EVOLVING VIEWS EXPRESSED BY BANKING, BUSINESS WORLDS, CIVIL SOCIETY, AS DPI/NGO CONFERENCE HOLDS THIRD PANEL DISCUSSION

Press Release
NGO/379
PI/1278

EVOLVING VIEWS EXPRESSED BY BANKING, BUSINESS WORLDS, CIVIL SOCIETY, AS DPI/NGO CONFERENCE HOLDS THIRD PANEL DISCUSSION

The holistic method had been defined as a comprehensive development framework and had influenced the way business was conducted at the country level, Mats Karlsson, Vice-President for External Affairs and United Nations Affairs, World Bank, said this morning during a panel discussion at the Fifty-third Annual DPI/NGO Conference.

Addressing participants at a panel discussion entitled “Best Practices: Advancing Our Shared Agenda", Mr. Karlsson said consultations between the Bank and civil society on country assistance strategies had escalated from 20 per cent some 10 years ago to 100 per cent today. Results in all fields, however, would remain unrealized unless they were underpinned by global cooperation to guard against market economic failures.

Kumi Naidoo, Secretary-General, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, said it was scandalous that at the beginning of the new millennium fewer than 10 per cent of women occupied leadership positions in government. Civil society therefore needed to do more work to achieve true gender equality. A question that the NGO community needed to ask itself was how NGOs represented their constituencies in their work. Too many organizations were accepting that citizens were waiting as beneficiaries and had framed the poor as spectators.

Another challenge was social inclusion, he said. One of the most important socially excluded groups was young people. They occupied the majority of the global population, and the NGO community itself needed to decide on how it was preparing a new cadre of leadership for civil society work. Moreover, globalization -- one of the greatest contradictions -- referred to the free flow of capital. Apparently that reference, however, did not include the free flow of human capital.

Arnold Hiatt, Chairman, Business for Social Responsibility, said it was difficult to imagine moving towards a juster society and a more sustainable economy without engaging the private sector and transforming its behaviour. There was no doubt that the rising levels of corporate responsibility would be greatly enhanced if pressure was brought to bear by civil society. The NGOs were in a particularly strong position to advocate the new focus on human values, as a guiding principle behind dynamic economies and healthy communities.

Motarilavoa Hilda Lini, Director, Pacific Concerns Resource Centre, said the first question to be asked was “when will we discuss how governments and the

DPI/NGO Annual Conference - 1a - Press Release NGO/379 AM Meeting PI/1278 30 August 2000

United Nations will work with civil society and NGOs, rather than when will NGOs and civil society work with governments and the Organization”? Those two entities had built a lot of fences around themselves. Yet civil society had been prepared to work with them from day one. Civil society put governments in power –- the same governments that sent representatives to the United Nations. Why then did governments and the United Nations continue to divide people? Without people there was no Organization.

Yoriko Meguro, Professor, Department of Sociology, Sophia University, also made a statement in her capacity as moderator of the discussion.

The Conference will meet again at 3 p.m. today to hold its final panel discussion, entitled “An Economic Vision that Works: Dialogue”.

DPI/NGO Annual Conference - 3 - Press Release NGO/379 AM Meeting PI/1278 30 August 2000

Conference Work Programme

The Fifty-third Annual Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental Organization Conference met this morning to hold a panel discussion entitled “Best Practices: Advancing our Shared Agenda”. Given the fact that many development programmes and civil society initiatives have achieved real progress towards sustainable development and human security based on human rights, discussions will focus on what the best practices are in promoting such progress.

Panelists will include: Arnold Hiatt, Chairman, Business for Social Responsibility; Mats Karlsson, Vice-President for External Affairs and United Nations Affairs, World Bank; Motarilavoa Hildi Lini, Director, Pacific Concerns Resource Centre; and Kumi Naidoo, Secretary-General, CIVICUS -- World Alliance for Citizen Participation. Yoriko Meguro, Professor, Department of Sociology, Sophia University, will moderate the discussion.

Statements

YORIKO MEGURO, Professor, Department of Sociology, Sophia University, pointing out that the empowerment of women was the key to equality, development and peace, said it was only in the past decade that the inter-linking nature of global issues such as development, environment, population, conflict and gender quality had been recognized. It was only then too that emphasis was placed on the partnership between governments and NGOs. The accumulation of efforts made in the advancement of women proved to be a good example of attempts to construct a world in which freedom and human dignity could be enjoyed.

She said relevant activities for advancing the status of women in the past 55 years could be characterized in four stages. During the first, the years before 1975, focus was placed on securing the legal rights of women and on women’s roles in economic development. At that time, the alleviation of poverty was the priority issue for nation building and for women living in developing countries. The second stage emphasized the integration of women in development, in areas that included employment, health and education. The third stage, beginning in 1985, marked a turning point in the history of United Nations activities for women’s advancement, as the concepts of gender and empowerment became accepted as strategies for achieving equality, development and peace.

