In order to reverse that trend and to cope with the crisis, several developing countries, with support from the international financial and monetary institutions, have undertaken internal restructuring programmes so as to create better conditions for true economic recovery. To various degrees, they have prepared and implemented structural adjustment programmes. However, we must recognize that in most of those countries the macro-economic objectives have not been met. Moreover, implementation of those programmes has had devastating social consequences because of the resulting increase in unemployment and the drop in resources allocated to such basic sectors as health, education and training. That is why, after a decade of certainly commendable efforts to adjust and innovate -which have not yet yielded the results that States had a right to expect -the Organization of African Unity and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa undertook an exercise in reflection and analysis in order to improve those programmes. That exercise led to the preParation and adoPtion of the JB/3 A/S-18/PV.S 5 (Mr. Traore, Mali) African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes for Socio-Economic Recovery and Transformation. At the present time, there is no indication that the in~~rnational community is willing to call into question the foundations of an economic system that perpetuates the marginalization of three quarters of humankind. The States of Africa, aware of that fact, concluded long aqo that they needed a strategy better suited to their own situation and which took account of the need for endogenous and self-sustaininq development, relying on the indispensable integration of their economies at the sub-regional and regional levels. It was against that background that the 1980 Lagos Plan of Action and, later, the Priority Programme for African Economic Recovery were prepared. RM/4 A/S-18/PV.S 6 (Mr. Traore, Mali) The international community decided to support Africa as it tried to implement 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the economic situation of developing countries, particularly in Africa, and the need for alternative approaches to economic recovery and development. It highlights the limitations and negative social consequences of structural adjustment programs and the importance of endogenous and self-sustaining development. The text also mentions the preparation of the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes for Socio-Economic Recovery and Transformation, which suggests that the topic is closely related to economic policy and development.

**Category**
Economic development, International trade