GOVERNMENT COMMITMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON SOCIAL SUMMIT GOALS LACKED SUBSTANCE, GENERAL ASSEMBLY TOLD ON SUMMIT FOLLOW-UP REVIEW
Press Release
GA/9135
GOVERNMENT COMMITMENTS TO INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ON SOCIAL SUMMIT GOALS LACKED SUBSTANCE, GENERAL ASSEMBLY TOLD ON SUMMIT FOLLOW-UP REVIEW
19961016 All Governments at the 1995 World Summit for Social Development had committed to cooperating at the international level to obtain the Summit's goals, the representatives of China told the General Assembly this afternoon during its continuing review of the Social Summit follow-up.While Governments had made major national efforts to implement social development programmes, international actions had generally been of very little substance, he said. It still remained to be seen whether the international community, particularly the multilateral financial institutions, would take collective action to achieve the goal of eradicating poverty. It was also uncertain whether the developed countries would fulfil their financial commitments made at the Summit, including the mobilization of new and additional resources.
In support of this perspective, the representative of Indonesia agreed that developing countries, while enduring the consequences of rampant poverty and the negative impact of globalization, would not achieve any meaningful progress until international cooperation for development was strengthened.
The representative of Norway said international conferences, such as the Social Summit, had been criticized for producing statements but little action. However, implementation of the 20/20 initiative -- the commitment of 20 per cent of donor assistance and 20 per cent of developing countries national budgets to social development -- could prove those criticisms false. At a recent meeting in Oslo, donor countries agreed the goal of the 20/20 concept, aimed at achieving universal access to basic social services, was vital to reducing poverty and a key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
While calling upon the United Nations to coordinate and support follow-up efforts, many speakers acknowledged that the primary responsibility for obtaining social development goals rested with national Governments. The representative of Columbia reported that his Government was working to improve the living conditions of the poor and most vulnerable, while attempting to stimulate employment. Thailand said it had established people-centered
development programmes to empower individuals. Ukraine stressed that political reforms and the new social-oriented market economy were supporting social development.
The Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cuba also spoke this afternoon. Other statements were made by the representatives of Trinidad and Tobago, Romania, Kenya, Brazil, Tunisia, United States, Malta, Philippines, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe.
The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 17 October, to consider three reports of its Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary). The Assembly will also continue its discussion of follow-up to the Social Summit and resume its mid-decade review of progress towards the goals of the World Summit for Children.
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Assembly Work Programme
The Assembly met this afternoon to continue its review of follow-up to the 1995 World Summit for Social Development.
As part of that review, the Assembly would discuss the Secretary-General's report on progress towards the goals set in the Declaration on Social Development, as well as efforts to implement its Programme of Action, adopted at the conclusion of the Summit held in Copenhagen in March 1995 (document A/51/348). (For additional background on the Secretary-General's report, see Press Release GA/9134 of 16 October.)
Statements on Social Development
YVONNE GITTENS-JOSEPH (Trinidad and Tobago) said developed and developing countries together must pursue the struggle against poverty while promoting mutually beneficial social development. Regional groups were also called upon to play a key role in social development. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) had coordinated efforts to fight poverty and to implement the social Summit objectives. At the sub-regional level, leaders of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) were contributing to the preparation of a Caribbean policy on social development.
Eradicating poverty by confronting its causes was a development priority of her Government, she said. The increase in poverty levels and the shift in its character had created a "new poor", most of them victims of structural adjustment policies of the last decade. The goal of her Government was to address the developmental aspects necessary for eliminating the root causes of poverty and to enable the poor to achieve a sustainable livelihood. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was currently supporting the effort to create an enabling environment to eradicate poverty.
WANG XUEXIAN (China) said that while many countries had made great efforts to implement the goals of the Summit, international action, apart from some work of United Nations bodies, had had very little substance. All countries had committed to cooperation at the international level to obtain the Summit goals. It remained to be seen whether the international community, particularly the multilateral financial institutions, were ready to give top priority to poverty eradication and thus accelerate international cooperation.
Material resources were needed to eradicate poverty, expand productive employment and enhance social integration, he continued. The international community was also waiting to see whether the developed countries would fulfil their Summit commitments to mobilize new and additional resources and to reach the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product (GNP) product for official development assistance (ODA). The United Nations should play a central coordinating role to ensure unified and comprehensive implementation
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and appraisal of Summit follow-up. China had established a social development plan through the year 2001 under which it would address feeding and clothing the poor, expand employment by creating 40 million jobs, and expand the availability of basic education.
