Commission for Social Development

Forty-ninth Session

6^th & 7^th Meetings (AM & PM)

Economic Growth Could Carry Social Costs if Not Buffeted by Social Protection

Schemes during Economic Boom and Busts, Social Development Commission Told

 

UN Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, Special Rapporteur on Disability

Address Commission, as Discussion Centres on Deeply Challenged Population Segments

Warning of the social costs to economic growth, such as social unrest and protests, and exclusion of the most vulnerable segments of society, the United Nations Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty told the Commission for Social Development today that the only way to ensure that growth benefited the poor was to include in it a human rights component.

It had been shown that economic growth by itself did not ensure that those living in poverty would benefit by it, Magdalena Sepulveda Carmona told the 46-member Commission via video link as it continued its forty-ninth session.  Thus, developed and developing nations alike should incorporate social protection strategies and mechanisms into their domestic legislation concerning everything from the right to food, clothing and shelter, to social security services, education and participation in public affairs, during both economic booms and busts.

During times of crisis, Governments should maintain expenditures earmarked for vital social protection services, such as housing subsidies, pensions for the elderly and cash transfers for struggling families to pay for food and medicine, she said.  Not only would that go a long way towards alleviating poverty and preventing vulnerable people from falling below the poverty line in the future, but it could also prevent social unrest by closing the gap between rich and poor.

She cited Nepal’s social protection system for elderly people, which, while modest, had kept the elderly out of extreme poverty.  Other poor countries could accomplish the same through mechanisms tailored to their own circumstances and resources.  International financial institutions also must do their part by ensuring that their policy prescriptions did not violate the rights of society’s most vulnerable members.

Several delegates addressing the Commission, as it continued its general discussion on the theme of the session — poverty eradication — noted headway by their Governments with the type of approach advocated by Ms. Sepulveda.  For example, in the last few years, Ecuador had managed to ensure that more of the nation’s wealth trickled down to the poor through changes in the tax code and programmes focused on health care, education and housing, particularly for poor women, according to the Assistant Secretary of Social Policy of Ecuador’s Ministerial Coordination of Social Development.  In 2006, just 10 per cent of Ecuadorians held 43 per cent of the nation’s income, but that share had fallen to 39 per cent by 2010.  Poverty fell 5 per cent to 32.8 per cent over the same period.  By 2013, the Government aimed to lift 150,000 women out of poverty.

Armenia’s representative said her Government’s decision to maintain social sector spending during the global economic crisis had proven wise, as evidenced by the dramatic decline in the country’s poverty rate and the 8 per cent expansion of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010.  Armenia was committed to build an inclusive, just society through policies to create decent jobs, ensure social protection and achieve gender equality.  In the last decade, Armenia had graduated to middle-income country status, achieving slow, steady economic recovery, thanks to sound economic reform aimed at overcoming unequal economic opportunities.

Some 8.3 million people in Ethiopia were benefiting from a Government-created safety net to help chronically food-insecure households earn money, particularly during times of drought, its speaker said.  The programme was part of the Government’s people-centred tools to provide better social services for the poor and attain high socio-economic growth.  In the past seven years, Ethiopia had posted annual double-digit growth and earmarked a full 60 per cent of its expenditures for social development, with an emphasis on improved health care, education and food security for the poor.  Pro-poor investment was especially important in the sub-Saharan African region, he said, where more than half the population lived in extreme poverty and hunger, and many suffered from malnutrition, ill health, and scant access to education and other basic services.

In the afternoon, Shauib Chalklen, Special Rapporteur on Disability of the Commission, gave a presentation on his efforts to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities — particularly women and girls, children with mental health disabilities, and disabled people at risk in a humanitarian crisis — were mainstreamed into the fight against poverty and hunger.  He pointed to shifts and progress in the international community’s efforts in that regard, as it worked towards the Millennium Development Goals, and noted the call in a recent General Assembly resolution for a high-level summit on disability and development in 2012.

