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A/RES/25/2626 



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General Assembly

Distr: General
24 October 1970
Original: English

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Twenty-fifth session
Agenda item 42

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly

2626 (XXV). International Development Strategy for the Second United Nations Development Decade

The General Assembly

1.Proclaims the Second United Nations Development Decade starting from 1 January 1971;

2.Adopts the following International Development Strategy for the Decade:

A. Preamble

(1) On the threshold of the 1970s, Governments dedicate themselves anew to the fundamental objectives enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations twenty-five years ago to create conditions of stability and well-being and to ensure a minimum standard of living consistent with human dignity through economic and social progress and development.

(2) The launching in 1961 of the First United Nations Development Decade marked a major world-wide endeavour to give concrete substance to this solemn pledge. Since then attempts have continued to be made to adopt specific measures and to fashion and employ new institutions of international co-operation for this purpose.

(3) However, the level of living of countless millions of people in the developing part of the world is still pitifully low. These people are often still undernourished, uneducated, unemployed and wanting in many other basic amenities of life. While a part of the world lives in great comfort and even affluence, much of the larger part suffers from abject poverty, and in fact the disparity is continuing to widen. This lamentable situation has contributed to the aggravation of world tension.

(4) The current frustrations and disappointments must not be allowed to cloud the vision or stand in the way of the development objectives being really ambitious. Youth everywhere is in ferment, and the 1970s must mark a step forward in securing the well-being and happiness not only of the present generation but also of the generations to come.

(5) The success of international development activities will depend in large measure on improvement in the general international situation, particularly on concrete progress towards general and complete disarmament under effective international control, on the elimination of colonialism, racial discrimination, apartheid and occupation of territories of any State and on the promotion of equal political, economic, social and cultural rights for all members of society. Progress towards general and complete disarmament should release substantial additional resources which could be utilized for the purpose of economic and social development, in particular that of developing countries. There should, therefore, be a close link between the Second United Nations Development Decade and the Disarmament Decade.

(6) In the conviction that development is the essential path to peace and justice, Governments reaffirm their common and unswerving resolve to seek a better and more effective system of international co-operation whereby the prevailing disparities in the world may be banished and prosperity secured for all.

(7) The ultimate objective of development must be to bring about sustained improvement in the well-being of the individual and bestow benefits on all. If undue privileges, extremes of wealth and social injustices persist, then development fails in its essential purpose. This calls for a global development strategy ba:;ed on joint and concentrated action by developing and developed countries in all spheres of economic and social life: in industry and agriculture, in trade and finance, in employment and education, in health and housing, in science and technology.

(8) The international community must rise to the challenge of the present age of unprecedented opportunities offered by science and technology in order that the scientific and technological advances may be equitably shared by developed and developing countries, thus contributing to accelerated economic development throughout the world.

(9) International co-operation for development must be on a scale commensurate with that of the problem itself. Partial, sporadic and half-hearted gestures, howsoever well intentioned, will not suffice.

(10) Economic and social progress is the common and shared responsibility of the entire international community. It is also a process in which the benefits derived by the developing countries from the developed countries are shared by the world as a whole. Every country has the right and duty to develop its human and natural resources, but the full benefit of its efforts can be realized only with concomitant and effective international action.

(11) The primary responsibility for the development of developing countries rests upon themselves, as stressed in the Charter of Algiers;/l but however great their own efforts, these will not be sufficient to enable them to achieve the desired development goals as expeditiously as they must unless they are assisted through increased financial resources and more favourable economic and commercial policies on the part of developed countries.

(12) Governments designate the 1970s as the Second United Nations Development Decade and pledge themselves, individually and collectively, to pursue policies designed to create a more just and rational world economic and social order in which equality of opportunities should be as much a prerogative of nations as of individuals within a nation. They subscribe to the goals and objectives of the Decade and resolve to take the measures to translate them into reality. These aims and measures are set out in the following paragraphs.

B. Goals and Objectives

(13) The average annual rate of growth in the gross product of the developing countries as a whole during the Second United Nations Development Decade should be at least 6 per cent, with the possibility of attaining a higher rate in the second half of the Decade to be specified on the basis of a comprehensive mid-term review. This target and those derived from it are a broad indication of the scope of convergent efforts to be made during the Decade at the national and international levels; it should be the responsibility of each developing country to set its own target for growth in the light of its own circumstances.

(14) The average annual rate of growth of gross product per head in developing countries as a whole during the Decade should be about 3.5 per cent with the possibility of accelerating it during the second half of the Decade in order at least to make a modest beginning towards narrowing the gap in living standards between developed and developing countries. An average annual growth rate of 3.5 per cent per head will represent a doubling of average income per head in the course of two decades. In countries with very low incomes per head, efforts should be made to double such incomes within a shorter period.

(15) The target for growth in average income per head is calculated on the basis of an average annual increase of 2.5 per cent in the population of developing countries, which is less than the average rate at present forecast for the 1970s. In this context, each developing country should formulate its own demographic objectives within the framework of its national development plan.

(16) An average annual rate of growth of at least 6 per cent in the gross product of developing countries during the Decade will imply an average annual expansion of:

  1. 4 per cent in agricultural output;

  2. 8 per cent in manufacturing output.

