Yearbook of the United Nations, 2004. Part 3, Economic and social questions. Chapter 1, Development policy and international economic cooperation

Abstract

Global economic growth in 2004, at 4 per cent, was not only the highest for many years, but was also unusually widespread and well balanced. The broadening of the economic recovery was reflected in the fact that almost half the developing countries, accounting for over 80 per cent of the developing world's population, increased per capita output by more than 3 per cent. Per capita output also increased by more than 3 per cent in all the economies in transition except one. Among the developed countries, performance was more varied. Growth was strong in North America, moderate in Japan but weak in Europe. Achieving the Millennium Development Goal (MDG), adopted by the General Assembly in 2000, of halving by 2015 the proportion of the world's people living in extreme poverty was a major focus of the work of several UN bodies in 2004. The high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council was devoted to the question of resource mobilization and enabling environment for poverty eradication in the context of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) for the Decade 20012010, and a ministerial declaration on the subject was adopted. The Council's coordination segment considered the promotion of rural development in developing countries, with due consideration to LDCs, for poverty eradication and sustainable development. After considering the role of microcredit and microfinance in the eradication of poverty, the Assembly adopted a December resolution in which it recognized that access to microcredit and microfinance could contribute to the achievement of the goals and targets of major UN conferences and summits in the economic and social fields, including the MDGs, and decided to devote one plenary meeting at its sixty-first (2006) session to the outcome of and follow-up to the International Year of Microcredit, 2005. The Assembly also adopted a resolution on the implementation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006). Reaffirming that information and communication technologies were powerful tools to foster socio-economic development and contribute to the realization of the MDGs, the Assembly endorsed the Declaration of Principles and the Plan of Action adopted at the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society in 2003. It also took note of progress in the preparations for the second phase, to be held in 2006. The Commission on Science and Technology for Development, in May, had as its main theme the question of promoting the application of science and technology to meet the MDGs. The Commission on Sustainable Development, in overseeing the follow-up to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, which reviewed progress in implementing Agenda 21, the action plan on sustainable development adopted by the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, focused on the thematic cluster of water, sanitation and human settlements. It also continued preparations for the International Meeting to Review the Implementation of the 1994 Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The International Meeting, which had been scheduled to take place in 2004, was postponed until January 2005. In addition to SIDS, other groups of countries in special situations that were of concern to the Organization during 2004 included LDCs, landlocked developing countries, economies in transition and poor mountain countries. The need for a smooth transition for countries graduating from the list of LDCs so that the graduation would not result in a disruption of development plans, programmes and projects was addressed by the Assembly, the Council and the Committee for Development Policy.