GLOBALIZATION AND FREE MARKETS NO EXCUSE FOR LOWER HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS, PANELLISTS TELL ANNUAL DPI/NGO CONFERENCE
Press Release
NGO/308
PI/1081
GLOBALIZATION AND FREE MARKETS NO EXCUSE FOR LOWER HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS, PANELLISTS TELL ANNUAL DPI/NGO CONFERENCE
19980915 Governments, NGOs, Individuals Urged To Defend Human Rights amidst Economic GlobalizationGlobalization and free market expansion could not be used as an excuse for lowering standards of human rights, participants in the fifty-first annual Department of Public Information (DPI)/NGO Conference were told this morning.
During this morning's meeting of the three-day Conference focusing on implementation of the principles of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, panel participants discussed the impact of globalization on human rights. Exploring a range of factors relating to globalization which affected human rights, panel participants called on governments, NGOs, as well as individuals, to defend human rights standards amidst economic globalization.
The process of globalization had increased competition among producers, leading companies to increase profits at the expense of labour standards, said Franklyn Lisk, Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Liaison Office to the United Nations. The fundamental rights of workers were enshrined in ILO conventions and they could not be sacrificed for profit.
Hnin Hnin Pyne, a doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, said the causes of illegal migration were tied to globalization. Labour abuses often forced people to leave their homelands, leaving large groups of migrating workers extremely vulnerable to human rights abuses and other forms of exploitation.
The panels were moderated by Ingeborg Kaul, Director of the Office of Development and Studies, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); and Edward Mortimer, Chief of the Speech Writing Unit, Executive Office of the Secretary-General.
Also participating in panel discussions were: Legwaila Joseph Legwaila (Botswana), John Sewell, President of the Overseas Development Council; Alfredo Sfeir-Younis, representative of the World Bank; Victoria Tauli-Corpuz of the Tebtebba Foundation; Richard Mollica, Director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma; Katie Quan, of the Institute of Industrial Relations at the University of California at Berkeley; and Volodymyr Yelchenko (Ukraine).
The Conference will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue considering the impact of globalization on human rights.
Economic Development: Who Is Responsible?
The panel was moderated by INGEBORG KAUL, Director of the Office of Development and Studies of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). She said it had become apparent that globalization was not working for many people in the world. If globalization was failing to deliver on its promise, what would happen to economic development? she asked. Nonetheless, the international community should not "throw out the baby with the bathwater". The challenge now was how to continue progress towards sustainable human development in the midst of globalization.
LEGWAILA JOSEPH LEGWAILA (Botswana) said his country had been very successful in protecting human rights while developing economically. Botswana was the oldest democracy in Africa, having been independent for almost 32 years; years of peace and stability.
He said when Botswana became independent "My country was poorer than a church mouse, which means that we were wretchedly poor". In 1967, diamonds were discovered in Botswana. The combination of diamonds and a democratic government that respected human rights led to the development of a nation which many people had described as a miracle.
Countries could develop economically while protecting human rights, he said. The international community should not separate the protection of human rights from economic development. If human rights were not protected, instability would disrupt economic development. Both issues must be addressed together.
JOHN SEWELL, President of the Overseas Development Council, said it was likely that the world's population would stabilize in the year 2050 at 9 billion people or less. The stabilization of the global population would represent a remarkable success for the United Nations. Globalization presented vast opportunities for development, he said. However, if not managed wisely, it would result in huge costs. The fear that globalization would destabilize the developing world must be addressed. Also, globalization could not be used as an excuse to ignore environmental and social problems.
Studies had shown that international financial aid had been neither good nor bad for development. In most cases, aid had not been provided in a quantity large enough to force positive or negative changes.
ALFREDO SFEIR-YOUNIS, representative of the World Bank, said the first element of social responsibility was the eradication of poverty. While economic progress had been achieved in the last decades, poverty was increasing in absolute and relative terms. Governments and the market should not be the only force or agent to take responsibility for economic development.
Civil society had a new role to play, as did consumers, he continued. Technological progress in information exchange had brought transparency and
DPI/NGO Annual Conference - 3 - Press Release NGO/308 AM Meeting PI/1081 15 September 1998
accountability to the forefront of the public debate on social responsibility. A high degree of interdependence should be recognized. While economic and financial factors were important in decision-making, they alone did not address the issues and challenges faced by most societies.
VICTORIA TAULI-CORPUZ, Executive Director of the Tebtebba Foundation, said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had not adequately addressed issues facing developing countries. It dealt with individual rights, not the rights of groups to economic equality and development. Many human rights violations resulted from globalization and free-market actions. The NGO movement must promote sustainable management programmes at the local levels.