ION GORITA (Romania) said that the World Summit for Social Development created an unprecedented framework for a global social vision into the next century and highlighted the need for complementing economic growth with social development. Governments had the primary responsibility for implementing the social development policies laid down in the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. At the same time, all actors of civil society, including non-governmental organizations, should participate in the attainment of those goals. He commended the work of the three-tiered intergovernmental process that had been entrusted with the task of monitoring and implementing the commitments made at the Summit. He also supported the further strengthening of the function of Economic and Social Council and encouraged the extension of the interactive, innovative methods of work introduced in the Council and some subsidiary bodies.
The Social Summit had inspired a review of the existing social strategy and laws of Romania. He noted that his Government had reinforced actions devoted to improving living standards and enhancing social integration. Among those actions were a project for the development of social services, a pilot programme for poverty eradication and plans for enhancing the protection of children.
Gender equality was a prerequisite for sound economic and social development. His Government had created a state department for the advancement of women. Romania welcomed the initiative of Austria to hold a regional conference of follow-up to the Summit and wanted to participate actively in its preparation.
NJUGUNA N. MAHUGU (Kenya) said that there was an urgent need for the mobilization of substantial new and additional resources in both developed and developing countries in order to conform to the commitments of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. His Government urged the fulfilment of the United Nations target of 0.7 per cent of the GNP of the developed countries for overall ODA as soon as possible, and urged an increase in the share of funding for social development programs. The Copenhagen Declaration underscored the conviction that development and social justice were indispensable for the achievement and maintenance of peace and security. The Summit was a significant milestone in the realization that the eradication of poverty, unemployment, social disintegration and the achievement of sustainable development required an internationally coordinated strategy. However, the primary responsibility for poverty eradication rested with national Governments.
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He commended the establishment of the inter-agency task forces designed to facilitate the coordination of United Nations activities in an integrated manner. He also commended the Special Initiative on Africa which would accelerate African development. Following the World Summit, his Government, in collaboration with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), had prepared a comprehensive economic policy framework paper outlining the strategy and key plans to be implemented over the next three years. These plans and strategies included strengthening currency, public sector financing, and streamlining reform in the civil service. His Government had introduced measures which would encourage the private sector with emphasis on environmentally friendly policies.
CELSO AMORIM (Brazil), said that his delegation fully supported the statements made by Costa Rica, on behalf of the "Group of 77" developing countries and China, that of Bolivia, representing the Rio Group, and that of Chile. Regarding the follow-up of the Copenhagen Declaration, it was necessary to move from conceptual to more concrete approaches. The measures suggested recently by the Commission on Social Development reflected a concerted effort to upgrade the issue of development within the United Nations. Recent global conferences had suggested new strategies in the fight against poverty, and mechanisms for cooperation between the United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions should soon be established.
In Latin America, he said there was a growing awareness of the delicate balance between self-promoted development and multilateral cooperation. Brazil would next year host a meeting in Sao Paulo at a high political level to evaluate progress towards fulfilling the outcome of last year's Summit of the Rio Group, in collaboration with the ECLAC. The participation of non- governmental organizations would be welcome, as all the issues central to the discussion would greatly benefit from the interaction of different segments of civil society.
SLAHEDDINE ABDELLAH (Tunisia) said that globalization, a major characteristic of the world today, perhaps was a benefit to the planet as a whole, but could have potentially negative consequences on development. It aggravated the inequalities between nations and also within individuals in the countries themselves.
Tunisia's national strategy for development followed an aggressively ambitious, multidimensional programme which focused on the role of women in development, education, health and social solidarity. Measures concerning Tunisian women included special statistical surveys of women's condition, alphabetization programmes and strengthening women's right to work through legislation and other specific measures. Primary education in Tunisia was free and obligatory till the age of 17; higher education and scientific research were also priorities. In national health programmes, the needs of childhood had a special priority. Social solidarity was also a fundamental
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element of Tunisia's strategy for development. In closing, the delegate said that the suggested 0.7 per cent of GNP as ODA was an urgently needed goal, as was the 20/20 Formula (20 per cent of donor assistance and 20 per cent of developing countries national budgets to social programmes.)
JAMES C. HORMEL (United States) said his Government had undertaken efforts to support social development, including increasing the minimum wage, reforming health insurance policies, reducing the national deficit, and providing tax credits for working families with children. A society in which individuals were encouraged to take initiative, coupled with a flexible job market that facilitated rather than impeded mobility, was a key feature to achieving the lowest unemployment rate in the United States since the early 1970s, while keeping inflation in check. In other countries, as has been the case in the United States, an economy open to competition would help provide the confidence needed to attract private investment critical to growth and job creation. Sound government monetary and fiscal policies would also help attract private sector investment.
