better facilitate the process of national structural adjustment. All States must therefore be committed and be willinq to contribute effectively to the adjustment process. What is required above all is cohesive global structural adjustment, includinq a positive alteration in the relations between the developed and developinq countries. Beyond those qeneral considerations, there are certain specific issues to which I wish to refer. Consideration of them will help to hiqhliqht the need for clear policy quidance and action. The first is the debt problem. The experience of the last decade has shown that by itself the debt burden can cause structural adjustment to falter and to be damaqinq in its social consequences. By wav of illustration, I point to the fact that too many developinq countries are called upon to allocate larqe proportions of their export earninqs to service debt, leadinq, unfortUlllately in many cases, to the reverse transfer of resources. JVM/18 A/S-18/PV. 4 81 (Mr. Jackson, Guyana) The second illustration is gleaned from the 1990 UNICEF report on the state of the world1s children. That report observes that it is the poorest and vulnerable children who are paying "the third world 1 s debt with the sacrifice of their normal growth, with their health and with the loss of their opportunity to be educated"· Fortunately, some progress is being made and some steps have been taken to alleviate the debt burden of seriously affected countries. These include initiatives for debt reduction and the cancellation of official debt by some donor countries, as Canada has recently done for Commonwealth Caribbean countries. It would be helpful if such action became more widespread, but. more needs to be done. The second area relates to human resources. A programme of economic transformation will not succeed without a population that is healthy, educated and 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the need for national structural adjustment, specifically highlighting the debt problem and its impact on developing countries, as well as the importance of human resources for economic transformation. It also mentions initiatives for debt reduction and cancellation. These points suggest that the text is focused on economic development and international cooperation.

**Category**
Economic development, International trade, Education, Health