Commission for Social Development

Forty-fifth Session

10^th & 11^th Meetings (AM & PM)

GOVERNMENTS URGED TO TAP POTENTIAL OF OVERLOOKED SOCIAL GROUPS IN DRIVE

 

TO CREATE EQUITABLE SOCIETIES WITH RIGHTS, OPPORTUNITIES FOR ALL

Mixed Results Cited in Decade of Efforts for ‘People-Centred’ Development

Citing a decade of unfulfilled commitments from United Nations-backed summits and action plans languishing at the country level, participants in the forty-fifth session of the Commission for Social Development called on Governments to draw on the untapped potential of overlooked social groups as a way to help close the gap between intentions and actions and to move towards equitable societies with equal rights and equal opportunities for all.

Youth delegates joined advocates for the elderly, disabled persons and others often excluded from the public arena, in stressing that the international community’s efforts to achieve the overarching goal of the 1995 World Summit on Social Development -- a sustainable “people-centred”, enabling environment for social development -- had been mixed, with policymakers tending to focus more on economics than on human beings and their needs.

“Today, we are at a crossroads of social development,” said one young speaker among several youth delegates and civil society actors who highlighted national achievements but urged Governments to further boost the capacity of youth, persons with disabilities, rural families and ex-prisoners, among others, to influence policy and programme decisions towards creating decent work for all; a solid system of basic social services; and sound principles for social policies, with particular attention to the role of women in social policy.

Other speakers said that, if development implied a qualitative change in the way societies carried out their activities, nations must develop targeted social assistance to care for unprotected and marginalized groups.  To that end, several speakers emphasized the impact of socio-economic changes on the family and called for the development of integration policies and programmes that recognized the social problems of marginalized families, especially single-parent households and rural homes, among others.

At the centre of many Government statements -— as well as those by non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies -— was the need to link the vision for comprehensive development envisaged at the 1995 World Social Summit at Copenhagen, the World Programme of Action for Youth and the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, to the wider effort to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.  Those important conference outcomes shared key targets in such areas as poverty eradication and access to health, and coordinating global actions to attain them was critical for regions like sub-Saharan Africa, which faced persistent poverty, rapid population growth and the erosion of traditional family support structures.

The Commission held today what several speakers called a “timely” debate on an emerging issue, “Youth employment:  impact, challenges and opportunities for social development”.  A youth delegate from the Netherlands, drawing from her own experience to paint a dire picture of the daunting challenges young people faced, described meeting a 15-year-old girl who had worked in a cotton field for more than 10 years.

She said that, while a total of 89 million young people were unemployed worldwide, some 218 million children under the age of 14 were working every day, often in appalling conditions.  They actually should be in school rather having to work.  Moreover, their lack of education limited their chances to find suitable employment later in life.  They were caught in the cycle of poverty, which often extended to future generations.  Education for all was the most powerful weapon to change lives and the most valuable gift a person could receive.

At the opening of the afternoon session, Sheikha Hessa Al-Thani, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Disability, presented her fourth annual report, describing the General Assembly’s recent adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities a “historic achievement”.  The new instrument laid the ground work for a shared international vision, based on the principles of right, justice and equality.

She said that, for the first time, the Special Rapporteur on Disability was monitoring the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities in the presence of a related Convention.  The Convention’s 50 articles presented the legal framework for a universal response to the issues of disability, while the Standard Rules provided a detailed checklist and guidelines for effecting a cultural, environmental and legislative transformation that would ensure the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities.

The Commission also heard an address by the Minster for Social Affairs of Cameroon.

Also speaking today were representatives of Haiti, Monaco, Cuba, Bangladesh, Brazil, Libya, Qatar, Argentina, Paraguay, Zambia, Germany (on behalf of the European Union), Indonesia, Senegal and United Kingdom.

Representatives of the International Labour Organization (ILO), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), as well as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) also spoke.

Others addressing the Commission included civil society representatives speaking on behalf of HelpAge (Africa), Pax Romana and the European Youth Forum, American Association of Retired People (AARP) and Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE).

Youth delegates from the United Kingdom and Spain also addressed the Commission.

The Commission on Social Development will reconvene at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Wednesday, 14 February, to take up programme considerations and other matters.  It is also expected to consider the nomination of members of the Board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development.

Background

The Commission for Social Development was expected to continue its review of United Nations plans and programmes of action pertaining to the situation of social groups this morning, to be followed by a presentation on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and a discussion on the youth employment situation this afternoon.

Statements

MARIE-LAURENCE PÉAN MEVS ( Haiti) said almost half the world population was under the age of 25 years and most of them were faced with grim prospects.  The introduction of new technologies particularly affected under-skilled jobs and Haiti’s strategy to rapidly open up the economy had caused serious damage.  Incapable of providing for sustainable growth, the economy was causing a deterioration of the employment situation and a shift of jobs to the informal sector.  Young people were the first victims of exclusion, and the Government gave priority to professional and vocational training for them.  The authorities considered the 2 million young Haitians as valuable human capital.

