Strategy for the 3rd United Nations Development Decade
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 21 April 1980 (1st Sitting) (see Doc. 4513, report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development). Text adopted by the Assembly on 21 April 1980 (1st Sitting).
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Having taken note of the report on a strategy for the 3rd United Nations Development Decade, presented by its Committee on Economic Affairs and Development (
Doc. 4513) ;
2. Considering that the first two United Nations Development Decades (whose objectives wereessentially quantitative) enjoyed a limited degree of success in specific sectors (Lomé Conventions,partial moratoria on debts, etc.), but have not resulted in a decisive breakthrough in the establishmentof more equitable relations between the industrialised and the developing countries (in particular as regards the amount of official development aid) ;
3. Having regard to the report of the Independent Commission on International Development Issues (the "Brandt Commission"), a platform for a North-South co-operation policy for the coming years,which represents an excellent opportunity to promote a policy and public opinion favourable to development ;
4. Emphasising the need to mobilise participation of women in the overall development programme ;
5. Considering that the essential value of the Brandt Commission's report is that it has systematisedprevious diffuse proposals, advanced original proposals and placed North-South affairs in a political context ;
6. Pointing out that peace cannot be firmly established so long as the fundamental imbalance and injustice in the world economy and the disastrous situation of the developing countries continue (15 million children died in the third world during 1975 alone), and the increasingly militaristic trend inworld politics persists,
7. Holds the view that a policy of North-South co-operation should give a new dimension to peace policy which, with respect to the developing countries, should include vigorous action to eliminate hunger, mass poverty and the gross inequalities in the standard of living of the rich and poor ;
8. Deplores the dilatory manoeuvres of certain industrialised countries and the continued maximalist demands of some of the developing countries, which have delayed reform of the international economic and social order by frustrating important international negotiations, the recent UNIDO Conference offering a further regrettable example of this ;
9. Deplores the meagreness of the aid given by the Eastern European countries ;
10. Regrets the decrease in aid given by various Western industrialised countries in relative terms and appeals to them to reach the UN target of 0,7% of gross national product (GNP) in official aid ;
11. Calls to mind that the Symposium on Development Co-operation, held in conjunction with OECD in December 1978, showed the interests of the industrialised countries to be bound up with those of third world countries, in that economic growth in the developing countries could help solve the economic difficulties of the industrialised countries ;
12. Draws attention to the pilot role Europe should play in development co-operation, and notes that, from this point of view, the Lomé Convention, concluded between the European Communities and African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) states, and joint development projects set up by countries that are not members of the European Communities, represent positive elements in new economic relations between North and South ;
13. Considers that, particularly in these troubled times, Europe must not use development cooperation policy as a means of creating zones of influence and bringing about military alliances ;
14. Takes note of the paramount importance which must be given in development co-operation to the role of science and technology, and refers accordingly to the adoption by the General Assembly of the United Nations of the "action programme" proposed by the UN Conference on Science and Technology for Development (Vienna, 20-31 August 1979), which has led to the creation of :
a system of co-operation between the developing and the industrialised countries, designed to contribute more effectively to the scientific and technological progress of the developing countries ;
a fund and appropriate structures for the operation of this system ;
15. Invites Council of Europe member countries, in preparation for the conferences which are to pave the way for adoption of a strategy for the 3rd United Nations Development Decade, to work out a common strategy for co-operation based on the following priorities :
15.1 satisfaction of basic needs of individuals, both material (food, health, housing, clothing) and intellectual and spiritual (education, culture, participation in decision-making, etc.) ;
15.2 support of the developing countries in their efforts for :
a economic and social reform, to fight resolutely against poverty and the unjust distribution of incomes ;
b rural development, to forestall foreseeable food shortages ;
c the determination and implementation of ecological programmes, to enable new sources of energy to be found which do not disfigure the environment, to halt the rapid "desertification" of certain regions, and to preserve the heritage of future generations ;
d the decentralisation of industries and crafts with suitable technologies in small and medium-sized firms, so as to slow down the flight from the land ;
e greater integration of the poor into the development process, and the institution of a just and efficient tax system (cf. Colloquy on International Tax Avoidance and Evasion, held by the Parliamentary Assembly from 5 to 7 March 1980) ;
f the improvement of their negotiating capacities and the strengthening of their domestic planning and administrative structures, to increase their ability to absorb development aid, to combat waste and to remove internal obstacles to development ;
15.3 creation of new and the strengthening of existing scientific and technological capabilities, corresponding to the priority needs of the developing countries, together with the creation of new forms of co-operation between developed and developing countries, to promote the training of specialists from the developing countries in their own countries and to slow down the brain drain ;
16. Invites Council of Europe member countries to implement the emergency programme for 1980-85 recommended in the report of the Brandt Commission, the main parts of which are :
a large-scale transfer of resources to developing countries,
an international energy strategy,
a global food programme,
a start on some major reforms in the international economic system, and when defining their policies, to take into consideration the detailed proposals made in this report, such as :
16.4.1 increased financial aid to the third world, particularly by means of an undertaking by Council of Europe member states who have not already done so to increase public development aid in order to reach the target of 0,7% of their GNP by 1985 at the latest ;
16.4.2 implementation of an energy strategy the aim of which would be to ensure a regular supply of oil, gradual and predictable increase of oil prices in real terms, stringent conservation of resources, and development of renewable sources of energy ;
16.4.3 a balanced programme of industrial adjustment and restructuring in the mutual interest of the industrialised and developing countries, based on the need to facilitate access of products from thirdworld countries to the markets of the industrialised countries, and international approximation of fair labour standards to prevent distortion of competition and to permit liberalisation of trade ;
16.4.4 revised conditions for the grant of loans by the International Monetary Fund to the developing countries, taking greater account of political and social conditions in those countries and recognising their right to participate in the decision-making process (possibly by the creation of a World Development Fund) ;
16.4.5 the institution of automatic transfers of revenue by imposition of international taxes on the exportof armaments, on international traffic or the mining of sea-bed resources outside territorial waters ;
16.4.6 action to overcome the effects of the population explosion on the economic and social development of the third world, taking into account the cultural factors which hinder population planning policies ;
16.4.7 better co-ordination and intensification of the programmes and budgets of international organisations, to avoid wasteful duplication ;
17. Emphasises the need for a rapid and successful conclusion to the negotiations in progress (particularly on implementation of the Common Commodities Fund) which would enable progress to be made towards a new international economic and social order along the lines laid down in its Resolutions 681 (1978) on a new international economic order, and 639 (1976) on multinational corporations ;
18. Urges Council of Europe member countries, as it did in
Recommendation 877 (1979) on cooperation for the reconstruction of Nicaragua, to take swift action to assist countries in the third world where the emergence or stability of democratic institutions are threatened by growing economic difficulties ;
19. Urges the governments and parliaments of the Council of Europe member states to intensify their efforts to convince public opinion of the need for improved North-South relations, and supports in this connection the recent initiative of the Council for Cultural Co-operation (CDCC) to promote development education in schools.
