SPEAKERS CALL FOR CONCRETE STEPS TO PROTECT SOCIETY'S MOST VULNERABLE GROUPS, AS SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION CONTINUES DISCUSSING SOCIAL INTEGRATION

Press Release
SOC/4434

SPEAKERS CALL FOR CONCRETE STEPS TO PROTECT SOCIETY'S MOST VULNERABLE GROUPS, AS SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION CONTINUES DISCUSSING SOCIAL INTEGRATION

The Commission for Social Development should call on governments to take concrete steps to protect society's most vulnerable groups, speakers said this afternoon as the Commission continued general discussions on social integration through responsive government and broadening participation.

Governments must intervene to control the negative consequences of liberalized financial markets, a representative of the Italian development organization Mani Tese, told the Commission. Poverty and social exclusion were not inevitable; they resulted from known factors which must be counteracted, she added.

The Commission should facilitate the participation of individuals at all levels of society, according to a representative of the International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centres (IFS). Governments should utilize the recommendations of non-governmental organizations and hold regular public hearings at the local level to allow community input.

A representative of the NOG Women's Caucus called on the Commission, in its discussion of vulnerable groups, to address the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. The imposition of economic sanctions by the international community had affected that country's most vulnerable groups, resulting in tragic loss of life, she said, calling for a "time-out", so doctors could travel to Iraq, provide services and assess the situation accurately.

According to the Republic of Korea's representative, governments must broaden access to education and introduce incentives for employers to hire people from vulnerable groups. His Government was striving to realize economic development in harmony with the principles of democracy, a free market economy, and enhanced social justice.

Social Development Commission - 1a - Press Release SOC/4434 4th Meeting (PM) 11 February 1998

The representative of El Salvador said his country's national strategy for development included citizen input and focused on the areas most in need. An essential part of its development programme was the decentralization of education. Community and rural education were given priority attention, in order to reach the greatest number of people.

Canada's representative described his country's successes in turning linguistic and cultural differences into strengths. A representative of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said that governments should foster the growth of participation by strengthening existing cultural relationships. A representative of the Foundation for the Rights of the Family (PRODEFA) stressed the importance of the family in promoting social participation.

The Commission will meet again at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 12 February. It will hear presentations on efforts to implement the goals of the Social Summit from the Philippines, Pakistan and Egypt. It is also scheduled to continue its general debate on participation and social justice.

Commission Work Programme

The Commission for Social Development met this afternoon to continue its general discussion on promoting social integration. The Commission is considering that issue as part of its review of the implementation of the goals of the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995). (For background information, see Press Release SOC/4430 of 9 February.)

Statements

RICARDO CASTANEDA-CORNEJO (El Salvador) said his country had succeeded in creating a strategy for sustainable development that brought together cultural, environmental, economic and social concerns. That approach had made the individual the principle protagonist in the development process and allowed for broad participation by all citizens. Municipal councils and other citizen associations had been created to facilitate input from all sectors of the population on policy decisions. Those bodies had strengthened democracy and political pluralism.

Citizen participation also prevailed in local development efforts, he said. Local development strategy responded to citizen input and focused on the areas most in need. In 1997, $178 million, or 1.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) had been invested in local development programmes. A crucial part of those development programmes was the decentralization of educational services. That process made community and rural education a priority in order to reach a greater number of people. With the help of non- governmental organizations, the new education efforts had benefited over 160,000 students and had brought better social services to schools.

REMY BEAULIEU (Canada) said that Canada, as a bilingual and multicultural country, had learned to accommodate differences and diversity and turn them into strengths. Canada had pledged to promote the development of communities that did not speak official languages by expanding their ability to participate fully in society. It had done that by promoting learning opportunities and the use of French and English, as well as by the full recognition of the country's linguistic dualism. Among areas of activity were direct financial aid for community development and coordination, along with the teaching of the minority language, in cooperation with provincial and territorial governments.

He said that reducing vulnerability could be best addressed both by improving access to employment and income, and by addressing the basic human needs of the most vulnerable. Among vulnerable groups, the United Nations must give special attention to children. In that regard, Canada welcomed the results of the World Congress against the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, held in Stockholm. While supporting the approach suggested by the Secretary-General to undertake a social assessment of development projects and

Social Development Commission - 4 - Press Release SOC/4434 4th Meeting (PM) 11 February 1998

programmes, he said the United Nations should build on existing work and numerous studies on that issue as well as the existing resources of the specialized agencies.

CHANG BEOM CHO (Republic of Korea) said that to foster social inclusion governments must broaden access to education and introduce incentives for employers to hire people from vulnerable groups. Access to and the two-way flow of information was also a priority. National policies should reflect the needs of vulnerable groups. Another matter that must be confronted was the proliferation of corruption, which deprived equal opportunity at every level, and undermined society's moral and ethical foundations. Given global business trends, international efforts were needed to root out corruption. In light of the importance of non-governmental organizations in fostering inclusive societies, governments should support them financially, without hampering their independent functioning.

Following the Social Summit, the Republic of Korea had articulated a vision of national welfare and reaffirmed its determination to promote social integration, in keeping with the country's economic growth, he said. A number of specific plans had been implemented to provide better health and income protections for the elderly and disabled persons as well as persons with low incomes. The country was currently undergoing difficult economic restructuring. Despite that fact, the Government was poised to fortify its welfare and unemployment policies.

