DEBT-FOR-DEVELOPMENT SWAP WILL HELP NATIONS ACHIEVE SOCIAL SUMMIT GOALS, UNITED STATES TELLS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Press Release
GA/9630

DEBT-FOR-DEVELOPMENT SWAP WILL HELP NATIONS ACHIEVE SOCIAL SUMMIT GOALS, UNITED STATES TELLS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Guatemala Concerned over Adequacy of Preparations For Next Year’s Special Assembly Session on Social Development

The representative of the United States this afternoon urged other creditor nations in the General Assembly to join his Government in excusing up to 100 per cent of developing nations’ debts, if the debtors would commit to invest the resultant savings in social development programmes.

He issued the call in the course of the Assembly’s continued discussion of follow-up to the World Social Summit held in Copenhagen in 1995. He also pointed to a need for improved safety nets to help countries ward off “financial contagion”. The effects on women and children were a recurrent theme in the debate; the United States representative urged particular attention to women’s performance of "unwaged" labour, such as child rearing and family farming. He said governments must ensure that female labour was valued and that women had equal access to essential services, such as education and health care.

The main focus of the Assembly’s social development debate this week is to review preparations for a special Assembly session to be convened in Geneva in June 2000. The representative of Guatemala stressed that the objectives of that session must be to reaffirm, not renegotiate, the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Summit. Some Member States were disappointed at the approach taken by the Preparatory Committee for the special session; its decisions thus far had dealt mainly with mundane issues of procedure rather than substance, he said.

The representative of Pakistan expressed concern over the brain drain from developing countries, which had even more serious implications than economic constraints. In this age of a knowledge and information revolution, it was becoming impossible for developing countries to maintain competitiveness because they were unable to offer attractive incentives to highly trained professionals. He warned that an “information apartheid” would emerge in the next century, if immediate steps were not taken to bridge the knowledge and information gap.

The representative of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea said that, in order for humankind to live in a peaceful and prosperous world, free from social problems, fair international economic relations, based on the principles of independence, equality and mutual benefit, should be established. Developed

General Assembly - 1a - Press Release GA/9630 30th Meeting (PM) 7 October 1999

countries must refrain from pursuing unilateral goals through high-profit investments in developing countries, and protectionist policies, which resulted in great losses to developing countries in economy and trade. The developed nations must also pay greater attention to resolving the debt problem in developing countries.

The representative of Namibia said that financing Africa's development was crucial. While governments realized their primary responsibility for their countries' development, their people must be provided with an enabling environment to foster growth. Macroeconomic policies must be refocused around social goals and priorities, which must be on an equal footing with economic priorities

Statements were also made this afternoon by the representatives of Brazil, Libya, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Algeria, Philippines, Venezuela, Bangladesh, Swaziland, Senegal, Egypt, Ecuador, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Assembly will meet again tomorrow at 10 a.m. to continue its consideration of the follow-up to the World Social Summit.

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this afternoon to continue its consideration of the follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development held in Copenhagen in 1995. It has before it a report of the Secretary-General (document A/54/220) and the report (documents A/54/45 and Corr.1 and Add.1) of the Preparatory Committee for the Assembly’s special session on social development, which is scheduled to take place in Geneva in June 2000. (For details, see Press Release GA/9629 of 7 October.)

Statements

LUIZ TUPY CALDAS DE MOURA (Brazil) said it was too early to fully assess the progress achieved since Copenhagen; but the global environment had clearly undergone significant change in the past five years –- and not always for the better. Over the last few years, the international financial crisis had caused severe social dislocation in many countries. Protectionist trade practices continued to affect the commodity exports of developing countries, while external debt drained resources urgently needed for development projects. In addition, there had been cutbacks in international cooperation.

He said that social development required sustained economic growth above all. And in the quest to improve living conditions for all Brazilians, fundamental structural reforms were under way. Education had received special attention. Infant mortality had been reduced by 45 per cent. The eradication of poverty and social exclusion were also major priorities for his Government.