Although the country was going through a period of turmoil, the Government was introducing policies to create wealth and address the needs of the vulnerable sectors of societies, including young people, she said.  Among other things, it had introduced programmes in the capital’s Cité Soleil area, which was affected by violence and gang activity.  Other efforts were under way to stabilize communities and rebuild the country’s social structure.  Microfinancing initiatives were being implemented with assistance from international partners.  Cyber-cafés and Internet centres helped young people to learn about opportunities.  The Government also sought to improve the situation of women.

Describing income-generating activities aimed at stopping the exodus from the rural areas, she said migration was one of the factors that impacted development, by leading, in some cases, to brain-drain.  At the same time, however, migration offered many economic and social opportunities to improve the situation of the population, including through remittances.  Haiti was advocating increased participation by young people in the community and in public life.

DJANKOU NDJONKOU, International Labour Organization (ILO), said the realities of today’s labour market continued to pose challenges for everyone seeking jobs, but they were particularly profound for vulnerable social groups.  Maximizing decent work and work opportunities for young people, the elderly and the disabled would help reduce poverty, increase economic and personal security, increase efficiency, improve equity and strengthen social integration within families and societies.  ILO was committed to redressing inequities among social groups in the labour market and to providing policy solutions to help achieve decent work.

On ageing, he said the relevant reports before the Commission highlighted major global trends and challenges.  While it was indeed, a positive achievement that people were living longer, the international community must ensure the promotion and protection of the rights of older persons so that they could continue to live in dignity and personal security.  Since the Second World Assembly on Ageing in 2002, ILO had actively pursued the goal of “Society for all ages”, focusing on, among other things, elaborating global labour standards for older workers in employment, invalidity, old-age and survivor’s benefits, standards and guidance on retirement policies and pension entitlement levels.

Regarding youth, he said ILO was focused on employment, with a particular emphasis on youth training and employment promotion strategies to support the integration of young people into the labour market.  In 2005, the ninety-third session of the International Labour Conference had adopted a resolution on youth employment, which called on ILO to intensify the provision of guidance and policy advice to promote decent work for youth, and to enhance the capacity of employers’ and workers’ organizations to participate effectively in setting policies and programmes in favour of youth employment.

Turning to disabilities, he said one of the most pressing topics affecting disabled persons was their inability to secure decent work, which subsequently created a vicious cycle of marginalization, poverty and social exclusion.  The barriers that persons with disabilities faced in getting jobs and taking their places in society could and should be overcome through a variety of policy measures, regulations, programmes and services.  ILO efforts to that end had concentrated on vocational rehabilitation, training and employment as reflected in ILO Convention 159.

TAVENGWA NHONGO, HelpAge International, Africa Region, said this year marked the halfway point to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the fifth anniversary of the Madrid International Plan of Action, which had set an important target of halving old-age poverty by 2015, in line with the first Millennium Goal.  It had also set targets regarding access to health, participation, hearing older persons’ voices and their right to development.  Therefore, it was no wonder that, at the outset of 2007, when the review cycle of the Madrid Plan started in earnest, the eyes of older people around the world would be on their Governments, the United Nations system and other international bodies, asking about the progress.

He said the HelpAge International network was committed to support implementation of the Madrid Plan from the grass roots, noting that the preliminary results were remarkably consistent.  Older women and men were asking for action, but they were still experiencing increasing poverty and discrimination.  Older people disproportionately experienced chronic poverty and malnutrition and some 9 per cent of people over 50 in Africa were blind.  Why were resources for older people still scarce, even within the United Nations system?  Why was there still so little disaggregation of age data?

By 2050, there would be 1,986 million people over 60 years old, 80 per cent of them in the developing world, he said.  The world was seeing a growing mobilization of older people, whose support networks supported vulnerable people in the community, including children.  In Africa, as elsewhere, migration, chronic poverty across generations, HIV/AIDS and conflict meant older people could no longer rely on their families.  As the Commission debated the importance of policy reform to achieve the goals of decent work for all, millions of older men and women were working in the informal sector and the reforms must support them, too.

He said a clear way forward was to resource and implement social protection, noting that social security, particularly the social pension, was a cost-effective instrument to support recipients and their dependents by improving access to health and other services, provide funds for credit and small business and allow people their dignity and independence.  This year could be a turning point for Governments to back older people’s call for action.  By introducing a package of pensions, free health care and anti-discriminatory legislation and practice, old-age poverty could be cut in half by 2015.

BETTINA SCHWARZMAYR, PAX ROMANA and the European Youth Forum described the slow and delayed progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals as a tragic failure for all, but particularly for the world’s youth.  Nevertheless, young people would remain committed to achieving sustainable development for all.  At the same time, the wider international and diplomatic community must be committed to enhancing the development of the world’s youth, chiefly by linking the goals and target of the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Millennium Goals.

She went on to say that United Nations agencies and programmes had already acknowledged that youth development was essential to overall sustainable development.  With that in mind, it was necessary for Governments to promote young people’s participation in political decision-making forums, going beyond trotting out youth representatives during the General Assembly or putting them in front of television cameras for sound bites.

Indeed, it was necessary to promote real youth participation at all levels, she said, stressing that such participation should be geographically diverse and fully representative of the world’s entire youth population.  Civil society would also be crucial in ensuring that Governments stood by their commitments on youth development and on bringing young people into the major international decision-making forums so that their voices and opinions could be heard.

