Text of Video Message by Kemal Dervis
Administrator of the United Nations Development Programmeme

At the Opening of the African Plenary on National Strategies for Poverty Reduction and the Implementation of the Millennium Development Goals

26-28 March 2006, Cairo, Egypt

I would like to thank Abdoulie Janneh, my dear friend and the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, for inviting me to share a few thoughts at this Plenary on African development and the Millennium Development Goals. I would also like to thank our partners, the Government of Egypt for hosting this event, the African Union, the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the other development partners who are joining us in this venture.

Introduction: Growth and Development in Africa
Africa has accelerated its economic growth over the last decade by about one percentage point, moving from three to about four percent. That is a good start, but we all know that it has to reach seven percent for at least a decade in order to really make decisive progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. And growth is not enough. Growth has to be pro-poor; growth has to be focused on providing basic social services to the poor; it has to be sustainable from the social point of view, from the environmental point of view; and it has to be the type of growth which we like to call human development-oriented growth. So, I think that is the topic. That is why working together within the framework of the Millennium Development Goals, and other development goals adopted by the international community, is so important, and why it is important to bring macroeconomic policy considerations together with social concerns.

Clearly, there can be no human development, no lasting sustainable development, without macroeconomic stability, that is, without a macroeconomic framework where resources are accounted for, where there is no spending for which there are no resources, and where there is no macroeconomic crisis. Avoiding crisis on an economic front, as well as other fronts, is of course the first necessary condition for progress. But macroeconomic stability is not enough. The kind of growth we need to generate has to come from the roots of society - it has to be based within the societies and within the social aspirations of the people. In too many parts of the world, growth is taking place but with a deteriorating distribution of income rather than an improving distribution of income. The Millennium Development Goals provide a framework to make these social concerns concrete. To make sure that we focus on the poor, on fighting poverty, on reducing the indicators of poverty, such as infant mortality, maternal mortality, lack of access to clean water, and of course, also environmental concerns.

So, by coming together and joining forces to really tackle these problems: to generate the fiscal space with the help of donor resources, to generate the kind of public investment and public expenditure Programmemes that really address these concerns and to make sure, of course, that these resources are allocated with efficiency within institutions that are sustainable, I think these are the key goals.

I. The domestic context: capacity development
We have to focus our technical cooperation on domestic dynamics and on domestic institutions. Without such domestic institutions, growth cannot be sustainable. Too much of foreign assistance in the past, well-meaning technical cooperation, has not sufficiently focused on in-depth institutional development in African countries. We in UNDP, therefore, want to give top priority, together with our partners, to institution building that is based on Africa societies. And therefore it is very, very important that our cooperation really is focused on this domestic dynamic of institution-building. Even if at times it may seem easier to bring in technical capacity from abroad, I think we must resist that temptation and make sure that we create the domestic capacity because that's the only one that can be sustainable.

So, capacity building, national ownership and national capacity building, I think are one principle to which we are all committed and which we have to practice in better ways than we have in the past.

II. Regional cooperation
The second very important dimension I think in Africa - and that's why it's so good to have the African Union organizing this event - is the regional dimension. Africa will not be able to grow at seven percent and to reach the Millennium Development Goals unless the regional structures of cooperation and the regional mechanisms of reviewing policies and improving policies at the regional scale are not strengthened. The world is such that very small countries alone in this globalizing world cannot succeed. Countries have to cooperate, they have to pool their resources, their plans, their policies. They have to develop infrastructure - and particularly in Africa this is very important - an infrastructure that allows economic integration within Africa, but also allows Africa to benefit much more from global growth and global trade. So, the second dimension - the first being this domestic capacity building - the second dimension is really the regional one, regional capacity and regional cooperation.

I do believe that lessons have been learned, that on both fronts progress is being made. Peer review mechanisms are in place;, the way in which African countries are now cooperating in the policy sphere and looking at each other's performances, I think is a very important advance.

III. Donor coordination
And finally from the donor side and those who are bringing resources to Africa, bilaterals, multilaterals, we also have to cooperate in a more effective way. We have to make the Paris Declaration real on the ground. We have to be able to come with plans and with resources that are integrated with the domestic strategy, that follows the domestic strategy - of course within the dialogue and within advice that everybody can give - but it has to come together in a consistent national strategy at the country level. And then we have to deploy our technical resources and our financial resources in response to that strategy.

I think the beginning of this has been made, as I said: growth is accelerating overall in Africa. It's very uneven. Some countries, unfortunately, are still in conflict or just coming out of conflict. Others are moving ahead much better. But there is now, I think, a sign that Africa is accelerating progress, is really implementing policy reforms, and is willing to cooperate. So, if we reinforce this, if together, international partners and Africans, we work in this direction, I do believe that over the next few years growth can accelerate further, reach five percent and then six percent, seven percent. And, at the same time, that this growth can reach the poor and can eradicate the huge obstacles to human development that still exist in so many parts of Africa. Thereby I think we will play a historical role in getting Africa where it should be: a society that works together, a society that's at peace, and a society that integrates with the world economy and generates wealth for its people.

[ENDS]