Copyright 2000 InterPress Service, all rights reserved.
Worldwide distribution via the APC networks.
*** 27-Mar-0* ***
Title: DEVELOPMENT: G-77 Summit to Push More South-South
Collaboration
By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, Mar 27 (IPS) - Co-operation among developing nations is
a major point on the agenda for the upcoming Group of 77 (G-77)
Summit, and has the best chance of bearing fruit for the 133
countries that make up the organisation.
With preparations underway for the meeting of G-77 heads of
state, to be held in Havana April 10 through 14, Cuba has put a
file of joint projects in the hands of experts that could serve as
the starting point for discussions.
''It's nothing more than our contribution to resolve, in
practice, the urgent issues of health, education, research and
others,'' Mar¡a de los Angeles Florez, Cuba's assistant foreign
minister for Multilateral Affairs, told the state-run press.
In her opinion, the countries of the industrialised North would
have to comply with their pledged development assistance, set at
0.7 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP), but the nations
of the South must also co-operate with each other.
In 1970, the United Nations General Assembly established the goal
for wealthy countries to earmark 0.7 percent of their GDP for
assistance to development nations. Currently, only four - Denmark,
the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden - have reached or surpassed
that mark.
Official development aid from the North to the South in 1992
reached 61 billion dollars. By 1997, the total had fallen to 47.6
billion.
But developing nations ''can contribute with joint, regional and
even bilateral projects,'' said Florez, who pointed out that the G-
77 Summit will be the largest held in Cuba since the Sixth Summit
of Non-Aligned Countries in 1979.
With the exception of the United States, all members of the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD),
which unites the world's wealthiest nations, have reaffirmed their
pledge to bring development assistance for the South up to 0.7
percent of their respective GDPs.
Analysts agree that the issue will likely be spark debate, not
only regarding the need for the aid, but also about special
attention for programmes targeting education, health and social
security in the nations of the South.
These fundamental areas have been ''dramatically affected by the
economic adjustment and restructuring programmes imposed within
the current globalisation process,'' said one observer.
Cuba has a long history of co-operation with nations of Africa,
Asia and Latin America, even since it lost the aid it received
from the now-defunct Soviet Union and former socialist bloc of
eastern Europe - and explains the island nation's special interest
in the subject.
Today, there are 4,359 Cuban technicians, professionals and
specialists providing their services in 90 nations.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, 2,685 Cubans are working on
development programmes, in addition to 1,389 in Africa, 249 in
Europe and 36 in Asia, providing assistance in areas ranging from
medicine, education, and construction to sports, hydro-electricity,
agriculture and research.
Initially, this co-opeartion was completely free of charge,
including international transportation and supplies for personnel,
but the receiving nations, especially those with financial
resources available, have been assuming some of the expenses
since the late 1980s.
However, Cuba still works under the principle that it will not
charge for technical assistance, underscored government sources.
They estimate that throughout the nearly 38 years of Cuban
development collaboration, more than 90,000 people from the island
have provided technical assistance in Africa in more than 40
areas, including public health, education, agriculture,
transportation, construction, sports, fishing and industry.
From 1965 through 1998, 37,000 scholarship students from 120
countries graduated from Cuban universities, 13,786 with advanced
degrees. Another 7,090 African workers improved their labour
qualifications through training programmes on the island.
Cuba's most recent assistance programme, which has greatest
resonance for Latin America, is in the health arena - the Fidel
Castro government's major point of pride.
As a result of the hurricanes Georges and Mitch, which pummeled
Central America in 1998, Castro put his Integral Medical Attention
Plan into action, still in effect today with medical brigades in
Belize, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras.
This programme was later extended to sub-Saharan Africa and
included the creation in Havana of the Latin American School of
Medicine, which has enrolled more than 3,000 students from 20
countries since last year.
So far, the students' education and living expenses have been
covered by the Cuban government, including Haitian students in
Santiago de Cuba, 967 km from the capital.
(END/IPS/tra-so/pg/mj/ld/00)
Origin: Montevideo/DEVELOPMENT/
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[c] 2000, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS)
All rights reserved
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