The fourth stage might be characterized by the changing international environment, she continued, and the new strategies were congruent with the post- cold war era. A series of United Nations world conferences were designed to discuss development issues with greater participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Outstanding among those was the Fourth World Conference of Women held in Beijing (1995) and its resulting Platform for Action, which identified twelve areas that needed to be approached from a gender perspective. However, while it had been recognized that gender issues were relevant to human development, progress in gender equality tended to be more nominal than substantive, and in many countries the domestic political agenda was gender- insensitive.

ARNOLD HIATT, Chairman, Business for Social Responsibility, said the behaviour of business had often been associated with the exploitation of people, of natural resources and of indigenous cultures and values. It was therefore not hard to understand why so many thought of the private sector as an adversary and not as an ally. The world, however, was changing in rather dramatic and desirable ways, as was the private sector. Today’s business leaders were much less inclined to insulate themselves and their thinking from the problems of the world in which they lived. Some were beginning to understand that if today’s young children were to succeed later as a productive work force and provide leadership, they needed help now.

Clearly, business was the most powerful force in society, especially if it was willing to accept some moral and civic as well as financial leadership. It was difficult to imagine moving towards a juster society and a more sustainable economy without engaging the private sector and transforming its behaviour. One of the most promising developments of the times was the new cross-sector collaboration that was bringing the private and voluntary sectors together to promote the public interest.

He said that in Bangladesh, for example, a major effort to end industrial child labour involved a collaboration of local companies, their North American customers, the Government, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Those efforts were being enhanced by a cluster of intermediaries which were part of the business community, but had been formed to promote business practices that honoured ethical values and demonstrated respect for people, communities and the natural environment.

The mission of Business for Social Responsibility, he said, was to help companies define and meet standards of corporate citizenship. For example, it had helped companies like Nike to develop an international code of conduct based on respect for human rights issues in developing countries. It also conducted many workshops throughout the United States to advise companies on how to implement more environmentally responsible policies. There was no doubt that the rising levels of corporate responsibility would be greatly enhanced if pressure was brought to bear by civil society. The NGOs were in a particularly strong position to advocate for the new focus on human values, as a guiding principle behind dynamic economies and healthy communities.

MATS KARLSSON, Vice-President for External Affairs and United Nations Affairs, World Bank, said poverty reduction was a multidimensional process and the Bank alone was unable to develop a poverty reduction agenda. It needed to join multiple development actors, and civil society was therefore an ideal partner. Civil society involvement in Bank-supported operations began about 20 years ago and, at that time, the establishment of a formal, global mechanism for policy dialogue with NGOs had no precedent. Since then, that relationship had expanded, and emerging issues of concern had prompted the creation of ad hoc mechanisms for dialogue based on relevant issues, such as the development of a Bank Forestry Strategy. About one half of the Bank’s loans currently went to NGOs.

He said that poverty was beginning to be understood as being influenced by factors of income deprivation, voicelessness, powerlessness and the loss of dignity. That understanding had inspired the conclusions of the Bank’s forthcoming world development report. People should be viewed as assets, and their capacities for knowledge and their ability to earn more income enhanced. Therefore, they must be taught to demand their rights. That empowerment could then be translated into securing communities from crises. Those lessons had been learnt through engagement with civil society, and the Bank had committed to developing future programmes and projects in an environment of openness, as a sustainable way of doing business, by dealing with governments and the entire society, including NGOs.

That holistic method had been defined as a comprehensive development framework, he continued, and had been influencing the way business was being conducted at the country level. Consultations with civil society on country assistance strategies had escalated from 20 per cent some 10 years ago to 100 per cent currently, in projects undertaken in places such as Honduras, Ghana, Argentina and East Timor. However, results in all fields would remain unrealized unless they were underpinned by global cooperation to guard against market economic failures, the Bank was hoping to establish agreements with 20 countries on tangible debt relief initiatives shortly. Other areas for development included the environment, health, the digital divide and social capital.

MOTARILAVOA HILDA LINI, Director, Pacific Concerns Resource Centre, said the first question to be asked was “when will we discuss how governments and the United Nations will work with civil society and NGOs, rather than when will NGOs and civil society work with governments and the Organization”? Those two entities had built a lot of fences around themselves. Yet civil society had been prepared to work with them from day one.

She said she grew up in an indigenous society where peace and human security were the paramount principles. Belonging to a tribe, family and clan provided social security. The right to land and control of it provided economic sustainability. Control of lives ensured peace and sustainable development at all times. Within an indigenous society, education was for everyone to grow up and be independent, self-reliant and to become leaders and holistic persons. That was the indigenous way.

