06 June 2013 - The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Guinea-Bissau, José Ramos-Horta, expressed concern at the socio-economic situation in Guinea-Bissau when he addressed a seminar held on Thursday 6 June in Bissau to mark the launch of the 2013 Human Development Report (HDR) commissioned by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

"The economic and social situation in Guinea-Bissau is worrying," he said. "According to UNICEF data, Guinea-Bissau has the world's seventh highest infant mortality rate among children under the age of five years; many people living with HIV no longer receive the medicines necessary for their survival; violence against women has increased; poverty reduction, one of the main Millennium Development Goals, is almost unattainable."

"Unemployment continues, inequalities are worsening, health and education conditions are deteriorating," Ramos-Horta added at the ceremony, which was also attended by Deputy Special Representative Gana Fofang, Prime Minister Rui de Barros, Foreign Minister Faustino Imbali and other representatives of the State and the international community.

Guinea-Bissau is ranked 176th out of 186 countries assessed in the report, which looks beyond economic growth and measures human development using people-centred criteria such as the choices they are offered and access to opportunities in education, health and other areas, as Gana Fofang, who is also UNDP Resident Representative and Resident Coordinator of the UN system in Guinea-Bissau, explained.

The country's Human Development Index (HDI) grew by 0.9 percent between 2000 and 2010, but this increase was less than the average for Sub-Saharan Africa, which was 2.1 percent, according to the report. The main factors that contributed to the country's low HDI rating were generalized poverty and a low life expectancy rate [48.6 years] linked, among other things, to lack of access to health services and to quality education.

However, despite existing constraints, and while much remains to be done, cooperation between Guinea-Bissau and the UN over the years has had an impact in areas such as economic, financial and electoral management, legal aid, job creation and environmental protection, Fofang said.

He noted that the HDR serves, in the first place, to inform, and can also be an important tool for governments, but also cooperation agents, national and international organisations, civil society and individuals interested in the future of their societies. "It is therefore important, on the one hand, for the report to be clear, objective, and, on the other, for us to be able to believe that its contents can make a difference in our lives," he said.

"It is fundamentally important to take the report from the shelf, and give it wings, so that it can reach new people and new places," the Resident Coordinator said.

Transitional Prime Minister Rui Duarte de Barros agreed. He stressed that the report would provide Guinea-Bissau with examples and that despite the little time at its disposal, the government would analyse it to see what it could implement.

The Prime Minister, whose government has managed the political transition in Guinea-Bissau since 16 May 2012, following a military coup d'état on 12 April 2012, has been brokering ongoing negotiations with political groups aimed at achieving a transition government with a broader base.

At Thursday's launch, Special Representative Ramos-Horta welcomed progress made in efforts to achieve consensus on mechanisms needed to drive the political transition forward, such as the approval by parliament on 29 May of a transition pact and political accord, a roadmap for the political transition, and a draft agreement for the restoration of constitutional order. "There is no doubt that the approval of these instruments was a positive step towards the restoration of constitutional order," he said.

He also welcomed the conclusion of a recent agreement between the two principal parties represented in the People's National Assembly (parliament) which, he said, was "an indication that there exists a commitment to reach consensus with regard to the needed reforms, in both the pre- and post-election periods".

On the other hand, he recalled that the members of the National Electoral Commission had not yet been elected, parties were still to agree on the composition of a more inclusive transitional government, and an electoral calendar had not yet been established whereas this was a condition for guaranteeing the holding of elections this year.

The Special Representative noted that the UN Security Council had "stressed the importance of holding free, fair and transparent elections in order to ensure the re-establishment of constitutional order by the end of 2013", adding that "all the partners demand this" and that there "can be no doubts on the rigour of these demands by the international community".

The Security Council, he said, had recognized two phases in Guinea-Bissau's transition: the consolidation of peace and the reconstitution of State institutions.

During the first phase, the Council had urged the UN Integrated Peace-Building Operation in Guinea-Bissau, which Ramos-Horta heads, to support the country's authorities in their efforts to achieve a number of priorities, including the establishment of civilian control over the armed forces; increased coherence, coordination and efficiency in the fight against drug trafficking and organised crime; protecting human rights, and ending impunity, the climate of fear and restrictions to freedom.

The elections would be a step towards the launching of the second stage of the transition in Guinea-Bissau, he said, explaining that "Guineans will have to adopt a new culture in which elections do not lead to divisions [and] in which the winner does not take all".

Successful implementation of the first phase will allow the international community to provide effective support, during the second phase, for the strengthening of State institutions, not only in the form of financial support but also through the co-location of experts to assist in the implementation of national development plans, Ramos-Horta noted.

He stated that given the challenges facing the nation, "it is not for just one political party to implement the second phase of the reorganization and modernization of the state, with co-location of international experts in all strategic areas". Achieving this, he explained, requires "a broad consensus that only a government of national unity, but one which emerges from the next election, will be able to forge".