Mr. President
Mr. Secretary General
Distinguished Delegates

On behalf of the Greek delegation, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to  the people and the Government of Mexico for their warm hospitality in hosting this Summit. I would, also, like to extend my appreciation to the Secretary General of the United Nations, for his tireless efforts, to make the outcome of this Conference successful. This is a positive step towards our common goals set by the United Nations Millennium Declaration.

Mr. President,

The European Union’s contribution for the year 2000 reached 25.4 bill USD, that is more than 50% of all Official Development Assistance. Furthermore, the European Union seized today’s historic opportunity and decided, during the European Summit in Barcelona,  to further increase  it’s annual aid volume by 7 bill USD by 2006. This is a significant step towards the 0.7% target, which strengthens our collective solidarity towards the developing countries.

In view of the above, Greece fully associates itself with the statement delivered by the Presidency of the European Union. Furthermore we would like to affirm our willingness to increase our Official Development Assistance from 0.2% to 0.33% of GNI  until the year 2006. In the next four years, we will spare no efforts, to make substantial progress, so that collectively the European Union  reaches an average of 0.39%, by  the year 2006.
 

Greece, a few years ago, was considered a developing country. Today, it is a member of the euro- zone and a donor country. Our Official Development Assistance has been raised by 300% since 1997 and our growth rate of 4% is one of the highest in Europe. We are making our first steps as a donor state, but we cherish our recent experience as a recipient country.

Greece believes that development efforts should be based on the following seven key principles: participation, solidarity, equity, co-responsibility, foresight, ownership and partnership. Let me elaborate on  the one that we consider most important, based on our own development experience.

In our view partnership is the key principle for  the following two reasons: 

First, partnership is the most effective and efficient working scheme. It promotes coordination, coherence and complementarity of actions. It is also known to assist the promotion of good governance, to limit unpredictable bureaucratic procedures  and to foster   an enabling environment for investment.

Second, partnership is a prerequisite for building trustworthy relations between all stakeholders,  by cultivating mutual understanding and enhancing transparency. We are aware that partnership bears obligations and sets responsibilities for all parties involved. At the same time, it requires the establishment of independent monitoring and evaluation procedures. In addition, the design  and implementation of integrated programs, as opposed to  randomly selected projects, promotes aid effectiveness by ensuring that the end receiver is the real beneficiary.

The lessons we have learned, both as a recipient and a donor country, proves the validity of these thoughts. They became the foundation of our philosophy while elaborating our recent Development Assistance Framework,   for the years 2002-2006, within the context of DAC.  This means that our efforts must reach beyond our borders regardless of  whether it is a child suffering in Africa;  an Afghani refugee facing starvation, or  promoting  good governance practices in the Balkans. 
 

Mr. President,

We aspire that the International Conference on the Financing for Development, under the auspices of the Secretary General of the United Nations, could become a first step towards a new Global Deal, based on effective partnerships, aiming to promote the equitable development of our global village. In this context, we welcome all efforts to implement the conclusions of the Doha Ministerial   Declaration , as well as to further enhance  the HIPC initiative.

We  whole-heartedly believe that we could elaborate sustainable solutions to poverty, hunger, malnutrition  that  affect more than 1.2 bill people  everyday on earth.

Inequalities in today’s international economy, may lead to fear of social and economic exclusion,  risking to transform any  new form of international alliance into a scheme of isolation. In the era of globalization, a fractured world of insiders and outsiders, is not a safe and prosperous world. Our challenge ahead  is to turn grievances into opportunities and opportunities into reality. 
 

Thank you, Mr. President