AIDS EPIDEMIC WREAKING HAVOC WITH SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS, COMMISSION ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT TOLD

16 February 1999

Press Release
SOC/4490

AIDS EPIDEMIC WREAKING HAVOC WITH SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT EFFORTS, COMMISSION ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT TOLD

19990216 UNAIDS Representative Says Commitments of 1995 World Social Summit Affected, as Commission Begins Overall Review of Social Summit's Implementation

HIV/AIDS was now more than a health issue -- it had become a fully fledged developmental issue, and, as such, it impacted several of the commitment areas of the World Summit for Social Development, the representative of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) told the Commission for Social Development this morning, as it began its overall review of the implementation of the outcome of the Social Summit, which was held in Copenhagen in 1995.

With over 47 million people infected to date, and nearly 6 million new infections last year, the AIDS epidemic was wreaking havoc with social development efforts, he added. The poor were more vulnerable to HIV, and the disease left even greater poverty in its wake. The tide could only be turned through an expanded network of international cooperation. Unless new and intensified action was taken to combat the virus, some of the Summit's targets would falter. He identified Africa as being particularly hard hit by the disease, with over four fifths of the world's AIDS deaths and 95 per cent of the world's AIDS orphans.

The representative of Swaziland expressed concern that Africa was viewed as a continent that was lagging behind in its development. Yet, African people were dying and being maimed by guns, that were not produced and manufactured there. He challenged the Commission to appeal to those States responsible to stop finding markets for their weapons in Africa. How would Africa realize the visions of the Summit, if signatories of the same Summit continued selling arms in Africa and delaying realization of its own goals? he asked.

Addressing the integration of social and economic policies, the representative of Germany, on behalf of the European Union, said that the General Assembly's special session in the year 2000 should give new impetus to social advocacy and social responsibility in politics. Social considerations, as well as economic and environmental aspects, had to be systematically and fully integrated into policy-making. It should also give new impetus to

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social impact assessments, and consider some special issues that had direct social implications and real impact on poverty eradication.

Social development was not something one tacked onto a programme or a project, but was the basis on which it must be grounded, said the representative of the World Bank. It was an end product, not a by-product. Development of good practice in financial and corporate governance had to be accompanied by principles of good practice in social policy. The aim must be to ensure that financial policies were compatible with good social policy. Further, that vulnerable populations not only were protected in the event of financial crisis, but had a greater voice in the formulation of policies that affected them.

Statements were also made by Dr. Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the representative of the Ministry of Works and Social Policy of Poland, and representatives of Norway, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Belarus, Japan, as well as Pax Romana, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and CERFE, a non-profit international research institute.

The Commission will meet again at 3 p.m. today to continue its consideration of the overall review of the implementation of the outcome of the Social Summit.

Commission Work Programme

The Commission for Social Development met this morning to consider one of its priority themes: initiation of the overall review of the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, 1995).

The Commission had before it a letter dated 11 February from the Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations (document A/54/66- E/1996/6), in which he informs the Secretary-General of his country's proposal to host the fourth session of the World Youth Forum. (For detailed background on the Commission's session, see Press release SOC/4482, dated 8 February.)

Statements

OLE PETER KOLBY (Norway) said that the Summit had identified the 20/20 initiative as an instrument to facilitate joint action by developed and developing countries towards the goal of universal access to basic social services. Even though many governments were in a situation where they were forced to reduce their expenditures, there was no alternative to investments in health and education to achieving broad-based development and sustained economic growth. An enabling environment, both at the national and international levels, was crucial for development efforts. Good governance and respect for all human rights were fundamental elements of such an environment, as were effective mechanisms for international cooperation.

The debt problem was one of the main obstacles to development for the poorest and most heavily indebted developing countries, he said. Urgent action was needed to end the unsustainable debt burden of those countries, and Norway had launched a comprehensive national debt-relief strategy as a contribution towards that end. It was shameful that the industrialized countries were increasingly distancing themselves from the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) for official development assistance (ODA). The decline in volume had been accompanied neither by a greater emphasis on social services nor by a focus on the least developed countries. Norway, which had been well above the set target for decades, intended to further increase its developmental assistance to 1 per cent of GDP in the years ahead, and was allocating increased resources to the poorest countries and to the social sectors.

GERHARD HENZE (Germany), on behalf of the European Union and the associated Central and Eastern European countries of Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Cyprus, said the special session of the General Assembly in the year 2000 should take the Commission's four core issues of poverty, social integration, employment and social services into account. Within those issues, the Union proposed a

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focus on additional key elements or new initiatives that could strengthen and facilitate the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. Best practices and new ideas mentioned in the evaluation of national reports could be examined, taking into account different conditions and social systems.