(17) For attaining the over-all growth target of at least 6 per cent per annum, there should be an average annual expansion of:

  1. 0.5 per cent in the ratio of gross domestic saving to the gross product so that this ratio rises to around 20 per cent by 1980;

  2. Somewhat less than 7 per cent in imports and somewhat higher than 7 per cent in exports.

(18) As the ultimate purpose of development is to provide increasing opportunities to all people for a better life, it is essential to bring about a more equitable distribution of income and wealth for promoting both social justice and efficiency of production, to raise substantially the level of employment, to achieve a greater degree of income security, to expand. and improve facilities for education, health, nutrition, housing and social welfare, and to safeguard the environment. Thus, qualitative and structural changes in the society must go hand in hand with rapid economic growth, and existing disparities-regional, sectoral and social-should be substantially reduced. These objectives are both determining factors and end-results of development; they should therefore be viewed as integrated parts of the same dynamic process and would require a unified approach:

  1. Each developing country should formulate its national employment objectives so as to absorb an increasing proportion of its working population in modern-type activities and to reduce significantly unemployment and underemployment;

  2. Particular attention should be paid to achieving enrolment of all children of primary school age, improvement in the quality of education at all levels, a substantial reduction in illiteracy, the reorientation of educational programmes to serve development needs and, as appropriate, the establishment and expansion of scientific and technological institutions;

  3. Each developing country should formulate a coherent health programme for the prevention and treatment of diseases and for raising general levels of health and sanitation;

  4. Levels of nutrition should be improved in terms of the average caloric intake and the protein content, with special emphasis being placed on the needs of vulnerable groups of population;

  5. Housing facilities should be expanded and improved, especially for the low-income groups and with a view to remedying the ills of unplanned urban groWth and lagging rural areas;

  6. The well-being of children should be fostered;

  7. The full participation of youth in the development process should be ensured;

  8. The full integration of women in the total development effort should be encouraged.

C. Policy Measures

(19) The above goals and objectives call for a continuing effort by all peoples and Governments to promote economic and social progress in developing countries by the formulation and implementation of a coherent set of policy measures. Animated by a spirit of constructive partnership and cooperation, based on the interdependence of their interests and designed to promote a rational system of international division of labour, and reflecting their political will and collective determination to achieve these goals and objectives, Governments, individually and jointly, solemnly resolve to adopt and implement the policy measures set out below.

(20) The policy measures should be viewed in a dynamic context, involving continuing review to ensure their effective implementation and adaptation in the light of new developments, including the far-reaching impact of rapid advance in technology, and to seek new areas of agreement and the widening of the existing ones. Organizations of the United Nations system will appropriately assist in the implementation of these measures and in the search for new avenues of international co-operation for development.

1. International trade

(21) All efforts will be made to secure international action before 31 December 1972, including, where appropriate, the conclusion of international agreements or arrangements on commodities mentioned in resolution 16 (II) of 26 March 1968,/2 adopted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at its second session, in accordance with the procedure agreed upon at that session, and on the basis of a time-table for the consideration of those matters to be drawn up by the Conference.

(22) Commodities already covered by international agreements or arrangements will be kept under review with a view to strengthening the working of such agreements or arrangements and to renewing, where appropriate, agreements or arrangements due to expire.

(23) All possible resources for the pre-financing of buffer stocks, when necessary, will be considered while concluding or reviewing commodity agreements incorporating buffer stock mechanisms.

(24) Efforts will be made to reach agreement, before the third session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, on a set of general principles on pricing policy to serve as guidelines for consultations and actions on individual commodities. As one of the priority aims of pricing policy, particular attention will be paid to securing stable, remunerative and equitable prices with a view to increasing the foreign exchange earnings from exports of primary products from the developing countries.

(25) No new tariff and non-tariff barriers will be raised nor will the existing ones be increased by developed countries against imports of primary products of particular interest to developing countries.

(26) Developed countries will accord priority to reducing or eliminating duties and other barriers to imports of primary products, including those in processed or semi-processed form, of export interest to developing countries through international joint action or unilateral action with a view to ensuring that developing countries have improved access to world markets and to market growth for products in which they are presently or potentially competitive. Achievement of this objective will be sought through the continuance and intensification of intergovernmental consultations with the aim of reaching concrete and significant results early in the Decade. Efforts will be made with a view to achieving these results before 31 December 1972.

(27) Implementation of the provisions of paragraphs 25 and 26 above should take into account the resolutions, decisions and agreements which have been or may be reached in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development or in other relevant intergovernmental bodies and organizations of the United Nations system.

(28) Developed countries will give increased attention within the framework of bilateral and multilateral programmes to supplementing the resources of the developing countries in their endeavour to accelerate the diversification of their economies with a view to the expansion of the production and exports of semi-manufactures and manufactures, as well as of semi-processed and processed commodities, broadening the patterns of exports in favour of commodities with relatively dynamic demand conditions and increasing food production in food deficient countries. Specific funds for diversification will be one of the features of commodity arrangements wherever considered necessary.

