ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL IS TOLD FULLEST EXPERIENCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS REQUIRES FREEDOM FROM POVERTY

Press Release
ECOSOC/5785

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL IS TOLD FULLEST EXPERIENCE OF HUMAN RIGHTS REQUIRES FREEDOM FROM POVERTY

Without freedom from poverty, human rights could not be fully experienced, the Legal Adviser of the World Bank told the Economic and Social Council this morning, as it continued consideration of follow-up to the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights.

Louis Forget went on to say that freedom from poverty was also an element essential to the integrated human development that was called for in the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development. To eradicate poverty, which Mr. Forget identified as one of the Bank's primary objectives, World Bank projects which directly focused on poverty reduction had been combined with those aimed at social development and others protecting the poor in the adjustment process.

The right to development could not be implemented as an individual or collective right without action to promote and protect women's rights, said the Expert Consultant at the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Donna Sullivan. The realization of women's human rights must be an independent objective of United Nations human rights and development assistance activities, as well as an essential component of the right to development.

The Chairman of the Working Group on the Right to Development of the Commission for Human Rights, Antonio Garcia Revilla, said the human rights experts of the Group had noted that the process of globalization had increased the urgency of the need to translate the right to development into reality. To that end, the Group had developed a specific strategy which might serve as a platform for international action towards the right to development. That strategy assigned a central role to the Commission on Human Rights and to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson.

Bacre Wally Ndiaye, Director of the New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the recognition of the right to development as a universal and inalienable right and an integral part of fundamental human rights had been a major achievement of the Vienna Conference. The goal of development was an economic progress which also

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worked to ensure that members of society lived with dignity. That approach promoted the "multi-dimensionality" of development and the equality of all human rights.

Alioune Sene, former Chairman of the Working Group on the Right to Development of the Commission for Human Rights, called for emergency measures to confront the effects of globalization. Regulatory measures were needed to prevent the marginalization and exclusion of developing countries, particularly the least developed countries.

Also this morning, views were exchanged between the panel and members of the Economic and Social Council.

Statements were made by Mozambique, Canada (on behalf of Australia and New Zealand), Armenia, Republic of Korea, Indonesia and Ecuador. A representative of the Human Rights Internet also spoke.

The Council meets again at 3 p.m. today to continue the general debate of its coordination segment.

Council Work Programme

The Economic and Social Council met this morning to continue the general debate of its coordination segment focusing on "coordinated follow-up to and implementation of the 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action" on human rights. (For background information, see Press Release ECOSOC/5781 of 17 July.)

Introductory Statements

BACRE WALLY NDIAYE, Director, New York Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the right to development had been recognized as a universal and inalienable right and an integral part of fundamental human rights. That was a major achievement of the Vienna Conference. The relevant stipulations of the Declaration and Programme of Action provided a framework for the coordination of international and national efforts in pursuit of the implementation of that right. The recognition of human dignity required the observance of human rights and ensuring economic and other conditions at national and international levels in which all human beings, equal in their dignity, would be in the position to develop their abilities. A human rights-based approach ensured that human rights standards, as established in international law, were applied as a criterion for policy orientation, and for the solution of problems in specific areas. It also ensured that individuals, who should benefit from those standards, could participate in the design and implementation of the related policies and activities.

The goal of development was economic progress, as well as the creation of conditions to ensure a life of dignity, he said. That approach promoted the multi-dimensionality of development and the equality of all human rights. That perspective also provided international cooperation and stronger orientation towards creating economic and structural foundations for an effective and universal implementation of human rights. The Bretton Woods and other institutions should be involved in that process. The Office developed projects to promote economic, social and cultural rights, including a global project on technical assistance and social rights. Economic, social and cultural rights had a prominent place in agreements on cooperation with agencies and programmes. The ad hoc working group on the right to development, established by the United Nations Development Group, was working on incorporating human rights, including the right to development, in the guidelines for the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF).

ANTONIO GARCIA REVILLA, Chairman of the Working Group on the Right to Development of the Commission for Human Rights, said the Working Group's report to the Commission on Human Rights had noted the need for specific suggestions for a strategy to implement the principles of the right to development. The Group, which had included international experts, had focused on developing specific and achievable objectives in support of the right to development. The Working Group had devised a plan for development in hopes of

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creating a platform for international action. The strategy was designed to address efforts of major players working to make the right to development a reality, including the United Nations system and civil society.

The Working Group, in its strategy, had assigned a central role to the Commission on Human Rights and to the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. The Working Group experts had noted that the urgency of translating the right to development into reality was intensifying due to the process of globalization. The Group stressed the need for dialogue and coordination among the main players. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must work with the Commission on Human Rights towards dissemination of information on the Declaration on the Right to Development, and towards the goal of achieving the right to development.

