WORLD CONFERENCES COST-EFFECTIVE WAY TO TACKLE CHALLENGES OF NEXT CENTURY, ASSEMBLY TOLD IN IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW OF SOCIAL SUMMIT GOALS
Press Release
GA/9027
WORLD CONFERENCES COST-EFFECTIVE WAY TO TACKLE CHALLENGES OF NEXT CENTURY, ASSEMBLY TOLD IN IMPLEMENTATION REVIEW OF SOCIAL SUMMIT GOALS
19951207 Conferences such as the World Summit for Social Development provided a unique and cost-effective way to tackle the challenges of the twenty-first century, the representative of Chile told the General Assembly as it reviewed implementation of the outcome of the Copenhagen Summit, held last March.Chile's representative, addressing himself "to those who wish to eliminate world conferences", said there was no other process for achieving such a high-level consensus in such a cost-effective manner. The Summit had cost only $2.5 million out of the regular budget, equivalent to the cost of half a day of the peace-keeping operations in the former Yugoslavia, he added.
To maintain the spirit that prevailed at the Social Summit, Denmark intended to convene in Copenhagen international high-quality seminars on selected social development issues, the representative of that country said. And it was continuing to consider approaches for providing a firm structure for ongoing intellectual cross-fertilization regarding social development issues.
Speaking on behalf of the European Union, the representative of Spain said the Union attached special importance to the participation of organizations of the civil society in the implementation of the Programme of Action and appealed to governments to enhance effective partnership with them. The European Union called for the full exploration of means to effectively mobilize financial resources for social development.
The representative of Cote d'Ivoire said African countries were working to create an enabling environment by implementing development strategies and structural adjustment programmes, but their efforts had yet to be met by a genuine partnership. She called on those present to implement the commitments made at the Copenhagen Summit, stating, "It is time to act. Everything has already been said on this subject, and destitution and hunger continue to claim so many victims."
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According to the representative of Peru, the agreements reached at the Summit provided a practical guide of enormous importance for States. Consistent with the Social Summit agreements, Peru was undertaking a program of structural adjustment and social support. Beginning in 1995, at least 40 per cent of its national budget would be devoted to social expenditures -- twice the level agreed upon in Copenhagen. The representative of Kazakstan also said the results of the Social Summit had provided the basis for the social policy of his country.
Other statements were made by the representatives of Mexico, Canada, Indonesia, India, Brazil, Republic of Korea, Malaysia and Australia.
The General Assembly will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue its consideration of the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development. It is also scheduled to discuss implementation of the Fourth World Conference on Women: Action for Equality, Development and Peace.
Assembly Work Programme
The General Assembly met this morning to consider implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development as presented in a report of the Secretary-General (document A/50/670). In his report the Secretary- General recommends that the Assembly, at its fiftieth session, endorse the Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the Copenhagen Summit in March 1995. He states that, apart from making recommendations and taking decisions on substantive and other aspects of the report of the World Summit, the General Assembly may also wish to hold a special session in the year 2000 for an overall review and appraisal of the outcome of the Summit. It may wish to include in its agenda, between 1996 and 2000, an item entitled "implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development". It may also wish to consider the implications for the treatment of related items on its agenda.
The General Assembly may wish to invite the Economic and Social Council to consider arrangements to maximize its contribution to the implementation and review, he continued. That would include an assessment of technical assistance provided by the United Nations and its system. The feasibility of convening a meeting of high-level representatives of the Assembly and the Council on the subject of international cooperation for social issues and policies, in 1999, should also be considered. The Commission for Social Development would play a central role, in particular from the perspective of social integration. The Secretariat would report to the Council on the activities and findings of other relevant functional commissions.
The Secretary-General also states that the Assembly may wish to invite the regional commissions to a meeting at a high political level to review the progress achieved towards implementing the outcome of the Summit. The invitation from the Government of Austria for a European meeting in 1997 would be seen in this context. It may further wish to invite the Secretary-General, the Economic and Social Council and the Commission for Social Development, as well as other relevant intergovernmental bodies of the United Nations system, to ensure the effective participation of all actors of the development process, including the private sector, the media and representatives of civil society.