(29) Appropriate action, including the provision of finance, will be taken, as far as practicable, to initiate intensive research and development efforts designed to improve market conditions and cost efficiency and to diversify the end uses of natural products facing competition from synthetics and substitutes. In their financial and technical assistance programmes, developed countries and the international organizations concerned will give sympathetic consideration to requests for assistance to developing countries producing natural products which suffer serious competition from synthetics and substitutes, in order to help them to diversify into other areas of production including processing of primary products. Where natural products are able to satisfy present and anticipated world market requirements, in the context of national policies no special encouragement will be given to the creation and utilization of new production, particularly in the developed countries, of directly competing synthetics.

(30) The machinery for consultation on surplus disposal which existed during the 1960s will be widened and reinforced in order to avoid or minimize possible adverse effects of disposals of production surpluses or strategic reserves, including those of minerals, on normal commercial trade, and to take account of the interest of both surplus and deficit countries.

(31) Special attention will be given to the expansion and diversification of the export trade of developing countries in manufactures and semi-manufactures, particularly for enabling them to attain increased participation, commensurate with the needs of development, in the growth of international trade in these commodities.

(32) Arrangements concerning the establishment of generalized, non-discriminatory, non-reciprocal preferential treatment to exports of developing countries in the markets of developed countries have been drawn up in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and considered mutually acceptable to developed and developing countries. Preference-giving countries arc determined to seek as rapidly as possible the necessary legislative or other sanction with the aim of implementing the preferential arrangements as early as possible in 1971. Efforts for further improvements of these preferential arrangements will be pursued in a dynamic context in the light of the objectives of resolution 21 (II) of 26 March 1968,/3 adopted by the Conference at its second session.

(33) Developed countries will not, ordinarily, raise existing tariff or non-tariff barriers to exports from developing countries, nor establish new tariff or non-tariff barriers or any discriminatory measures, where such action has the effect of rendering less favourable the conditions of access to the markets of manufactured and semi-manufactured products of export interest to developing countries.

(34) Intergovernmental consultations will be continued and intensified with a view to giving effect early in the Decade to measures for the relaxation and progressive elimination of non-tariff barriers affecting trade in manufactures and semi-manufactures of interest to developing countries. Efforts will be made with a view to implementing such measures before 31 December 1972. These consultations will take into account all groups of processed and semi-processed products of export interest to developing countries.

(35) Developed countries, having in mind the importance of facilitating the expansion of their imports from developing countries, will consider adopting measures and where possible evolving a programme early in the Decade for assisting the adaptation and adjustment of industries and workers in situations where they are adversely affected or may be threatened to be adversely affected by increased imports of manufactures and semi-manufactures from developing countries.

(36) Developing countries will intensify their efforts to make greater use of trade promotion as an instrument for the expansion of their exports both to developed countries and to other developing countries. For this purpose, effective international assistance will be provided.

(37) Restrictive business practices particularly affecting the trade and development of the developing countries will be identified with a view to the consideration of appropriate remedial measures, the aim being to reach concrete and significant results early in the Decade. Efforts will be made with a view to achieving these results before 31 December 1972.

(38) The socialist countries of Eastern Europe will take duly into consideration the trade needs of the developing countries, and in particular their production and export potential, when quantitative targets are fixed in their long-term economic plans, adopt appropriate measures designed. to maximize and diversify imports of primary commodities from developing countries and undertake measures so that imports of manufactures and semi-manufactures from developing countries constitute a growing element in their total imports of manufactures and semi-manufactures. They will promote the diversification of the structure and geographical basis of their trade with developing countries in order that the largest possible number of developing countries derive the maximum benefit from this trade. Socialist countries of Eastern Europe will take the necessary action fully to implement, by the beginning of the Decade, and in any case not later than 1972, recommendations contained in section II of resolution 15 (II) of 25 March 1968,/4 adopted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at its second session. As no uniform method of introducing multilateralism in payments relations between developing countries and socialist countries is practical at this time, it is considered desirable that elements of flexibility and multilateralism be. progressively introduced or extended in such payments arrangements by appropriate consultations among the countries concerned, taking into account specific circumstances and patterns of trade.

2. Trade expansion, economic co-operation and regional integration among developing countries

(39) The developing countries will continue their efforts to negotiate and put into effect further commitments for instituting the schemes for regional and subregional integration or measures of trade expansion among themselves. They will, in particular, elaborate mutually beneficial and preferential trade arrangements which foster the rational and outward-looking expansion of production and trade, and avoid undue injury to the trading interests of third parties, including third developing countries.

(40) The developed market economy countries will, through the extension of financial and technical assistance or through action in the field of commercial policy, support initiatives in regional and subregional co-operation of developing countries. In this connexion, they will specifically consider what help can be given to any concrete proposals that may be put forward by developing countries. In the efforts of developing countries to carry out trade expansion, economic co-operation and regional integration among themselves, the socialist countries of Eastern Europe will extend their full support within the framework of their socio-economic system.

