Ghana to reduce poverty levels by half

Ghana would reduce by half her estimated 40 per cent population that lived on less than one dollar a day by the year 2015, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Minister of Economic Planning and Regional Co-operation said on Thursday.

Ghana was seen globally to be conforming to the criteria prescribed for increased Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) pledged by leaders of developed countries at the recent international conference on Financing for Development (FFD) to reduce the world's poverty level by half by 2015.

Briefing the press on the outcome of the conference held in Monterrey, Mexico and attended by over 150 countries, Dr Nduom said Ghana stood a high chance to benefit immensely and to achieve this target if it implemented the three conditions of good governance, transparency and the rule of law prescribed under the consensus reached for increased ODA.

Ghana's delegation to the conference was led by Mr J. H. Mensah, Senior Minister and included Mr Yaw Osafo-Maafo, Minister of Finance, Dr Nduom, Nana Effah Apenteng, Ambassador to the United Nations and Mr Kwesi Abeasi, Chief Executive of the Ghana Investment Promotion Council.

Dr Nduom recalled that the United Nations (UN) held a conference in August last year at which world leaders came out with what was called the Millennium Goals. The Goals required among other things that children every where would be able to complete full primary education course and that efforts would be made to eliminate gender disparity at all levels of education by the target year.

At the conference, delegates adopted the Millennium Goals under which the developed countries were expected to meet a UN ODA target of 0.7 per cent of national income.

"The European Union (EU), and the United States pledged billions of dollars more to finance development. However, it was made clear that more aid would be contingent upon good governance, transparency and the rule of law," the Minister said.

He said the EU agreed to an average official development assistance target of 0.39 per cent of national income to developing countries by the year 2006 and pledged to strive to meet the UN ODA target of 0.7 per cent. The percentage increase represented an additional seven billion dollars to developing countries from the EU.

The United States did not pledge any percentage but said it would increase ODA gradually to reach an additional five billion dollars annually from 2006. This would make the annual total receipt from that country to reach about 15 billion dollars.

However, small-developed countries like Ireland pledged to meet the 0.7 per cent target straight away, Dr Nduom said and noted that Denmark, Netherlands, Finland and Sweden had met the target while Norway planned to increase ODA to one percent of national income by 2005.

Dr Nduom said Norway also reached an agreement to include Ghana on her beneficiary lists. He said the nation received this and other pledges because many countries endorsed Ghana's Poverty Reduction Strategy as a very good basis for ODA. "The document was widely distributed and read by the donor community. Ghana was hailed as having met many of the conditions for increased ODA."

The Minister said Ghana's delegation, therefore, took the opportunity to reach an agreement to use ODA to attract foreign direct investments for which managers of the economy were expected to reduce the poverty rate in accordance with the target of the Millennium Goals.

He said in the view of others like President George Bush of the US, they endorsed the global objective because among others things, "we fight against poverty because hope is an answer to terror while liberty, law and opportunity are conditions for development."

As a follow up to the agreements reached at the conference, the US Secretary to the Treasury is expected in Ghana in May this year. Dr Nduom also announced that Ghana plans to benefit from a five billion dollar fund to be launched by the Gates Foundation, a US based NGO, which had agreed to include Ghana in the countries they would target for poverty reduction through, nutrition programmes.

He said however, that more work needed to be done for Ghana to receive the assistance and suggested that a team made up of the Ministries of Health, Food and Agriculture, Finance and Economic Planning should meet to prepare a plan that would enable the country to derive maximum benefits in the programme.

Dr Nduom said Ghana had opportunities of goodwill at independence and in the 990's and was now poised to take advantage of every available opportunity that would enable her to reach development targets.