In addition, he states that the Assembly may wish to encourage governments to prepare periodic national reports, outlining successes, problems and obstacles in pursuing the goals envisaged in the Programme of Action. Those reports would include time-bound goals and targets for reducing overall poverty, eradicating absolute poverty, expanding employment and reducing unemployment and enhancing social integration within each national context. The Commission for Social Development would be the main forum for the exchange of experience on the national implementation of the Summit.
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It may also wish to encourage Governments as well as public and private institutions to take initiatives to promote activities relevant to priorities of the Summit and to the implementation of the objectives and commitments adopted in Copenhagen; and may also wish to request the Secretary-General to prepare an integrated and comprehensive report on the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development for the Assembly's consideration in the year 2000 and the Council's consideration in 1999.
Implementation of Outcome of World Summit for Social Development
At the outset of the meeting, the Assembly President, DIOGO FREITAS DO AMARAL (Portugal), informed the Assembly that the Permanent Representative of New Zealand, on behalf of the Western European and Other States, in a letter dated 5 December, had requested that the Assembly hear a statement by the Observer of the Holy See during its discussion of implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development. There being no objection, that request was granted.
Statements
ARTURO LACLAUSTRA (Spain) speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the implementation of the Social Summit's Programme of Action rested primarily at the national level. All countries had committed themselves in Copenhagen at the highest political level to formulate or strengthen national strategies for social development by 1996. In doing so, international cooperation was necessary, particularly through technical assistance for the formulation of those strategies, for the national assessment of implementation progress and for developing improved concepts and programmes for the collection and dissemination of social development statistics and indicators. Relevant United Nations programmes and agencies as well as bilateral and multilateral agencies could play an important role in field support for the implementation of those national strategies. The European Union attached special importance to the participation of the organizations of the civil society and appealed to governments to enhance effective partnership with the main actors of the civil society, including ngos and the social partners.
He said the effective mobilization of public and private sector financial resources for social development and a more effective orientation of development cooperation needed to be fully explored. Efforts aimed at substantially reducing the debt burden of the poorest and most heavily indebted countries and ensuring that structural adjustment programmes included social development goals needed to be pursued. The Economic and Social Council should consider new and innovative ideas for generating funds for the implementation of the outcome of the Summit.
The European Union reaffirmed its commitment to strive for the fulfilment of the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of gross domestic product for
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overall official development assistance as soon as possible, he stated. Special priority should be given to Africa, least developed countries and other low-income countries. The European Union hoped that the international financial institutions could provide information to the Economic and Social Council on measures taken with regard to the recommendations of the Social Summit. In addition, closer cooperation, particularly at the field level, was necessary between the United Nations development system and the international financial institutions. The European Union welcomed the Norwegian initiative to host a meeting in 1996 to consider how the 20/20 initiative could be applied operationally by interested developing and developed country partners as well as on the definition of basic social services.
He went on to say that the Economic and Social Council should establish a multi-year programme of work for the Commission for Social Development until the year 2000. The programme should taken into account the global and integral approach to social development provided by the Summit, and should identify substantive themes related to the core issues of the Programme of Action. The political momentum provided by the Summit should be maintained and the European Union would support initiatives directed towards the implementation of the Programme of Action as well as the follow-up of the Summit.
MANUEL TELLO (Mexico) said that, to fulfil the commitments of the Social Summit, the Member States must adopt a global approach that, among other things, links social and economic questions, sees social development questions from a political and cultural perspective, and recognizes the direct relationship between promoting equal opportunity, economic growth and the international economic situation. The approach needed to stress that only a favourable economic environment would create the necessary conditions for resolving social problems. The participation of civil society was indispensable to ensure the efficacy of any social development policies.
The United Nations must provide support to countries' efforts to convert the results of the Social Summit into concrete national programmes, he said. For the Summit follow-up to be effective, the Secretariat needed to provide the concerned organs with concrete suggestions based on careful analysis of the actions adopted. Meeting that responsibility would require strengthening the area of the Secretariat charged with preparing such information. In general, Mexico firmly supported the efforts to fulfil the commitments of the Social Summit and, thereby, to achieve those objectives that gave rise to the United Nations.
