Obasanjo at UN Laments Pervasive hunger, Disease in Africa

Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has decried that in spite of the abundance of international goodwill and commitment to sustainable development and the desire for equitable distribution of the world's wealth, through eloquent declarations and programmes, for many countries in Africa, hunger and disease remained pervasive and deep-rooted.

President Obasanjo's assertion was contained in his statement Sunday at 57th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

"Human development indices for some of the poorest countries are, indeed, unflattering for a world that is so rich, but with resources so unevenly distributed," President Obasanjo said.

He said that to attain the lofty goals of the Millennium Declaration, to make the world a better place, urgent and concrete action was required from the international community to assist many developing countries through increased Official Direct Assistance (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows and efforts to alleviate their excruciating debt burden and enable them to develop their human and material resource base.

He informed the Session that Africa remained committed to correcting, in a sustained and coordinated way, many of the development problems associated with the Continent's underdevelopment, through the New Partnership for African Development programme, NEPAD.

"We are encouraged by the support that NEPAD has so far received from the international community. The latest evidence of this support is the outcome of the recent meeting of the G8 in Kananaskis, Canada, towards the implementation of the Action Plan," President Obasanjo said.

He expressed the hope that the UN High Level Segment on NEPAD would record greater success "in the much expected endorsement of this initiative by the international community.

September 18, 2002