African Countries Pledge To Use Debt Relief For Science

Panafrican News Agency
June 29, 1999
by Ruth Nabakwe

BUDAPEST, Hungary (PANA) - Representatives of African countries, attending
an international conceference on science in Hungary, have proposed to
create a science fund for poor countries from the 70 billion US dollars
debt relief agreed in June by the G-8 nations meeting in Cologne, Germany.

Ministers of science and education from Africa Monday agreed to the
proposal at a meeting, chaired by the Cameroonian minister of science and
technology, Henri Hogbe Nlend.

The proposal will be put to the drafting group by Senegal, which represents
Africa on the group.

Under the proposal, highly indebted countries will be urged to agree to set
up a science fund from money originally earmarked for debt re-payments
which will be waived under the plan agreed at the Cologne meeting.

The African ministers said support for the fund could also be sought from
the 50 country Organisation of the Islamic Conference. The ministers agreed
that the draft conference document put additional emphasis on two major
areas, namely, that science is the common heritage of mankind whose results
and benefits should be shared equitably.

They further stressed the need for a more clearly defined mechanism to
follow up implementation of the resolutions that will emerge at the end of
the conference Thursday.

"The idea that some countries are producers of science while others are
consumers cannot be allowed to continue into the next century," Nlend said.


However, observers say the proposal could generate debate, partly as a
result of the last major UN science conference in Vienna in 1979 where a
hard fought battle raged between rich and poor countries over a Science for
Development Fund which ended in stalemate.

But for Nlend, the lack of funds is a critical issue for poor countries, an
issue strongly supported by other participants at the conference.

Nlend said African delegates came to Budapest after having carefully drawn
hard lessons from the Vienna conference.

One of these lessons, they argue, was not to push too hard for a fund that
relies largely on donations from developed countries but rather explore
ways in which developing countries can help themselves.
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Copyright (c) 1999 Panafrican News Agency.