HELEN HAMLIN, International Federation on Ageing, said that organization had worked tirelessly on behalf of older persons since its founding some 30 years ago.  It recognized that the Madrid Plan of Action called for commitments not only from world Governments but from all stakeholders to put in place effective policies and implementation strategies on behalf of older persons.  It was especially at the local level that such plans and policies, if translated into concrete action, could truly improve the lives of older people and promote the globally-agreed goal to create a “Society for all ages”.

Moreover, stakeholders must recognize that, all too often, older persons were seen, stereotypically, as dependents in need of services.  In reality, however, the growing numbers of older persons worldwide offered an untapped and under-utilized resource.  Therefore, older persons must be able to participate significantly in the implementation of policies affecting them, in keeping with the “bottom up” approach backed by the Commission.

VALERIE BRUELL-MELCHIOR ( Monaco) said promoting and protecting human rights and basic freedoms was important for all ages, and Governments must guarantee the dignity and well-being of older persons.  The Government of Monaco was providing financial, health and other services to older persons, in conformity with the Madrid Plan of Action.

She said one of the Government’s major achievements had been the opening of a gerontological coordination centre, which, according to estimates, would have provided services to some 500 persons at a cost of 1.5 million euro by the end of the year.  The centre’s mission was primarily to provide care and outreach activities for older people.

The Government of Monaco supported the recommendations contained in the Secretary-General’s report, especially with regard to the mainstreaming of the needs of older persons into development policies, she said.  The Government also paid attention to the feminization of poverty, with a view to providing opportunities for women through microfinance activities.

OTTO VAILLANT FRIAS ( Cuba) noted that a large number of persons with disabilities lived in underdeveloped countries and called upon the United Nations to play a key role in achieving the quality of life that senior citizens deserved.  However, the main concern of underdeveloped countries was to guarantee that at least part of the population could reach that stage of life.  Maybe the most telling was that of Africa, where life expectancy for men was 20 years less than it was in Europe, and 25 years less for women.

Such problems could only be solved through international cooperation, he said, adding that international aid resources, besides being insufficient and reduced in actual terms, underwent discriminatory and offensive conditioning.  In 2005, the countries of the north had devoted only 0.25 per cent of their gross domestic product to official development assistance.  However, increased official development assistance alone would not suffice, while subsidies to farmers in industrialized countries existed.

Turning to his national experience, he said Cuba had created a Centre for Medical Genetics, established new rehabilitation wards in policlinics and hospitals, and set up the National Centre of Technical Orthopaedics, among the achievements.  An experimental university degree for interpreters of sign language had been introduced, there were special social programmes targeting youth and a comprehensive programme for the elderly was being implemented.  A specialty of gerontology and geriatrics was being promoted and some 432 multidisciplinary gerontology teams were functioning in the country.  Despite the “absurd measures” of the blockade against Cuba, the Government continued to raise the people’s quality of life.

ISHRAT JAHAN AHMED ( Bangladesh) said that in her country the family was considered the most essential and fundamental group in society and the Government, as well as civil society, recognized its central role in development.  The country’s home-grown initiatives in microcredit and non-formal education, targeting mostly women and rural families, had enjoyed worldwide acclaim.  The primary aim of those programmes was to ensure family welfare through small loans and to support the gradual progress of those families towards self-reliance through entrepreneurship.  Bangladesh’s microcredit programmes had reached more than 12 million women, who were, in most cases, the only breadwinners within the targeted families.

Turning to other social groups, she welcomed the adoption of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and stressed that the international community must now recognize that developing countries would need urgent technical and financial support as they prepared to join the Convention and implement its objectives.  Broad-based international cooperation was absolutely necessary in that regard.  Some 10 years ago, Bangladesh had approved a national policy on persons with disabilities and awareness programmes to remove the stigma surrounding some disabilities were also under way.

Bangladesh had a youth population of some 45 million and the Government had adopted a National Youth Policy, in line with its commitment to the World Programme of Action for Youth, she said.  The country had undertaken programmes such as skills development training, self-employment, microfinancing and youth health care in addition to initiatives aimed at promoting young people’s involvement in community development.

LUCIA MARIA MAIERÁ ( Brazil) said her country considered it very important to embrace international cooperation to help its ageing population.  In 2003, legislation had been adopted to regulate the rights of people over 60 years of age and a national council of older people had recently been established.  Furthermore, legislation had been adopted regarding general rules and criteria on disabilities among older people.

She said measures were being taken to prevent abuse of older people and to fight social exclusion.  Special legal agencies for helping older people had been established in several Brazilian states and a telephone service had been set up to receive complaints from the elderly and to orient them regarding their rights.  A national campaign to increase awareness of the rights of older people had been launched.  More than 1.2 million Brazilians over 65 years of age received allowances to complement their family income and the Government was committed to increase domestic and international efforts in that area.

Next November, she said Brazil would host, in cooperation with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the second regional intergovernmental conference on ageing, which was expected to present the concept of a “Protection of Older People Network”.  At the national level, such networks had been the subject of the first conference on the rights of older people.  In strong partnership with civil society, the Brazilian Government had been successfully implementing a network for the protection of older people.  The country would also host a non-governmental organization regional forum at the end of November.