Yet so many nations had been colonized, westernized and globalized, she said, that they now lived with systems that did not fit in with traditional lifestyles. Today the world was living with a governing system that was out of date and did not respond to the people any more. Community government had to replace political parties. The present system was corrupt and was killing children and future generations, yet it was upheld. “Why are we not taking control of our lives?” she asked.

Civil society put governments in power -– the same governments that sent representatives to the United Nations, she said. Why then did governments and the United Nations continue to divide people? Without people there was no Organization. It was up to governments and the United Nations to change mentalities, policies and visions, or the world would perish. History showed that revolutions were fought and won by civil society in rebellion against corrupt systems. That would happen again if things did not change. Today the world was characterized by lies. Governments and the United Nations were guilty of false promises. More than ever, truth and justice were crucial.

KUMI NAIDOO, Secretary-General, CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation, said civil society currently faced a number of challenges including that of accountability -– increasing influence gave rise to increasing responsibility. The second challenge was to recognize the values and expectations of their constituencies. A question that the NGO community needed to ask itself was how NGOs represented their constituencies in their work. Too many organizations saw citizens as beneficiaries and framed the poor as spectators. The third challenge was social inclusion. One of the most important socially excluded groups was young people. They occupied the majority of the global population, and the NGO community itself needed to decide on how it was preparing a new cadre of leadership for civil society work.

It was scandalous, he said, at the beginning of the new millennium fewer than 10 per cent of women occupied leadership positions in government. Therefore, civil society also needed to do more work aimed at achieving true gender equality. The next challenge was ensuring that the contradictions in global society networks were recognized. The reality was that there was an unequal power structure. Globalization -- one of today’s greatest contradictions -- referred to the free flow of capital. However, that reference apparently did not include the free flow of human capital. For example, many participants at today’s Conference from countries in the South had a difficult time obtaining visas to attend the event.

Did civil society have a value base? he asked, stressing that that was another challenge the community faced. Also, was the business community a part of civil society? Another challenge was for the NGO community to develop visionary paradigms for social progress. The world that was emerging was not prepared to accept that it was the best humanity could offer. Furthermore, while the global community was advancing an agenda for the marginalized, the structure of the world must be considered. Inequality was growing, and the global governance institutions appeared to be unable to deal with the challenges emerging from globalization.

Questions and Answers

What is the current vision of the debt crisis?

MR. KARLSSON said the debt crisis was foreseen in the mid-1980s, yet it was only last year that the World Bank agreed on the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative. Where would that lead? That question would be examined at the Bank’s annual meeting in Prague, in the Czech Republic. It was hoped, nevertheless, that by the end of the year, 20 countries would reduce their debt burdens to what was called sustainability levels. It was also hoped that eventually, country after country would be able to step out of the depths of the debt crisis. Moreover, access to capital markets was not that easy. Countries that wanted money to invest needed access to capital. If one was too careless in restructuring debt, it could create problems in accessing capital markets.

What about sweatshops? Did Business for Social Responsibility monitor those?

Mr. HIATT said his organization was not in the business of proselytizing, but worked with partners such as the press and NGOs, particularly when dealing with the issue of sweatshops. When the press exposed a certain brand, the owner of the company decided to remove its operations from the countries involved. The organization had been asked to set standards for those shops, and the Fair Labour Commission was subsequently established, but consumers and the press must always be

the ones to draw any malpractice to the attention of the Business for Social Responsibility.

Could the ideal Vanuatu society be restored in today’s highly populated world?

Ms. LINI said each country had to review the weaknesses in its society and decide on the way forward. Moreover, traditions that were appropriate in Vanuatu might not be relevant in other places.

Were the leaders and traditional chiefs in Vanuatu corrupt? What about the tribal chiefs who were encouraging conflict in African countries?

Ms. LINI responded that many of those countries had been colonized and had subsequently been forced to accept Western values. Traditional chiefs and leaders, also affected by colonization, were subject to manipulation and bribery.

Could the panel give suggestions for the non-marginalization of young people in developing countries?

Mr. NAIDOO said that society should revert to traditional forms of culture and recreation. Moreover, there must be investment for access by young people in developing countries to a large gamut of resources.

Would democratizing the United Nations mean that civil society would be able to participate in the General Assembly?

Mr. NAIDOO said emphasis should not be placed on formal and institutional forms of democracy.

How should the problem of violence against women and children be tackled?

Mr. Naidoo replied that one of the problems faced by victims was the feeling that such issues should be handled mainly by women’s and children’s NGOs. However, it was not primarily an issue for women: men were mainly involved. Consequently, only the symptoms of the problem were being dealt with.

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