Furthermore, poverty is an important cause of conflict. And again, violent conflict may undo the results of decades of development. Development cooperation, therefore, constitutes an effective crisis preventive effort in the long term. Denmark stands by these commitments. We will continue our policy of contributing 1 per cent of our gross national product to official development assistance.
Poverty reduction is the prime goal of our development co-operation programmes.
In addition, we are providing funding to help address global problems in the field of the environment as well as peace-keeping and conflict prevention. These grants will grow in the coming years, reaching half a per cent of gross domestic product by the year 2005. Creating an enabling environment for development is a challenge, first of all, for developing countries themselves. Reforms cannot be imposed from the outside. If they are to succeed, local ownership and local roots are essential.