ASSEMBLY SPEAKERS CALL FOR STRONGER INTERNATIONAL ACTION TO COMBAT POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT

16 October 1997

Press Release
GA/9331

ASSEMBLY SPEAKERS CALL FOR STRONGER INTERNATIONAL ACTION TO COMBAT POVERTY AND UNEMPLOYMENT

19971016 Debate Begins on Outcome of 1995 World Social Summit; Need Is Stressed for Official Development Assistance Targets To Be Met

The General Assembly this morning heard calls for increased action by the international community to address poverty, unemployment and social marginalization, as it began consideration of the implementation of commitments made at the 1995 Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development. The representative of the United Republic of Tanzania, speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 developing countries and China, said the international community must work for a durable solution to the debt problem, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries. The negative impact of structural adjustment programmes on economic and social development should be evaluated and conditions created for economic growth, job creation, poverty eradication and social development. He said employment growth must be at the centre of economic and social policy-making. Developing countries were concerned with the negative impact of economic globalization and trade liberalization on social development. Their development efforts were severely hampered by inadequate financial resources and the external debt problem. The decline in Official Development Assistance (ODA) must be reversed and developed nations should fulfil the agreed ODA target of 0.7 per cent of Gross National Product (GNP). The representative of Luxembourg, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said development finance was a joint responsibility and the world community must support the least developed countries to help create conditions for assessing poverty and formulating national strategies for combating it. Financial aid from private sources to combat poverty should be looked into. The Union must put aside 0.7 per cent of its GNP for public development aid, and it encouraged other industrialized countries to do the same. The need to take each country's situation into account should not be used as an excuse for going back on agreements entered into at the Social Summit, he said. Lack of development must not be used to justify denying equality of rights belonging to native minorities or populations. Statements were also made by representatives of Paraguay, Côte d'Ivoire, Malaysia, Mexico, Viet Nam, Egypt, Swaziland, Pakistan, China, Algeria, Bangladesh, Portugal and Tunisia. The General Assembly will meet again at 3 p.m. today, to continue its review of implementation of the outcome of the Summit.

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this morning to begin consideration of the implementation of follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development held in Copenhagen in March 1995.

The Assembly had before it the Secretary-General's report (document A/52/305), which outlines efforts since 1996 by national Governments, regional organizations, the United Nations system and civil bodies to implement commitments made at Copenhagen. The Summit called on Governments to define time-bound goals and assess progress to reduce and eradicate poverty, lower unemployment and enhance social integration. Various country initiatives are annexed to the report.

The first follow-up conference to the Summit by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in April is one of several regional initiatives mentioned in the report. States attending the ECLAC conference adopted the Sao Paolo Consensus, renewing their Copenhagen commitments. They also agreed to prioritize social issues, allocate resources to incorporate social equity into growth and guarantee social development as a state priority involving Governments and civil society. The ECLAC will hold another meeting in two years to review progress.

Other regional efforts include the Fifth Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference on Social Development to be held in Manilai, in November, by the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). It will review national progress and regional action. The Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) will host an expert group meeting on the subject of employment in Austria, in February 1998.

Among efforts to mobilize financial resources, the report cites the Micro-credit Summit held in Washington, D.C, in February this year, attended by 2000 representatives from 137 countries. The meeting launched a nine-year campaign to expand credit "reach" to 100 million of the world's poorest families, including women, by the year 2005. Following the Micro-credit Summit, the United Nations held a one-day meeting to examine the link between credit access by the poor, particularly women, and poverty eradication in Africa.

At its 1997 substantive session, the Economic and Social Council welcomed an International Monetary Fund (IMF) decision to make the Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility a permanent facility, the report says. Speed, sequencing and social safety measures of internationally supported adjustment programmes were said at the Council session to be critical for success. The Secretary-General submitted ideas to generate funds for globally agreed

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commitments and priorities, including public-private partnerships to mobilize finance for development, and national charges and fees for environmental protection.

The Council adopted a resolution reaffirming that the goal of eradicating world poverty was an ethical, social, political and economic imperative. In 1999, it will review poverty eradication to contribute to the Assembly's special session in the year 2000, which will review the implementation of the outcome of the Summit and consider further actions and initiatives.

