The head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) yesterday blasted a double-standard over global aid to Africa and Iraq, saying the world merely lacked the political will to help the continent out of poverty.

"In the case of Africa, all too often one hears the argument that Africa can't get more assistance because of problems of governance, economic management or civil wars," Mark Malloch Brown, the UNDP's administrator, told a news conference in Tokyo.

"Yet in the case of Iraq, its very chaos is put forward as a case for giving it amounts of money several times the amount Africa gets every year despite the fact that it is a middle-income oil producing country.

So one is struck by a double-standard".

Earlier in a speech marking the opening of a three-day conference on African development, Malloch Brown criticised global neglect of African needs.

"At a time when billions are being pledged to Iraq, the argument that the resources are not available is simply not true. What is missing is political will," he said.

"And building it on the scale required is not easy, so it is especially urgent that a process such as Ticad shows us the way in making the global partnership for development a reality, mobilising the resources so vitally needed for Africa's development".

Malloch Brown said the UNDP had completed a needs assessment for Iraq in time for a donor conference in Madrid next month despite two terrorist attacks - one on August 19 that killed 22 people including the UN envoy, and another last week that claimed the life of an Iraqi security guard.

"We obviously are very, very anxious to see Iraq back on its own feet. We will be working to make sure that Iraq gets adequate financial support for particularly in 2004," he said.

"But there is a sense of proportion between what (Iraq) receives in terms of development assistance and what is available for the rest of the world". – Sapa-AFP.