He said the special session should give new impetus to social advocacy and social responsibility in politics. The Union wished to highlight the necessity to systematically and fully integrate social considerations, as well as economic and environmental aspects, into policy-making. The session should also give new impetus to the elaboration and application of social impact assessments. The Union was convinced that the preparatory process and the special session should consider, in depth, some special issues that had direct social implications and real impact on poverty eradication, among them: globalization; the role of the public and private sector; social responsibilities of business; access to new technologies; the need for democratic, well-functioning economic and social institutions in society; and human rights.

The preparatory process, he continued, must send a message to people in all countries that their needs were the focus of "our discussion and of the outcome of the special session". The mainstreaming of a gender perspective into all aspects of the preparatory work, as well as the special session, was also an imperative. Global, regional and local aspects should be recognized in formulating new initiatives towards promoting employment in all countries.

In that regard, he added, particular attention should be paid to youth unemployment, women's long-term unemployment, ageing workers and groups with special needs, such as the disabled. The provision of social services could be seen as a tool for job creation. In combating unemployment, a system of best practices and benchmarking, as applied in the Union, could be a very useful tool, as well as basic education for all and measures for life-long learning.

ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said the Copenhagen commitments remained unattained because they had not been backed by enough political will, resources and cooperation. For developing countries, especially the least developed countries, the challenge was even greater. On the one hand, there was a lack of consensus, in many cases at the national level, on the need for prioritizing social development and reallocating resources within the society. On the other hand, the international environment was not conducive to devoting greater resources and enhanced efforts for intensified social development programmes.

While political will was the first step, it had to be backed by real and effective action, he continued. For actions to be meaningful in developing countries, five areas had to be addressed. First, poverty eradication had to be the central goal of all efforts. Second, priorities would have to be

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redirected to capacity and infrastructure building through education, health and other areas of human development. Third, efficient and innovative use of resources was a must for having better and cost-effective results. Fourth, the elimination of disparity between men and women, and between groups within societies, had to be eliminated. Fifth, government efforts had to be complimented by the participation of families, civil society and non- governmental organizations (NGOs).

IRENA BORUTA, Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Social Policy of Poland, said the need to institute measures to strengthen the family was a subject that was addressed by all United Nations conferences on social policies. However, the Commission should elaborate more on the legal provisions of the rights of the family, since current international measures did not guarantee the rights of that entity. The protection offered now under existing statutes did not seem sufficient. Further, the various protective mechanisms in existence today seemed to be mere slogans or proclaimed State intentions.

Today, many of the provisions for the family were almost obsolete, she continued. The progress in medical science, biochemistry and genetics imposed new requirements. In addition, the concept of family was changing and must be evaluated. There was need for, at the very least, a partial response to those modern issues. The concept of family was evolving, as were ideas about its functions, and views on the issue were diverse.

Current reports on the rights of the family demonstrated that international legal protections, as they now stood, were not enough, she added. Strengthening those rights through the development of relevant international laws was a difficult task. The effects of various instruments should be evaluated using formal criteria, such as ratification. In addition, elaborating a new provision that would strengthen the rights of the family was necessary.

JUDITH EDSTROM, Sector Manager, Social Development, of the World Bank, said that to be sustainable, development had to be broadly inclusive. The Bank had recognized that people must be the focus of the development agenda and had committed itself to operating on a more comprehensive development framework, one based on partnership, country ownership and a more holistic long-term vision of development. It had embarked on a course of organizational and cultural change that focused its mission on poverty reduction and on renewed support for social development. Progress in that area included the development by late 1996 of an action plan for mainstreaming attention to social concerns in each of the Bank's regions. She said that social development was not something one tacked onto a programme or a project. It was the basis on which any policy, programme or project must be grounded. It was an end-product, not a by-product. Development of good practice in financial and corporate governance had to be accompanied by principles of good practice in social policy. The aim had to be to ensure that financial policies were compatible with good social policy. Further, that

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vulnerable populations not only were protected in the event of financial crisis, but had a greater voice in the formulation of policies that affected them.

MIAN TAYYAB HASSAN (Pakistan) said his country was committed to creating a "society for all" as envisaged in the Copenhagen Declaration. As part of its comprehensive social policy, it had launched a five-and-a-half year -- 1997 to 2002 -- Social Action Programme II, with a financial outlay of rupees 498.84 billion. So far, the main focus of the programme had been on poverty eradication, environmental protection, empowerment of women, employment generation, the provision of universal primary education, basic health care, family planning and clean drinking water. Non-governmental organizations and the private sector had also been fully involved in the implementation of the programme.

