Addis Ababa declaration of African ministers responsible for trade and development preparatory to UNCTAD VII

Abstract

The developing world is facing a crisis of unprecedented gravity. In many developing countries the development process has collapsed. On the eve of UNCTAD VIIE the flow of financial resources is much reduced, and several countries suffer net outflows. The debt burden of developing countries constitutes an obstacle to the mobilization of national and international financial resources for development, Unprecedented drop in the commodity prices deprive many developing countries of export earnings which are necessary for financing their imports and indispensable to sustain development and to service external debts. The erosion of respect for the disciplines of the international trading system exposes developing countries to arbitrary obstacles to their trade. As a consequence societies and political systems are under acute strain.