JUAN SOMAVIA (Chile) said the message of the Social Summit was simple: stability required equality and respect for the environment. The Social Summit had fostered a political vision of a world at peace, a possibility which was also a moral imperative. It had developed a concept of security dealing with the problems of uncertainty in the lives of individuals and
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communities. "The security of the individual is as important, nay, more important, than the security of the State." There were no stable societies based on social inequality. The major challenge of the twenty-first century was the fight for equity. Development and the quality of society could not be measured in terms of how the wealthy lived, but rather in terms of how the poor lived. There must be a balance between the different functions of the State, the market and social organizations. The market, when left on its own, excluded the weak. The State, left on its own, became oppressive. Societies, left on their own, turned to violence.
He said the policies of structural adjustment must place the costs on the strongest elements of society, not the weakest. The world had more than enough resources; all that was lacking was a mechanism to channel those resources to fulfilling the recommendations of the Summit. Private resources should be harnessed for social development. The Summit had called for debt cancellation and other innovative approaches to macroeconomic factors. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank had roles to play in meeting the commitments made in the Copenhagen Declaration. At the heart of social reform was the training and education of individuals. Investing in people must be understood as the most profitable investment that a society could make.
The Summit had recognized that humans had more than material needs; they had spiritual needs as well, he said. A tendency to ignore the hardships of others must be reversed. The implementation of the Summit's commitments would be a starting point. The United Nations had been working over the past decade to define the major challenges that the world would face in the twenty-first century. To those who wished to eliminate world conferences, he said there was no other process for achieving such a high-level consensus. The major conferences that some wished to eliminate represented a creative intellectual exercise which resulted in the formulation of policy in a very cost-effective manner. The Summit had cost only $2.5 million out of the regular budget, equivalent to the cost of half a day of the peace-keeping operations in the former Yugoslavia.
ROBERT R. FOWLER (Canada) said high-minded declarations often engendered skepticism. "The acid test for our publics will indeed be follow-up." In planning for that, it was worth keeping in mind the new elements which the Summit brought forward in the international approach to social development. The approach to the Summit's central themes was not North-South, as all countries were grappling with the issues of poverty, unemployment and social disintegration. Traditional forms of solidarity, such as the extended family, as well as more modern forms of social protection, were changing.
He stressed the need to consider the outcome of the Social Summit in the large context of the cycle of United Nations conferences held over the past decade. Given the overlap of issues among the conferences, a thematic
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approach was the only practical way forward. Goal-oriented, practical cooperation between the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions, and with the specialized agencies, was the best way to secure the partnership that was often called for. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) could make a particular contribution in facilitating the system-wide effort. A revitalized Commission for Social Development would also have a meaningful role to play. The Commission should adopt a multi-year thematic programme of work reflecting the Copenhagen agreements. An integrated approach was needed. Independent experts and representatives of civil society should participate in the Commission's work.
FERNANDO GUILLEN (Peru) said he attached great importance to Denmark's idea to establish an independent forum for development made up of distinguished individuals. Because of Denmark's clear-sightedness on social development issues, Peru would be following with interest whatever other alternatives Denmark suggested in regard to the Social Summit.
He said the agreements reached at the Summit provided a practical guide of enormous importance for States. The primary responsibility for applying those agreements rested with the individual countries. The present situation in Peru was consistent with the Social Summit agreements. Peru was undertaking a program of structural adjustment and social support. It was doing that with its own resources, in a non-inflationary climate and with the material and intellectual support of international financial institutions and bilateral cooperation. Peru's major challenge was to overcome poverty; it had established the goal of reducing extreme poverty by 50 per cent by the year 2000. And beginning in 1995, at least 40 per cent of its national budget would be devoted to social expenditures (that being 200 per cent more than the level agreed upon in Copenhagen).
NUGROHO WISNUMURTI (Indonesia) reaffirmed his country's commitment to the goals and aspirations of the Summit as well as its follow-up. The Programme of Action provided a pragmatic and viable framework for advancing the social development and well-being of all people, thereby moving closer to the realization of the ideals of the United Nations Charter. The implementation of the Programme of Action required mustering the necessary financial resources and revitalizing institutional structures. Developing countries would need the support of the developed in implementing the Programme of Action. Institutions with cross-cutting mandates would be needed, and the Economic and Social Council's role should be strengthened.
