THE NEW INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ORDER AND THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Abstract

The New International Economic Order (NIEO) originated as a set of proposals put forward in 1974 by some developing countries through the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to promote their interests by improving their terms of trade, increasing development assistance, developed-country tariff reduction, and other means. This paper evaluates the genesis of the New International Economic Order in the development agenda of the developing countries. The study revealed that the NIEO was conceived to be a revision of the International Economic System in favor of the developing countries, replacing the previous system which had benefited the leading states that had created it – especially the United States. It was further revealed that while the Order was demanded by the Non-Aligned Movement, the term itself was derived from the Declaration for the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly and referred to a wide range of trade, financial, commodity, and debt- related issues. It was however concluded that although the entire idea of a NIEO was indeed the product of an agenda for discussions between industrial and developing countries, focusing on restructuring of the world’s economy to permit greater participation by, and benefits to developing countries, the Order as originally conceptualized failed to achieve successful implementation of its objectives for half a century leading to the emergence of the Progressive International, a movement of movements launched in May, 2020 with the aim of uniting progressive forces globally with a renewed NIEO campaign based on a more proactive and sober assessment of the original idea. The paper recommends inter alia that: international cooperation for development should be made a shared goal and common duty of all countries, thus thrusting into prominence the reality of interdependence of all the members of the world community.