mcdanielr41

策劃、編譯■李威撰、謝雯伃

政治官員、技術官僚、企業主管及非政府組織齊聚土耳其伊斯坦堡，

共同商議最低度開發國家在下一個10年的新發展願景，

然而過去30年來的會議目標皆未達成，貧窮國家數量增多、貧富差距拉大，

伊斯坦堡行動計畫能否帶來實質變化，與會人士有不同想法。

■阿富汗一名無家可歸的男子倒睡在喀布爾一處石階上，圖攝於2008年6月11日。（圖文／路透）

聯合國秘書長潘基文9日在伊斯坦堡的會議上表示，援助世界上最窮困的國家將有助於全球復甦。這次的會議將通過一項10年行動計畫，協助最低度開發國家。

Investment in the world's poorest nations will aid global recovery, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said at a conference in Istanbul on Monday to agree a 10-year action plan to help least developed nations.

聯合國10年舉行一次會議，開幕式結束後的記者會上，潘基文表示：「我前來這次會議僅為表達一項單純的訊息：最低度開發國家將是發展最重要的一波。」

"I have come to this conference with a single simple message -- the LDCs will be the most important wave of the development," Ban told a news conference after the opening session of the U.N.'s once-a-decade conference.

「讓我再次強調，我所要求的並非慈善施捨，而是投資。」潘基文表示：「對最低度開發國家及全球經濟來說，回報將相當深遠。最低度開發國家的成功就是全世界的成功。」

"Let me emphasise again I am not arguing for charity but for investment," Ban said. "Returns can be profound for the LDCs and for the global economy. Success for LDCs is success for all."

潘基文表示，目前行動計畫成果暗淡，與聯合國在1970年代所羅列的名單相比，最低度開發國家的數目增加1倍，達到48國。

Ban drew a bleak （1） picture of progress made so far, with the number of countries on the U.N. list of LDCs almost doubling to 48 since lists were first made in the 1970s.

名單上有33個非洲國家、14個亞洲國家，還有表上唯一的西半球國家，海地。這些國家總人口數為8億8千5百萬人，75％的民眾每日生活不到2美元。

The list includes 33 African countries, 14 Asian and Haiti -- the only Western Hemisphere country. Their populations total 885 million, and 75 percent of them live on less than $2 a day.

聯合國所制定的評等條件包括：人均國民總收入每年低於905美元、高兒童死亡率、教育不普及、糧食取得的脆弱度及經濟上的不安全，特別是在阿拉伯世界發生動盪後的幾個月。

Criteria for the U.N. list include having a per capita national income of less than $905 per year, high child mortaliy, poor access to education, and vulnerability （2） to food and economic insecurity -- in focus after months of revolt in the Arab world.

各國貧富差距擴大

土耳其總統莒內警告，現代通訊設備的出現，表示每個地區人民都注意到不同國家間的經濟不平等狀態。莒內表示：「今天對全球人民而言，不同國家間的貧富差距越來越明顯。」

Turkey's President Abdullah Gul warned that the advent of modern communications meant people everywhere were far more aware of iniquities among nations. "The wide gap between the countries is more visible today to people across the world," Gul said.

莒內表示：「出現這麼巨大的經濟鴻溝，同樣也是很��的倫理及道德問題。同樣地，從政治和安全上的理由來看，這樣的鴻溝都不該再繼續下去。」他的國家土耳其就提供20億美元的補助，以官方或非政府的管道來援助窮困國家。

"It's also a big ethical and moral mistake, to have such a wide gap, and therefore unsustainable for political and security reasons," said Gul, whose own country provides $2 billion in aid to poor nations through official and non-government channels.

潘基文8日對非政府組織發表談話，提及自2001年布魯塞爾會議後，貧困國家的部分正面發展。他表示，許多最低度開發國家中，有越來越多兒童得以進入學校求學；性別平等的狀態亦有所改變，有更多女性能在職場上工作，同時女性擔任政府職位的比例也有提高。「更甚者，現在民主選舉在最低度開發國家已成常態，而非特例。」潘基文表示。

Addressing non-goverment organisations on Sunday, Ban cited some positives since the last conference in Brussels in 2001. He said that in many LDCs more children were attending school, gender equality had improved, more women were earning and their representation in government had risen. "Furthermore democratic elections are now the norm in the LDCs rather than the exception," Ban said.

