PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR WOMEN

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR WOMEN

The high-level international round table entitled "Ensuring Equity in Aid, Trade and Lending: Promoting a Human Rights Approach to Global Economic Governance", had been a unique opportunity to bring together the main actors concerned with policy development, Julia Hausermann, President of Rights and Humanity -- an international organization advocating a human rights approach to development -- told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

The three-day round table, which took place at the United Nations Headquarters last week, had been co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), she said. In his opening remarks, which were read by Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Nafis Sadik, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the meeting was timely and appropriate, as it took place just before the Third Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization in Seattle, where a new trade round would be discussed. It would help steer the focus towards making trade work for the poor, "by expansion and sensitivity to the concerns of the weaker partners in the international trading system".

"The meeting was actually a critical one", Mrs. Hausermann continued, "because we discussed the establishment of an ethical framework, which should bind every actor in the global economy; not just States and the United Nations system, but also international financial institutions, multinational corporations and private and public investors."

The principles of equity and respect for human rights and dignity of human beings, on which the United Nations had been built, had not been shaping the global economy, she said. To demonstrate that, it was sufficient to look at the negative aspects of structural adjustment programmes, the drain of the debt burden on the poor countries and the inappropriate actions of some multinational companies in some regions of the world. The impact of unregulated capital flows was also significant.

Continuing, she challenged the notion that as long as global economic players played by the rules, they had no responsibility for the social or human rights consequences of their actions. She said, "we have established that there is an ethical framework, which should shape the global economic governance. This high-level group came together and agreed that there is an existing framework within the United Nations founding principles, the principles and norms of international human rights law and indeed the ethical tenets of all our faiths and cultures globally that require us to be concerned about the impact of economic globalization."

The participants of the round table started setting the standards in different sectors and called for a raising of awareness, she said. It was important to get a truly global response to human development,

UNIFEM Press Briefing - 2 – 8 November 1999

which should be in accordance with human rights. The objective of economic globalization should be human development for all.

A number of recommendations were made to different sectors, she continued. Perhaps the most important of all was that debt relief should be quicker and greater. It should be applied in a more efficient manner. It was also necessary to consider the impact of economic liberalization, particularly in the context of Seattle. The impact of reduction and elimination of subsidies should be considered, for instance in the food sector and in pharmaceuticals, to ensure that poor people and societies did not lose access to the basic necessities of life.

She said that the meeting also called for an increase in aid. The participants of the round table were concerned with the impact of current financial reforms, which should pay more attention to human well-being and development. Reform processes themselves should be participatory and transparent. The round table affirmed that it was necessary to put the conscience into world economic governance.

Asked how the ethical dimension would be developed, Mrs. Hausermann answered that the ethical framework was not new. It was based on existing principles. What was new -- and why the round table was critical -- was that it affirmed respect for ethical values in the context of the global economy. The way forward was to increase awareness of the need to apply those principles.

The sponsors of the round table had been entrusted with taking forward the deliberations in regional meetings, she continued. They would be working with regional economic commissions and drawing in more actors from global economy to make sure that those principles were widely recognized as a basis for economic globalization. Also, a number of upcoming meetings would present opportunities, including the meeting in Seattle in three weeks; the World Summit for Social Development+5; and Beijing+5. Participants in a number of international meetings would be raising those issues and promoting the recommendations.

In answer to a question about actions planned in Seattle to draw attention to the outcome of the round table, Mrs. Hausermann said that it was an excellent idea to hold a parallel session in Seattle. However, the most important outcome of the round table was that governments represented there would be incorporating its outcome into their thinking. In Seattle, the United Nations would also stress the importance of ethical thinking and the human rights framework. That framework, as the Secretary-General had said, put the interests of the poor at the centre of the global economy.

Asked about the participants of the round table, she said that the press-kit distributed at the briefing contained the names of 27 participants. The programme of work also included video presentations by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. The participants included representatives from governments, international financial institutions, as well as independent experts.