In reviewing efforts by the United Nations Secretariat, the report also examines the activities of the newly created Department for Economic and Social Affairs which is responsible for assisting in implementation of Summit commitments and servicing intergovernmental bodies. Workshops, seminars and research on Summit themes are planned, while the Secretary-General continues his dialogue with heads of State and Government to accelerate implementation.

At its Special 1996 Session, the expanded Commission for Social Development, now responsible for the coordinating review of follow-up efforts and coordinating United Nations system-wide activities, was informed about the work of the three ad hoc inter-agency task forces and the Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality. The agencies were established in 1995 to support national actions and follow-up decisions of recent international conferences, including the Summit, in socio-economic and related areas.

The report then examines efforts by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to assist countries with Summit follow-up. The UNDP's Human Development Report 1997, which analyses global poverty, includes suggestions on new ways to measure it and develop a framework for combating it. The UNDP supports national anti-poverty strategies in over 80 countries.

The International Labour Office prepared the Secretary-General's report on productive employment and sustainable livelihoods, submitted to the Commission for Social Development, the report says. The Office also chaired the Administrative Committee on Coordination Task Force on Employment and Sustainable Livelihoods, which implemented a number of country-level employment reviews. It drew up a 15-point set of guidelines to address major features affecting employment. These included the establishment of a sound macroeconomic policy framework; prioritizing expansion of productive employment in farming and non-farming sectors; and the importance of education and technical competence in the labour force to increase productivity, efficiency and international competitiveness.

The World Bank also held high-level expert meetings in 1996 and 1997 on the subject of "social capital", as part of its work on sustainable development and the measure of the wealth of nations which was stimulated by

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the Copenhagen Summit. (Social capital refers to the functioning of the various institutions that are critical to individual welfare and social integration and can be depleted by corruption and political alienation, the report adds.)

The report also identifies the role various civil society actors and non-governmental organizations played in supporting Summit follow-up at the national, regional and international level. For example, the Business Association for the World Summit for Social Development helped establish an International Business Advisory Council to fight unemployment and promote social progress and development. The International Council on Social Welfare, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, and the Friedrich Ebert Foundation organized a non-governmental organization forum on the items before the Commission for Social Development. The Social Welfare Council launched the "Social Development Review" and also developed a website on social development and the Summit.

Last year a group of non-governmental organizations launched "Social Watch" to monitor national social development policies and programmes, the report continues. Its 1997 edition emphasizes poverty and globalization and the status of women. In May, in Dakar, Senegal, the international group of the trade unions held a symposium on structural adjustment, globalization and employment-creation, to address development and its socio-economic implications in Africa. In December 1996, the European Federation for the Welfare of the Elderly organized a conference on "Elimination of poverty in Old Age", as a follow up to the Copenhagen Summit and a preparation for the International Year of the Older Person in 1999.

Addressing the priority theme for 1997 -- productive employment and sustainable livelihoods -- the report says the thirty-fifth session of the Commission for Social Development considered three specific topics -- the centrality of employment in policy formulation, including a broader recognition of work and employment; improving access to productive resources and infrastructure; and enhanced quality of work and employment. The Secretary-General's report to the Commission called for more balanced priorities that put employment growth at the centre of economic and social policy-making without displacing other important goals such as containing inflation, public spending and fiscal deficits.

Other employment initiatives, the report says, included a one-day seminar on world employment strategy to discuss the Report on World Employment 1996/97 and reflect on policies to improve national and international employment projects. The seminar found that while globalization was integrating the world economy, it would aggravate unemployment and generate social dislocation. National policies were still important in determining employment levels and labour standards while international cooperation was

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needed for a stable, open and expanding global economy that allowed countries room for macroeconomic management without increasing international financial instability.

