G8 Middle East & N. Africa initiative: main points
SEA ISLAND, June 10: Here is a a summary of a plan to promote reform in the Middle East and North Africa adopted on Wednesday by leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations.
PRINCIPLES OF PLAN
- We the leaders of the G8 are mindful that peace, political, economic and social development, prosperity and stability in the countries of the Broader Middle East and North Africa represent a challenge which concerns us and the international community as a whole. Therefore, we declare our support for democratic, social and economic reform emanating from that region.
- This partnership will be based on genuine cooperation with the region's governments, as well as business and civil society representatives to strengthen freedom, democracy, and prosperity for all.
- The resolution of long-lasting, often bitter, disputes, especially the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is an important element of progress in the region.
- At the same time, regional conflicts must not be an obstacle for reforms. Indeed, reforms may make a significant contribution toward resolving them.
- Successful reform depends on the countries in the region, and change should not and cannot be imposed from outside.
- Our support for reform in the region will go hand in hand with our support for a just, comprehensive, and lasting settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict, based upon UN resolutions 242 and 338.
- We stand together united in our support for the Iraqi people and the fully sovereign Iraqi interim government as they seek to rebuild their nation.
- We welcome the unanimous approval of United Nations Security Council resolution 1546 on Iraq, and we join in supporting the continued, expansive engagement of the United Nations in Iraq after the transfer of sovereignty, as circumstances permit.
- Debt reduction is critical if the Iraqi people are to have the opportunity to build a free and prosperous nation.
- The reduction should be provided in connection with an IMF programme. We will work with each other, within the Paris Club, and with non-Paris Club creditors, to achieve that objective in 2004.
PLAN OF ACTION
- Provide a ministerial framework for our on-going dialogue and engagement on political, economic, and social reform in a spirit of mutual respect.
- Bring together in one forum foreign, economic and other ministers of the G8 and the region on a regular basis.
- Launch a micro finance initiative to expand sustainable micro finance in the region and increase financing opportunities for the region's small entrepreneurs, especially women.
- Enhance support for efforts in the region, including through the appropriate multilateral institutions, to impart literacy skills to an additional 20 million people by 2015.
- Work to train, including through appropriate multilateral institutions, 100,000 teachers by 2009.
- Establish a Broader Middle East and North Africa Private Enterprise Development Facility at the International Finance Corporation to assist the region's efforts to improve the business and investment climate.
- Combine and expand in terms of funding and geographic reach the IFC's two regional facilities to create a new 100 million dollar facility that will cover the entire region, funded by contributions from G-8 countries, countries within the region, and other donors. -AFP
