UN General Assembly
2004

to halve hunger and poverty by the year 2015 cannot be achieved without a fundamental restructuring of the global trade system, particularly in agricultural products. Such an initiative should include developed countriesí dismantling subsidies and lowering tariffs, thereby helping to uphold and safeguard an open, equitable, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system. The concerns of developing countries have been reiterated in this Assembly over the years; we therefore urge our developed partners to act now. For many countries in Africa, stable long-term planning will be impossible without more systematic and sustained debt relief. Despite the progress recorded in the implementation of the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative and the provision of substantial debt relief by bilateral official creditors, achieving long-term debt sustainability and, at the same time, a reduction in poverty as targeted, remains a major problem for many African countries. We, therefore, welcome the initiative of British Prime Minister Tony Blair in setting up the African Commission. Official development assistance (ODA), as we are aware, continues to play an essential role in