Ministers stress importance of trade for poverty reduction and development
| Pages | 124-126 |
Page 124
Following is the communiqué of the Development Committee, issued on April 17 in Washington.
Thai Finance Minister Tarrin Nimmanahaeminda chaired the Development Committee.
The sixty-first meeting of the Development Committee was held in Washington on April 17, 2000, under the chairmanship of Tarrin Nimmanahaeminda, Minister of Finance of Thailand. The Committee’s deliberations took place against the background of growing public debate about the appropriate roles of international institutions at a time when governments and people throughout the world confront the opportunities and rapid changes brought about by globalization. In their discussions of how to strengthen efforts to reduce poverty, to intensify the attack on HIV/AIDS, and to expand the benefits of trade to all countries, ministers emphasized the importance they attach to preserving and further strengthening the family of multilateral institutions as a powerful force for global progress, equity, and stability.
Ministers emphasized that the HIV/AIDS epidemic, which has already infected about 50 million people, is not only a very serious public health concern and the cause of great human suffering, but a severe danger to development progress itself. Ministers recognized that HIV/AIDS weakens economic growth, governance, human capital, labor productivity, and the investment climate, thereby undermining the foundations of development and poverty reduction. Ministers noted that the epidemic now poses not only an acute danger to development in sub-Saharan Africa but also a rapidly growing threat in Asia and the Caribbean and a probable threat in many eastern European countries and elsewhere as well. As HIV spreads quickly, even countries with currently low infection rates cannot afford to delay strengthening anti-HIV/AIDS programs.
In view of this alarming situation, the Committee called for rapid intensification of international action on the global HIV/AIDS crisis. Given the urgency of prevention and the vast needs for care and treatment, the Committee stressed the importance of effective partnerships to encourage each actor in the international system to focus on its comparative strength. Ministers urged governments, international agencies, civil society, the media, and the private sector, including the pharmaceutical industry, to step up their efforts, building on experience gained in ongoing activities. They urged developing and transition countries to increase their political and economic commitment to combating HIV/AIDS, to address the epidemic on a multisectoral basis, to scale up programs to nationwide—and in some cases regional—scope, to strengthen the primary health care systems needed for effective delivery of services, and to provide more resources directly to local communities. The Committee encouraged industrial countries and international organizations to mainstream HIV/AIDS in their...
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