MOHAMED REDA DUKALI ( Libya), describing young people as the very essence of development, said his country had set aside funds to support youth entrepreneurship, education, training and rehabilitation.  Overall, Libya aimed to support young people as they entered the job market and to sustain that support in order to ensure they were able to participate actively in the country’s overall development.  As for the wider developing world, and Africa in particular, Libya was very concerned by the troubling youth employment figures in the reports before the Commission.

With that in mind, the Libyan Government had launched a number of youth education and training programmes throughout Africa, as part of the country’s overall efforts to help eradicate poverty on the continent.  Regarding other vulnerable social groups, Libya continued to support and promote the rights of older persons and applauded the Assembly’s recent adoption of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  Hopefully, that important instrument would help ensure that persons with disabilities were integrated into all levels of society, particularly in decision-making fields.

NASSIR ABDULAZIZ AL-NASSER ( Qatar) said his country had been expanding its social services system and accelerating international cooperation in numerous areas of social policy and development.  The country’s social development agenda, directed at uplifting the living standards of all Qatari citizens, was based on a people-centred and human rights approach.  Government policies, programmes and strategies were directed at population groups, health improvement, education and welfare services, and responding to the needs of young people, the elderly, disabled persons, women and the family, by ensuring an enabling environment, providing universal elementary and secondary education, as well as primary health care for all citizens.

Turning to the Secretary-General’s report, he stressed the importance of enhancing capacity-building, and of comprehensively reviewing and assessing achievements and obstacles encountered in the effective implementation of the World Programme of Action for Youth.  On the Madrid Plan of Action, Qatar was satisfied with the progress achieved so far and supported the bottom-up approach.  It required ongoing support from Member States, and it was imperative that the Department of Economic and Social Affairs use the Development Account to increase its technical cooperation activities in the area of ageing.  With respect to the Programme on the Family, the existing political divide and seemingly irreconcilable differences among Member States should not preclude the search for common ground.

NATALIE WEASE, youth delegate from the United Kingdom, said the reports before the Commission highlighted the importance of youth participation in international decision-making forums such as the Economic and Social Council and in that organ’s functional commissions.  To that end, the Commission for Social Development was an excellent forum for young people to constructively express their views on development and for Governments and non-governmental organizations youth representatives to share their experiences.  With international organizations actively seeking out the voices of the world’s youth, it was now time to explore ways to boost young people’s participation at the local and national levels.

Recalling her own experience, she said that, before coming to New York, she had carried out her own informal consultations with young colleagues in the United Kingdom and discovered that many young Britons, particularly those working or volunteering for grass-roots organizations, were doing tremendous work in the social fields.  But while many such groups were working in the United Kingdom, there was very little coordination among them.

She said she had also discovered that young people needed to know more about their rights and about how to pursue appropriate avenues to promote them.  To that end, the creation of youth councils should be encouraged and youth activities should be developed to inform and encourage them.  Given the right opportunities, young people could play an active role as citizens.

MARIA LUZ MELON (Argentina), noting that more than 200 million young people lived in poverty, including 88 million who were unemployed, said facing that challenge would require a commitment to the development of youth on the part of the entire international community.  For Argentina, the situation of young people was both a priority and a challenge.  More than 10 years after the adoption of the World Programme of Action for Youth, all the questions contained in it remained relevant, as were the newly identified priority areas, which included globalization, access to new technologies, HIV/AIDS, armed conflicts and the intergenerational gap.  It was indispensable to create education and prevention programmes that would allow for the comprehensive development of young persons and foster their capacities to make a positive contribution to society.

Argentina had placed employment at the core of its social and poverty-reduction policies, and recognized the particular needs of youth, she continued.  To that end, the country had adopted specific policies to engage young persons in education, sports and productive employment.  It was necessary to maintain young people within the education system, while also creating jobs suited to their knowledge.  The Human Development Report, 2006, placed Argentina thirty-sixth in the Human Development Index, with a combined primary, secondary and tertiary gross enrolment ratio of 89.3 and an adult literacy rate of 97.2 per cent.  The country was also working towards achieving gender equality in access to education and employment.

Argentina was concerned by the incidence of HIV/AIDS among the young population, she said.  A human rights perspective was a fundamental element in the fight against that disease, particularly in facing the stigma and discrimination experienced by the young infected persons and their families.  HIV/AIDS eroded the possibilities for human, social and economic development that were at the root of most current conflicts.  That was why, besides the General Assembly and the functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council, other organs, including the Security Council, had considered that issue on different occasions.  Argentina had a steady commitment to that mission, as seen in the active and highly visible participation of all social actors, especially representatives of vulnerable populations and facilitator programmes, which particularly included young persons and women.

ELADIO LOIZAGA ( Paraguay) said his country was committed to the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals and had placed special emphasis on the socio-economic elements of that internationally agreed framework.  Paraguay’s national poverty reduction strategy proposed comprehensive social initiatives, such as family protection policies, monetary transfers and social programmes aimed at ensuring basic services for destitute families.  At the regional level, Paraguay had created a social institute backed by the wider Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and aimed at boosting the social dimensions of regional integration efforts.

He went on to say that his country was continuing to move ahead with its national social inclusion programmes, many of which targeted such areas as employment, wages and education.  Paraguay also worked to insure social protection for elderly and disabled persons.  Indeed, social equality was a key concern because the landlocked country had such a large rural population.  Paraguay therefore had unique needs, particularly in the areas of technology transfer, transportation and access to markets.