3. Financial resources for development

(41) Developing countries must, and do, bear the main responsibility for financing their development. They will, therefore, continue to adopt vigorous measures for a fuller mobilization of the whole range of their domestic financial resources and for ensuring the most effective use of available resources, both internal and external. For this purpose, they will pursue sound fiscal and monetary policies and, as required, remove institutional obstacles through the adoption of appropriate legislative and administrative reforms. They will pay particular attention to taking, as appropriate, the necessary steps to streamline and strengthen their systems of tax administration and undertake the necessary tax reform measures. They will keep the increase in their current public expenditure under close scrutiny with a view to releasing maximum resources for investment. Efforts will be made to improve the efficiency of public enterprises so that they make an increasing contribution to investment resources. Every' effort will be made to mobilize private savings through financial institutions, thrift societies, post office savings banks and other savings schemes and through expansion of opportunities for saving for specific purposes, such as education and housing. The available supply of saving will be channelled to investment projects in accordance with their development priorities.

(42) Each economically advanced country should endeavour to provide by 1972 annually to developing countries financial resource transfers of a minimum net amount of 1 per cent of its gross national product at market prices in terms of actual disbursements, having regard to the special position of those countries which are net importers of capital. Those developed countries which have already met this target will endeavour to ensure that their net resource transfers are maintained and envisage, if possible, an increase in them. Those developed countries which are unable to achieve this target by 1972 will endeavour to attain it not later than 1975.

(43) In recognition of the special importance of the role which can be fulfilled only by official development assistance, a major part of financial resource transfers to the developing countries should be provided in the form of official development assistance. Each economically advanced country will progressively increase its official development assistance to the developing countries and will exert its best efforts to reach a minimum net amount of 0.7 per cent of its gross national product at market prices by the middle of the Decade.

(44) Developed countries members of the Development Assistance Committee of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development will exert their best efforts to reach as soon as possible, and in any case before 31 December 1971, the norms set out in the Supplement to the 1965 Recommendation on Financial Terms and Conditions adopted by the Development Assistance Committee on 12 February 1969,/5 designed to soften and harmonize the terms and conditions of assistance to developing countries. Developed countries will consider measures aimed at the further softening of the terms and will endeavour to arrive at a more precise assessment of the circumstances of the individual developing countries and at a greater harmonization of terms given by individual developed countries to individual developing countries. Developed countries will consider, 10 the further evolution of their assistance policy and with a view to attaining concrete and substantive results by the end of the Decade, the specific suggestions contained in decision 29 (II) of 28 March 1968,/6 adopted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at its second session, and made in other international forums for further softening of the terms and conditions of aid.

(45) In the light of the relevant decision of the Conference at its second session, financial assistance will, in principle, be untied. While it. may not be possible to untie assistance in all cases, developed countries will rapidly and progressively take what measures they can in this respect both to reduce the extent of tying of assistance and to mitigate any harmful effects. Where loans are tied essentially to particular sources, developed countries will make, to the greatest extent possible, such loans available for utilization by the recipient countries for the purchase of goods and services from other developing countries.

(46) Financial and technical assistance should be aimed exclusively at promoting the economic and social progress of developing countries and should not in any way be used by the developed countries to the detriment of the national sovereignty of recipient countries.

(47) Developed countries will provide, to the greatest extent possible, an increased flow of aid on a long-term and continuing basis and by simplifying the procedure of the granting and effective and expeditious disbursement of aid.

(48) Arrangements for forecasting and, if possible, forestalling debt crises will be unproved. Developed countries will help in preventing such crises by providing assistance on appropriate terms and conditions, and developing countries by undertaking sound policies of debt management. Where difficulties do arise, the countries concerned will stand ready to deal reasonably with them within the framework of an appropriate forum in co-operation with the international institutions concerned, drawing upon the full range of the available methods including, as may be required, measures such as arrangements for rescheduling and refinancing of existing debts on appropriate terms and conditions.

(49) The volume of resources made available through multilateral institutions for financial and technical assistance will be increased to the fullest extent possible and techniques will be evolved to enable them to fulfil their role in the most effective manner.

(50) Developing countries will adopt appropriate measures for inviting, stimulating and making effective use of foreign private capital, taking into account the areas in which such capital should be sought and bearing in mind the importance for its attraction of conditions conducive to sustained investment. Developed countries, on their part, will consider adopting further measures to encourage the flow of private. capital to developing countries. Foreign private investment in developing countries should be undertaken in a manner consistent with the development objectives and priorities established in their national plans. Foreign private investors in developing countries should endeavour to provide for an increase in the local share in management and administration, employment and training of local labour, including personnel at the managerial and technical levels, participation of local capital and reinvestment of profits. Efforts will be made to foster better understanding of the rights and obligations of both host and capital-exporting countries, as well as of individual investors.

(51) In the context of the search for appropriate means for dealing with the problem of disruption of development arising from adverse movements in the export proceeds of developing countries, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development has been requested to pursue its efforts at working out a scheme of supplementary financing. The Bank is invited to give further consideration to the adoption of supplementary financial measures at the earliest practicable opportunity.

(52) As soon as adequate experience is available on the working of the scheme of Special Drawing Rights, serious consideration will be given to the possibility of the establishment of a link between the allocation of new reserve assets under the scheme and the provision of additional development finance for the benefit of all developing countries. The question will, in any case, be examined before the allocation of Special Drawing Rights in 1972.

