DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL DESCRIBES BROAD CHANGES IN DEVELOPMENT THINKING, REFORM OF UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT ROLE, IN HEADQUARTERS ADDRESS
Press Release
DSG/SM/64
DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL DESCRIBES BROAD CHANGES IN DEVELOPMENT THINKING, REFORM OF UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT ROLE, IN HEADQUARTERS ADDRESS
19990716 Following is the address of Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette to the Summer Institute on the Global South, at Headquarters on 15 July:I am delighted to be here with you today. It is always a pleasure to speak to students, but it is a particular pleasure to speak to students like you -- who have a strong interest in development. And that is what I would like to talk to you about today.
Development is one of the main missions of the United Nations - on a par with peace and security. Too often in the newspapers, the United Nations is associated solely with issues of security and military conflict. While issues of war and peace are dramatic, and an undeniably vital part of what we do, the work we do in seeking to eradicate poverty, ensure access to health care, and to defend the rights of citizens everywhere is every bit as important. That is the work of development.
Moreover, development and peace are closely linked. Our understanding of this has been reinforced by our experience in conflict prevention and post- conflict peace-building. We have seen that the seeds of war lie in uneven and unequal development. Particularly in long-term peace-building, we find that governance, social and economic measures, and human rights need to be coordinated closely within an overall political framework. So the two great goals of the United Nations, enabling freedom from fear and freedom from want, are not only equally important, they are inseparable.
With that, let me turn to the subject of development itself. I would like to address three topics for you today: how development thinking has changed; what role the United Nations plays in promoting development; and finally, what has been achieved, and what remains to be done in this field.
When one examines development theory, it seems that every few years the experts seem to come up with new catchphrases. Besides enriching the jargon, from time to time one of these does capture a real conceptual breakthrough. In the last decade, we have had "human development", followed by "sustainable development" - or was it the other way round? Now it's all about "comprehensive development".
I shall not attempt this afternoon to draw out the fine distinctions between these concepts, or to rank them in order of merit. But I should like to stress two fundamental messages which I think all of them seek to convey. The first is that development is not only, or even essentially, about economics. It is, or should be, about human beings: about satisfying their aspirations to live their lives in dignity. And the second is that development comes about, when it does, as the result of a complex set of interactions between political, economic, social, environmental and cultural factors.
The first of these messages - that the ultimate purpose of development is to improve the human condition - should be obvious enough. Yet, the publication in 1990 of the first Human Development Report -- which sought to measure development by such social indicators as literacy and life expectation, and not just gross national product - came as a bit of a shock.
Perhaps, the most notable aspect of the report was its use of the "human development index", created by the late Pakistani economist, Mahbub ul Haq. His object in designing the index, which he well knew was a very crude instrument, was to dislodge the tyrant gross national product from its throne as the sole arbiter of a country's success or failure, and to get across the fact that man does not live by macroeconomics alone.
Since then, real progress has been made in this decade in understanding the complex interactions of factors which contribute to development. This has occurred in part through the series of major United Nations conferences in recent years. The policy orientations that came out of these conferences - the Children's Summit, the Rio Summit, the Conferences on Population, Human Rights, Women, Human Settlements and finally, the Copenhagen Social Summit - brought out, more clearly than ever before, the interplay between the various factors of development.
They showed that the best way to improve the health and nutritional levels of children is to educate women and girls. That poverty both causes and is caused by environmental degradation. That respect for human rights is a source of political stability, which, in turn, is an essential prerequisite for economic growth. In fact, respect for human rights is only one aspect of a much broader theme, good governance, whose importance has been further highlighted by the recent financial crisis.
What do I mean by good governance? Honest government, but also a solid institutional and regulatory framework, and transparency not only in the State, but in the private sector and the institutions of civil society. All these things turn out to be vital, if a country is to sustain full and safe participation in open financial markets. And to create and manage such a system, a country also needs a cadre of highly capable public administrators.
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Sharing these ideas has led to considerable convergence between the policy viewpoints of the United Nations and those of the Bretton Woods institutions - a welcome change from the debates we used to have between their emphasis on "getting the fundamentals right" and our goal of "adjustment with a human face".
Indeed, one could say that "we are now all believers in comprehensive development". But this concept does not only refer to policy. It also refers to the interaction among the various actors of development. It argues for coherent and coordinated approaches, with developing country governments playing a leading role.
It was the need for greater coherence within the United Nations family of development agencies that led the Secretary-General to launch, as part of his reform programme two years ago, a number of initiatives in this area. At the Headquarters level, he formed the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) as a forum for policy and operational coordination among all the United Nations funds and programmes involved in development. At the field level, he directed that there should be action on three points: devising a common development assistance framework, or "UNDAF", for each country where the United Nations is involved in development work; as far as financially possible, regrouping the offices of all United Nations funds and programmes in each country under a single roof - the so-called "UN house"; and increased use of common services.
The UNDAF is the centrepiece of the new approach. It is a strategic planning and collaborative framework, intended to help identify priorities for action in each country where we operate. The process of creating the framework helps the United Nations to identify clearly where it can make a significant, strategic difference for the countries and peoples it serves, especially the poorest and most vulnerable. And by promoting stronger, more focused linkages between our development mandate and our other core missions, including human rights, this effort helps to strengthen the coherence of the United Nations system as a whole.
Eighteen countries took part in the pilot phase of the process, starting in August 1997. After review within the Secretariat, the guidelines were finalized, with advice from the General Assembly. Twenty more countries began the exercise last month, and all countries to which it is applicable will have started it by 2002. This constitutes a new chapter in the role of the United Nations in promoting development.
It is easy to be pessimistic when one considers the magnitude of world poverty. But more progress has been made in alleviating poverty during the past 50 years than in the 500 that preceded them. The infant mortality rate has been cut by half since 1960. At that time, 90 per cent of rural families had no access to safe drinking water; today, that percentage has fallen to
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about 25 per cent. The malnutrition rate has dropped by one third, and over three quarters of all children attend primary school, whereas less than half did so 40 years ago.
Despite these steps forward, 300 million people have joined the ranks of the very poor since 1995. In a number of countries, particularly in Africa, over 90 per cent of the population is living in absolute poverty. More than 33 million Africans suffer from the scourge of AIDS and, in some African countries, over 25 per cent of the population is already infected. And these tragedies cannot be disconnected from the fact that we live in a world where 10 per cent of the population controls 90 per cent of its wealth.
We must continue to strive to free everyone from absolute poverty and to help everyone achieve his or her basic rights. The progress we have seen so far has been due, above all, to the courage and determination of the poor and oppressed themselves. But it has also happened because people like you and me made it their business to see that it happened. What we call "civil society" has played an increasingly important role on the international scene.
When I attended my first General Assembly in New York, the United Nations was almost exclusively the domain of States. I cannot recall whether the term "NGO" had even been invented. Such groups as existed then were certainly excluded from intergovernmental debates. One of the most significant developments in the United Nations in recent years has been the growing influence of such groups. The policies and programmes of action that came out of the major United Nations conferences, which I have already mentioned, reflected the very active involvement of non-governmental actors in the debate.
The lesson this holds is that you can make a difference if you care enough to invest a bit of yourself in promoting your ideals. I have told you something about the United Nations view on development, and the work we are doing in the field. Ultimately, however, the task of lifting peoples and nations out of poverty involves stepping beyond theories and acronyms. It relies upon the passion, the courage and the dedication of thousands and thousands of individuals. I am sure that each of you, in your own way, will make your own contribution.
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