NEW YORK, 27 JUNE 2005
STATEMENT BY H.E. MR. JOÃO GOMES CRAVINHO, SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND COOPERATION, TO THE HIGH-LEVEL DIALOGUE OF THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT

Mr. President,

I am honoured to be here today, representing Portugal in the follow-up to the meeting that celebrated the Monterrey Consensus. That meeting, just over three years ago, was a watershed in the slow but inexorable process of consolidating global consciousness that development is a matter that must be of concern to all of us, wherever we may be around the world. Portugal is fully committed, both within the framework of the European Union and in its own national development aid policies to fully support the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

As we come together now, and later in September, we must above all retain in our sights this idea: that the Monterrey Global Partnership must continue to make headway as a defining feature of our current international landscape.

Mr. President,

Portugal aligns itself fully with the statement delivered by the EU Presidency. Nonetheless, I wish to take this opportunity to highlight a number of challenges addressed in the latest Report of the Secretary General:

The Secretary General rightly points out that mobilizing domestic financial resources, is a central requirement for achieving the MDGs, and that primary responsibility for this lies with the developing countries. Nevertheless, the manner in which donor countries bring their policies to bear upon the aid relationship may have a powerful impact upon this issue. In particular in the case of post-conflict countries, or fragile states, it is fundamental that donors and recipient governments work together to develop a sensitive approach to this matter. Portugal is very attentive to the issue of domestic resource mobilization, and shall continue to work with partner countries in this domain.

The mobilization of international resources for development, foreign direct investment and other private flows, directly challenges donor countries to play their part in this global process. As regards Portugal , we are currently engaged in outlining a new Development Cooperation Strategy in order to improve efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, coherence and expenditure planning of national aid policy on a long term basis. The Millennium Development Goals form a central source of inspiration for this new strategy. Part of this process will also usher in the creation of a development finance mechanism that will help to mobilize private resources flows, strengthening the synergies between foreign direct investment and ODA.

In terms of public resources, Portugal expects to achieve by 2010, the EU target of 0,51%ODA/GNI. Portuguese aid is particularly focused on Least Developed Countries, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Having allocated 0,20% of our GNI to the Least Developed Countries we have already exceeded the UN target in this regard, and we urge all developed countries to be equally attentive to this objective.

While there is much progress to be made internationally in achieving our commitments on resource flows, it has become clear over the years that greater creativity is required in identifying new mechanisms for financing development cooperation within a sustainable international framework. In this regard, we subscribe to the EU position regarding the International Finance Facility, and believe that further efforts must be dedicated to finding ways of promoting better international burden-sharing for this global concern of ours.

Mr. President,

To conclude, I would like to stress that Portugal , intends to increase its participation in international efforts towards global development.

We view the MDGs as a dynamic and multidimensional process, which requires a serious and responsible answer by all countries. This means also that we believe that the participation of the developing countries in the international decision making process is of the utmost importance, ensuring ownership, accountability and good governance.

Portugal sincerely believes in a global partnership that joins governments as well as civil society organizations, in both northern and southern hemispheres, and much progress has yet to be made in deepening this partnership. It has become commonplace to refer to the rise of the network society as part of the process of globalisation. When we use the term partnership we are simply saying that we must seek to make our global networks work for development. Moments such as this one, where we can bring together, confront and harmonise our visions of development, are fundamental contributions to this process, and I hope that at the Summit in September we can all feel that we have made further steps towards networking for development, involving both governments and civil societies.

This task is a vital one if we wish to honour the eloquent words of Secretary General Kofi Annan, in his report In Larger Freedom, with which I would like to end:

“These goals can be met by 2015 if all involved break with business as usual and dramatically accelerate and scale up action now.”

Mr. President, it behoves us to ensure that business as usual and partnership for development become synonymous.

Thank you for your attention.