ROLE OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION IN POVERTY ERADICATION AMONG ISSUES DISCUSSED IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
Press Release
ECOSOC/5655
ROLE OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION IN POVERTY ERADICATION AMONG ISSUES DISCUSSED IN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
19960702 Rather than expanding the membership of the Commission for Social Development and its role in poverty eradication, the Commission's mandate should be defined more narrowly, the representative of the United States told the Economic and Social Council this afternoon as it continued its coordination segment, which is focusing on United Nations activities for the eradication of poverty.The United States representative said no decision to expand the role of the Commission should be taken before the completion of the overall review of the Council's functional commissions. She added that the Commission could perform a useful role in the follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995) by promoting the formulation and use of national poverty alleviation plans.
Ukraine's representative said that the task forces set up by the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) to monitor implementation of the outcome of the Social Summit should report to the Commission for Social Development, which was responsible for monitoring follow-up to the Summit, as well as to the Economic and Social Council, which was the main body for coordinating economic and social development activities.
The representative of Guyana said that since endemic poverty represented a threat to international stability, the Economic and Social Council should coordinate its work with the Security Council. Sustainable development was no less important an issue than peace; public advocacy and mobilization of resources should be an integral part of the work of governments, the United Nations system and the multilateral financial institutions, he stressed.
The representative of South Africa, while welcoming the setting up of a consultative framework between the United Nations system and the Bretton Woods institutions, said it should not be accompanied by new conditionalities on aid. Supporting that viewpoint was the representative of Bangladesh, who noted that while the global development conferences had set out clear objectives for poverty alleviation, they had never adequately developed timetables or strategies for funding.
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The representative of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) said that the Fund had incorporated the goals of the 1992 United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) into its work programmes and was closely collaborating with a number of other agencies on the issues involved. A new IFAD programme of rural financial service associations was providing agricultural communities access to a comprehensive range of financial services.
The representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that as health was a broad intersectoral concern which was closely linked to poverty alleviation, there was a need to develop a common United Nations approach to that issue.
The Economic and Social Council will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 3 July, to continue its coordination segment on United Nations poverty- eradication activities.
Council Work Programme
The Economic and Social Council met this afternoon to continue its coordination segment, which focuses on United Nations poverty-eradication activities.
As a basis for discussion, the Council has before it a report of the Secretary-General on coordination of the activities of the United Nations system for the eradication of poverty (document E/1996/61). It states that the Council should focus on promoting a multidimensional and integrated approach to poverty eradication, the importance of which was recognized at the 1995 World Summit for Social Development. It should also promote a gender- sensitive approach to poverty eradication. (For a summary of the report, see Press Release ECOSOC/5652, of 1 July.)
Statements
JIM MOODY, Vice-President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said that in three decades the population of the world would expand to 8.5 billion, with 80 per cent of demographic growth taking place in countries suffering from malnutrition, environmental degradation and chronic food insecurity. Two billion people will likely live in dire poverty. The IFAD had incorporated the goals of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) into its work programmes. The Fund was closely collaborating with the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
The IFAD was providing credit to small landholders, rural women and village artisans, and had developed a new model of rural banking, called Financial Service Associations, through which rural communities could access a comprehensive range of financial services. The Fund had joined with the World Bank and with bilateral donors in the Consultative Group on Assisting the Poorest to replicate those micro-finance programmes. The Fund was also working with non-governmental organizations and actors in civil society, and would support the work of the micro-credit summit that several non- governmental organizations were planning to convene in February 1997.
K.J. JELE (South Africa) said he concurred with the statement made by Costa Rica on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China. In South Africa, poverty of the vast majority of people was inherited from the socio-economic imbalances of the apartheid era. The South African Government had already put in place a comprehensive reconstruction and development programme geared towards poverty reduction. Substantial resources had been allocated for socio-economic priority needs, and funds had been diverted from consumption to capital expenditure, especially in the fields of housing, transport and water supply.
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Programmes had been launched to specifically target and benefit the poorer sections of the community, he said. Programmes to provide meals to 5 million children and free health services for children up to six years of age, as well as pregnant women, had been launched. The Government was at an advanced stage of completing the country-strategy note with the collaboration of the UNDP. Welcoming the resident coordinator system, the setting up of thematic working groups and of a consultative framework between the United Nations system and the Bretton Woods institutions, he said they should not be accompanied with new conditionalities. South Africa believed that time-bound targets must be set for poverty eradication. In addition, the question of debt burden of poor countries must be addressed. Although the United Nations System-wide Special Initiative on Africa was welcome, it should not replace the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s.
BISA WILLIAMS-MANIGAULT (United States) said individual countries were responsible for formulating their own strategies for sustainable development. In most cases, the country-strategy note, based on national priorities, would guide United Nations development efforts. In the absence of a country- strategy note, a framework for United Nations activities should be devised to bring them in line with the objectives of governments.
