The African Group at the UN has called for the immediate f ulfilment of all Official Development Assistance(ODA) commitment to Africa.
The group also urged the Group of Eight industrialised countrie (G-8) to redeem its pledge to double by 2010, official assistance to the continent.
The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Ambassador An atolio Mba, made the call on behalf of the group on Tuesday in New York at the h i gh level dialogue on financing for development.
“The Group also called for an expeditious process during the next session of the General Assembly towards establishing a monitoring mechanism to follow up on al l commitments related to the development of Africa,” he said.
The Guinean envoy recalled that in September 2008, a General Assembly resolution made commitments on this during a high meeting on Africaâ?s development needs.
He noted that while African countries recognised the importance of mobilising do mestic resources to achieve sustainable development, the effects of multiple fin a ncial crisis underscored the importance of external support.
According to him, the fulfilment of Official Development Assistance pledges, deb t relief, increases in volume of aid provided for budget support and availabilit y of export trade finance would impact positively on African economies.
On the financial reforms, he said: “Africa is of the view that the current finan cial crisis provides a good opportunity to address the long-standing imbalances i nherent in the present financial and economic architecture.”
He emphasised that the current global efforts to address reforms should not lead to further marginalisation of the continent, “in international economic decisio n making and norm setting”.
In a remark, a UNDP official, Rebecca Grynspan, said G8 members “are far short o f meeting their Gleneagles pledges to double ODA to Africa by 2010 over 2014 lev e ls”.
Grynspan said: “last year in London, the G20 indicated that US$ 50 billion part of the over US$ 1 trillion additional resources committed to address the crisis w ould flow to low income countries.
“However, it is not clear how these resources will be delivered.”
She also referred to the last climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, wher e developed countries undertook to provide additional resources for climate chan g e mitigation and adaptation, approaching US$ 30 billion for the period 2010 to 2 0 12.
“The details of the funding arrangement and the actual pledges, however, remain to be determined,” she said.
The UN official said with “adequate resources, political responsibility and lead ership at all levels,” the development goals on the continent could still be met .
The Pan African News Agency (PANA) reported that Bretton Woods institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund are taking part in the di a logue, which is under the auspices of the United Nations.
The dialogue is aimed at assessing progress made in financing commitments reache d eight years ago in Mexico to eradicate poverty, promote sustainable developmen t and advance economic growth, particularly in the developing countries.