TENS C. KAPOMA (Zambia) said that persons with disabilities faced particular challenges, including exclusion on the basis of prejudice, discrimination and fear, which resulted from a lack of understanding and legal protection.  Awareness-raising was needed to change attitudes and modify behaviours in that regard.  Zambia had made strides in implementing the standard rule on the equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities.  It was to be hoped that, with the adoption of the Convention on Disabilities, the rights of the disabled would be enhanced.

Zambia had introduced disability legislation which provided for the establishment of a national agency for persons with disabilities, he said.  Meanwhile, the national policy and implementation plan on disability were being worked on and the Government had appointed a Deputy Minister to deal specifically with disability programmes.  Efforts were also being made to sensitize the nation on issues of disability.  The International Day for the Disabled was commemorated annually and the Government considered those with disabilities as partners in development.

He said the country’s youth population accounted for 68 per cent of its 11 million people.  Many skilled young people remained unemployed, leading them into delinquency.  The main problems included poor information flow, lack of protection, limited participation in national development and decision-making and limited youth rights.  National child and youth policies had been revised specifically to address the problems of young people and help them maximize their potential.  A child policy was being drafted to provide increased protection from abuse in the labour market.

The country was also formulating a national policy on ageing, he said, adding that, as much as Zambia faced serious challenges in implementing the Madrid Plan of Action, it had made determined efforts to address the many issues affecting older persons, enhance inclusion, empower older people and provide for their full participation in the life of society.  The Government continued to strengthen its social protection programmes, such as improved administration in the provision of farming inputs to vulnerable groups, including the aged.  The national public assistance scheme had reached out to more than 116,000 older people in 2004 and 115,000 in 2005.

On family issues, he said more women were landing jobs traditionally reserved for men.  However, stereotypical domestic roles prevented women from working outside their homes.  High levels of poverty, coupled with HIV/AIDS, had lately threatened the continued existence of the extended family, thus reducing the capacity of families to care for their members.  The Government had put a national social welfare policy in place to provide for the protection and support of the family.

CATHERINE BAKANG MBOCK, Minister for Social Affairs of Cameroon, said that, in traditional African societies, older persons were the guardians of wisdom and played a central role in family life and society.  At the same time, medical advances had increased natural life spans to such a degree that many countries, including Cameroon, had urgently integrated plans and policies to support older persons into their social development strategies.  Cameroon had implemented a national five-year strategy to provide elder care and treatment, raised community-level awareness of the unique problems faced by older persons, and increased educational and medical training in the care of older persons.

She said her country sought to make it easier for older persons to participate in their families and communities throughout their old age.  At the same time, certain political and social conditions led some families to abandon their elder members.  With that sad reality in mind, Cameroon was set to craft a comprehensive package of social protection initiatives for its elderly population.

Highlighting some of the elements of that initiative, she said Cameroon intended, among other things, to establish a registry of older-person skills, set up a vocational re-training programme, provide space for inter-generational dialogue, promote inter-generational entrepreneurial dialogue, and prepare both young and older people for retirement.  All that meant mobilizing adequate resources.  Cameroon called for more international solidarity on behalf of older persons and for the establishment of a world fund to finance programmes on ageing.

CECILIE GOLDEN, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), said the agency, with its ethical and intellectual mandate, was concerned about the lack of attention to the needs of certain social groups, as well as their insufficient social inclusion.  UNESCO implemented interdisciplinary, integrated activities for social development through its programmes in education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture and communication.  In particular, UNESCO had strategies on human rights and poverty eradication.

Better synergy between research and policy action was the focus of UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformations Programme, which fostered and promoted social science research, she said.  The programme was promoting a culture of evidence-based policymaking at the national, regional and international levels.  For Europe and Northern America, the programme focused on the regional priority theme of ageing.  The first review and appraisal cycle of the Madrid Programme offered an opportunity for policymakers and researchers to explore the means to achieve better coordination in the area of ageing.

In November 2006, UNESCO, in cooperation with several partners, had organized a conference on the cultural dimension of age policies, she said, adding that a forthcoming issue of the agency’s International Social Science Journal would be devoted to the issue of ageing in Western Europe.  On youth, the agency had a role in producing indicators in the area of education, which would allow Governments and interested partners to monitor the progress made by young people in education and compare their performance against benchmarks.

UNESCO was also engaged in inter-agency cooperation on poverty reduction, having launched 13 pilot projects targeting youth, she said.  A toolkit was under preparation for young people on peer-group monitoring and evaluation.  The agency was also providing substantial input to the United Nations inter-agency Working Group on Youth, related inter-agency initiatives and international expert meetings.  Through its programme on inclusive education, UNESCO had worked on the right to education for persons with disabilities.  Numerous awareness-raising and capacity-building activities had been undertaken for stakeholders on education.

JOSE MIGUEL GUZMAN, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC), briefed the Commission on upcoming events in the area of ageing.  All the regional commissions were preparing to hold conferences during the coming year on the implementation of the 2002 Madrid Programme of Action on Ageing.  For ECLAC, Brazil had offered to hold the review conference next November and, prior to that, a conference would be convened in Santiago, Chile, on productive employment.  Featuring broad participation by civil society, all the meetings would examine ways to boost social protections for older people in each region.  As for Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC would continue to raise awareness about the unique situation of older persons in the run-up to the review conference.