Assuring the effective use of resources was as important as the amount of resources provided, she said. Social investments in women yielded the highest return to society. The United States supported the recommendation that the United Nations system should integrate a gender perspective in all activities and documents concerning poverty eradication. To foster a participatory approach, women must be involved in decision-making at all levels.
She stressed that the Economic and Social Council must maintain its intended role, under the United Nations Charter, as the central policy body for matters within its areas of responsibility. Thus, rather than expanding the Commission for Social Development and its role in poverty eradication as proposed, the Commission's mandate should be defined more narrowly. The Commission could perform a useful role in the follow-up to the Social Summit by promoting the formulation and use of national poverty alleviation plans. Biennial sessions of the Commission could serve as a forum for, among others, addressing specific themes of the session as they relate to the eradication of poverty. No decision to expand the role of the Commission should be taken before the completion of the overall review of the Council's functional commissions.
Dr. MAAZA BEKERE, a representative of the World Health Organization (WHO), said that world health reports in recent years had clearly indicated that poverty was the single biggest underlying cause of death, disease and suffering worldwide. It was responsible for low life expectancy and led to a grave reduction in production capacity. A baby girl born in one of the least
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developed countries in 1993 could expect to live barely 44 years. The loss of safety nets in many countries had struck hardest at the poorest segments of the population. There was a need to return to the principles of primary health care which had been marginalized in the past decade and corrupted by highly selective interpretation.
An integrated approach to poverty eradication must include recognition and targeting of the "hard core" poor and take into account the geographical and seasonal variations in poverty, she said. Related sectors must be assisted to incorporate health objectives in their programmes and external aid must complement national efforts. Closer collaboration between public, private and non-governmental health-care providers must be encouraged and the capacity of women to care for their own health and the health of their families had to be improved.
The least developed countries should be supported in reviewing their health and nutrition situations, and a shift towards a more cost-effective approach to improving the health of the poor must be adopted, she said. Health was a broad intersectoral concern and was closely linked to poverty alleviation. There was a need to develop a common United Nations approach to health and its interrelationship with poverty and to reduce current fragmentation in financing and technical collaboration, especially in developed countries.
S.R. INSANALLY (Guyana) said that while his Government had dedicated itself to the 20/20 initiative and was devoting an increasing percentage of its annual budget to social services, its efforts were constrained by "debt overhang" which consumed the better part of national revenue. Guyana attached importance to the resident coordinator system and the country-strategy note, all of which could, under the guidance of national governments, serve to alleviate local conditions of poverty. But while direct country programmes could support the poor during implementation of economic reforms, they were insufficient for promoting economic recovery and growth.
Since endemic poverty represented a threat to international stability, the Council should coordinate its work with the Security Council, he said. Joint meetings of those two organs might even be called for to provide for the continuum of action necessary for the transition between peace and development. The Secretary-General's Agenda for Development seemed a "poor orphan" when compared with the Agenda for Peace. Development was no less important an issue than peace; public advocacy and mobilization of resources should be an integral part of the work of governments, the United Nations system and the multilateral financial institutions.
YEVHEN V. KOZIY (Ukraine) said the problem of the eradication of poverty was complex and multifaceted. Its causes were both national and international in nature. To eliminate poverty, integrated long-term measures were required.
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Ukraine had undertaken a series of activities in commemoration of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. The political commitment of governments was critical and must be complemented by the support of the United Nations and its specialized agencies.
He said the resident coordinators had a special role to play in implementation at the field level by, among other measures, rationalizing the activities of the various entities in the United Nations system, concentrating efforts on priority areas and reducing duplication. The task force of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) set up to monitor implementation of the outcome of the Social Summit should report to the Commission for Social Development, which was responsible for monitoring the follow-up to the Summit, as well as to the Council, which was the main body for coordinating economic and social development.
The struggle to avoid the marginalization of countries was also important, he stated. Broad-based continued economic growth was essential to achieving social justice. The creation of a favourable international economic environment was critical to reaching the goals laid out in various United Nations conferences.
SYED RAFIQUL ALOM (Bangladesh) said that isolated pockets of prosperity in the developing world could not co-exist with absolute poverty. Poverty alleviation should be the international community's highest objective. Poverty today manifested itself in several ways -- drugs, disease, social disintegration, terrorism and uncontrolled migration. Poverty could not be accepted as an inescapable fact of life.
While the global development conferences had set out clear objectives for poverty alleviation, they had never adequately developed timetables or strategies for funding, he said. Increased collaboration between development agencies of the United Nations and the Bretton Woods system should not be allowed to impose new conditionalities on development partnership. Poverty had its origin in both national and international sources, he stressed.
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