention.

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