Many United Nations entities, he said, such as the United Nations Development Group and World Health Organization, had worked to launch guidelines for people with disabilities, although some lacked the tools to do so.  Additionally, many countries were using the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, — ratified by 97 States — when drafting their policies and programmes.  Still, Governments earmarked few resources in national budgets for disability-related programmes, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, leaving civil society to fill that vacuum.

Also speaking during the general discussion was the Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of Namibia, as well as representatives from El Salvador, Yemen, Zambia, India, Swaziland, Nicaragua, Bangladesh, Iraq, United Republic of Tanzania, Mexico, Mali, Lesotho, Belgium, Morocco, Nigeria, Nepal and Costa Rica.

The Permanent Observer for the Holy See and that of Partners in Population and Development also spoke.

Representatives of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), Organization of the Islamic Conference, International Labour Organization (ILO) and International Organization for Migration also participated.

A representative of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta spoke, as did a representative from the Society of Catholic Medical.

Representatives from the European Union, Morocco, Ghana and Zimbabwe participated in the morning discussion with Ms. Sepulveda.

Representatives from Mexico, Qatar, the European Union, Switzerland, African Union, Australia and Botswana participated in the afternoon discussion with Mr. Chalklen.

The Commission will reconvene at 10 a.m., on Monday, 14 February, to begin its general discussion on the review of relevant United Nations plans and programmes of action pertaining to the situation of social groups.

Background

The Commission for Social Development met today to continue its forty-ninth session.  For background, see Press Release SOC/4770 of 7 February.

Presentation by Independent Expert

MAGDALENA SEPULVEDA CARMONA, who was appointed by the Human Rights Council in 2008 as the Independent Expert on Human Rights and Extreme Poverty, said she had issued various reports on social protection, including a report on human rights approaches on cash transfer programmes and pensions, and a report to the General Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) on the importance of social protection in times of crisis.  She had visited Ecuador, Bangladesh, Viet Nam and Ireland, among others, to analyse their social protection systems from a human rights perspective and to engage in dialogue with the Governments of those States on such matters.

She said that rights-based social protection programmes were tools to help States fulfil their obligations under international human rights law to guarantee their citizens the right to food, clothing, housing, social security, education and participation in public affairs.  Those programmes must be based on the principles of equality and accountability.  States should incorporate the right to social security and protection into their Constitutions and domestic law, which had multiple advantages for all sectors of society.  “Social protection is not a policy panacea,” she said, but one element of broad human rights strategies.  However, by better complying with their international human rights obligations through social protection, States could improve their track record in poverty eradication.

Providing citizens with access to social insurance, land and credit, inheritance rights, and justice was crucial for development, she said.  Domestic violence laws were also essential to improve women’s living standards.  Social protection should be designed to address gender imbalances and to prevent and eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.  Inclusion of all citizens in social protection programmes, such as housing or cash transfer, was crucial.  Failure to do so could raise strong human rights concerns.

Questions and Answers

Delegates wanted to know about Government steps that could counter the financial crisis and let economies recover without expanding poverty.  They also asked about the role of civil society in eradicating extreme poverty, as well as how to reconcile the requirements of wealth distribution with human rights.  One representative said the Commission should look at the role of the Bretton Woods institutions in creating unemployment and poverty, and another questioned Ms. Sepulveda’s comments on the role of the State in providing social protection.

Ms. Sepulveda said there were several ways to protect the most vulnerable people from the crisis, and the State should avoid taking measures that cut expenditures earmarked for social protection, or risk increasing the number people living in poverty in the future.

Civil society should participate in the design of social protection systems, she added.  From a human rights perspective, it was necessary to give the recipients a role in reaching solutions to poverty.  To do that, participatory mechanisms should be created that incorporated ways to overcome linguistic barriers, provide transportation costs, and cover the income the poor would lose by taking time to participate in those mechanisms.