He said that the real empowerment of people came about through quality education. Employment generation constituted an essential element of anti- poverty strategies. The Government had, therefore, laid special emphasis on employment generation in its national development programme. It had also launched a youth investment promotion scheme to provide facilities for youths to establish their own business through credits on preferential rates. Furthermore, no society could achieve the objective of true economic and social development without the full and equal participation of women in the nation-building effort.

He said that to ensure that women got an equitable share in the job market, the Government had decided to give preference to female candidates in recruitment under the Social Action Programme II. It had also taken steps to ensure the protection of disadvantaged and marginalized groups of the society. The various measures taken included: establishment of a poverty alleviation fund; the provision of subsidies on food items and food stamps; implementation of rural support programmes through NGOs on a participatory principle; special education programmes for the disabled; and monetary support for both the indigent and disabled.

NATALIA ZHILEVICH (Belarus) said that the process of moving to market structures for transitional economies had turned out to be more complex and painful than had been imagined a few years ago. Among the problems faced by transitional economies were mass unemployment and a gradual slump in living standards. Finding measures to combat such problems had been difficult. The experiences of other countries could be useful in determining what measures at the regional, national and international levels could be used to counteract the negative effects of transition. The process of global economic polarization had put additional pressures on transitional economies.

She said deepened international integration entailed more responsibilities for national governments and international organizations. States had realized that social goals could not be attained without international cooperation.

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Successful socio-economic polices required coordinated international efforts. Combining national initiatives and practical social action with international action would impart a new impetus in that area.

Dr. NAFIS SADIK, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), said that some of the key findings of the International Forum for the Operational Review and Appraisal of the Implementation of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, held in The Hague, pertained to the goals and commitments of Copenhagen. They included: poverty eradication; social integration; equality and equity between men and women; universal and equitable access to quality education and health services; accelerating the development of Africa and the least developed countries, ensuring that structural adjustment programmes included social development goals; and increasing resources allocated to social development.

Population programmes and those in other areas of social development fitted seamlessly together, she continued. They reinforced each other and together strengthened the prospects for population stabilization, poverty eradication and sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development.

A number of challenges and obstacles remained, she said. Among them was the need for better frameworks to analyse population, poverty and environmental linkages, such as the integration of population dimensions into environmental impact assessments and other planning processes. Also, the institutional capacity of civil society organizations must be strengthened and better networking among organizations, particularly at the country level, must be promoted. Concerned about the need for increased resources, she said that shortfalls in resources compromised the pace and scope of implementing the outcome of the Population Conference and of all recent United Nations conferences and summits. Efforts must be redoubled to mobilize new resources and use existing funds more efficiently.

JIM CARMICHAEL, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Representative, New York Liaison Office, said HIV/AIDS was now more than a health issue -- it had become a fully fledged developmental issue. As such, it impacted on several of the Copenhagen Summit's commitment areas. For example, the poor were more vulnerable to HIV and the disease left even greater poverty in its wake. Further, the risk of acquiring the virus during unprotected heterosexual intercourse was two to four times higher for a woman than a man. In addition, a proper enabling environment was required to de-stigmatize the disease and protect the environment of those who were living with HIV.

Also relevant to the Copenhagen commitments, the HIV/AIDS tide could only be turned through an expanded network of international cooperation and a vastly increased commitment of resources, he continued. Unless new and

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intensified action was taken to combat the virus, some of the targets in the Programme of Action would falter. The most striking reversal would be in the area of life expectancy. The United Nations 1998 revision of world population showed a devastating toll from AIDS, with some African countries projected to lose over 20 years of life expectancy because of the disease. With over 47 million people infected to date, and nearly 6 million new infections last year, the AIDS epidemic was wreaking havoc with social development efforts in all parts of the world.

However, he continued, nowhere was the situation more critical than in sub-Saharan Africa. Two thirds of those currently living with AIDS were from that region. Africa was also where over four fifths of AIDS deaths had occurred and where 95 per cent of AIDS orphans were living. The spectre of such a huge tragedy called for an emergency response from within and outside Africa. It was with that in mind that UNAIDS, and its co-sponsors, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UNFPA, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank, were now initiating action to develop a new, broad-based international partnership for intensified action against AIDS in Africa.