FRANCOIS FARAH, Chief, Social Development Division, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), said that Division’s overall purpose had been redefined recently with the aim of helping countries in the region to institutionalize, implement and sustain an integrated and viable social policy understanding.  The Division sought to achieve a more balanced, equitable and sustained human development and eventually a sustained social peace in the region.  Its main programmatic thrusts related to social policy formulation and instrumentation; social policy and participatory development; promoting social policy concerns across demographic, social and economic dimensions; and promoting social policy concerns in the city through the strengthening of policy analysis of inequity and vulnerability.

Among the Commission’s activities, he listed recent conferences in Bahrain and Egypt that had sought to strengthen national dialogue and encourage participation in the design, implementation and monitoring of social policies.  The Division had prepared several papers and publications on social policy and community development and worked with Governments to forge a common understanding of social policy concepts.

Other recent initiatives included an expert group meeting on international migration and development in the Arab region, and an intergovernmental meeting for the 10-year review and appraisal of the outcome of Habitat II.  The Commission had also facilitated the preparation of a set of country status and progress reports on issues relating to security of tenure and good urban governance.  A related website had been created

THELMA KAY, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP), said the region had 5 of the 10 countries with the largest populations of unemployed youth and stressed the urgent need to invest in youth health, employment and participation.  ESCAP had continued to promote the development of youth-target policies through efforts ranging from education initiatives to health-care plans, addressing such issues as HIV/AIDS.  On ageing, ESCAP planned to participate in the various regional conferences in the run-up to the 2008 five-year review of the Madrid Programme of Action on Ageing.  On other social issues, ESCAP continued to promote regional-level initiatives to ensure social protection for families.

JESSICA FRANK, American Association of Retired Persons -– a 38 million-member non-governmental organization serving older people in the United States and around the world -- said that, in partnership with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the association had recently coordinated a series of meetings on the fifth anniversary of the Madrid Plan of Action.  Some of the major issues raised at the meetings related to income security, health and longevity, and the creation of an enabling environment for older persons.  While only a small proportion of older persons in low-income countries had access to pensions from social insurance schemes, encouraging trends had been reported on the recent spread of non-contributory, universal old-age pensions –- so-called “social pensions”.

The central role of public health systems in the areas of health promotion and prevention had been stressed in the meetings, as had the critical goal of adjusting health and care systems to ageing societies, she said, noting that the impact of HIV/AIDS had been of great concern.  A number of non-governmental organizations had reported on their work to promote the interests of older persons and empower them to monitor their rights regarding access to social protection and health care.  There had been a consensus that it was necessary to encourage positive images of older persons and to recognize them as valuable resources and agents of change.

She said the association promoted ongoing employment opportunities for older workers, which could only be achieved if the issue of age discrimination was addressed.  For example, the European Union had adopted a directive requiring its member States to implement laws to protect workers against age discrimination.  The association was glad to share its expertise in addressing age discrimination in employment, as United States anti-age discrimination laws had been in place for more than 30 years.  The situation in many developing countries was quite different, as many older persons worked in the agricultural or informal sectors, where there was no protection in the form of social safety nets.  Nevertheless, older persons often continued to work as long as they were physically able to do so.

CHARLES SULLIVAN, Citizens United for Rehabilitation of Errants -- a nationwide grass-roots United States organization dedicated to reducing crime through reform of the criminal justice system -- said he was disappointed to be the first representative of a non-governmental organization to mention the word “prisoner”.  However, that was usually the case, since prisons and prisoners were “out of sight and out of mind” in most countries.  But if the international community was working to achieve decent work and employment for all that certainly meant the focus should turn to those who were incarcerated or coming out of prison.

Moreover, when the Commission turned to providing protections to special social groups, he said, it should examine the situation of imprisoned youth, mentally disabled prisoners, as well as the wives, children and other relatives of incarcerated persons.  It was also well known that prisons bred epidemics and, with that in mind, stakeholders needed to be on the ground providing education and best practices around the world on AIDS- and health-related fields.

At the opening of the afternoon session, Sheikha HESSA AL-THANI, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Disability, presented her fourth annual report and called the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities this year’s “historic achievement”.  The new instrument laid the ground work for a shared international vision based on the principles of right, justice and equality.  For the first time, the Special Rapporteur on Disability was monitoring the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities in the presence of a related Convention.

The two documents complemented each other, she continued, pointing out that the Convention, with its 50 articles, presented the legal framework for a universal response to disability issues.  The Standard Rules, on the other hand, provided a detailed checklist and guidelines for effecting a cultural, environmental and legislative transformation that would ensure equal opportunities for persons with disabilities.  Therefore, the existence of the Convention alongside the Standard Rules would augment the Rules and provide the necessary legal measures for their implementation.  The Standard Rules, with their procedural clarity and detailed implementation measures, still placed a moral and political obligation from the international community, development agencies and organizations.