ABDULSALAM SERIWA (Libya) said developing countries had recognized that their prime responsibility was for social development. Yet, progress was still minimal, while the rich were becoming richer. At the moment, more than 1 billion people were living in absolute poverty throughout the world. There was a link between economic and social development, but there had been a shortfall in the financing of social development. He hoped that the developed countries, along with international financial institutions and the United Nations, would work together to reach the goals of the Copenhagen Summit and cancel all debt burdens.

Equitable prices for goods had decreased, he continued, and he hoped that an international environment would be created that would give concessions for developing countries to provide for their food requirements. The Bretton Woods institutions should face those issues and confront financial crises. Further, international cooperation should not be linked to political motives, since that was a violation of the Charter. The international community needed to work, both bilaterally and multilaterally, to improve access to technology and financial resources. Also, it should remove the coercive measures that were being used to exert political pressures on States.

In Africa, he added, the economic and social status remained precarious despite efforts by those States to fulfil their commitments. The AIDS pandemic and other endemic diseases had added to the burden. Therefore, he supported proposals for holding a world summit and special session of the General Assembly to examine progress in the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration. His Government supported the results of the recommendations. His country had been able to grant all basic services to its population, despite the coercive measures that had hampered its social and economic development. SIM FARAR (United States) said approaches to social development needed to empower people to be active partners in the management of their own fates. Good governance was a critical element of an enabling environment; the basic building blocks of a stable society were free and regular elections, transparency in the political process, accountable governments, an independent and free media, and the rule of law. Corruption, on the other hand, weakened the foundation on which growth was based.

He said that the Social Summit had broken new ground with its specific commitment to equality for women. Continued attention must be paid to women, who disproportionately shouldered the burden of such "unwaged" labour as child rearing and family farming. Governments must ensure that their labour was valued and that they had equal access to essential services, such as education and health care. While making progress towards the goals of the Summit, the United States still needed to ensure that all members of society participated in and enjoyed the fruits of economic growth. It was endeavouring to create a more equitable social system that emphasized the concerns of vulnerable groups.

In order to cope with the changes accompanying economic liberalization and globalization, there must be a social safety net in place for families, which included property rights for small landholders and homeowners, elimination of discrimination in the workplace, and focused social spending on health and education. Safety nets such as the special financing offered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help countries head off "financial contagion" also needed further development. Job creation was at the core of any sound social policy; an open, transparent investment climate supported the creation of smaller businesses, which typically created more jobs. Finally, he expressed the hope that other creditor countries would join the United States in writing off the debts of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), on condition that those countries directed the resultant savings to poverty reduction and basic human needs.

LUIS FERNANDO CARRANZO-CIFUENTES (Guatemala) stressed that the special session must reaffirm, not negotiate, the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. A seeming confusion of those two conflicting approaches explained why some Member States were disappointed at the advances made thus far by the Preparatory Committee for the special session. Concern arose from the fact that the main activities carried out between May 1998 and September 1999 had been the adoption of decisions on mundane procedural issues. Ideally, the Preparatory Committee should have been addressing issues of substance.

Continuing, he said that certain events had made the work of the Committee more difficult. An indispensable condition for the fulfilment of the World Summit’s conclusions was the existence of an enabling international economic environment. However, during the last two years, the international community had witnessed a series of desperate efforts by countries that sought to defend jobs against a pronounced deceleration of economic activity, while justifying an increasingly large expenditure of public funds to prop up social sectors.

SUH DAE-WON (Republic of Korea) said the Social Summit's core goals of poverty eradication, full employment and social integration had been elusive. Armed conflicts threatened the development of societies while globalization exacerbated socio-economic disparities. Growing interdependence had made crises virtually impossible to contain. Problems were particularly hard on women, and initiatives must, therefore, place special emphasis on their issues. The primary responsibility for social development lay with nations themselves; it was up to them to define their own goals.

