PRESS CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ROUND TABLES

 

Achieving the core goals identified during the 1995 World Summit for Social Development –- namely, poverty eradication, full employment, and social integration –- remained a communal responsibility, reiterated the government ministers who chaired three round-table discussions organized this morning in conjunction with the Commission on Social Development’s 10-year review of the conference.

Presenting results of the morning’s discussions at a Headquarters press conference, were:  Ana Maria Romero Lozada, Minister of Women and Social Development of Peru; Samiollah Lauthan, Minister for Social Security, National Solidarity, Senior Citizen’s Welfare and Reform Institution of Mauritius; and Aart-Jan de Geus, Minister for Social Affairs and Employment of the Netherlands.

Summing up the round table on poverty eradication, Ms. Romero Lozada said there had been general recognition that the poor lived without the fundamental freedoms of action and choice taken for granted by those better off.  They faced special vulnerabilities to ill-health, economic dislocation and natural disaster, were sometimes mistreated by their governments, and remained powerless to affect the decisions which shaped their lives.

As it had also been recognized that there was no single recipe for poverty eradication, nor any single actor responsible to find an appropriate solution, the discussion reaffirmed that the whole of society must share the responsibility to eradicate poverty, she continued.  Indeed, if the problem was not addressed -- and addressed immediately -- Member States would find themselves facing identical issues at the next 10-year review.  For that reason, it had been encouraging to hear delegates agreeing on the importance of best practices.

Mr. Lauthan, who chaired the discussion on social integration, said one of the major themes addressed in his session had been education, as one could not speak of social integration without education for all.  Although the discrepancy between rates of education for boys and girls continued in many parts of the world, girls continued to perform better and better, in some cases outperforming their male counterparts.  Moreover, educating girls led to better educated families, and well-educated families were better able to cope with social problems.

Other points discussed, he added, concerned the need to develop solid networks for social integration, as well as the importance of giving special attention to the integration of particularly vulnerable groups into society.  Much had been said about the fact that governments alone could not affect community integration, nor could non-governmental organizations be successful in such efforts without governmental support.  The role to be played by the private sector in integration efforts had also been addressed, and many participants had emphasized the need to recognize the work done by non-governmental organizations at the grass-roots level, as well as the need for governments to empower them to achieve even better results.

Having chaired the third round table, Mr. de Geus had five points to communicate on the issue of promoting full employment.  First, the best way to get people out of poverty remained giving them decent jobs.  Second, there must be international cooperation to achieve full employment, although there was no “one size fits all” solution.  National action plans should be developed, and special emphasis should be given to vulnerable groups.

The third point, he continued, reflected the lack of a Millennium Development Goal related to full employment.  That omission should be taken into account during the forthcoming five-year review.  Fourth, there was a need to reform institutions and to encourage cooperation and policy coherence in the international field.  For instance, the promotion of full employment could serve as a bridge between the Copenhagen outcomes, the International Labour Organization, the World Bank, and the Millennium Development Goals.  Fifth, the Secretary-General’s Youth Employment Network, established in collaboration with the World Bank and International Labour Organization, should be supported.

Asked how the present session of the Commission on Social Development could encourage progress in implementation of the Copenhagen goals, Ms. Romero Lozada stressed that all delegations were working together to face the same problems, only from different vantage points.  Yet, all had same basic problem.  Worldwide, the poorest among the poor were women and those facing discrimination due to ethnicity, age, or disability.  The root of the problem had been identified, and each country had and would continue to develop solutions at various intensities.

For his part, Mr. Lauthan affirmed that his round table had focused on turning words into actions.  He had personally appealed to delegates to exchange their contact information in order to continue to exchange experiences and ideas.

Stressing that achieving results on identified goals was more difficult than identifying them, Mr. de Geus, nevertheless, noted that his discussion group had revealed that countries truly wanted to begin the review of the Millennium Goals, and to discuss strengthening the framework of the Organization, as well as cooperation between institutions on the basis of the report of the World Commission on the social dimension of globalization.

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