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10/19/2004:
"Developed countries taking money back from Africa: UN"
UN FES24United Nations, Oct 19 (PTI) United Nations has said that developed countries were taking the money back in the form of debt and other repayments while subsidising their own agricultural exports to the detriment of Africa's farmers, even though they have increased their aid to the continent's agricultural sector.
Talking to reporters, Under-Secretary-General Ibrahim Gambari said in the cotton trade alone, three countries - Burkina Faso, Benin and Mali -were losing some 11 billion dollars because of European and North American subsidies for their own agricultural exports.
He called for greater policy coherence among Africa's development partners, as well as better alignment of the UN's work with New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).
Later this week, in the margins of the General Assembly, Annan's high-level advisory panel on support for NEPAD would meet, Gambari said.
He pointed out that reports on the tragic events in Sudan, Liberia and Ctte d'Ivoire have not allowed space for positive coverage of the continent, including the efforts of the countries themselves to move forward.
He said while 11 countries had been embroiled in civil conflict in 1998, when the UN's first report on the matter had come out, by now "only a few states were involved in armed conflict" - Ctte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Liberia and perhaps Burundi.
The peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone is being drawn down in recognition that developments in that West African country were going fairly well, Gambari said. PTI
source : ptinews.com