He said his country had made enormous strides in social development over the past 50 years, but the needy and the vulnerable had been hit particularly hard by the 1997 economic crisis. The gap between the "haves" and the "have nots" had widened further, threatening the social disintegration of his country. Recognizing that structural flaws were at the root of the economic crisis, his Government was carrying out reforms in four key sectors: financial, corporate, public and labour. The concept of productive welfare was also being promoted to enable welfare recipients to participate in, and contribute to, society more fully. The Republic of Korea was also striving to redress economic and social disparities at the regional level. On the international level, it would continue to increase its official development assistance (ODA) to developing countries. "International aid enabled us to overcome poverty and build a foundation for sustainable development in our nation-building process; it is now our turn to lend a helping hand", he said.

JAVA PARTIBAN (Malaysia) reiterated his Government’s commitment to poverty eradication, full employment and social integration, which were incorporated in its policies and programmes. Absolute poverty had been reduced from 60 per cent in 1970 to 13.5 per cent in 1999. Malaysia was currently enjoying full employment as a result of its economic growth policies and equitable distribution strategy, and was giving attention to strategies for generating sustainable rapid economic growth and ensuring that the benefits of growth were equitably shared among its people.

The eradication of poverty was central to the international community's efforts to advance social and economic development worldwide, she said. She called on the international community to provide additional resources to assist the developing countries. In particular, the developed countries should fulfil their obligation to contribute 0.7 percent of their gross national product (GNP) for development assistance to the developing countries. Different States had attached different priorities to the various commitments of the Copenhagen Summit, because of their differing situations and needs. Sincere commitments were needed from developed countries to enhance the efforts of the developing world to eliminate social and economic inequalities and imbalances.

MARTIN ANDJABA (Namibia) said that as widespread, crippling poverty in most developing countries would determine the success or failure of their development initiatives, the reduction of poverty was a necessary condition for development. Indications of how the developing world, particularly Africa, had fared since Copenhagen were discouraging. In addition to the debt burden, structural adjustment policies -– and a lopsided international economic environment -- had stunted and, in some cases, eliminated growth there during the past decade.

Financing Africa's development was crucial, he said. While governments had primary responsibility for their countries' development, their people must be provided with an enabling environment to foster growth. Key initiatives calling for special attention included: refocusing macroeconomic policies to centralize social goals and priorities and place them on an equal footing with economic priorities; strengthening procedures and institutions for social dialogue; strengthening gender mainstreaming by promoting gender equality nationally, and internationally; and strengthening support for activities to fight the spread of HIV/AIDS. AHSAN IQBAL (Pakistan) said that despite the increased focus on poverty eradication and employment-generation strategies, the objectives of social development, particularly in developing countries, remained largely unfulfilled. In some instances, the situation had actually deteriorated. The brain drain from developing to developed countries had serious implications that went beyond economic considerations. With the knowledge and information revolution, it was becoming impossible for developing countries to maintain competitiveness in services and sectors, for the simple reason that those countries were unable to offer attractive incentives to highly trained professionals. He warned against information apartheid, which would be the result if immediate steps were not taken to bridge the knowledge and information gap.

He said Pakistan was doing its best to realize the objectives of the Social Summit despite serious financial difficulties. He described its social action programme, whose main focus was poverty alleviation, employment generation, universal access to education, basic health care, family planning, empowerment of women, and provision of clean drinking water in urban slums and rural areas. The national literacy rate had increased, as had school enrolment at all level. Pakistan was undertaking a thorough evaluation of its social situation; it planned to hold a national social summit in Islamabad on 24-25 January 2000 for that purpose.

ABDALLAH BAALI (Algeria) said that modest gains in social development had been eclipsed by such phenomena as rising poverty and increased incidence of HIV/AIDS. Despite the global mandate adopted by the World Summit, the fight against poverty had not been as successful as expected. The fight was being carried out against the backdrop of globalization.

