National Responsibility

The principal recommendation of the world conferences was that countries must take full responsibility for their own development. National responsibility for national development is the necessary consequence of sovereignty . The Monterrey Consensus states that 'Each country has primary responsibility for its own economic and social development, and the role of national policies and development strategies cannot be over-emphasized .The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation called for all governments to begin implementing national sustainable development strategies (NSDS) by 2005 and the 2005 Summit agreed on a target of 2006 for all developing countries to adopt and start implementation of these strategies to achieve the internationally agreed goals. The automatic corollary of that principle is that each country must be free to determine its own development strategy. It is essential that all donors and lenders accept the principle of country ownership of national development strategies. This implies the acceptance of the principle that development strategies should not only be attuned to country circumstances but also be prepared and implemented under the leadership of the governments of the countries themselves. The 2005 World Summit also acknowledged, in this regard, that all countries must recognize the need for developing countries to strike a balance between their national policy priorities and their international commitments.