In assessing overall implementation of the Copenhagen commitments, the report says two features of global employment stand out -- the varying employment situations and trends in different countries, and the substantial increase in government and public interest about the issue. Approximately 30 per cent of the global workforce was unemployed or underemployed, particularly in the cities of developing countries. Jobs were reportedly the main issue in Canadian and Australian elections, and even in Japan unemployment was causing concern. In the United States, where there was a great sense of achievement about the decline in the rate of unemployment, there was an increase in part-time work and a widespread need to hold down several jobs to earn a living income. The number of low-paid jobs has been increasing. More than one per cent of the American workforce was currently in prison. There was full employment in only a few East Asian countries.

The report says the 1998 session of the Commission for Social Development would address the priority theme of promoting social integration and participation of all people, including disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. The session would focus on promoting social integration through responsive government and full societal participation; enhancing social protection; reducing vulnerability and enhancing employment opportunities for groups with specific needs; and the problems of violence, crime, illicit drugs and substance abuse as factors in social disintegration.

As part of the preparatory process for the special session in the year 2000, the Assembly will establish a preparatory committee this year which will hold an organizational session in 1998. The committee will initiate activities in 1999 based on inputs by the Commission for Social Development, the Economic and Social Council and other relevant United Nations organs and specialized agencies.

Statements

B. HUGO SAGUIER CABALLERO (Paraguay) said that at the eleventh Summit of Heads of State and Governments of the Rio Group of countries held in Asuncion, Paraguay, it was agreed that the elimination of poverty, the achievement of social justice, citizen participation and improvement of living conditions were permanent objectives to be achieved by cooperation and coordination between democratic governments. In 1995, the Group approved the Declaration of Buenos Aires on the follow-up to the World Summit on Social Development, with the aim of putting into practice at the regional level the commitments of the Copenhagen Summit. In 1996, at a meeting in Bolivia, the Heads of State of the Rio Group reaffirmed their decision to overcome poverty, marginalization, illiteracy and lack of access to health care, through policies that would lead to sustainable economic development. At the Asuncion

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Summit, Governments also reaffirmed the commitment to sustainable social and economic progress.

He said the first regional conference for the application of the decisions of the World Summit for Social Development, held in Sao Paolo in 1997, approved the "Consensus of Sao Paolo" and reiterated the call to hold meetings of evaluation of the Social Summit in other regions. The Rio Group welcomed the Micro-credit Summit and approved the decision of the provisional committee of the IMF in granting permanent status to the "Reinforced Structural Adjustment Service". The Rio Group would participate in the 36th Session of the Commission on Social Development.

JEAN-LOUIS WOLZFELD (Luxembourg), speaking for the European Union, said it was essential that job creation be at the heart of national strategies. Unemployment was still a major problem in the European Union. But the diversity of situations, and the complexity and interdependence of social development, made uniform application of a universal strategy impossible. The need to take each country's situation into account should not be used as an excuse for going back on agreements entered into at the Social Summit. Lack of development must not be used to justify denying equality of rights belonging to native minorities or populations. The Copenhagen Summit gave a boost to the integration of economic and social aspects in the development process. Social development was a national responsibility.

The international community must support the least developed countries to help create conditions for assessing poverty and formulating national strategies and programmes to fight poverty and promote social development. Financial aid from private sources to combat poverty should be looked into. The Union must put aside 0.7 per cent of its Gross National Product (GNP) for public development aid, and it encouraged other industrialized countries to do the same.

Some countries had already surpassed the target. Development financing was a joint responsibility. The United Nations Economic and Social Council should consider progress between governments and organizations each year, as well as achievements on the ground. Governments should harmonize and coordinate the work programmes of the technical committees responsible for following up major conferences. The Council President could consult regularly with the committee Chairmen and participate with representatives of Secretariat branches.

He said the Preparatory Committee for the Special Session of the General Assembly in the year 2000 should meet after the annual meeting of the Commission for Social Development. The World Conference of Youth Affairs Ministers, in Lisbon in August, would assess the implementation of the World Youth Action Programme for the year 2000 and beyond -- at national, regional and local -- level and prepare new proposals on how the Programme should be implemented.

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He recalled the request of the Economic and Social Council to the Secretary-General to give greater priority to activities on behalf of persons with disabilities and to set aside resources to help the Secretariat perform its function. The International Year of Older Persons would provide an opportunity to promote the vision of a society for all ages by encouraging the involvement of persons from every generation in the preparations.

