Politicians and pundits like to remind us that we live in an age of unprecedented prosperity, Japan's "lost decade" and the trillions of dollars of paper wealth that has vanished as a result of the current downturn in global stock markets notwithstanding. But for more than 600 million people -- one-tenth of the world's population -- life today is just as it was generations ago. Worse, despite repeated promises of aid and assistance, the number of the world's poorest inhabitants continues to grow. The time has come to end the pious assurances and take real action.

Last week, the United Nations convened its Third Conference on Least Developed Countries. Sadly, there are 49 countries spread across the globe that warrant the label. Together they claim less than 1 percent of the world's revenue; most of their citizens live on the equivalent of about $2 a day. More alarming still, despite decades of global economic growth, aid and assistance, the number of "least developed" countries has almost doubled since 1971, when there were only 25.

This alarming development has not gone unnoticed: We have three U.N.-sponsored conferences to prove that. Each of the first two meetings ended with pledges by wealthy nations to devote 0.7 percent of their gross national product to development aid. Yet, as the rich have gotten richer, most foreign-aid budgets have been slashed. Aid to the poorest countries has declined by 45 percent over the last decade. According to the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, LDCs received $11.6 billion in development assistance in 1999, down from $16.7 billion in 1990. The most damning indictment is the fact that only one country -- Botswana -- has graduated from the class.