12:02 PM May 13, 1996
CLARIFIED AND STRENGTHENED MANDATE, SAYS RICUPERO
Midrand, 11 May (Chakravarthi Raghavan) -- The Ninth Session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) ended here with the adoption of a Midrand Declaration and Final Document, "A partnership for Growth and Development" setting clear priorities for policies and actions of the organization for the end of this century and the next Conference at Thailand in the next millennium. In a speech at the final plenary UNCTAD Secretary-General Rubens Ricupero, summed up the outcome as one of UNCTAD coming out of the Conference with a "clarified and strengthened mandate in all its indispensable ingredients, and a reinforced role as a forum for developing and taking an integrated view of the world economy from the perspective of development..." At a press conference later, Ricupero said: "UNCTAD comes out of this conference strengthened in its role as the central institution for dealing with Development, ... provide a comprehensive view, a strong role to look at trade and development, trade and investment and addressing the problem of a multilateral framework on investment, trade and environment and trade and services ... and an 'interesting' mandate on multilateral investment framework ... (to enable UNCTAD to study issues) and present a balanced view of the problem..." The Midrand Declaration and the Final Document sets out in some areas clear priorities for policies and actions, and in others more ambivalent ones, seeks to put an end to controversies about UNCTAD duplication of work at the WTO, and drastically restructures the intergovernmental bodies (with some 70 days of meetings a year, compared to the 120 days after Cartagena UNCTAD-VIII, and some 110 weeks of meetings in the 1970s) to look at the future and tackle the issues of globalization and marginalization and work towards the objectives of broadly based growth and improvement of living standards for all. While the major industrial nations sang a common refrain at UNCTAD-IX on need to avoid duplication of work done by WTO (on trade) and the BWIs on money and finance, interestingly they did not raise any objections to the proposed UNCTAD on micro-enterprises, an area where the World Bank and UNIDO are engaged. For an institution which was on the chopping block around this time last year, UNCTAD, its secretariat and the intergovernmental bodies, have perhaps emerged with a new lease of life, a strengthened mandate for independent thinking and voicing of views in some areas, including in its analytical work, and policy orientations of its intergovernmental bodies, but also a somewhat ambivalent one in other areas. The institution -- the secretariat and intergovernmental bodies -- emerge "leaner", but hopefully not "meaner", and can provide a focal point as a forum on development issues, and a focal point in the entire UN system to articulate and focus, within the systems and rules, on building as an integral part (and not as an afterthought, to cope with social disorders and explosions) equity into the international economic system and the forces seeking to globalize and integrate developing countries and communities into a single planetary family. On the eve of the Conference, and during most of it, while revealing his own thinking in some speeches at the session and the side events, the UNCTAD Secretary-General and his top officials, seemed to take a low profile, and unlike at other meetings and conferences, almost appearing to be passive, without giving any indication of what it wants or whether it had a plan on what it would want to see emerge out of the Conference. But while the secretariat had been apparently told by Ricupero to keep its hands off the negotiating process, some of them were active, pushing their own programmes and agendas and canvassing delegations. All this baffled some of the developing countries. Ricupero at the end noted that UNCTAD had emerged rejuvenated, and with its essential mandates and tasks strengthened. "We are born again," he said. But hopefully, commented some observers, the new UNCTAD would not be like the "born again Christians" -- basically a fundamentalist, conservative movement in the US, supportive of interests of capital and the rich. As Jan Pronk, the Dutch Cooperation Minister, former Deputy Secretary-General of UNCTAD (and member of the Governance Commission), told the SUNS at the end, the new intergovernmental structures are more logical, all the issues on UNCTAD agenda before Cartagena are back on the agenda again (with the addition of a few to look at domestic policies too). "UNCTAD's catalytic role has been strengthened and how it will be utilized depends on the leadership, and its ability to make 'creative' use of the mandate... "If there is not much time (at expert group meetings) to finalise the work, the secretariat can hold informal talks and meetings, before and after, to finalise things as is done all the time at the EU, World Bank etc... But UNCTAD must meanwhile continue with its analysis -- which has been of high quality -- as reflected in the Trade and Development