M.H. JABIR (United Republic of Tanzania), speaking for the Group of 77 developing countries and China, said eradication of poverty remained a priority goal of all developing countries. However, despite increased efforts, the total number of people living in poverty had increased. They were concerned with the negative impact of the globalization of the world economy and trade liberalization on social development, particularly in developing countries. The development efforts of those countries were severely hampered by the inadequate flow of financial resources to them. The burden of external debt continued to be one of the major concerns of developing countries. The Group of 77 and China urged the international community to work for a durable solution of the debt problem of those countries, particularly those of Africa and the least developed. The other priority of the Group was the need to evaluate the negative impact of structural adjustment programmes on economic and social development and to help those adjusting countries in creating conditions for economic growth, job creation, poverty eradication and social development.

The Group stressed that the mobilization of resources, at both national and international levels, remained one of the major constraints to developing countries. They reaffirmed the urgent need to reverse the trend of decline in Official Development Assistance (ODA) which remained the principal source of development financing. They urged the developed countries to fulfil the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of their GNP for overall official development assistance as a matter of priority. He recognized that micro-credit programmes were a key strategy in promoting self-employment, income generation, eradication of poverty and the empowerment of people, particularly women. He called on all regional and international institutions to help attain the goals of the Micro-credit Summit.

He said employment growth must be placed at the centre of economic and social policy-making. He recognized the need for improvement in the design of policies and programmes to enhance employment opportunities for groups with special needs -- such as women, youth, older persons and persons with disabilities -- in order to combat exclusion from the labour market. In this connection, he emphasized the importance of a gender perspective in all policies and programmes aimed at employment creation, and also the need to include gender impact analysis as a regular feature in all stages of the overall policy-making process. The promotion of equal terms of trade, increased production capacities and financial flows, technology transfer and acquisition, were among the major steps toward achievement of high productive employment and sustainable livelihoods, and hence poverty eradication.

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KABA GAMARKA (Côte d'Ivoire) said a policy to combat poverty could improve conditions of the underprivileged. The human development report of UNDP said that over 1.2 billion people lived on the threshold of poverty. Developed countries should assist African countries in facing problems such as AIDS, civil wars and famines, as well as external problems such as the debt burden, and on the issues of peace and security.

She said the Secretary-General's report outlined efforts and strategies by the United Nations bodies -- the Commission for Social Development, regional commissions, the Economic and Social Council and different development institutions -- to combat poverty that were encouraging. However, seminars and studies should be backed by concrete strategies to eliminate poverty. She welcomed the micro-credit summit held in Washington in February. According to the UNDP human development report $40 billion per year would have to be invested between 1995 and 2005. That sum represented just 0.2 per cent of world income. Africa needed realistic programmes which would achieve concrete results. The international community must support development on the continent and take into account priorities defined by the Organization of African Unity (OAU), which stressed the importance of development for the maintenance of peace and security; promotion of human resources; acceleration of industrialization of the continent; facilitating access of African products to the world market and encouraging the diversification of basic products; eradication of poverty through access to all basic social services; improvement of living conditions for women and children; and consolidation of democracy and good government.

DATUK HAJI MOHD SHAFIE BIN HAJI APDAL (Malaysia) said that one of the major factors affecting social policies today was the globalization and liberalization of the world economy. While globalization increased the opportunities for greater economic growth, it did not automatically bring faster growth and development. In most cases, globalization may have contributed to, or aggravated, existing social ills such as unemployment, or led to increasing income inequality. All countries and major international economic and financial agencies must engage more seriously in efforts to formulate better policies towards globalization.

Malaysia believed that the eradication of poverty was central to all efforts at enhancing social development. To achieve this, the international community must fund and apply additional resources to help assist the development efforts of the developing countries. In this regard, serious consideration must be given to the immediate cancellation of bilateral, multilateral and commercial debts of the least developed countries, without imposing conditions that hurt the poor and vulnerable.

