at the Holy See Side Event:  "Development, the New Name for Peace"

on the occasion of the

40^TH ANNIVERSARY OF POPE PAUL VI’S ENCYCLICAL

ON THE DEVELOPMENT PEOPLES  POPULORUM PROGRESSIO

 

United Nations, New York,

17^th October 2007

 

 

 

POPULORUM PROGRESSIO DISCUSSES 3 MAJOR DUTIES:

• MUTUAL SOLIDARITY—RICHER NATIONS MUST GIVE TO POOR
• SOCIAL JUSTICE—RECTIFICATION OF TRADE RELATIONS BETWEEN STRONG AND WEAK NATIONS
• UNIVERSAL CHARITY—BUILD MORE HUMANE WORLD COMMUNITY

POPULORUM PROGRESSIO CALLS FOR FOUR IMPORTANT RESPONSES TO NEEDS IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT CIVIL PROGRESS AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT—THE ONLY ROAD TO PEACE

1. REGIONAL MUTUAL AID AGREEMENTS AMONG POORER NATIONS
2. BROAD BASED PROGRAMS OF SUPPORT
3. MAJOR ALLIANCES BETWEEN NATIONS TO COORDINATE ACTIVITIES
4. PUBLIC ORGANIZATIONS PROMOTING DEVELOPMENT

This important document provides a blueprint for all to follow in order to create peace through solidarity between rich and poor nations. Today I will limit myself to mentioning one initiative—the Millennium Development Goals—and discuss in greater detail a second important development initiative referred to as the “Emerging Donors” program for development. This second initiative belongs to the new member states of the European Union. Both initiatives show us that there are broad based programs of support for poor or poorer nations heeding POPULORUM PROGRESSIO’S call as indicated in point #2 above. Some, however small, progress has been made and major alliances formed between nations to coordinate development activities (See point #3 above.).

The Millennium Development goals are known as an important initiative in development with its main goal to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. The eight important goals include increasing primary education, promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, reducing child and maternal mortality, as well as combating HIV/AIDS and ensuring environmental sustainability. These important and defined goals of human development are underpinned by the commitment of advanced, rich nations to build a global partnership for development that includes a compact between rich and poor nations aimed at reducing poverty around the globe. A great deal can be said about the Millennium Development Goals but I am going to mainly concentrate on the second initiative—the Global Partnership for Development underpinning these goals.

I will highlight the countries in Eastern Europe and their development needs and plans as I study this region so I am familiar with this example. The new members of the European Union have recently started to contribute to development cooperation as donor countries. This is a significant step because these new EU members were recipients of international development funds after the collapse of communism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Thus, by transferring expertise within and beyond Central/East Europe, these new donors can help the global community to achieve many of the development goals, which require increasing official development assistance flow for developing countries. At this time, the “Emerging Donors” have a special focus on South East Europe (SEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Clearly, these new donors, who only recently benefited from development aid, can be role models of transition for states to follow their example.

The experience of the “Emerging Donors” is especially important for the South East Europe region that was beleaguered with military, economic, and political crises and conflicts including the pyramid schemes in Albania, the Kosovo and Macedonian conflicts, and the serious debt burdens. The SEE region refers to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania and Serbia and Montenegro. According to the most recent World Bank Assessment, all the countries of South East Europe are characterized by low incomes and a high incidence of poverty—especially in relation to the poorest countries to join the European Union in the past. The extent of poverty in the region is about 20% with a high of 45% in Moldova. The SEE is a diverse region of Slavs and non-Slavs with an average income per capita raging from US$ 720 in Moldova to US$6,820 in Croatia indicating that poverty level varies from country to country. Most importantly, transition and conflict left the region with a legacy of inadequate growth and declining standards.

The role of the “Emerging Donors” in South East Europe is therefore an important example of regional cooperation to enhance reconstruction and development in SEE. Thus, as POPULORUM PROGRESSIO stressed 40 years ago regional mutual aid agreements and major alliances among nations to coordinate activities is a cornerstone strategy for development.
 

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