Report and the Discussion papers, and play fully its catalytic role." Ricupero told the final plenary: "the mandate is clear, we know what we have to do.. and we have the instruments (restructured secretariat and intergovernmental bodies) to put into effect the mandates..." In a reference perhaps to the post-Cartagena experience, when nearly a year was spent at the Trade and Development Board, negotiating the terms of reference of the intergovernmental bodies (Standing and Ad Hoc Groups), Ricupero said that actions have to be taken soon on how to give these decisions "concrete and pragmatic expression". "We have to convene very soon an Executive Meeting of the Trade and Development Board, and of the three Commissions (constituted here), to decide about the priorities and start work immediately... the most difficult decisions are ahead of us, and my only demand to you is to support us in this task of putting into practice what has been decided at this conference." At his press conference, Ricupero said "We have not lost anything at the Conference and we have won new and important mandates... To the extent possible, the document reflects a common denominator, the partnership for development has been reinforced." The Midrand Declaration envisages the President of UNCTAD-IX has been mandated to convene a "special high level review meeting" two years before UNCTAD-X (to undertake a mid-term review) and build on the political commitment of member States (at Midrand) to the process initiated at the Conference (and translate into reality the partnership for development undertaken at Cartagena). It also envisages the UNCTAD Secretary-General convening a meeting with "actors in development" to advise him on how to enhance participation of civil society in UNCTAD's work. The South African Presidency is also to organize and host a workshop on partnership between public and private sectors in mobilizing resources for development, and focusing on role of the partnership for LDCs and how other developing countries can work with LDCs. The Asian and Latin American and Caribbean groups (of the G77) are to be requested to share their experience in this regard. The Declaration earlier spoke of the uneven impact of Globalization and Liberalization -- with some notable developing country successes, but also of the problems of access to markets, capital and technology and grappling with institutional transformations for 'meaningful integration' into the world economy, the weak supply capability constraints of LDCs which have exacerbated the threats of marginalization both among and within countries. "Too many people continue to live in dire poverty and as we near a new millennium this is an intolerable situation," the Declaration said. "It is in the interest of all countries that a mutually beneficial multilateral trading system continues to develop. This requires the recognition of differential impacts on countries and the solidarity necessary to ensure that all will benefit -- a new partnership for development." This partnership, the Declaration said, must be based on a clear definition of roles, the establishment of common objectives and development of joint action. In practical terms, this means: * strengthening intergovernmental cooperation between developed and developing countries, * enhancing cooperation between developing countries, with special attention to LDCs, * more effective coordination and complementarity of multilateral institutions, * the mobilization of human and material resources towards development through dialogue and common action between governments and civil society, * partnerships between the public and private sector to achieve higher growth rates and greater development. "UNCTAD's mandate," the Declaration said, "remains relevant as the focal point for dealing with trade and related issues of development. It must build on its comparative advantage and offer support appropriate to needs of developing countries to ensure that they participate in the world economy on a more equitable basis. "UNCTAD's policy research and analytical work must illuminate the changes in the global economy as they relate to trade, investment, technology, services and development. Such work must facilitate policy formulation within member States as they strive for development. It must lead to constructive policy dialogue among member States to enhance benefits of trade. It must respond to different and changing development needs in the ongoing process of integration in the global economy." The declaration also called on UNCTAD to strengthen its cooperation with the WTO and other multilateral institutions for enhancing its own technical cooperation. Ricupero noted that last August (before he took over as Secretary-General) there was talk about abolition of UNCTAD and recommendations to that effect had been made (by the independent governance commission) and everywhere people had been talking of the dangers of duplication with the WTO. But at its final speech, the US had underlined that it had come to Midrand "to make UNCTAD succeed and show that partnership exists."