While at the Social Summit, the United States had announced a comprehensive framework to strengthen civil society and to encourage public/private sector partnership, he continued. Known as the New Partnerships Initiative, that approach sought to transcend old debates regarding economic assistance theories. Working with partners in 18 countries, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was exploring new ways of capacity building at the local level, as well as ways to foster legal, regulatory and fiscal conditions which encouraged citizen participation. The USAID microenterprise programme had been designed to provide loans and saving services to the poorest members of society, particularly women. This year, USAID had allocated $120 million to that programme in developing countries.
JAKKEN BIORN LIAN (Norway) said his Government fully supported the statement made this morning by the representative of Ireland on behalf of the European Union. However, regarding the 20/20 initiative, Norway called on donor countries to commit 20 per cent of development assistance and developing countries to commit 20 per cent of their national budgets to social development programmes. International conferences such as the Social Summit had been criticized for producing statements of good intentions but little action. Implementation of the 20/20 initiative, aimed at achieving universal access to basic social services, could prove that criticism false.
The 20/20 initiative should be applied as a pragmatic and flexible guideline. At a recent meeting in Oslo to consider implementation of the 20/20 concept, there had been wide agreement that the fight against poverty required a broad range of policies and actions at all levels. Within that
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framework, development of basic social services was considered of particular importance in reducing the worst aspects of poverty and a key to breaking the cycle of poverty.
The real test of success would of course be the extent to which the international community was able to translate the Oslo consensus into practical action, he continued. Participants at the Oslo meeting agreed that developing countries should take the lead and set the priorities. Governments of developing countries had been encouraged to prepare basic social programmes, as part of the poverty reduction strategy aimed at achieving universal access to basic social services. Donor countries and multilateral agencies were invited to provide technical and financial support for the preparation of such programmes.
EDUARDO SCARPETTA (Colombia) said that the United Nations should play a fundamental role in the follow up to the implementation of Social Summit goals. Recent measures adopted by the Commission on Sustainable Development were of special importance. While the Summit recognized the importance of the social development and human well-being, the primary responsibility for eradicating poverty rests with the national governments.
He said his Government had set in motion a strategy to improve the living conditions of the poorest and most vulnerable members of society and to facilitate large social programmes through the joint efforts of state-owned and territorial institutions, non-governmental organizations and the civil society. This strategy had implemented 13 special programmes including plans for emergency rural employment and emergency urban employment.
MARIA DE LOS ANGELES FLOREZ PRIDA, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Cuba, said that innumerable obstacles, many of them structural, stand in the way of the goals of the World Summit for Social Development. She said that 25 per cent of the world's population remained below the level of absolute poverty and that inequality in the distribution of wealth had followed a soaring trend world-wide. While some progress had been made in eradicating poverty, it was not enough in light of the extent of the problem.
She said that political will continued to be the key to the solution of the gloomy picture. The relevant resources did exist, but were wasted "on the whims of opulence and on an arms race". It was impossible to advance along the path of social development if there was not an international environment to enable economic growth and overall development. Her country had put strategies into effect over the last three decades aimed at achieving development on the basis of a more fair and equitable distribution of the available resources.
MAKARIM WIBISONO (Indonesia) said that serious problems remained despite the Summit's clear purpose of promoting higher living standards, full
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employment and progress in economic and social development. Developing countries had not reaped the benefits of globalization and, in fact, many of them had suffered reversals. Rampant poverty remained one of the more serious threats to peace and stability. Developing countries would not achieve any meaningful progress until international cooperation for development was strengthened.
He welcomed the recent proposal of the World Bank and the IMF addressing heavily indebted poor countries. The agreed target of 0.7 per cent of GNP for ODA must be fulfilled at the earliest possible time. The Agreed Conclusions adopted by the Economic and Social Council, which supported national efforts to implement poverty alleviation commitments, should move forward vigorously. The General Assembly should provide the necessary guidance to ensure that the entire United Nations system worked cohesively to implement the conclusions and undertake substantive follow-up to the Summit.
ASDA JAYANAMA (Thailand) said that his Government was firmly committed to fulfilling the noble goals of the Social Summit and had committed itself to decreasing the proportion of the poor per total population to less than 10 per cent by the next millennium. Primary responsibility for obtaining the goals set out in the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action rested with national Governments. Despite his country's considerable success in national economic and social development, social ills such as poverty, drug abuse, disease and hunger continued to bring suffering to people's lives. In accord with the commitments made at the Summit, he said his Government had designated the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board as the focal point of a "people-centred" development plan. The plan was designed to empower people to solve problems by themselves by enabling them to upgrade their capability, wisdom and ethics. The plan mapped out three corresponding strategies to the Copenhagen Summit. The first was the formation of an economic policy aimed at stability and employment generation. The second strategy aimed to promote social integration and social justice by encouraging popular participation and improving the potential of people of all ages and of both genders. This strategy also sought to strengthen family and community institutions. The third strategy was aimed at developing national administration, enhancing participation of the private sector in national development as well as measures to build up the capacity of the mass media to advocate national development.