His Government had changed hands in its recent democratic presidential elections, he said. A tripartite commission, with representatives of government, labour and business, had been formed to deal with economic issues and overcome the present crisis. The newly elected Government was striving to realize economic development in harmony with the principles of democracy, a free market economy and enhanced social justice. By mobilizing will, and on the basis of enhanced social integration, the Republic of Korea's economic adversity would lead to the creation of a more equitable and prosperous society.

JOHN DURSTON, a representative of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), said that viewing local participatory groups as "social capital" reflected their economic and political significance. When a state ceased providing services, for reasons having to do with efficiency, the vacuum did not have to be filled by profit-seeking private firms. Social capital organizations could perform many formerly governmental functions, given adequate resources.

In Latin America today, few groups were totally excluded, but a large number exercised only "low-quality" and "low-intensity" participation -- voting every few years and participating in organizations in a dependent manner, he said. Those sectors faced persistent obstacles to becoming

Social Development Commission - 5 - Press Release SOC/4434 4th Meeting (PM) 11 February 1998

effective social actors, due to lack of resources and active discrimination. While excluded groups had particular needs, they also had particular strengths. Most socially excluded and poverty-stricken groups had traditional forms of social capital based on kinships and community; governments should provide a protective and enabling environment for the re-emergence of those institutions.

There were several successful examples of integrating social capital into decision-making processes in Latin America, he said. Those ranged from participatory municipal budgeting in urban areas to community participation in school management to outsourcing services in anti-poverty programmes. In each case, bolstering the social capital of the poor had been a key element of their empowerment. If attention to strengthening social capital was built into programmes targeting excluded groups, the level and quality of political and economic participation would improve.

SANTA OLALLA, of the Foundation for the Rights of the Family (PRODEFA), said that the United Nations had issued a number of declarations and resolutions on the family, including the Declaration on the Role, Responsibilities and Rights of the Family. Those proposals and recommendations, however, had not materialized in concrete programmes or plans of action and no immediate follow-up was in view. The concern of a considerable number of family-oriented non-governmental organizations was supporting the family unit in a society that had many social and cultural problems.

The welfare of the family was the welfare of society, but that concept had been repeated so many times that it might have lost some of its meaning, she said. Her organization had attempted to ensure that family issues were still on the agenda. Its last effort to promote the role of the family was a 1997 publication of "The Family and Human Rights", a compilation of excerpts of United Nations international instruments on the family, children and other human rights issues from 1948 to 1989. While much had been made of participation and social integration during the course of social development debates, few statements had addressed the family role in that process.

CAROL R. LUBIN, of the International Federation of Settlements and Neighbourhood Centres (IFS), said her organization was a coalition of 4,500 national and regional non-profit social service organizations located in 45 countries. Its basic purpose was not to eliminate poverty but to promote mechanisms that would alleviate the problems caused by poverty. Her organization believed that the Commission should focus more on specific mechanisms that facilitate the participation of individuals at all levels. Since the Social Summit in 1995, there had been few specific measures taken to implement its recommendations.

Social Development Commission - 6 - Press Release SOC/4434 4th Meeting (PM) 11 February 1998

One concrete step, she said, was for the Commission to encourage governments to include the comments of non-governmental organizations in their reports on implementing the Copenhagen outcome. The Commission should also call for countries to put mechanisms in place that would enable individuals to make their views known to governments. That could be done through regular public hearings at the community level on social services, housing needs and other issues. In evaluating development programmes, nations should use comprehensive social indicators such as interviews with individuals instead of relying only on statistics.

MARINA PONTI, of the Italian development organization Mani Tese, said that the global economy was becoming increasingly divorced from reality. Activities that generated the highest monetary returns often had little or no lasting value. They neither sustained nor enhanced life, and sometimes destroyed it.

Over the past two decades, world markets for capital, goods and services had become increasingly integrated, she said. New technologies were displacing human labour at an alarming rate. Because economic growth was being measured in money, such "growth" left millions unemployed. Investment was shifting from the production of goods and services to financial speculation. The financial economy had grown to nearly incomprehensible proportions: every day, about $1,300 trillion changed hand on world markets, the vast majority through speculative activities, which created money without producing anything of intrinsic value.

Poverty and social exclusion were not inevitable, she said. They resulted from known and specific factors which must be counteracted by governments in international forums. She wondered why governments did not intervene to control the negative consequences of liberalization of financial markets. The United Nations should put that question on the agenda of its next high-level segment of the Economic and Social Council.

VIRGINIA THOMAS, of the NGO Women's Caucus, requested that the Commission and the United Nations as a whole address the current humanitarian crisis in Iraq. The Commission was discussing vulnerable and excluded groups; none were more vulnerable and excluded than the women and children of Iraq. In addition to the roughly 150,000 Iraqi citizens who had died from the extensive bombing during the Persian Gulf war, nearly a million persons -- mainly women and children -- had died as a result of the sanctions. She called for a "time-out" to enable medical professionals to travel to Iraq, provide services, assess the situation and accurately report to the international community.

* *** *