Responding to the question about reconciling economic growth with the distribution of wealth and human rights, she said it was possible to promote growth that would envelope an important human rights component.  It had been shown that economic growth by itself did not ensure that those living in poverty would benefit by it.  There were social costs to economic growth, such as social unrest and protests, as well as exclusion of the most vulnerable segments of society.

Regarding the role of the international financial institutions, she said it was the responsibility of the developed countries, which held voting powers, to ensure that their policy prescriptions did not violate the rights of the most vulnerable members of society.

Finally, turning to a question on the value of social protection provided by the State, she said States that had signed various conventions and treaties had a duty to protect the most vulnerable.  It was very important that States, including developing nations, incorporate social protection strategies and mechanisms in their domestic legislation.  She pointed to Nepal’s social protection system for elderly people that, while modest, kept the elderly out of extreme poverty.  Poor countries should shape those mechanisms based on their own circumstances and resources, she added.

Representatives from the European Union, Morocco, Ghana and Zimbabwe participated in that discussion.

General Discussion on Poverty Eradication

CARLOS ENRIQUE GARCÍA GONZÁLEZ ( El Salvador) said it was fundamental to wholly address deficiencies in all areas of the Millennium Development Goals in order to achieve Goal 1.  He underscored the growing need for social cohesion and systematic efforts to guarantee the rights of everyone.  El Salvador’s five-year development plan would work towards that end.  Hunger resulted from a lack of food security and malnutrition.  He supported international efforts to promote family-run agriculture production and know-how.  His Government had implemented temporary income-support programmes to promote income generation for female heads of household and young people by giving monthly stipends of $100 in exchange for carrying out community and capacity-building services.  It also provided educational grants and sponsored school nutrition and health-care programmes.  Social inclusion and cohesion played a central role in poverty eradiation in El Salvador, particularly through the promotion of decent work for all.

WAHEED AL-SHAMI ( Yemen) said the global financial, food and energy crises were hindering progress towards poverty eradication.  The international community must redouble its efforts to cope with those problems.  In the 1990s, Yemen had to address external and internal challenges that exacerbated poverty and impeded development.  In 1995, the Yemeni Government had adopted an economic, financial and administrative reform programme, set up machinery for social protection and monetary subsidies, as well as given priority financing to job-creating schemes and businesses.  The 2011-2015 national poverty-eradication programme aimed to slash poverty by 10 per cent, or to 32.2 per cent by 2015.  Despite those and other efforts, Yemen had limited financial resources to grapple with development challenges, and he called for stronger international development aid.  Yemen had a law to protect persons with disabilities and had set up an institute for that purpose.  It also had multiple strategies and programmes to foster youth empowerment and development, and to assist and protect the elderly.

Aligning her country with the statements made on behalf of the “Group of 77” developing countries and China, Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union, SHERRY THOLE (Zambia) said her country was implementing its Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP 2011-2015), with the theme of “sustained economic growth and poverty reduction”.  That reflected the nation’s focus on reducing poverty among the population, aimed at meeting the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.  The Government was concerned that, while Zambia’s economy had grown by 7.1 per cent in 2010, that growth had not led to a huge reduction in its poverty level.  Zambia had revised the Decent Work Country Programme to align it with its Vision 2030, which stated that “employment creation is a priority for Zambia in its quest to become a prosperous middle-income country”.

XIOMARA CHAVEZ RIVERA, Assistant Secretary of Social Policy, Ministerial Coordination of Social Development, Ecuador, said poverty had dropped 5 per cent to 32.8 per cent from 2006 to 2010.  Rural poverty had dropped 8 per cent, while urban poverty had fallen 3.5 per cent over that period.  Ecuador recognized that the main culprit of poverty was the unequal distribution of wealth.  In 2008, Ecuador had revised its tax equity law, which had substantially improved direct tax collection and resulted in a more equitable distribution of income.  In 2006, 10 per cent of the country’s wealthiest people had held 43 per cent of the national income.  But their share of the wealth had fallen to 39 per cent in 2010.  Ecuador’s Government recognized the importance of jobs creation and fair wages to reducing poverty.  In March 2010, it had launched the “fair domestic work” campaign, which promoted the rights of female domestic workers and set a fair, minimum wage for them.  As a result, there had been a 7.7 per cent increase in the number of insured female domestic workers.  The Government’s goal for 2013 was to lift 150,000 women out of poverty through programmes in health care, education and housing that offered them technical training, resources and seed capital.