4. Invisibles, including shipping

(53) The objective is to promote, by national and international action, the earnings of developing countries from invisible trade and to minimize the net outflow of foreign exchange from those countries arising from invisible transactions, including shipping. In pursuance of the objective, action should be taken, inter alia, in the following areas, by Governments and international organizations and, where necessary, appropriately involving liner conferences, shippers' councils and other relevant bodies:

  1. The principle that the national shipping lines of developing countries should be admitted as fun members of liner conferences operating in their national maritime trade and have an increasing and substantial participation in the carriage of cargoes generated by their foreign trade should be implemented in the Decade.

  2. Further, Governments should invite liner conferences to consider favourably, fairly and on equal terms applications of the national shipping lines, in particular of developing countries, for admission as full members to way-port trades related to these countries' own foreign trade, subject to the rights and obligations of conference membership, as provided in section II, paragraph 4, of resolution 12 (IV) of 4 May 1970/7 adopted by the Committee on Shipping.

  3. In order that the developing countries may have an increasing and substantial participation in the carriage of maritime cargoes, and recognizing the need to reverse the existing trend whereby the share of the developing countries in the world merchant fleet has been declining instead of increasing, developing countries should be enabled to expand their national and multinational merchant marines through the adoption of such measures as may be appropriate to permit their shipowners to compete in the international freight market and thus contribute to a sound development of shipping.

  4. It is also necessary that further improvements be made in the liner conference system, and all unfair practices and discrimination where such exist in liner conference practices should be eliminated.

  5. In the determination and adjustment of liner freight rates, due consideration should be given, as is commercially possible and/or appropriate, to:

    1. The needs of developing countries, in particular their efforts to promote non-traditional exports;

    2. The special problems of the least developed among the developing countries, in order to encourage and promote the import and export interests in these countries;

    3. Port improvements leading to a reductionof the cost of shipping operations in ports;

    4. Technological developments in maritimetransport;

    5. Improvements in the organization of trade.

  6. Governments of developed countries members of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development should, upon request made by developing countries within the framework of their over-all development priorities, duly consider extending, directly or through international institutions, financial and technical assistance, including training, to developing countries to establish and expand their national and multinational merchant marines, including tanker and bulk carrier fleets, and to develop and improve their port facilities. Within assistance programmes, special attention should be paid to projects, including training projects, for developing the shipping and ports of the least developed among the developing countries and for reducing their maritime transport costs.

  7. The terms and conditions on which bilateral aid and commercial credit are available for the purchase of ships by developing countries should be kept under review in the light of relevant resolutions of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, namely, Conference resolution 12 (II) of 24 March 1968/8 and resolution 9 (IV) of 4 May 1970/9 adopted by the Committee on Shipping.

  8. Freight rates, conference practices, adequacy of shipping services and other matters of common interest to shippers and shipowners should be the subject of consultation between liner conferences and shippers and, where appropriate; shippers' councils or equivalent bodies and interested public authorities. Every effort should be made to encourage the institution and operation of shippers' councils, where appropriate, or equivalent bodies and the establishment of effective consultation machinery. Such machinery should provide for consultation by liner conferences well before publicly announcing changes in freight rates.

  9. In view of the common interest of member countries of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, shippers and shipowners in improving ports, thus lowering the cost of maritime transport and permitting reductions in freight rates, a concerted national and international effort should be evolved in the course of the Decade to promote the development and improvement of port facilities of developing countries.

  10. Maritime transport costs, the level and structure of freight rates, conference practices, adequacy of shipping services and related matters should continue to be kept under review within the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and additional measures to attain the objective set out in this field should be considered within the work programme of the permanent machinery of the Conference.

(54) Reduction in the cost of insurance and reinsurance for developing countries, especially the foreign exchange cost, will be brought about by appropriate measures, bearing in mind the risks involved, to encourage and assist the growth of national insurance and reinsurance markets in developing countries and the establishment to this end, where appropriate, of institutions in these countries or at the regional level.

(55) Developing countries will expand their tourist industry through the building of tourist infrastructure, adoption of promotional measures and relaxation of travel restrictions. Developed countries will assist in this endeavour. They will try to avoid exchange restrictions on the travel of their residents to developing countries and, where restrictions do exist, to remove them as soon as practicable and to facilitate such travel in other ways.

5. Special measures in favour of the least developed among the developing countries

(56) While it is the objective of the Decade to achieve the rapid economic and social progress of all developing countries, special measures will be taken to enable the least developed among them to overcome their particular disabilities. Every possible effort will be made to ensure the sustained ceo., nomic and social progress of these countries and to enhance their capacity to benefit fully and equitably from the policy measures for the Decade. Wherever necessary, supplementary measures will be devised and implemented at the national, subregional, regional and international levels. Organizations and bodies of the United Nations system will consider initiating early in the Decade special programmes to alleviate the critical development problems of the least developed among the developing countries; developed countries will assist in the implementation of these programmes.

(57) Concerted efforts will be made early in the Decade by developed countries and international organizations through their programmes of technical assistance and through financial aid, including grants and/or exceptionally soft loans, to meet the needs of the least developed among the developing countries and designed to enhance their absorptive capacity. In particular, attention will be paid to overcoming their problem of the scarcity of indigenous technical and managerial cadres, to building the economic and social infrastructure, to the exploitation by these countries of their natural resources and to assisting them in the task of formulating and implementing national development plans.

