The worlds poorest countries are in severe danger of failing to meet ambitious economic and development goals set for the next decade, according to a report from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
The report said developing countries are not getting the economic aid they need, blaming contradictory economic policies on trade and aid in the worlds industrial countries.
The reports overall assessment is a somber one, said Zia Qureshi, the lead author of the survey. Business as usual will not do, he said. All parties must scale up their actions significantly and swiftly.
Activists hope that the reports findings will influence deliberations when finance ministers of the Group of Seven, the worlds leading industrial powers, meet in Washington on Oct. 1, said Marie Clarke, national coordinator of Jubilee USA Network.
Strong growth in Asia, especially in India and China, makes it likely that the target for decreasing world poverty by half will be met. However, many individual countries will miss the income target.
In sub-Saharan Africa, poverty levels rose in the past decade. Only 15 percent to 20 percent of the developing countries are on track to meet the goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds. Access to clean water and basic sanitation also are limited, and the number of people infected with HIV/AIDS in the developing countries also remains very high, the report found.
Adotei Akwei, advocacy director for Amnesty International Africa, said the detailed assessment of the recent report exposes a bleak picture. The World Bank and IMF are beginning to realize that remedies need to be taken, he said. World Bank Managing Director Shengman Zhang said the report was a landmark in the monitoring of global progress and a centerpiece in the discussion of how to aid developing countries.
The report is the first in a series of annual reports assessing the implementation of the policies and actions for achieving the MDGs, adopted in the wake of the 2000 UN Millennium Summit in New York.
Although the report outlines deteriorating conditions in a number of developing countries, Qureshi said the survey also tells an encouraging story. Many poorer countries have improved their policies greatly.
As a consequence, he said, the international community faces a great opportunity to accelerate development. Aid remains far too inadequate relative to what is needed and can be effectively used by developing countries, Qureshi said.
After the Monterrey conference, donors have made additional commitments of 18.5 billion dollars per year by 2006. But the report argues that developing countries could efficiently handle much more aid, up to 30 billion dollars a year. As low-income countries improve their economic and social policies, they will be able to use 50 billion annually – a figure estimated to be necessary for progress toward the MDGs.
Trade protectionism and other barriers in the industrial world present an even greater obstacle. The report noted that the money from official aid programs is undermined by five times as much protection to domestic agricultural producers in the worlds wealthier countries.
The report calls for the complete elimination of tariffs on manufactured products and agricultural-export subsidies.
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