Without significant financial input and sincere efforts at poverty alleviation, the laudable and courageous efforts made by the African continent would prove insufficient to meet its peoples’ needs, he said. Since its independence, Algeria had always integrated the social aspect into its policy measures, as seen in programmes of universal education, free health coverage and social security. The education system had been made more accessible to all, especially girls. His Government was pleased to report that it had been able to pursue its social policy in spite of economic difficulties. However, for the global effort to be successful, there must be increased partnership between developed and developing States.

FELIPE MABILANGAN (Philippines) said there was merit in postponing discussion of the review and assessment of the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, pending the receipt of evaluations by Member States. His Government would like to see an enabling environment created to ensure equitable access to income, resources and social services by all. The developed countries should fulfil the target of 0.7 per cent of GNP set for ODA.

The Philippines had undertaken collaborative efforts with non-governmental organizations and civil society to achieve sustainable development. It continued to implement an integrated, human-centred poverty-alleviation programme, framework based on consultations with stakeholders. It was pursuing an employment-intensive pattern of growth that had spurred the expansion of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). Laws had been enacted to prevent the exploitation of child labour, enhance the status of women in the labour force, and safeguard the welfare of Philippine workers, especially women, overseas. The Government would continue to create an environment that would enable all citizens to achieve a modicum of human development. Common indicators should be established to measure progress made in the implementation of the outcome of the Copenhagen Social Summit, he added.

DIANA BIVERO (Venezuela) welcomed the fact that the social sphere had been given priority in the United Nations and said that Venezuela was doing its best to achieve social equality. At the national level, many initiatives had been taken, including economic programmes to control inflation and open the economy to market forces. Moreover, social programmes to assist the needy had been undertaken. There had also been efforts to strengthen civil society and promote popular participation at local and national levels. Education and social integration were areas where further progress was intended in Venezuela.

An important factor in achieving the goals of the World Summit was the promotion of international cooperation and solidarity. Better solutions could be devised when one looked at the experiences of other countries. The pursuit of humanitarian economic development was a challenge, he said. However, Venezuela was fully committed to the realization of the objectives of the Copenhagen Summit.

ANWARUL KARIM CHOWDHURY (Bangladesh) said the need for a focused environment could not be overemphasized. The environment would remain disabling if national capacity was inadequate, crime corruption and the drug menace overwhelming, rights denied to individual and groups, and appropriate legislation for social development absent. In their efforts to overcome those problems, national governments would have to be supported through: international measures; effective cooperation and partnership among all the actors in development; reform of international financial architecture; better market access for the products of the developing countries; fulfilment of ODA commitments; debt relief; and transfer of technology. The least developed countries were. There was an urgent need to make structural adjustment people-focused. Human security was jeopardized if structural adjustment programmes did not include social development goals.

Empowering people through the provision of basic social services and helping the poor to help themselves were two ways to address the eradication of poverty, he continued. Resources devoted to social development needed to be increased. At the same time, the efficient and innovative use of existing resources was a must for having better and cost-effective results. Preferential rates for loans for social development projects needed to be established. The full involvement of civil society and the private sector should also compliment the work of governments and international organizations in promoting social development. Regional cooperation could also play an effective role in that respect. The South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) would be drafting a social charter to provide a regional approach for social development. Regional commissions were also significant. In South-East Asia, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) had adopted a regional agenda of action which provided guidelines for social development to the countries of the region.

LI HYONG CHOL (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) said that poverty and unemployment, the main challenges to social development, had risen in many countries. The root causes of problems remained unsolved; they had their origins in the inequity of international economic relations, which impeded economic growth in developing countries.

He said that certain developed countries persisted in pursuing unilateral and prejudicial economic measures, such as high-profit investment and protectionism, which resulted in great losses for developing countries in economy and trade. Also, conflicts in various parts of the world presented additional difficulties in the quest for social development. For humankind to live in a peaceful and prosperous world, free from social problems, there must be fair international economic relations, based on principles of independence, equality and mutual benefits. Developed countries must refrain from pursuing their own goals at the expense of the developing countries. They should refrain from protectionism and pay due attention to resolving the debt problem in developing countries. They should also fulfil their ODA commitments. Meanwhile, individual States must formulate social development policies appropriate to their own socio- economic conditions and development levels, as these varied among countries.

