Expanded Utstein group wishes to build broad alliances to fight poverty

The Utstein group of international development ministers met in Dubai on 21 September in connection with the annual meetings of the World Bank and the IMF. The group, which until recently comprised Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK, has now been joined by Canada. The six ministers stressed their wish to build broad alliances to fight poverty.

The ministers emphasised how important it was for all countries to deliver on the promises made at the Monterrey and Johannesburg conferences in the areas of debt relief, trade, development assistance, foreign direct investment and good governance in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The full text of the press release issued by the Utstein group after the meeting follows:

UTSTEIN GROUP SEEKS TO BUILD BROAD ALLIANCES TO FIGHT POVERTY

Six ministers of international development met in Dubai 21 September to give guidance to the future work of the Utstein network. The Utstein countries are now Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The ministers stressed their wish to build wider networks and broad coalitions in order to secure achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

The ministers urged colleagues to deliver on the promises made at the Monterrey and Johannesburg conferences in the areas of debt relief, trade, development assistance, foreign direct investment and good governance. The ministers underlined that considerable additional resources, both official development assistance and other forms, will be needed to deliver on the promises made.

The ministers called for strengthened efforts to align programmes behind country poverty strategies and to harmonize donor practices.

The ministers also agreed to step up their co-operation in order to strengthen policy coherence for poverty reduction. In this context, they regretted the temporary setback at the WTO ministerial meeting in Cancun and called on all countries to contribute in a positive way to the conclusion of the Doha Development Round.

Dubai, 22 September 2003

Press contact: Head of Information Espen Gullikstad, mobile phone: +47 91 70 81 22.