TAKESHI KAMITANI (Japan) said that he wanted to affirm the importance of "people-centred" or "human-centred" development. The empowerment of the individual was the basis of social development and keeping that fact in mind would aid discussions on further initiatives. The concept of people-centred development could also be addressed within the comprehensive perspective of human security. Human security was the key to overcoming all threats to survival. What was needed was coordinated action by the international community.

He said that while States had the primary responsibility for social development, it could not be fully achieved if there was not a strong partnership with civil society, NGOs, private businesses, the United Nations system and international financial institutions. The momentum for social development, growing especially in civil society, must not be allowed to dissipate as the result of the present unfavourable economic conditions. Further partnerships should be pursued, taking into account the specific conditions in each country.

MOSES M. DLAMINI (Swaziland) said a comprehensive review of the Copenhagen Declaration had to be undertaken in the not-too-distant future. His own country had taken the first steps in realizing the dreams of the Declaration and had developed a national development strategy. That strategy included the views of all the stakeholders of the country, including NGOs and civil society. The overall aim was to raise the standards of living of all Swaziland's people. However, the growing interdependence of the nations of the world, brought about by globalization and liberalization, showed the need

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to strengthen the various frameworks, he noted.

He said it was regrettable that today human beings would continue to perish in poverty. He challenged the Commission to seriously analyse the contents of the Secretary-General's report on the sources of conflict in Africa and the efforts needed to be undertaken by the international community to harness Africa's potential. In that report, the Secretary-General stated that the success of his views could only become a reality if the international partners committed themselves at all spectrums. He was concerned that Africa was viewed by all as a continent that was lagging behind in its development.

African people were dying and being maimed by guns that were finding their way onto the continent, he continued. Those weapons were not produced and manufactured in Africa. To realize the Copenhagen vision, he challenged the Commission to appeal to those States responsible to stop forthwith from finding markets for their weapons in Africa. Those arms caused the civil wars on the continent. How would Africa realize the dreams and visions of the Copenhagen Summit, if the same signatories of the Summit continued selling arms in Africa and delaying the continent's realization of its own goals?

JOHN SAUTTER, representative of Pax Romana, said that most heavily indebted African countries were paying more to address their debt burden than to basic social services. An effective solution, which would address the needs of the debtor and creditor, was to cancel the debt of the poorest nations and require that those funds that had been allocated to debt payment be redirected to other areas. That would help to create favourable conditions for sustainable social development and long-term growth.

He urged international financial institutions to recognize the necessary climate of partnership for social development. In that regard, they should cancel unpayable debt by the year 2000. They should also improve the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative by broadening eligibility to include more countries. In addition, debt sustainability should be defined so countries could manage to make their debt payments, while maintaining the necessary social infrastructure.

Ms. VON ROEMER, representative of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), said that the ICFTU advocated the establishment of a broad-based independent international commission mandated to report rapidly on the institutional and policy changes needed to establish an effective international regulatory framework and new financial and institutional architecture. Issues for early decision should include a serious examination of how an international tax on foreign exchange transactions could be implemented and the development of minimum standards for social policy.

Governments must commit themselves to extending social protection into new areas, such as universal social safety nets, including pension provision

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for the elderly, she said. They should also commit themselves to creating and expanding social safety nets to ensure that the under-employed and jobless had sufficient income on which to live, and to extending International Labour Organization (ILO) programmes to eradicate child labour. The ICFTU also urged governments to ensure that the social code currently being drawn up by the World Bank would incorporate the recommendations of other agencies. It was vital that the ILO be associated with that project.

FRANCESCA MARTA, a representative of CERFE, a non-profit international research institute, said that measures aimed at the alleviation or eradication of poverty should be integrated with actions to fight social exclusion. Improved and standardized measures and indexes to assess social exclusion and monitor social integration were, therefore, extremely important for the implementation of the effort.

Referring to measures that favoured a real sharing of responsibilities between women and men, she urged that follow-up processes take into account how lack of or decreasing social services tended to affect women not only as beneficiaries, but also because they were overburdened by a strongly unequal distribution of care responsibilities, both in industrialized and developing countries. The more equitable sharing of care responsibilities was not only a "women's issue", but was of general import to all society.

She drew the Commission's attention to the relevance of the human factor and social actors in the process of the implementation of the social agenda. She called for more support among partners and concerned actors in social development actions. There was also a need to foster and support the formation of leadership in civil society, as well as build the capacity of public administrations to promote effective partnerships with the active citizenry and the private sector. In that regard, the issue of the "brain drain" from developing countries should be duly considered.

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