聯合國日前一份報告指出，近幾十年來，最低度開發國家和其他國家間的貧富差距不斷擴大，除非其根本弱點獲得處理，不然將繼續擴大下去。

The wealth gap between the least developed and other countries has widened in recent decades and will go on doing so unless their basic weaknesses are tackled, a report for the United Nations.

「簡言之，『最低度開發』的處境容易造成『較少』的發展，儘管調查中大多數國家都顯示了些許經濟成長的跡象。」報告指出，該報告由9名「知名人士」組成的調查小組所發表。

"In short, the 'least developed' condition has tended to generate 'less' development," even though most of the countries concerned had registered some economic growth, said the report by a group of nine "eminent persons."

最低度開發國家2001年於布魯塞爾一場聯合國會議中啟動一項未來10年的行動計畫。日前由馬利前總統阿爾法．奧馬爾．科納雷和前世界銀行主席沃爾芬森所領導的評等小組，研究了該計畫實施十年後的影響。

The panel, headed by former Malian President Alpha Oumar Konare and former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, studied the impact of an action program on LDCs launched at a U.N. conference in Brussels in 2001 for the ensuing decade.

研究小組的建議在5月9日至13日的伊斯坦堡會議中被提出，長達43頁的報告指出：「我們達成的結論是，儘管最低度開發國家在經濟和社會面上有些許進步，但最低度開發國家及包含中低收入國家在內的世界，和其他國家間的貧富差距正在拉大。」

Its recommendations are to be considered by a new conference in Istanbul from May 9-13. "We have come to the conclusion that despite some progress on the economic and social front, the gap between the LDCs and the rest of the world, including the low middle income countries, is widening," the 43-page report said.

報告指出，造成貧富鴻溝的原因包括教育品質低落、健康及營養問題、基礎建設不彰、對脆弱農業部門的仰賴，以及出口範圍狹隘。「除非我們處理了造成這些國家發展低落的根本弱點，不然我們就無法阻止它們越來越被邊緣化。」報告指出。

It blamed this on poor education, health and nutrition, limited infrastructure （3）, dependence on fragile agricultural sectors and a limited range of exports. "Unless we address the structural weaknesses that make these countries 'least developed,' we will not reverse their increasing marginalization （4）," which would lead to "a future that we, as a global community, cannot afford," the report said.

報告指出，最低度開發國家2008年的平均每人國民所得，從40年前的世界平均值18％滑落到15％。若目前趨勢繼續發展，鴻溝將變更大。

有賴富國伸援手

It said the average per capita income in the least developed countries had fallen from 18 per cent of the world average 40 years ago to 15 percent by 2008. The gap would widen in future if present trends continued, it said.

評等小組表示，最低度開發國家在改善現況上負有部分責任，例如在談判時，要用更好的價格出售原物料、打擊貪腐，以及追回被盜資產。

The panel said part of the responsibility for improving the situation lay with the LDCs themselves, which should negotiate better prices for their raw materials （5）, fight corruption and seek the return of stolen assets.

但評等小組也表示，國外援助是「不可或缺之元素」，捐贈國應於2013年以前將援助的金額提升至國民所得毛額的0.15％，在2015年以前達到0.2％。

But it also said foreign aid was a "fundamental ingredient." Donor countries should scale up their aid to the LDCs to 0.15 percent of their gross national income by 2013 and to 0.2 percent by 2015.

其他應採取的措施包括：讓最低度開發國家在出口享有免關稅及免配額的待遇、進一步減少這些國家的官方雙邊或多邊債務，以及讓農業生產力及學校註冊率加倍。

Among other goals should be to grant duty- and quota-free access for LDC exports, further reduce the countries' official bilateral and multilateral debt, and double their farm productivity and school enrolment.

聯合國已經表示，要在2021年以前將最低度開發國家的數量減為現在的一半。自從1970以來，只有波札那、維德角和馬爾地夫這3個國家脫離最低度開發國家的行列。

The United Nations has already said it wants to halve the number of LDCs by 2021. Since 1970, only three countries have made it out of the group -- Botswana, Cape Verde and the Maldives.

（路透 Reuters）

關鍵字詞

Key Words

1. bleak

(a.) 慘淡淒涼的

2. vulnerability

(n.) 脆弱性

3. infrastructure

(n.) 基礎建設

4. marginalization

(n.) 邊緣化

5. raw material

(n.) 原物料