ALIOUNE SENE, former Chairman of the Working Group on the Right to Development of the Commission for Human Rights, said the Vienna Conference emphasized the international consensus on the right to development. The right to development -- the development of the human being -- was a commitment which had been affirmed in the Declaration and Programme of Action. That referred to an objective that had to be achieved with the efforts of all actors, including civil society, the State, individuals, among others. The right to development synthesized and represented solidarity and international cooperation for the development of all peoples.

The Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action acted as the backdrop for human rights and how they should be applied, he said. The international community must give real effect to the right to development for every individual. Comprehensive development required, among others, respect for the human person, justice, good governance, stability and peace at national and international levels, and necessary health and education services. Emergency measures were needed today as the international community faced a world where globalization of the economy, trade and investment, and growth of technology were advancing at a rapid pace. A regulatory mechanism should be developed to prevent the marginalization and exclusion of developing countries, particularly the least developed countries. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was already taking preventive measures, with the cooperation of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

LOUIS FORGET, Legal Adviser of the World Bank, said that without freedom from poverty, human rights could not be fully experienced. Freedom from poverty was also essential for achieving the goals outlined in the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Develop. Those goals were linked to the World Bank's primary objective: poverty reduction. To that end, the Bank had undertaken projects directly targetted at poverty reduction, those aimed at social development and others focused on protecting the poor in the adjustment process. Throughout its efforts, the Bank had found that success of projects depended, to a large extent, on the participation of those affected by them.

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The World Bank had developed participatory approach to development that was applied at the project level, the country level and the global level.

The Bank now recognized that institutions played a crucial role in economic development, he continued. Improving the efficiency of public sector institutions was necessary to foster a climate in which private initiatives could flourish and investment could take place. To that end, the Bank had helped countries by providing funding and technical assistance, and by introducing an anti-corruption initiative. The development of accountable government institutions enhanced respect for the rule of law and had beneficial effects for the enjoyment of human rights.

DONNA SULLIVAN, Expert Consultant at the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), said the realization of women's human rights must be recognized as an independent objective of United Nations human rights and development assistance activities, as well as an essential component of the right to development. The right to development could not be implemented as an individual or collective right, without action to promote and protect women's rights in all areas of public and private life. UNIFEM's experience demonstrated that systematic discrimination against women cut across all categories of rights -- including their civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights -- within the context of the right to development. While the most severe deprivations of women's human rights must be addressed as matters of priority, the right to development could be realized only by recognizing the inter- relationship and independence of all their rights.

The UNIFEM had prepared a background document which contained recommendations for the integration of women's human rights system-wide, she said. The document focused on United Nations development assistance programmes and the human rights programmes. It included 10 components for an integrated strategy for the promotion and protection of women's human rights, including the right to development. Among those components were the following: the adoption of a gender perspective; the implementation of policy commitments to gender equality; the incorporation of international norms and standards guaranteeing women's human rights; and the provision of human rights and development assistance for women's groups. All activities within the human rights programme to promote the implementation of the Declaration on the Right to Development should address obstacles to women's ability to participate in, and benefit from, development.

Exchange of Views

Responding to questions, Mr. NDIAYE said a close relationship existed between the World Bank and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. That cooperative relationship, which focused on institution-building, might lead to the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two bodies.

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He noted the importance of increasing the share of regular budget allocations received by the Office of the High Commissioner. Now, the extra- budgetary funds were nearly surpassing those received from the regular budget, which made support of field activities difficult. Also, funding should not come from several countries, but from all countries. Efforts were under way to link fund-raising activities with the work of other development agencies.

Also, the Office of the High Commissioner was working to define bench- marks for measuring the achievement of human rights and the right to development. The establishment of such criteria would allow for review of "rights" within the context of economic, social and cultural life.

Mr. FORGET said the World Bank was fully engaged in the dialogue on human rights within the United Nations system, and it would continue to work with the Office of the High Commissioner and in that regard.

In response to a question on institution-building, he said the Bank had contributed to the development of institutions that assisted realization of human rights. It had financed a number of reform projects of civil service, legal and judicial systems. The starting point for those projects stemmed from the Bank's mandate as an economic development institution. Those projects would eventually reach beyond the economic sphere to the enjoyment of human rights.

Regarding participation, he said the inclusion of the people affected by the development projects was now recognized as an important element. Their participation should be achieved through a framework which was conducive for the local populations. For the past five years, the Bank had tried to define a standard of best practice in the government regulation of the activity of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). In order to be effective, NGOs must perform under cooperative and enabling legislation.