SUTAPA MAJUMDAR, Director, Planning Commission of India, said that with less than five years remaining for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, eradicating poverty and hunger was proving to be one of the most challenging targets.  Since independence, India had been consolidating the gains made in that area to ensure that no one was left behind.  The economy had grown steadily since the early 1990s and it had shown remarkable resilience during the financial and economic crisis.  That sustained growth had resulted in economic prosperity and had propelled the nation into the ranks of the world’s major economies.  Yet, poverty could not be completely eradicated by economic growth and job creation alone.  Programmes and policies must also focus on other important facets of social development, including education, health, rural development, women’s empowerment, good governance and environmental sustainability.

As such, he said his country was in the final phase of implementing its eleventh five-year development plan, covering the period from 2007 to 2012.  Its key focus was inclusive growth, and special efforts were being taken to ensure that all segments of India’s huge population, especially rural dwellers, derived direct benefits from the resultant growth dividend.  The plan’s poverty reduction strategy was built around several key objectives, including improved access to essential health and education services, reviving the agricultural sector, and placing special emphasis on infrastructure development.  He noted that the plan’s broad-based flagship programme, the Mahatma Ghandi National Rural Employment Scheme, was perhaps the world’s largest work programme, which, among other things, ensured 100 days of employment and improved wage levels for every rural household.

AMAN HASSEN BAME ( Ethiopia) said eradicating extreme poverty was a great challenge, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where more than half the population lived in extreme poverty and hunger, and many suffered from malnutrition, ill health, scant access to education and other basic services.  Ethiopia’s Government had designed various people-centred tools to provide better social services for the poor and attain high socio-economic growth.  The country had posted double-digit economic growth in the past seven years and launched a plan for accelerated and sustainable development to end poverty, which focused on expanded education and infrastructure and enhancing economic competitiveness.  Government spending had been re-oriented towards pro-poor investment and national development programmes to improve health care, education and food security.  In the past seven years, more than 60 per cent of Government expenditures were earmarked to fund expansion, agriculture, education, health care, water services and road development.  The Government had set up a productive safety net programme to help chronically food-insecure households earn money, particularly during times of drought.  Some 8.3 million people currently benefited from it.

ZWELETHU MNISI ( Swaziland) said that the ongoing economic and financial crisis, as well as challenges brought about by the food and energy crises and climate change had adversely impacted the country’s poverty eradication strategy formulated with the ultimate goal of reducing poverty by more than 50 per cent by 2015 and eventually eradicating it by 2022.  Noting that his Government was also concerned about rising unemployment in the country, he said the devastating impact of HIV and AIDS was also a major stumbling block to poverty eradication, and the care of increasingly large numbers of orphans and vulnerable children was placing a tremendous economic and social burden on families, extended families and community networks.  To that end, his Government had developed initiatives such as the Swaziland National Strategic Framework for HIV and AIDS 2009–2014, as part of its national multi-sectoral HIV and AIDS response.  However, resource constraints, both financial and technical, threatened most of those efforts.

Aligning her country with the statements made on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and the Rio Group, MARÍA CLARISA SOLÓRZANO-ARRIGADA ( Nicaragua) said that hunger and poverty were one of the vilest human rights violations.  The Nicaraguan Government had made human development plans part of its national strategy.  It was working to help all segments of society.  For example, it was helping to develop microenterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises, which employed about 70 per cent of the working population.  There had been a series of national income distribution programmes, and there was a school nutrition programme.  A Zero Usury Programme gave women access to credit at low interest rates and let them set up small and mid-size businesses.  A food and seed programme provided improved seeds, resistant to climate change for example, to nearly 202,000 producers. There were 55 infant development centres for boys and girls under the age of six.  Those programmes, and others, showed the Government’s deep commitment towards reconstruction and unity.  Health and education were priorities.  But poverty eradication needed the commitment of the international community and the promotion of decent work opportunities.

