中英对照：减贫战略“必须包括创新”

　　The world's poorest nations must place more emphasis on using scientific knowledge and technological innovation if they wish to escape the poverty and growing unemployment they currently face, according to a leading UN agency.

　　The warning comes in a major report — 'The Least Developed Countries Report 2007: Knowledge, Technology Learning and Innovation for Development' — published yesterday (19 July) by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), based in Geneva.

　　The report says that too many of the world's least developed countries (LDCs) are seeking to achieve economic growth, for example, through higher commodity prices, without asking how effective the growth is likely to be in meeting important social targets, such as raising agricultural productivity or tackling unemployment.

　　It recommends a range of measures for reversing this situation, from encouraging "technological learning" in both "farms and firms", to making better use of international legislation on intellectual property rights, and encouraging donors to increase support for what it describes as "knowledge aid".

　　"Unless the LDCs adopt policies to stimulate technological catch-up with the rest of the world, they will continue to fall behind other countries technologically, and face deepening marginalisation in the global economy," says UNCTAD secretary-general Supachai Panitchpakdi.

　　The report argues that LDCs require both capital and knowledge to build up their productive capabilities. But it adds that current debates on development policy place too much emphasis on finance, and not enough on knowledge.

　　It identifies this as a particular weakness of many Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), the multi-year plans that developing countries have to draw up and adopt as a pre-condition of support from funding agencies such as the World Bank.

　　"The latest generation of PRSPs seeks to reduce poverty through sustained economic growth," Charles Gore, chief of research and policy analysis in the division for Africa, LDCs and special programmes, said at a press conference in London. "But technical change is not identified as a priority within PRSPs. That is a long-standing neglect."

　　The report also points out that donor aid for science, technology and innovation is very weak, both qualitatively and quantitatively.

　　For example, during 2003–2005, annual spending on promoting research and boosting advanced skills represented less than four per cent of the total aid to LDCs and almost 60 per cent of that was spent on higher education.

　　Similarly, although agriculture remains the principal source of livelihood in LDCs, spending on agricultural research has fallen from 1.2 per cent of agricultural gross national product in the late 1980s to less than 0.5 per cent today.

　　In contrast, US$1.3 billion was allocated by donors to improving governance in LDCs during 2003–2005, compared to only US$12 million on providing advice to farmers through agricultural extension services.

　　减贫战略“必须包括创新”

　　联合国的一个主要机构说，如果世界最贫穷的国家想摆脱贫困和它们目前面临的失业率增加，它们必须更加重视使用科学知识和技术创新。

　　这些警告来自联合国贸发会议（UNCTAD）昨天（7月19日）发表的一份大型报告——“最不发达国家报告2007：为了发展的知识、技术学习和创新”。

　　该报告说太多的最不发达国家正在寻求实现经济增长——例如通过更高的商品价格——而没有关注这种增长在实现重要的社会目标方面（例如增加农业生产力或者解决失业问题）的有效程度。

　　它建议采取一系列的措施扭转这一局面，这包括从鼓励农场和工厂的“技术学习”，到更好地利用关于知识产权的国际法规，以及鼓励捐助者增加对所谓“知识援助”的支持。

　　UNCTAD的总干事Supachai Panitchpakdi说：“除非最不发达国家制定政策，刺激本国追赶世界的技术水平，否则它们将继续在技术上落后于其他国家，并在全球经济中面临着日益严重的边缘化。”

　　报告认为最不发达国家既需要资本也需要知识，用于建设它们的生产能力。但是报告还说目前关于发展政策的辩论把太多的重点放在了财政上，而对知识的关注不足。

　　它认为这是许多减贫战略文件（PRSP）的一个特别的弱点。为了从诸如世界银行等资助机构获得支持，作为前提条件，发展中国家必须制定和采纳这种多年的规划。

　　UNCTAD的非洲、最不发达国家和特别项目组研究和政策分析的负责人Charles Gore说：“最新一代的减贫战略文件寻求通过可持续经济增长减贫。但是减贫战略文件并没有把技术上实现变革视为优先事项。技术变革被长期忽视。”

　　该报告还指出，捐助者对科学、技术和创新的援助的质量和数量都非常差。例如，在2003年到2005年期间，用于促进研究和推进高级技能的年度开支只占了对最不发达国家援助总额的不到4%，而这类支出的60%又花在了高等教育上。

　　与此类似，尽管农业仍然是最不发达国家的主要生计来源，农业研究的开支从80年代末占农业国民生产总值的1.2%下降到了今天的不到0.5%。

　　相比之下，在2003-05年期间，捐助者为改善最不发达国家的政府管理分配了13亿美元的资金，而通过农业推广服务为农民提供建议的资金只有1200万美元。

　　感谢科学与发展网络 (SciDev.Net)惠赠赐稿