Close coordination among the functional commissions of the Council would bring positive impact to the activities of the United Nations system's funds and programmes. He emphasized the need for strengthening the United Nations operational activities for development. Indonesia attached importance to the ongoing review of the implementation of General Assembly resolution 47/199 dealing with the role of the resident coordinator system, and hoped the review
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would be geared towards a strengthened and more coordinated approach by the United Nations system in the implementation of the various international conference commitments.
JOHN F. FERNANDES (India) said, currently, the utility of international development cooperation was being questioned, and use of an unfettered market scheme was gaining favour. However, the market system would not succeed without added efforts to protect the poor and the weak. The core issues of poverty eradication, employment generation and social integration could not be addressed credibly without adequate resources, non-discriminatory access to markets and the availability of modern technologies.
He said that Mahatma Gandhi had led his impoverished nation to freedom by mobilizing the masses of people. Today, as India sought to win its freedom from want, disease and ignorance, the technique of social mobilization was again being used. "It is our resolve to make the concerns of gender and the rights of the child, the adolescents and the youth the centre of all our decision-making, including economic decision-making."
Regarding follow-up to the Summit, he said the Commission for Social Development, the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly should all be involved. A review meeting should be held in five years. The Bretton Woods institutions and the specialized agencies should all be involved in a coordinated approach. "We should look at not only the situation in developing countries, but also the societal problems in developed countries." The central question relating to resources could not be ignored. At low per capita income levels, even with the best political will and expenditure policies, sufficient resources could not be mobilized for the Programme of Action. The onus therefore rested on the international community to increase the flow of resources for social development.
DJENEBOU KABA (Cote d'Ivoire) said the major United Nations conferences of the current decade all had development as their central theme. The Copenhagen Programme of Action set forth measures to create an enabling economic environment to eradicate poverty, create jobs and foster social integration. Innovative approaches to international cooperation were needed. Poverty had become unbearably serious, affecting three out of four people in Africa. The creation of an environment conducive to social development presupposed the promotion of a framework that would involve all citizens of developing countries.
African countries were working to create an enabling environment by implementing development strategies and structural adjustment programmes, she said. However, a genuine partnership had not come about. Donors must be mobilized and encouraged to act to combat poverty, hunger and destitution. The Assembly must work to create an international safety net to improve resource flows to developing countries; cancel the debt of poor countries;
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adapt structural adjustment programmes to social needs; and create conditions conducive to mutually beneficial trade. Africa's debt had mushroomed to $297 billion in 1993, almost the equivalent of the entire continent's gross national product (GNP). Cote d'Ivoire spent on debt ten times more than it spent on health. A revived North-South dialogue was needed.
The General Assembly must maintain its role as a catalyst in the field of social development, she stressed. The Commission for Social Development must be strengthened, as called for in the Copenhagen Programme of Action. A fund for social development should be created. The Assembly must galvanize real political will. "It is time to act. Everything has already been said on this subject, and destitution and hunger continue to claim so many victims."
CELSO LUIZ NUNES AMORIM (Brazil) said a community programme, which sought to coordinate the Government's efforts to eradicate poverty in collaboration with the civil society, had been created. Actions within that programme covered food and nutrition, basic urban services, rural development, income and job creation and protection of social welfare and rights. Four billion dollars of the 1995 federal budget had been allocated for the programme which was being implemented in the context of the strengthening of democracy, maintenance of economic stability, promotion of sustained development and the reform of the State. After one year and a half of economic stabilization, the necessary conditions for economic and social development had been set. By eliminating inflation, an estimated $15 billion had been transferred to the poorest segments of Brazilian society.
Brazil was convinced that development questions should be addressed in an integrated way and that economic development, social development and environmental protection were interdependent and mutually reinforcing. It was essential to discuss investment, trade and financial flows, among others, in the United Nations. The Bretton Woods institutions, in turn, should lay stronger emphasis on the social dimension of structural adjustment programmes. Closer cooperation between United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions was necessary. Brazil was committed to a comprehensive approach to development questions which could provide definite responses to social challenges.