During the past year, she said, the Commission on Disability had produced, in cooperation with the South-North Centre for Dialogue and Development, a detailed report based on the preliminary results of a survey of Government actions on the implementation of the Standard Rules.  That document was based on responses gathered from 114 countries, and the Commission’s monitoring programme this year would concentrate primarily on completing the picture by reaching out to the remaining 77 Member States.  It was also necessary to conduct a comparative analysis of the Government responses and those given by disabled persons’ organizations.  Although 13 years had passed since the adoption of the Standard Rules, their implementation was not yet complete and comprehensive.  However, the responses revealed that countries had done far better than expected in providing medical care, rehabilitation and support and assistance services than they had actually reported.

Although the Rules were clear in ensuring the advisory and consultative role of disabled persons’ organizations, that was not actually the case, she continued.  In the area of awareness-raising 86 out of 114 countries had revealed that they actually used the expertise of those organizations.  With respect to medical care, rehabilitation and supportive services, only in 44, 53 and 43 countries, respectively, had disabled persons’ organizations been involved.  On accessibility and education, the organizations had not been consulted or involved in 52 and 47 countries, respectively.  The situation was similar where employment was concerned.  Those numbers spoke for themselves, explaining one of the reasons why equalization of opportunities had not occurred.

Turning to international cooperation -– rule 21 of the Standard Rules –- she said that, in spite of the fact that 79 countries had signed international cooperation agreements, they had not been effectively translated into an exchange of technical know-how and expertise, or good practices and joint programmes.  International cooperation had also not extended to include services to minority groups, immigrants and refugees in those countries.  Among other recent developments, was the establishment of a formal committee on disability within the Federation of Arab Parliaments; an agreement between the Government of Finland and the World Federation of the Deaf to conduct a needs assessment in four countries; continuing work to produce a manual for aid and relief workers; public awareness television spots to portray persons with disabilities in a positive light; and presentations on the situation of persons with disabilities to the Commission on Status of Women, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Human Rights Council and the meeting of First Ladies of Latin America.  Monitoring activities had also encompassed observation of the experiences of South Africa and China.

When the floor was opened for comments, one speaker noted that, while many international cooperation agreements had been put in place, they had not resulted in a wider dissemination of technical assistance or exchanges of best practices.  How could the Commission turn that trend around, particularly in developing countries?

In response, the Special Rapporteur said it was a question of an international nature and the entire United Nations system must assume its responsibility.  A broader exchange of ideas had to be launched for the benefit of persons with disabilities.  On areas of reform that must be enacted by States in the wake of the Convention’s adoption, the instrument and its Optional Protocol were actually supposed to complement the Standard Rules.

Emerging Issue:  Impact and Challenges of Youth Employment

The Commission then opened a dialogue on its identified emerging issue, “Youth employment:  impact, challenges and opportunities for social development”.

JOHAN SCHOLVINCK, Director, Division for Social Policy and Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, introduced a note by the Secretariat (document E/CN.5/2007/3).  It presented a brief overview of the impact and challenges of youth employment, stressing that the sheer dimensions of those challenges was daunting, particularly when considering that a larger view of youth unemployment included other forms of inactivity -- roughly one quarter of all young people in sub-Saharan Africa, a third of all youth in Central and Eastern Europe, and roughly one in seven in the wider developing world were neither in school nor employed.

Decent and productive youth employment promoted poverty alleviation, social integration, intergenerational dialogue, citizenship and solidarity, thus contributing to overall social development, he said.  On the other hand, the absence of adequate employment opportunities for young people could lead to increased vulnerability, marginalization and exclusion, inevitably imposing large economic and non-economic costs on society.

He said the overriding challenge facing all countries was to create opportunities for young people to participate in a world of work in ways that enabled them to realize their full capabilities as individuals and, in so doing, to broaden and deepen economic and social development.  Notwithstanding those challenges, the Commission and the wider international community were urged not to lose sight of the fact that there were also valuable opportunities, through decent and productive youth employment, to advance social development everywhere.

MARTINA VON BASSEWITZ (Germany), speaking on behalf of the European Union, said the regional employment strategy which placed particular emphasis on youth and the goal of a higher level of employment for younger people could only be attained through increased opportunities.  In March 2005, the European Council had adopted a European Youth Pact -– one of the instruments for realizing the Lisbon Goals on Education and Training.  The Pact sought to improve general and occupational training, mobility and social integration of young people in Europe, and to ensure the compatibility of work and home life.  The European Council had also emphasized the need to reduce the number of drop-outs and make sure that more young people completed their secondary education.  Every unemployed school graduate had to be offered a job within six months, a deadline that would decline to four months by 2010.  One of the goals was to improve the employment situation of young people from ethnic and minority groups.

MAKMUR SUNUSI, Director-General for Social Rehabilitation and Services and Disability, Ministry of Social Affairs of Indonesia, said his country’s youth represented its promise and potential and they must be the main beneficiaries of social development policies.  While a total of 37.5 million youths within the ages of 15 and 29 years had provided their labour in 2005, Indonesia had 8.3 million unemployed young people, or 22.13 per cent of its total population.  Youth underemployment had reached 9.4 million in 2005 and many young people lacked the education and skills relevant to the labour market.  Even when educated, they could be passed over for more experienced workers who needed no training.  That limited young people’s access to decent productive jobs, forcing them to join the informal economy.