Responding to statements on the rights-based approach, he said the Bank's approach was rooted in its Articles of Agreement, which defined it as an economic institution. The Bank did not deal, in particular, with the political aspects of development. In that pursuit, the Bank had taken a broad approach, which also included gender issues, participation, and protection of the most vulnerable populations. There was a wide convergence between actions taken by the World Bank in reducing poverty and the principles enshrined in the Declaration on the Right to Development.

Ms. SULLIVAN, said that human rights provided the basis for the elimination of discrimination against women. Without the elimination of discrimination, programmes to support women's development would fail.

Mr. SENE said the High Commissioner for Human Rights should be given resources to disseminate information on the right to development. The

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Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on the occasion of its fiftieth anniversary, should become widely known, as should the Declaration's relevance to the right to development.

Mr. REVILLA said that the newly formed open-ended working group on the right to development of the Commission on Human Rights should take account of the work done by the earlier Working Group. Members of the Working Group on the Right to Development of the Commission on Human Rights could then work closely with the open-ended working group.

Responding to several questions, Mr. NDIAYE said development was the primary responsibility of governments at the national level. The Office of the High Commissioner had set the priority of assisting and stimulating State to elaboration national human rights plans. Those plans included the realization of social, civil, political and cultural rights, as well as the right to development. The Office also had undertaken a rights-based approach in technical cooperation plans and was working more closely with other agencies, such as the World Bank. The overall aim was to stimulate other United Nation bodies to share the same spirit and to implement the right to development.

Regarding civil society, Mr. FORGET said its role was extremely important in the realization of the right to development. The World Bank encouraged governments to have an open strategy that included the private sector, civil society and NGOs.

In response to a question about the Bank's poverty assessments, he said those documents were completed two years ago. They were summarized in a publication entitled, The World Bank and the Reduction of Poverty, which gave readers an idea of the scope of the Bank's work.

Regarding the link between the eradication of poverty and the right to development, he said the idea was still evolving and there was no institutional response. The World Bank dealt with economic and social rights directly, according to its mandate. It had a narrower starting point when it tackled the reduction of poverty than what was stated in the Declaration of the Right to Development. Yet, the Bank's approach was consistent with that broader approach. Its efforts produced spill-over results that affected areas more directly involved with human rights.

In response to a question about the role of civil society, Mr. REVILLA said the working group on the right to development had developed a series of recommendations. States should grant greater participation to civil society, particularly those organizations that represented vulnerable groups and the public interest. One suggestion was made that States should establish consultative bodies and advisory offices to facilitate the right to development that involved actors in civil society.

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Ms. SULLIVAN emphasized that United Nations operational activities should be the nexus between actions taken by governments and those taken by the United Nations system. The field activities performed by the Office of the High Commissioner were particularly important. Activities taken at country level were more likely to have a broad impact.

Concerning an integrated strategy for protection and promotion of right to development, Mr. SENE said the right to development was an integral part of the promotion and protection of human rights. Each country needed to elaborate a policy of development which was centred around the human person.

Statements

DARIA DUSTAVA (Mozambique) said protection and promotion of human rights required a clear understanding and commitment of all actors, as well as close cooperation and partnership. States had the primary responsibility for promoting and protecting human rights, regardless of their political, economic or cultural systems. National and regional peculiarities should be borne in mind without jeopardizing the universal character of those rights. The right to development should form the basis for any human rights initiatives, she said. Mozambique welcomed United Nations efforts towards poverty eradication and the improvement of living standards in the developing countries, especially the least developed among them.

Comprehensive implementation of the Vienna Declaration must take into account the interdependence of development and human rights, she said. Human rights focal points should exist in all relevant United Nations bodies and their efforts should reflect human rights and humanitarian concerns. The United Nations must continue to focus on the eradication of poverty to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights by all people.

DREW McVEY (Canada), also speaking on behalf of Australia and New Zealand, said that inter-agency cooperation was an essential component of an integrated approach to fulfilment of the human rights agenda. Canada supported a human rights-based approach in all United Nations activities and programmes. Ongoing coordination was needed within the United Nations human rights, peacemaking, peace-building, humanitarian and development efforts.

She said Canada supported the High Commissioner for Human Rights in her efforts to link the work of United Nations human rights experts with that of the agencies and programmes. However, the work of the High Commissioner would become increasingly difficult if the international community did not redress the deplorable state of financing of the Office of the High Commissioner. As agreed by the Commission for Human Rights, the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, all necessary measures must be taken without delay to secure regular budget resources for the effective fulfilment of the Office's mandate. Immediate action was needed to allocate sufficient regular

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budget resources to human rights activities. The United Nations had burdened the High Commissioner with new mandates, especially in the field of economic, social and cultural rights, but it had not matched those new tasks with additional resources.