JOSEPH CASSAR (Malta) recalling that the Copenhagen Declaration had placed primary responsibility on national Governments for the attainment of its goals, stated that Malta's programme of action was based on several principled criteria. These included social justice, with particular attention to the more vulnerable members of society; enhancement of both social security and social welfare, the latter being the non-material aspects of community support; a family-centred focus on social services; active encouragement of
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individual initiative; social solidarity and complementarity between government and non-government agencies.
The implementation of these criteria, over the years, had meant the enactment of legislative measures to buttress social security, employment without discrimination, the equal status of women and the provision of equal and universal opportunity and access to free education at all levels. "The commitment to social justice, coupled with the promotion and protection of human rights, fundamental freedoms and rule of law are the supporting columns", he said in closing, that "should lead us into the 21st century".
FELIPE MABILANGAN (Philippines) said that his country had undertaken various measures to implement the historic Copenhagen Declaration. Most important was the multi-sectoral committee on international human development commitments to coordinate all follow-up activities of the Social Summit and also the world conferences in Cairo, Beijing and Istanbul.
The social reform agenda of the Philippines comprised three points pursued with a convergence strategy: access to basic services, access to productive resources and asset reforms, and institution building and participation in governance. At the core of that agenda was the minimum basic needs approach, aimed at meeting the survival and security of needy households. Other programmes and initiatives included a comprehensive employment strategy programme, the expansion of the Social Reform Council, the Senior Citizens Act and the creation of a national youth commission. The Philippines was also well on its way towards implementing the 20/20 formula.
NGO QUANG XUAN (Viet Nam) said his country identified two issues of major importance to developing countries: an enabling international environment and the alleviation of poverty and hunger. In today's world, multilateral cooperation was not only helpful but indispensable, for both the North and the South. But many circumstances, including conflicts, constraints and imposed extraneous conditions, hampered common efforts. Development aid had also been reduced for two consecutive years.
More than one fifth of the world's population was living in conditions termed as absolute poverty, he continued. Viet Nam had made great efforts to implement the Copenhagen Declaration. Its programme of action was an integral part of the country's overall renovation policy for economic and social development. Poverty and hunger alleviation, however, remained a critical problem. A comprehensive, nationwide programme had been launched, focusing mainly on the creation of opportunities for the poor, to increase their income and improve their standards of living. A non-profit bank for the poor had also been established with an initial capital of $45 million, to make funds accessible to poor households and help them with their productive activities. It had branches in all 53 provinces and cities of the country.
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VOLODYMYR YELCHENKO, Director of the Department of International Organizations of Ukraine, said that the spirit of the Copenhagen Declaration reflected the sense of solidarity within and between nations and their intention to curb the acute social problems faced by many countries. All countries experienced the need for social development and integration.
The implementation of comprehensive radical political reforms and the introduction of a social-oriented market economy were two key elements of Ukraine's new economic strategy, as a country in transition from one political, socio-economic system to another. The Government was undertaking several social programmes for the advancement of women and the family, protection of mothers and children, family planning, and for disabled persons, among others.
M.T. MAPURANGA (Zimbabwe), speaking on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), said that despite the international commitment to rid the world of its social ills, there had been no concrete financial commitment to change the rhetoric into a realization of set targets. While the Copenhagen Programme of Action reflected the determination of the international community to address the problem of social injustice, political will was essential to keep the document from being relegated to the archive shelves. Although the achievement of the goals of the Summit were the primary responsibility of each national government, national social integration programmes could not be sustained without international solidarity. Since social disintegration threatened peace both within and between nations, social development ought to be pursued on a global scale.
He said that the implementation of the 20/20 concept would go a long way in achieving the goals of the Summit. He said that his delegation was concerned that the target of 0.7 percent of GNP for overall ODA had not yet been reached. The debt crisis was a major obstacle not only to economic growth but also the provision of essential social services. A serious effort at debt cancellation was essential. The United Nations should play a greater role in promoting the effective implementation of the outcome of the Summit. He welcomed the creation of inter-agency task forces meant to assist Governments and national institutions in implementing Summit commitments. The recent establishment of an inter-agency committee on women was a far-sighted development on the part of the United Nations system.
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