ABDUL MOMEN ( Bangladesh), aligning himself with the statement of the Group of 77 and China, said South Asia was on track to reach Millennium Development Goal 1 to end poverty and hunger.  That would require the pace of poverty eradication to increase from the annual 1.6 per cent average seen in the 1990-2005 period to 4.4 per cent, expected between 2005 and 2015, a “daunting task” for least developed countries.  For its part, Bangladesh had reduced abject poverty for “quite some time”, but was still far from achieving Goal 1, due to inadequate resources, increased frequency of natural disasters and soaring food prices.  On the upside, Bangladesh had almost doubled its human development index since 1990, the third most improved country since that time.  As development was uneven within the country, focus had been on the most vulnerable segments and, in that context, the country had emphasized, among others, the important contributions made by migrants.  The issue of youth unemployment also deserved more attention.

YAHYA AL-OBAIDI ( Iraq) called for greater efforts to achieve the objectives set during the 1995 World Summit on Social Development.  He noted the poor state of health care, and the lack of education and basic social services in many countries.  International and national bodies must work together to implement targeted strategies and strengthen national capacity to achieve integrated growth.  The Iraqi Government had set up a high-level commission to implement poverty-reduction policies.  It had launched a strategy in 2010 to eliminate poverty by 2015 through increased services to the poor in health care, education, housing and social protection, and by steps to reduce inequality between poor men and women.  Efforts by public institutions in the past year had helped to reduce poverty.  The Government had attempted to raise salaries and improve health care and education for all.  The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs had set up a national social protection programme that gave monthly subsidies to poor families through social protection networks.  The Ministry had also created a significant number of jobs through job training centres nationwide.  Since the current Iraqi Administration assumed office, annual per capita income had risen, as had the standard of living of all Iraqis.

Aligning his country with the statements made on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, SADC, and the African States, ISLAM SALUM (United Republic of Tanzania) said poverty eradication was central to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and was the main challenge facing humankind.  He noted that Africa remained at the bottom of the human development indicators and that women, children and people with disabilities were the most impacted.  In his country, most people lived in rural areas and the Government had started a programme, “Agriculture Fast”.  It aimed to modernize the productivity of the country’s agriculture sector as it improved human development.  The Government also was focusing on improving its infrastructure to spur growth and boost agriculture.  It supported public-private partnerships that would provide direct foreign investment in infrastructure.  Global partnership was key to reducing poverty, and he urged developed countries to remove the remaining agricultural subsidies and tariffs.

LENA TERZIKIAN ( Armenia) said the country was committed to build an inclusive society with social equality through policies that enhanced job opportunities, social protection and gender equality.  Armenia’s Government had made every effort to protect socially vulnerable people during the recent financial crisis by adopting people-centred policies that did not slash the federal budget for the social sector.  Such policies proved to be justified, as evidenced by the dramatic decline in Armenia’s poverty rate.  In the last decade, Armenia had graduated to middle-income country status.  Thanks to sound economic reform aimed at overcoming unequal economic opportunities, among other factors, it had achieved slow, but steady economic recovery.  In 2010, the economy had expanded 8 per cent, helping to curb poverty.  The Government would continue to implement the 2009-2012 sustainable development action plan, focused on poverty eradication, improving social development indicators and sustainable environmental development.  In 2011, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs would scrutinize labour market trends, in order to reduce unemployment.  It would expand State services for job counselling and specialized training.