PARK SOO GIL (Republic of Korea) said implementation of the Programme of Action should comprise elements of economic development and social progress, with respect for social, traditional and cultural diversity. The United Nations' coordinating role was a prerequisite to ensure coherence of the activities of all actors involved in the promotion of international cooperation for social development. The promotion and strengthening of coordination between the United Nations system and the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade Organization was necessary for global
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development programmes. International cooperation and assistance were needed to bolster the efforts of developing countries, particular those in Africa and the least developed, in their economic, social and human resources development.
The Republic of Korea was drawing up a plan to provide technical training for more than 30,000 people from developing countries by the year 2010. The Government would initially increase the scale of grant-type aid by 21 per cent and provide technical training for 1,000 people from developing countries starting next year. He stressed the importance of cooperation between developed countries and international financial institutions to eliminate the threat of poverty in developing countries, especially the least developed. Greater attention should also be given to the contribution of civil society as a valuable and indispensable actor in implementing the outcome of recent global conferences.
AKMARAL KH. ARYSTANBEKOVA (Kazakstan) said he fully supported the idea of the Secretary-General that follow-up and implementation of the decisions and recommendations adopted by the Social Summit were particularly challenging. He shared the Secretary-General's view, which he quoted: "The reduction and elimination of poverty, the promotion of productive employment and the creation of socially integrated societies and the creation of a political and economic environment supportive of those goals entailed a vast array of policies and actions."
He said the results of the Social Summit had provided the basis for the social policy of his country. The Constitution of the Republic of Kazakstan, adopted in August 1995, affirmed that Kazakstan was a democratic, secular, social state, which accepted the rule of law whose highest values were human beings and their lives. National legislation had established forms of social assistance for the poorer sections of the population. More than 5 million people were covered by social services, and the President of Kazakstan had also established regional charitable funds with a view to improving the social-welfare services targeted to needy and disabled citizens.
Y. YOOGALINGAM (Malaysia) said it was untenable that 1.3 billion people lived today in abject poverty. Currently, the entire international strategy to address poverty eradication remained ad hoc. "If indeed poverty eradication is the central issue of our time, the international community must concretize specific actions designed to address the problem." Three themes for addressing poverty could be the formulation of an integrated strategy; meeting the basic needs of all; and the promotion of self-reliance and community-based initiatives. Human rights issues should not become the sole criteria of social integration. External pressures which ignored local dynamics were bound to be unsustainable. Cultural mores and values must be taken fully into account. Not all priorities in the Summit's Programme of Action were appropriate to all Member States.
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He welcomed new approaches to debt, particularly the Naples Terms of the Paris Club -- a debt rescheduling module for low-income countries which could be further widened to alleviate the debt of other developing countries.
Regarding the Organization's follow-up to the Summit, he said duplication should be avoided and resources should be devoted to recipients rather than to a maze of institutional arrangements. The proposal to convene a high-level meeting in 1997 to review implementation the Summit's outcome may divert resources towards preparation of the meeting and away from actual implementation.
RICHARD BUTLER (Australia) said the effective follow-up of the Summit should be viewed as contributing to an integrated framework of a global partnership for development. At the intergovernmental level, it meant harmonizing agendas and work programmes of the functional commissions which would follow-up on conferences, and promoting a clear division of labour among them. It also meant strengthening the role, structures, resources and processes of the Economic and Social Council. Australia encouraged the widest implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action and urged the harnessing by the United Nations of the commitment and enthusiasm of ngos and actors from civil society. The various Commissions should open up their debates to experts and main actors of civil society in the field of social development to stimulate real and substantial dialogue.
The strengthening of the Economic and Social Council's role in overseeing system-wide coordination remained of paramount importance, and it should ensure the implementation and integration of the outcomes of the Social Summit into the work of the funds, programmes and agencies. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights should also monitor compliance by States parties with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Universal ratification of the Covenant would also enhance the effective implementation of the Summit's outcome.
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