MOVSES ABELIAN (Armenia) said the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action reconfirmed the responsibility of the United Nations to act as a guarantor of the protection and promotion of human rights. The reform process reinforced the role of human rights as a central, cross-cutting concern throughout the United Nations system. It also proposed a new mandate for the High Commissioner. System-wide efforts to coordinate work in the field of human rights should particularly focus on avoiding duplication.

He said his Government, with the cooperation of United Nations offices and local NGOs, was carrying out a programme of activities to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration. All the human rights instruments had been translated into Armenian and were being widely disseminated, and a series of television and radio broadcasts on human rights began this month and would continue through December.

As part of that process, he said it was essential to recall the fiftieth anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was adopted by the General Assembly on 9 December 1948. It also was necessary to revisit that Convention to discuss the ways and means to prevent and punish future genocides. In that context, the establishment of the International Criminal Court was a vital step towards creating a working mechanism that would provide a necessary link in the international legal system. It would guarantee the solid protection of human rights by bringing to justice those responsible for genocide or crimes against humanity.

SUH DAE-WON (Republic of Korea) said that in pursuing the human rights agenda, special emphasis should be given to a balanced approach between civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights. While there had been encouraging initiatives recently, the international community must move beyond symbolism towards attaining tangible results. To that end, further efforts were required of the relevant components of the United Nations system to bolster their cooperation. His Government put particular emphasis on the increased participation by the Bretton Woods institutions.

The Republic of Korea also was pleased that initiatives and concrete measures had been taken to advance women's rights, he said. Several United Nations bodies had made continued efforts to reflect gender perspectives. Measures had also been taken to strengthen the coordination and cooperation among agencies within their respective mandates. In that context, it was necessary to further strengthen the role of the Administrative Committee on Coordination (ACC) and its Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Gender Equality.

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The international community's goodwill and resources were futile if host countries lacked capacities to make use of that support, he said. Thus, technical assistance was essential to translate common objectives into effective operations in the field. His Government was concerned by the inadequate financial basis of the Office of the High Commissioner and other relevant components of the Organization. The Republic of Korea would support measures to secure for those bodies regular budget resources to permit them to effectively fulfil their mandates in that field.

SUTJIPTOHARDJO DONOKUSUMO (Indonesia) said the Economic and Social Council should focus its efforts on increasing national capacity-building. Priority should be given to training and dissemination of information on human rights, as well as technical cooperation. The importance of technical assistance to developing countries must be underlined.

The promotion of human rights was first the responsibility of governments, he said. In March, the Indonesian National Assembly had adopted a human rights national plan based on five principles. Those principles included the definition of human rights, legal provision, implementation of activities at the field level, linkage of human rights to the international context and the socialization of human rights. As Indonesia continued its reforms towards better governance, the implementation of the national plan would further strengthen the nation's human rights framework.

LUIS VALENCIA RODRIGUEZ (Ecuador) said his Government, with the assistance of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and UNIFEM, among other United Nations bodies, had devised a national plan to implement the outcome of the 1993 Vienna Conference. As part of the process that led to the plan, there had been a wide-ranging discussion at the national level. The establishment of the national human rights plan was a specific, concrete example that showed effective coordination of the United Nations system coming to the aid of a national government to implement an effective country plan.

Ecuador encouraged the various entities of the United Nations system to expand the cooperation designed to improve the translation of the right of development into reality. An enhanced role for the Bretton Woods institutions was particularly vital. Wiping out poverty must be a priority. The poorest of the poor were women, and Ecuador was committed to using micro-credit and other macroeconomic instruments in order to make the right to development a reality for women.

He said his Government also supported the convening, before the year 2001, of a global conferences to analyse the problems of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of intolerance. He appealed to the Office of the High Commission to assist governments to convene meetings, at the regional and national levels, to prepare for the world conference. A real

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commitment was needed to abolish racial discrimination, and there should be evaluative machinery to follow up on that conference.

LAURIE S. WISEBERG, representative of the Human Rights Internet, said that participants in a June meeting of NGOs in Ottawa had expressed views on the mainstreaming of human rights into the work of the United Nations. In that regard, they urged the United Nations to closely monitor the impact of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the protection of human rights. Among recommendations regarding the international financial institutions, the participants had urged the High Commissioner for Human Rights to sign memoranda of understanding on human rights mainstreaming with those groups. Also, the international financial bodies had been called on to establish mechanisms for systematic consultations with national and international NGOs working in the area of human rights.

Among other recommendations from that meeting was that consideration be given to the application of multilateral sanctions against States which routinely violated human rights, she said. Support was given to efforts to promote human rights of women and the disabled. Also, it was strongly recommended that system-wide human rights training be given to all United Nations staff.

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