Discussion
Responding to a question about Botswana's political system, Mr. LEGWAILA said his country had measured its democratic practices, not by African standards, but by international standards. The tendency to lower standards for developing countries and to tolerate some corruption would not create a positive system.
Regarding NGO involvement, Ms. TAULI-CORPUZ said the biggest challenges for NGOs was to work with international organizations to ensure that local efforts were not undermined.
Answering a question about multilateral corporations, Mr. SEWELL said not all profit-making activities interfered with meeting social needs. Currency traders, for instance, were very different than business owners that employ thousands of people. Also, many corporations were much more environmentally conscious than they once were.
On a question regarding debt relief, Mr. SFEIR-YOUNIS said the causes of debt should be examined. Debt-relief efforts should be integrated into policy management programmes. On multilateral corporations, he said development activists must support businesses in contributing to development.
Cross-Border Issues
Moderator, EDWARD MORTIMER, Chief of the Speech Writing Unit, Executive Office of the Secretary-General, introduced the panellists.
FRANKLYN LISK, Director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Liaison Office to the United Nations, said the emergence of the global labour market had contributed to a weakening of national policy regulating international labour markets. One of the major challenges for the ILO was to reconcile the need to protect labour rights with the processes of globalization and the growth of free markets.
He said the process of globalization had increased competition among producers, leading companies to increase profits at the expense of labour standards. The fundamental rights of workers were enshrined in ILO conventions and they could not be sacrificed for profits. The ILO continued
DPI/NGO Annual Conference - 4 - Press Release NGO/308 AM Meeting PI/1081 15 September 1998
to update its instruments to ensure labour standards in the increasing global economy.
RICHARD MOLLICA, Director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, said many problems faced by refugees and internally displaced persons, and abuses they suffered, were still considered crimes and not human rights violations. Progress had been made in mental health care and generic approaches were giving way to indigenous approaches. While serious depression rates remained high in refugee populations, as did physical disability rates, the effectiveness of indigenous therapy was gaining acceptance.
New experiments in international law, including the establishment of the International Criminal Courts, were hopeful signs, he said. Traumatized people needed justice. Justice would have a huge impact on the recovery of traumatized persons throughout the world.
HNIN HNIN PYNE, a doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, said she had recently visited Myanmar to study the effects of labour migration. Before the Asian financial crisis there were about 1 million people, mainly from Myanmar, who were working in Thailand. Workers migrating illegally were extremely vulnerable to exploitation. Women were often forced into the sex industry or domestic service. Workers were also taken advantage of regarding salaries, working hours and labour conditions.
The health of migrant workers was often at risk. The causes of illegal migration were tied to globalization, she said. Corporations worked with the Myanmar regime to contribute to conditions in that country which might force people to seek work outside.
KATIE QUAN, labour policy specialist at the Center for Labor Research and Education, Institute of Industrial Relations, University of California at Berkeley, said globalization had led some corporations to move factories to developing countries where they exploited cheap labour to increase profits. Companies in the textile and garment industry had told United States workers that they had to lower wages to compete with factories in Latin America. Companies moved factories from one developing country to another where labour was even cheaper.
Trade unions must organize nationally and internationally, she said. The challenge for human rights supporters was to make labour standards binding and have vigorous verification of those standards. Those standards should make contractors and sub-contractors responsible for labour standards. The consumer could force companies to live up to those standards by boycotting companies that did follow them.
VOLODYMYR YELCHENKO (Ukraine) said human rights were an integral element in the promotion of peace and security, sustainable economic development and social equality. The progress made in the promotion of the basic rights of the individual was due mainly to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was the source of inspiration and the foundation for the impressive standard-setting work done by the United Nations.
DPI/NGO Annual Conference - 5 - Press Release NGO/308 AM Meeting PI/1081 15 September 1998
But, despite the progress, the gap between aspirations and real achievements had not been bridged, he said. There were still massacres of national, ethnic, racial or religious groups. Arbitrary arrests and imprisonment without trial continued. At a human rights conference this month in Ukraine, a plan of action was adopted which envisaged the establishment, under the auspices of the UNDP, of an international network for gathering information on best practices in the field of promoting human rights.
Discussion
To a question regarding a country's responsibility to protect worker rights, Ms. QUAN said that, while many countries had labour laws to protect workers, the level of enforcement of those laws was crucial.
On a question regarding labour rights, Mr. LISK said the ILO linked social justice to the protection of workers' rights.
* *** *
DPI/NGO Annual Conference - 6 - Press Release NGO/308 AM Meeting PI/1081 15 September 1998
NGO308