He said initiatives of the World Bank, UNDP and other United Nations agencies in mobilizing billions of dollars to provide loans to millions of the world's poorest families were moves in the right direction, in addressing the problem of poverty and unemployment in the least developed countries.

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MANUEL TELLO (Mexico) said his country was continuing its efforts to implement concrete actions in accordance with the Declaration and Programme of Action of the Copenhagen Summit. His Government had pursued a policy of social development whose final aim was to elevate the quality of life of Mexicans and to effectively and holistically combat the root causes of problems such as marginalization and extreme poverty which still persisted in his country. Economic growth which had taken place in 1996 and 1997 had shown that the recovery strategy over the past years was the right one. During this year social spending would reach 34 billion dollars which was 56 percent of the public spending budget and nine percent of the GNP. A series of programmes aimed at the general population, particularly those were confronted by very difficult living conditions, had been put in place by his government, he added.

During the course of this year a Programme of Education, Health and Food had been implemented in a series of concrete actions against the causes of extreme poverty. Efforts focused on three prime areas: expanding social infrastructure, creating better employment opportunities, and providing support services in education, health and food. In addition, a reform had been undertaken in the National Health System through the Health Programme 2000 and had yielded positive results especially for those with the least recourse. The economic and social reforms had also generated between 1.3 and 1.4 million jobs.

NGO QUANG XUAN (Viet Nam) said the alleviation and eradication of poverty was the most basic and urgent task faced currently by the large part of mankind in the developing world. Greater support and assistance must be given to developing countries by the international community; all commitments related to the establishment of a favourable international environment for social development needed to be more effectively realized. The anti-poverty strategies of UNDP should be defined and implemented in a larger context of creating an environment that encouraged and supported equitable, broad-based economic growth and social development, at both national and international levels. To ensure development and prosperity, a good education system was the key to progress in the field of human resource development.

To achieve the socio-economic goals and commitments made at the Summit, Viet Nam had formulated policies to bring about progress in poverty alleviation, productive employment expansion and educational reform. Special attention was given to education, science and technology to lay the foundations for industrialization and modernization. In addition, Viet Nam had agreed to host the Second Follow-up Meeting on the 20/20 Initiative, to be held in Hanoi in autumn 1998.

YEHIA ODA (Egypt) said sustainable development was organically linked with economic and social factors. In promoting development, different cultures and societies should be respected. Although governments were primarily responsible for national development, their efforts also depended on

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such factors as access to capital and international markets, and on the transfer of technology. The scourge of poverty could cause a breakdown in social conditions in some countries. Egypt welcomed the work of the Commission for Sustainable Development and was making efforts to promote development by improving the provision of social services, and encouragement of the private sector. Hopefully, the world community would take up the major role in combating poverty, in the lead up to the special session of the General Assembly in the year 2000.

He said Egypt had implemented integrated policies to achieve development by increasing public expenditures and providing basic education and health services in all villages. It had also set up networks of social services and encouraged productive employment. Through such efforts his Government aimed to limit the negative consequences of the development process. It also aimed to support programmes for the family and young people. He hoped for success for the Ministerial Conference on Young People to be held in Portugal next year. Egypt also looked forward to the International Year of the Older Person in 1999. His Government had undertaken a national programme for the elderly and taken part in regional initiatives. It would attend a conference on the elderly in Malta in December, which should lead to a plan for the elderly for the Mediterranean region.

MOSES M. DLAMINI (Swaziland) said his country had drafted a National Development Strategy, which represented a new, improved and comprehensive planning system, containing long term objectives, policies and strategies necessary to achieve three broad objectives -- a vibrant economy; good governance; and human and social development. The declining socio-economic status of his country called for an appropriate and effective strategy which would both mobilize popular support for the country's economic development process and ensure effective use of resources. Economic growth was the route to higher wages, greater profits and higher tax revenue leading to improvements in agriculture, health, education and other social services. Some of the critical elements that Swaziland had to deal with in its economic growth process were a 3.2 per cent per annum population growth rate, and natural disasters, such as drought.