(58) Special measures will be taken early in the Decade by national and international organizations to improve the capacity of the least developed among the developing countries to expand and diversify their production structure so as to enable them to participate fully in international trade. Moreover, in the field of primary commodities, special consideration will be given to commodities of interest to these countries and, in concluding commodity agreements, the interest of these countries will receive due attention. In the field of manufactures and semi-manufactures, measures in favour of developing countries will be so devised as to allow the least developed among developing countries to be in a position to derive equitable benefits from such measures. Particular consideration will be given to the question of including in the general system of preferences products of export interest to these countries. Special attention will also be paid by developed countries and international organizations to the need of these countries to improve the quality of their production for export as well as of marketing techniques in order to enhance their competitive position in world markets. These countries, in co-operation with other developing countries, will intensify their efforts for subregional and regional co-operation, and the developed countries will facilitate their task through technical assistance and favourable financial and trade policy measures.

6. Special measures in favour of the land-locked developing countries

(59) National and international financial institutions will accord appropriate attention to the special needs of land-locked developing countries in extending adequate financial and technical assistance to projects designed for the development and improvement of the transport and communications infrastructure needed by these countries, in particular of the transport modes and facilities most convenient to them and mutually acceptable to the transit and land-locked developing countries concerned. All States invited to become parties to the Convention on Transit Trade of Land-locked States of 8 July 1965/10 which have not already done so, will investigate the possibility of ratifying or acceding to it at the earliest possible date. Implementation of measures designed to assist the land-locked countries in overcoming the handicaps of their landlocked position should take into account the relevant decisions and resolutions which have been or may be adopted by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

7. Science and technology

(60) Concerted efforts will be made by the developing countries, with appropriate assistance from the rest of the world community, to expand their capability to apply science and technology for development so as to enable the technological gap to be significantly reduced.

(61) Developing countries will continue to increase their expenditure on research and development and will endeavour to attain, by the end of the Decade, a minimum average level equivalent to 0.5 per cent of their gross product. They will endeavour to inculcate, among their people, an appreciation of the scientific approach which will influence all their development policies. The research programme will be oriented to the development of technologies that are in line with the circumstances and requirements of individual countries and regions. They will put particular stress on applied research and seek to develop the basic infrastructure of science and technology.

(62) Full international co-opera~on will be extended for the establishment, strengthening and promotion of scientific research and technological activities which have a bearing on the expansion and modernization of the economies of developing countries. Particular attention will be devoted to fostering technologies suitable for these countries. Concentrated research efforts will be made in relation to selected problems the solutions to which can have a catalytic effect in accelerating development. Assistance will also be provided for building up and, as appropriate, for expanding and improving research institutions in developing countries, especially on a regional or subregional basis. Efforts will be made to promote close co-operation between the scientific work and staff of the research centres in developing countries and between those in developed and developing countries.

(63) Within the framework of their individual aid and technical assistance programmes, developed countries will substantially increase their aid for the direct support of science and technology in developing countries during the Decade. Consideration will be given to the question of setting a target equivalent to a specified percentage of the gross national product of developed countries at the time of the first biennial review, taking fully into account the relevant factors. Moreover the developed countries will, in their research and development programmes, assist in seeking solutions to the specific problems of developing countries and for this purpose will endeavour to provide adequate resources. Serious consideration will be given during the first biennial review to the question of setting a specified target in this field. Developed countries will make all efforts to incur in developing countries a significant proportion of their research and development expenditure on specific problems of developing countries. In co-operation with the developing countries, developed countries will continue to explore the possibility of locating some of their research and development projects in developing countries. Private foundations, institutions and organizations will be encouraged to provide further assistance for expanding and diversifying research activities of benefit to developing countries. In relation to their aid and investment policies, developed countries will assist developing countries in identifying technologies which are appropriate for their circumstances and in avoiding the utilization of scarce resources for inappropriate technologies.

(64) Developed and developing countries and competent international organizations will draw up and implement a programme for promoting the transfer of technology to developing countries, which will include, inter alia, the review of international conventions on patents, the identification and reduction of obstacles to the transfer of technology to developing countries, facilitating access to patented and non-patented technology for developing countries under fair and reasonable terms and conditions, facilitating the utilization of technology transferred to developing countries in such a manner as to assist these countries in attaining their trade and development objectives, the development of technology suited to the productive structures of developing countries and measures to accelerate the development of indigenous technology.

8. Human development

(65) Those developing countries which consider that their rate of population growth hampers their development will adopt measures which they deem necessary in accordance with their concept of development. Developed countries, consistent with their national Policies, will upon request provide support through the supply of means for family planning and further research. International organizations concerned will continue to provide, when appropriate, the assistance that may be requested by interested Governments. Such support or assistance will not be a substitute for other forms of development assistance.