The task of the Government and other stakeholders was to fashion the right policies and pinpoint strategies that would remedy that situation, he continued.  In effect, the goal was to create an enabling environment to promote sustainable youth employment.  An integrated, multisectoral approach had been adopted to do just that.  Indonesia’s education system should be responsive to changes in the labour market, attracting and adequately compensating committed teaching staff.  It must be accessible for all and work against all forms of gender discrimination.

Emphasis should be placed on vocational training, he added, noting that the Government was reforming the technical and vocational training system and shifting the focus from school-based to occupation-based training.  So far, 162 vocational training centres had been set up throughout the country.  An Indonesian Youth Employment Network had been created and a Youth Employment Action Plan launched.  Efforts were under way to raise awareness of the employment challenges facing youth, and to mobilize partners, including provincial and district level governments, for action to create jobs.  Also, a growth rate of 6 per cent was critical in underpinning a focused employment promotion strategy.

PAUL BADJI ( Senegal) said his country had established a national poverty eradication programme and developed a framework for wider social integration and dialogue on crucial questions regarding social and economic development.  The Government also actively sought to initiate partnerships aimed at eradicating poverty and ensuring the provision of basic social services.

On the promotion of full employment for all, he said the lack of opportunities to find decent jobs most often sparked migration and, increasingly, cross-border migration.  Senegal had adopted an accelerated growth strategy based on improving human capacities and rehabilitating infrastructure.  The increased competition sparked by globalization had severely impacted job security and social development policies should therefore promote participation by all groups in social and development policymaking, with a view to ensuring decent work and social protection for all.

Senegal had also launched a massive programme for job creation and put in place triennial recruitment services to periodically improve the labour pool, he said.  The country had also established an education fund and a female entrepreneurship programme, both part of its commitment to ensure decent work for all.  The Government was resolutely committed to modernizing living conditions.  At the same time, Senegal stressed the importance of regional and subregional initiatives such as the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), in promoting overall sustainable development.

SANDRA VAN BEEST, youth delegate from the Netherlands, recalled how she had met a 15-year-old girl last August who worked in a cotton field.  She had a job, but, sadly, had been employed for more than 10 years, having started working in that cotton field at the age of five.  Today, a total of 89 million young people were unemployed.  For some, the reason was that their skills and qualifications did not match the demands of the labour market.  For others, it was a lack of education.  On the other hand, 218 million children under the age of 14 were working every day, often in appalling conditions.  They actually should not have to work, but be in school.  Their lack of education limited their chances of gaining suitable employment later in life.  They were caught in the cycle of poverty, which often extended to future generations.

To break that cycle, it was necessary to start by ensuring education for all, she stressed.  That was the most powerful weapon to change lives and the most valuable gift a person could receive.  Progress was being made in the number of children attending primary school, as demanded by the Millennium Development Goals, but the pace was too slow and children were leaving school too early.  It was necessary to ensure the provision of quality education in order to reduce the number of children dropping out of school to work before they turned 14, which was prohibited by the ILO Convention on Minimum Age.

“How many of us would have been sitting here today, if we had not had a chance for quality education?” she asked.  Many children were born in places where they were not lucky enough to go to school, let alone receive quality education.  According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), that was still a reality for 113 million children today.  They were deprived of a chance for quality education and suitable employment later in life.  Therefore, the international community must make education a priority, ensuring that all children had access to quality education until the age of 14.  That meant abolishing the age discrepancy between Millennium Development Goal number 2 and the ILO Convention on Minimum Age.

JOSE ALBERTO CRESPO, youth delegate from Spain, stressed the need to ensure sustainable, decent youth employment, largely because youth should be able to work in conditions that allowed them to build for the future.  Housing accommodations, leisure time and job placement were all key policy issues that must be addressed when youth-targeted policies were elaborated.  The Commission should, at its next session, open up a space for genuine dialogue with young people.  In international forums, reference was always made to the fact that “young people are the future”, whereas they were also the present.

FRAZER MACDONALD ( United Kingdom), commenting on the Youth Employment Network, said his country had joined that project as Lead Country in 2005.  It had supported last year the launch of a Youth Employment Unit in West Africa which had already produced an initial study mapping existing and future programmes and activities relating to youth employment in the subregion and had identified some good practices.  The paper would be presented at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization/African Union High-Level Consultative meeting on Productive Work for Youth in West Africa, with emphasis on the Mano River Union, which would take place in Ghana.

He said it was obvious that a wide range of actors must be engaged in youth employment, including Ministries of Labour, Finance and Education, employers, training providers, businesses, workers’ organizations and specialists in migration.  It was important to promote a comprehensive approach to youth employment and many countries had set up bodies to coordinate their national plans.  Such coordination could be difficult to achieve, but it was possible to bring together actors with differing needs and priorities and for them to negotiate and agree on principles.

What was often much more difficult was getting them to move forward in a coherent way on implementing action, he said.  The question that must be addressed was how to strengthen coordination on implementation both at the national and international levels.  How could the “package” that was needed to promote youth employment be implemented in a coherent way when there were often different Government departments responsible for youth employment, labour law, migration, finance and education?  How could international dialogue be facilitated that would help those actors take implementation forward?

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For information media • not an official record