MOSES M. DLAMINI (Swaziland) said that the report of the Preparatory Committee showed that many developing countries had made major reforms in their social development policies, even though their capacity to implement those policies was greatly hampered by lack of necessary external resources. Despite the commitments made for cooperation and assistance, support from developed countries had not been forthcoming. In fact, there had been a decline in ODA; its present level was less than one third of the United Nations target. If this situation were not reversed, it would make a mockery of the whole social development process and, ultimately, discredit the efforts of the United Nations.

The report also indicated that a lot still needed to be done to address the impact of globalization on social development, he said. It was imperative for the international community, with the full participation of developing countries, to consider new approaches to international development cooperation that were based on growth, stability and equality. This would ensure that developing countries were integrated into the globalization of the world economy. “There is a shared understanding that future global stability depends on the ability of the international community to increase the momentum for economic development, and capacity of national governments to improve the delivery of essential social services such as health education, and to create employment opportunities." Only by promoting an accelerated pace of growth in developing countries can poverty be eradicated.

IBRA DEGUENE KA (Senegal) said that inequalities in the distribution of the benefits of globalization were unacceptable and must be remedied. However, the greatest challenge was that of the eradication of poverty, a central theme of the Copenhagen Summit. To fight against poverty was essential to reform the economy, to speed its growth, and to create a favourable environment for development. He attached importance also to the maximization of human resources and to the participatory approach in national programmes.

A national fund to promote full employment at the local level had been implemented in Senegal, he said. However, the low degree of investment and the difficult access to markets underlined that globalization was not yet under control. The international community had a significant role to play in assisting all States to achieve gender equality and to guarantee the implementation of the objectives of the Summit.

AHMED ABOUL GHEIT (Egypt) said that 13 years before the Copenhagen Summit, Egypt had undertaken a social development programme. That programme had aimed at enhancing the role of the family; encouraging the participation of weak, vulnerable and marginal groups in society; improving the status of women and children; and encouraging business people and the wealthy to participate fully in implementing social development policies. To accomplish those goals, a large part of the national budget had been earmarked for the programme -- much more than the Copenhagen Declaration had called for.

The eradication of poverty required the harnessing of national and international efforts, he said. Efforts to combat unemployment had been impeded by the international financial crisis and related developments. Countries needed to take the mixed features of globalization into account when developing social policies. Egypt had already started reformulating its strategy.

MARIO ALEMAN (Ecuador) said that by the year 2005 it hoped to reduce the level of poverty in his country to less than 50 per cent. Realization of the global aim of reducing poverty would require concerted action. First, the global economy needed reactivation, and an integrated approach adopted.

He said his country was going through a period of fiscal austerity, but doing its best not to neglect the poorest or those in outlying areas. Ecuador's agenda included environmental concerns, as well as social considerations. About 80 per cent of the Government's programme was being financed internally and 16 per cent from external funding. That was an indication that Ecuador was meeting its commitment to the Declaration. However, it was very concerned about the decline in ODA and international cooperation.

MOHAMMAD J. SAMHAN (United Arab Emirates) underlined his country's commitment to the eradication of poverty and unemployment, and to social integration. Despite efforts made to achieve the goals defined by the Copenhagen Summit, too many people were still deprived of food, primary services and drinking water. Too many suffered from diseases, or were subjected to displacements caused by natural or human-made calamities.

Continuing, he said that, in order to eliminate such problems, it was necessary to cooperate at the local, national and international levels. Highest priority must be given to the social integration of vulnerable groups and to the modernization of educational structures so as to create the foundation for peace. It was also important to extend cooperation among States. For instance, the United Arab Emirates helped to build hospitals and orphanages in some developing countries and hosted many conferences, meeting and training courses on development.

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