(66) Developing countries will make vigorous efforts to improve labour force statistics in order to be able to formulate realistic quantitative targets for employment. They will scrutinize their fiscal, monetary, trade and other policies with a view to promoting both employment and growth. Moreover, for achieving these objectives they will expand their investment through a fuller mobilization of domestic resources and an increased flow of assistance from abroad. Wherever a choice of technology is available, developing countries will seek to raise the level of employment by ensuring that capital-intensive technology is confined to uses in which it is clearly cheaper in real terms and more efficient. Developed countries will assist in this process by adopting measures to bring about appropriate changes in the structures of international trade. As part of their employment strategy, developing countries will put as much emphasis as possible on rural employment and will also consider undertaking public works that harness manpower which would otherwise remain unutilized. These countries will also strengthen institutions able to contribute to constructive industrial relations policies and appropriate labour standards. Developed countries and international organizations will assist developing countries in attaining their employment objectives.

(67) Developing countries will formulate and implement educational programmes taking into account their development needs. Educational and training programmes will be so designed as to increase productivity substantially in the short run and to reduce waste. Particular emphasis will be placed on teacher-training programmes and on the development of curriculum materials to be used by teachers. As appropriate, curricula will be revised and new approaches initiated in order to ensure at all levels expansion of skills in line with the rising tempo of activities and the accelerating transformations brought about by technological progress. Increasing use will be made of modem equipment, mass media and new teaching methods to improve the efficiency of education. Particular attention will be devoted to technical training, vocational training and retraining. Necessary facilities will be provided for improving the literacy and technical competence of groups that are already productively engaged as well as for adult education. Developed countries and international institutions will assist in the task of extending and improving the systems of education of developing countries, especially by making available some of the educational inputs in short supply in many developing countries and by providing assistance to facilitate the flow of pedagogic resources among them.

(68) Developing countries will establish at least a minimum programme of health facilities comprising an infrastructure of institutions, including those for medical training and research to bring basic medical services within the reach of a specified proportion of their population by the end of the Decade. These will include basic health services for the prevention and treatment of diseases and for the promotion of health. Each developing country will endeavour to provide an adequate supply of potable water to a specified proportion of its population, both urban and rural, with a view to reaching a minimum target by the end of the Decade. Efforts of the developing countries to raise their levels of health will be supported to the maximum feasible extent by developed countries, particularly through assistance in the planning of health promotion strategy and the implementation of some of its segments, including research, training of personnel at all levels and supply of equipment and medicines. A concerted international effort will be made to mount a world-wide campaign to eradicate by the end of the Decade, from as many countries as possible, one or more diseases that still seriously afflict people in many lands. Developed countries and international organizations will assist the developing countries in their health planning and in the establishment of health institutions.

(69) Developing countries will adopt policies consistent with their agricultural and health programmes in an effort towards meeting their nutritional requirements. These will include development and production of high-protein foods and development and wider use of new forms of edible protein. Financial and technical assistance, including assistance for genetic research, will be extended to them by developed countries and international institutions.

(70) Developing countries will adopt suitable national policies for involving children and youth in the development process and for ensuring that their needs are met in an integrated manner.

(71) Developing countries will take steps to provide improved housing and related community facilities in both urban and rural areas, especially for low-income groups. They will also seek to remedy the ills of unplanned urbanization and to undertake necessary town planning. Particular effort will be made to expand low-cost housing through both public and private programmes and on a self-help basis, and also through co-operatives, utilizing as much as possible local raw materials and labour-intensive techniques. Appropriate international assistance will be provided for this purpose.

(72) Governments will intensify national and international efforts to arrest the deterioration of the human environment and to take measures towards its improvement, and to promote activities that will help to maintain the ecological balance on which human survival depends.

9. Expansion and diversification of production

(73) Developing countries will take specific steps to augment production and improve productivity in order to provide goods and services necessary for raising levels of living and improving economic viability. While this will be primarily their own responsibility, production policies will be carried out in a global context designed to achieve optimum utilization of world resources, benefiting both developed and developing countries. Further research will be undertaken, by the international organizations concerned, in the field of optimal international division of labour to assist individual countries or groups of countries in their choice of production and trading structures. Depending on the social and economIc structure and particular characteristics of individual countries, consIderation will be given to the role which the public sector and co-operatives might play in augmenting production.

(74) Full exercise by developing countries of permanent sovereignty over their natural resources will play an important role in the achievement of the goals and objectives of the Decade. Developing countries will take steps to develop the full potential of their natural resources. Concerted efforts will be made, particularly through international assistance, to enable them to prepare an inventory of natural resources for their more rational utilization in an productive activities.

(75) Developing countries will formulate, early in the Decade, appropriate strategies for agriculture - including animal husbandry, fisheries and forestry designed to secure a more adequate food supply from both the quantitative and qualitative viewpoints, to meet their nutritional and industrial requirements, to expand rural employment and to increase export earnings. They will undertake, as appropriate, reform of land tenure systems for promoting both social justice and farm efficiency. They will adopt the necessary measures for providing adequate irrigation, fertilizers, improved varieties of seeds and suitable agricultural implements. They will also take steps to expand the infrastructure of marketing and storage facilities and the network of agricultural extension services. They will make increasing provision for the supply of rural credit to farmers. They will encourage co-operatives for the organization of many of these activities. They will adopt appropriate agricultural pricing policies as a complementary instrument for implementing their agricultural strategies. Developed countries will support this endeavour by providing resources to developing countries for obtaining the essential inputs, through assistance in research and for the building of infrastructure and by taking into account in their trade policies the particular needs of developing countries. International organizations will also provide appropriate support.

