UN General Assembly
1998

world economy, which is becoming more integrated. Globalization and liberalization are indeed the current economic wave, and will continue in years to come. They have, however, far-reaching implications, in particular for the developing countries, as reflected in the current international financial confusion or turmoil. The United Nations faces the great challenge of coming up with initiatives to manage globalization and liberalization in such a manner that they benefit the entire community of nations, without exception. Processes of globalization and liberalization that undermine development are not in the interests of the international community. The external debt problem is yet another issue that impacts negatively on the economic and social development of many developing countries, Zambia included. We can recall a number of initiatives put in place to resolve this particular problem, but so far none seem to be effective, including the present Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative, which not only has targeted too few developing countries but also has a long transition period before eligibility is granted. It would, however, be a grave oversight to fail to