Sheikh Hamad proposed a fund for combating poverty in developing countries and said his country is ready to donate $20 million.

By Abdulhadi Ahmed, IOL Staff

DOHA, June 15, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Group of 77 and China summit opened Wednesday, June15, with a call by host Qatar for setting up a fund for combating poverty in developing countries amidst criticism for the United States policies in handling the phenomenon.

“We propose that the summit approves the setting up of a fund for economic, social, health and educational development to address the problems of hunger, poverty and human catastrophes,” Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani told the opening session of the two-day event.

Suggesting “The South Fund for Development and Human Circumstances” as a name for the financing facility, the emir said his country is ready to donate $20 million to this fund.

“I hope that able countries in the North and the South would contribute to it.”

Sheikh Hamad reaffirmed commitment to allocating the prescribed percentage of Qatar 's GDP as development aid with 15 percent of that percentage going to the least developed countries as of next year.

“Therefore, I would like to urge the countries of the North and the capable countries of the South to raise the level of their aids”.

The emir further proposed setting up three Free Trade Zones for exports of countries of the South to countries of the North, with one in each of the three continents: Asia, Africa and Latin America .

According to a draft resolution approved by foreign ministers, delegates will urge rich countries to meet their obligations by raising official development assistance to 0.7% of gross national product.

The 132-member G77 is also demanding that 0.15% to 0.2% of official development assistance be directed to the least developed countries.

Founded in 1964 to promote the collective economic interests of the developing world, the group constitutes the largest Third World voting bloc at the UN.

The G77 eventually grew to encompass 132 countries, though the original name was retained.

Snail’s Pace

“South-South cooperation should not be an empty slogan,” said Patterson.

Jamaican Prime Minister Percival James Patterson, addressing the opening session, regretted that the implementation of previously agreed action plans and development projects have been progressing at a snail’s pace.

He said that the South-South cooperation has been much less than expected after the adoption of the Havana Declaration and Plan of Action five years ago in which “we pledged to no longer remain a passive witness to a history not of our own making.”

“South-South cooperation should not be an empty slogan. Instead of more meetings, we need to establish contacts and identify avenues for greater cooperation,” Patterson said.

He called for involving the business sector more actively “as we seek to revive the operations of the G-77 Chamber of Commerce and Industry.”

Patterson, however, said global challenges confronting the developing countries are straining their resources and undermining their capacity to achieve their stated objectives.

He further said that the developing countries cannot accept a restricted or conditional partnership with the donor community.

“Development co-operation must be based on respect for diversity and the proper exercise of sovereign choices."

The draft Doha Declaration, to be ratified by the group leaders on Wednesday, June 15, urged the international community "to categorically reject any conditionality in the provision of development assistance."

The Group of Eight rich and industrialized countries in the world hammered out Saturday, June 11, a historic deal to immediately write off 40 billions of dollars owed by the world’s poorest countries to multilateral lenders.

The White House, however, said that the debt-relief plan would be linked to “improving governance, reducing corruption and completing a program with the International Monetary Fund that demonstrates a commitment to sound economic policies.”

US to Blame

Castro blamed the US economic policies for the towering poverty rates worldwide.

Cuban President Fidel Castro reserved harsh word for the United States economic policies.

In an address read on his behalf by Vice President of the Cuban Council of State Carlos Lage Davila, Castro said that developing countries are taking the brunt of tariffs imposed by the US on their exports as they are 20 times than the ones levied on the developed countries.

Lambasting the current state of inequality and disparity among the world countries, he further blamed Washington for the world’s energy crisis.

Castro said every US citizen is consuming 12 times more energy than a third-world citizen, which is a drain on energy sources.

He charged that the economic system imposed by the “neo-liberal globalization” on the world costs humanity tens of millions of lives in the world’s poorest countries.

The Cuban leader also scoffed at the US military policies, saying it makes no sense that Washington spends billions of dollars on armament and wars while millions of people die each year of hunger.