He said that developing countries were still faced with major problems of external debt-servicing; marginalization in the context of globalization of the world economy; and problems of developed countries not fulfilling their commitments in achieving internationally agreed official development assistance targets. It was also regrettable that the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) had not yet met to review progress in implementing the Summit's recommendations, given the fact that the world focused on Africa at the Summit, particularly in the call for accelerated efforts towards the economic, social and human resource development of Africa and the least developed countries.

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MOHAMMAD SIDDIQUE KMAN KANJU (Pakistan) said his Government realized a stable economic environment was essential for meaningful development and had begun strengthening its economic liberalization programme by introducing reforms in the corporate, banking and financing sectors such as: reduction of Maximum tariff rates; full convertibility of the Pakistani rupee on current account; and, with few exceptions, lifting of export restrictions. National and foreign investors no longer needed government approval, except in a few areas, before investing in the country.

He said Pakistan had also started a privatization programme and enacted a freedom of information law. The Government also wished to establish an environmental protection agency. Government corruption was a threat to social harmony and social development of both countries and society. The Government had also established an independent accountability commission to deal with corruption and make government fully accountable.

Continuing, he said Pakistan had also launched a four-year Social Action Programme Project II (1996-2000) to focus on poverty eradication, primary education, basic health care, family planning, sanitation and rural water supply. Empowerment of women, generation of employment and environmental protection had also been included within the project's framework. The project was geared to raise the state of human-resource development in the country. It emphasized capacity-building and assurance of sustainability through non- governmental organizations and the private sector.

QIN HUASUN (China) said the strategies for social development by many countries had brought positive progress in implementing the outcome of the Summit at the national level. Resolutions adopted by the Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the Commission on Social Development had also played a positive role in promoting social development. However, action had been rather slow in developing the substantive international cooperation promised at the Summit.

Poverty was the major obstacle to social development as well as a serious threat to peace and stability. Eradicating it was an imperative mission for the international community. No major improvement had been made in the social situation of the world more than two years after the Summit. One fifth of the world population lived in absolute poverty. Heavy indebtedness plagued some developing countries, seriously hampering economic growth and social development.

The gap between the North and South continued to widen. Although each government was responsible for achieving the objectives of the Summit, international cooperation and support was vital to the promotion of global social development. The key to the eradication of poverty was the availability of resources. Developed countries should fulfil their obligations to contribute at an early date 0.7 per cent of their GNP to official development aid and to take more concrete measures for developing

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countries in economic assistance, technological cooperation and debt reduction and remission. The United Nations should focus its efforts for social development on developing countries and play a central coordinating role in promoting the follow-up to the Summit.

He said the Chinese Government had set out to eradicate poverty by the end of this century. Its ninth Five-Year Plan was being implemented in poverty-stricken areas and combined poverty relief with local plans for national economic and social development. The central government had strengthened the management of poverty-relief resources, provided preferential treatment in terms of taxation and investment policy, and launched an extensive and in-depth campaign to mobilize all social sectors to support the development of poverty-stricken areas. By implementing those measures, China would try to attain the goal for providing adequate food and clothing for 12 million poor rural population this year and basically solve the problem of food and clothing for 58 million poor population by the end of the century.

ABDALLAH BAALI (Algeria) said the deterioration of foreign currency exchange conditions, the growth of protectionism and the drop in raw material prices were occurring at the same time financial flows to the developing countries were drying up. That threatened structural adjustment policies and economic reforms in many developing countries, which increased poverty. Revenues had fallen and many countries could not pay their debt servicing. Two years after Copenhagen, international cooperation was still limited. Development must become the top priority for the United Nations, as it was the best investment for peace. The United Nations must strengthen coordination between economic and social activities and improve coordination with international financial institutions.

He said his own country had always been in the forefront of promoting development within its own borders. It had honoured the commitments it made at Copenhagen by creating an Economic and Social Council, which was a forum for dialogue in the economic, social and cultural arenas. The Council's Commission of Population and Social Needs assessed how well social needs were being met and was coordinated with demographic, employment, income, national solidarity and training policies. The Government had also: created a Social Development Agency; implemented credit guarantees for small- and medium-sized businesses; created neighbourhood social action cells; improved the social security system's finances; and provided support for non-governmental organizations and grass-roots associations. The State had also undertaken measures against exclusion and marginalization, but those national efforts must be supported by a more favourable and equitable international economic environment.

ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said the core issues of poverty eradication, employment-generation and social integration could not be credibly addressed without adequate resources, access to trade and technology and a conducive external environment. Despite pledges made, the level of

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effective development cooperation and financial assistance remained far from adequate. It was imperative to mobilize resources, including new and additional funds to reinforce the efforts of the developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, in implementing the outcome of the Summit.

He said Bangladesh underscored the need for intensifying efforts at the national level to strengthen and establish micro-credit institutions as a strategy for poverty eradication and social development. Bangladesh's own experience with micro-credit programmes had demonstrated their viability as an effective tool for poverty eradication, as well as in achieving other goals of socio-economic uplift, and the empowerment of women and other disadvantaged groups. Also, the promotion of social development through poverty eradication, employment-generation and human resources development remained the cornerstone of their national development efforts. A major share of the development budget went to the social sector, with highest priority given to education, health and family planning.

He said his country's strategies for social development included special programmes for enhancing the status of women and children, youth, the disabled, the elderly and other disadvantaged groups. At the regional level, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation had also undertaken a poverty alleviation programme aimed at a coherent integrated approach to address hard-core poverty at the grassroots level.

ANTONIO JOSE SEGURO (Portugal) noted that the United Nations Economic and Social Council had decided that the first world conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth should be held in Lisbon from 8 to 12 August 1998. He believed that Conference should review and evaluate the way in which governments, in cooperation with young people and concerned inter-governmental organizations, non-governmental organizations and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, had implemented the measures recommended in the December 1995 Programme of Action at the national, regional and local levels.

It should also set new guidelines for the effective enforcement of the Programme, he added. The Lisbon Conference was a new organizational approach and would provide a forum for young people to express their views. As host to the conference, Portugal aimed to create a forum for solidarity for all who strived to improve young people's lifestyle and opportunities.

He said Portugal was monitoring the proposals set forth by young people and the organizations representing them, since youth policies must benefit from the participation of the young themselves. Portugal was set to make the Lisbon Declaration one that responded to problems such as unemployment, drug addiction, health care, education and participation. Eighteen per cent of the world's population was between 15-24 years old and millions of those young people lived in sub-human conditions marred by poverty, ill health and unemployment.

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Next year, he said, Portugal would also be host to other events, including the ninth Ibero-American conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth; the first conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth of the Portuguese-speaking countries; the World Youth Festival and the Third World Youth Forum of the United Nations system, which was being prepared by the Portuguese National Youth Council.

ALI HACHANI (Tunisia) said international action on follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development must support the efforts and sacrifices undertaken by the developing countries. The actions taken by many developed countries, as well as by the United Nations organizations, fell far short of addressing the problems of many developing countries, especially those in Africa. He supported General Assembly resolution 51/202, which stressed the need to mobilize additional financial resources. In addition, the international community must earmark 0.7 per cent of its GNP for development aid as soon as possible, to meet the objectives of Copenhagen.

He said that developed and developing countries alike must allocate an average of 20 per cent of their public development aid and 20 per cent of their national budgets, respectively, for basic social programmes. Private investment in developing countries must be increased. Debt, however, was an obstacle to development in many southern countries and he supported effective, fair and lasting solutions to that problem. The innovative ideas to mobilize funds mentioned in the Secretary-General's follow-up report to the Summit must not be a substitute for public development aid or used to finance the ordinary budget or United Nations peacekeeping operations, he added.

His country had undertaken several initiatives in the spirit of Copenhagen, he said, including new policies for the promotion of women and the protection of children. A National Solidarity Fund had been set up to finance activities to help the neediest segments of the population and areas lacking basic minimum infrastructure. The Fund was financed by private citizens, companies and the Government. Roads, drinking water, electricity, education, health, housing, activity centres, cultural centres and the fight against desertification had been identified as areas of focus. A bank had been created to provide revenues in the areas where the Fund would be active.

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