(76) Developing countries will take parallel steps to promote industry in order to achieve rapid expansion, modernization and diversification of their economies. They will devise measures to ensure adequate expansion of the industries that utilize domestic raw materials, that supply essential inputs to both agriculture and other industries, and that help to increase export earnings. They will seek to prevent the emergence of unutilized capacity in industries, especially through regional groupings wherever possible. Developed countries and international organizations will assist in the industrialization of developing countries through appropriate means.

(77) Developing countries will ensure adequate expansion of their basic infrastructure by enlarging their transport and communication facilities and their supplIes of energy. As appropriate, they will seek to achieve this purpose through regional and subregional groupings. International financial and technical assistance will be extended in support of their endeavour.

10. Plan formulation and implementation

(78) Developing countries will, as appropriate, establish or strengthen their planning mechanisms, including statistical services, for formulating and implementing their national development plans during the Decade. They will ensure that their development plans are both realistic and ambitious enough to have an impact on the imagination of the people, internally consistent, and widely understood and accepted. Every effort will be made to secure the active support and participation of all segments of the population in the development process. They will pay special attention to the orientation and organization of their public administration at all levels for both the effective formulation and implementation of their development plans. Where necessary, they will seek international assistance in carrying out their planning tasks.

D. Review and Appraisal of Both Objectives and Policies

(79) Appropriate arrangements are necessary to keep under systematic scrutiny the progress towards achieving the goals and objectives of the Decade to identify shortfalls in their achievement and the factors which account for them and to recommend positive measures, including new goals and policies as needed. Such reviews and appraisals will be carried out at various levels, involving both developing and developed countries, keeping in view the need for streamlining the existing machinery and avoiding unnecessary duplication or proliferation of review activities.

(80) At the national level, each developing country will, where appropriate, establish evaluation machinery or strengthen the existing one and, whenever necessary, seek international assistance for this purpose. Particular attention will be devoted to improving and strengthening national programming and statistical services.

(81) For appraisals at the regional level, regional economic commissions and the United Nations Economic and Social Office at Beirut, in co-operation with regional development banks and subregional groupings, and with the assistance of other organizations of the United Nations system, will assume the main responsibility.

(82) The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and the specialized agencies of the United Nations will continue to review progress in their respective sectors according to the procedures already established and to be adapted as necessary.

(83) An over-all appraisal of the progress in implementing the International Development Strategy will be made by the General Assembly, through the Economic and Social Council, on the basis of the above-mentioned reviews and of comments and recommendations, within the framework of a specific mandate, by the Committee for Development Planning. In order to assist in this task, the Secretary-General will prepare and submit appropriate documentation and reports. The over-all appraisal will be made biennially, the second biennial appraisal being in the nature of a mid-term review.

E. Mobilization of Public Opinion

(84) An essential part of the work during the Decade will consist of the mobilization of public opinion in both developing and developed countries in support of the objectives and policies for the Decade. Governments of the more advanced countries will continue and intensify their endeavours to deepen public understanding of the interdependent nature of the development efforts during the Decade - in particular of the benefits accruing to them from international co-operation for development - and of the need to assist the developing countries in accelerating their economic and social progress. The efforts which developing countries themselves are making to meet the requirements of their economic and social progress need to be more clearly and more generally made known in developed countries. Similarly, Governments of the developing countries will continue to make people at all levels aware of the benefits and sacrifices involved and to enlist their full participation in achieving the objectives of the Decade. The mobilization of public opinion has to be the responsibility mainly of national bodies. Governments may give consideration to the establishment of new national bodies or to strengthening the existing ones designed to mobilize public opinion, and, as a long-term measure, to give increasing development orientation to the educational curricula. Considering that leadership can make a significant contribution to the mobilization of public opinion, the formulation of concrete aims by the competent authorities is indispensable. The role of the organizations of the United Nations system will be to assist the various national information media, in particular by supplying adequate basic information from which these media may draw both substance and inspiration for their work. There is also an urgent need for increasingly coordinating the information activities already being undertaken by many organizations within the United Nations system. The information stemming from international sources will be aimed primarily at strengthening the sense of interdependence and partnership implicit in the concept of the Decade.

1883rd plenary meeting
24 October 1970




Notes

1/ Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Second Session, vol. I and Corr.l and 3 and Add.l and 2, Report and Annexes (United Nations publication, Sales No.: E.68.II.D.14), p. 431.

2/ Ibid., p. 34.

3/ Ibid., p. 38.

4/ Ibid., p. 32.

5/ Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Development Assistance, 1969 Review, annex m.

6/ Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Second Session, vol. I and Corr.1 and 3 and Add.1 and 2, Report and Annexes (United Nations publication, Sales No.: E.68.n.D.14), p. 40.

7/ Official Records of the Trade and Development Board, Tenth Session, Supplement No.5 (TD/B/301), annex I.

8/ Proceedings of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Second Session, vol. I and Corr.1 and 3 and Add.1 and 2, Report and Annexes (United Nations publication, Sales No.: E.68.II.D.14), p. 49.

9/ Official Records of the Trade and Development Board, Tenth Session, Supplement No.5 (TD/B/301), annex I.

10/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 597 (1967), No. 8641.