BLANCA LILIA GARCÍA LÓPEZ ( Mexico) said that a piecemeal approach that lacked precise insertion in a national strategy did not produce the expected results.  Based on that premise, Mexico had strengthened its programme “Oportunidades”, which focused on helping poor families, particularly in rural areas.  The programme enveloped a gender approach that focused on education, health, and food, and on all members of the family, especially children and youth in school.  The programme’s objective was to develop individual capacities in order to break the intergenerational poverty cycle.  In 2009, Mexico had incorporated specific, strategic policies to face the increase in food and energy prices that impacted urban families.  In 2010, “Oportunidades” reached more than 6 million families, and 3 of out 10 Mexicans received cash transfers and social support through the programme.

A representative of the Society of Catholic Medical Missionaries said the past decade showed that increasing the access of financial resources to people living in poverty through microfinance had successfully reduced it.  However, it was important to recognize that economic growth was not enough.  The quality of growth, such as the equitable distribution of its benefits, was important.  Yet global military expenditures were increasing at an alarming pace around the world — 45 per cent over the previous decade, according to the International Peace Research Institute.  The Missionaries’ strongly recommended that nations reduce and redirect a significant portion of their military expenditures towards environmental protection and social development, particularly poverty eradication.

Presentation by Special Rapporteur

SHAUIB CHALKLEN, Special Rapporteur on Disability of the Commission, said among his priorities was the monitoring and promoting of the rights of persons with disabilities, as the United Nations worked towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.  He wanted to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities were mainstreamed into the fight against poverty and hunger, and development.  His efforts were directed towards raising awareness of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, fostering international cooperation around that issue, and increasing knowledge of the needs of especially vulnerable persons with disabilities, such as women and girls, children with mental health disabilities, and disabled people at risk in a humanitarian crisis.

He said that travelling around the world, he found that many countries were using the Disabilities Convention — ratified by 97 States — when drafting their policies and programmes.  He had also seen shifts in the efforts of the international community as a whole to mainstream disability rights as it worked towards the internationally agreed development Goals.  At the sixty-third session, the General Assembly had asked the Secretary-General to present a report about people with disabilities, and there had been much progress in that area.  He also noted the call in a recent General Assembly resolution for a high-level conference on disability and development in 2012.  Additionally, many United Nations entities, such as the United Nations Development Group and World Health Organization, had worked to launch guidelines for people with disabilities, although some lacked the tools to do so.  There was much work to be done to integrate the needs of people with disabilities in development and he looked forward to new partnerships.

One of his priorities was to raise awareness of people with disabilities in Africa, especially women and children, he said.  During his discussions with donor countries, he had explored the needs of that group, meeting also in August and September 2010 with Government officials and civil society members to promote those issues.  He supported the work of various regional groups and was promoting interregional dialogues among them, such as across Africa and Latin America.  He called on Member States and the United Nations to address the lack of statistics concerning people with disabilities and the nexus with development.

Questions and Answers

Delegates wanted to know what the Commission and the Economic and Social Council could do to ensure that all socio-economic cooperation activities took into account the needs of persons with disabilities.  They asked about the Special Rapporteur’s efforts during his visits to encourage States to enact legislation to protect the rights of the disabled.  They noted that many aspects of the Convention had not been put into practice and asked what measures Governments should take to avoid the social isolation of persons with disabilities.  Narrowing the gap between policy and implementation of programmes aimed at assisting the disabled was another point of discussion.  They also asked about any plans on his part prior to the proposed 2012 high-level General Assembly meeting on disabilities.

One delegate called on Mr. Chalklen to strengthen coordination efforts with other special rapporteurs appointed by the Human Rights Council.  Others lauded his work with the African Union to promote the rights of persons with disabilities in sub-Saharan Africa, where only 1 to 2 per cent of them had access to care, services and education and where Government spending on their services was negligible at best.  They lauded his proposal to create an African disability forum.

In response, he said he intended to work with the Special Rapporteurs on poverty and gender equality.  During his missions, he had observed different ways of implementing the Convention and varying time frames for doing so.  His role was to advise Governments how to best implement the Convention, within their respective circumstances.  He hoped to see a broadening of disability programmes and services in national budgets, and said he was trying to design indicators for countries to implement development policies that took into account the rights of persons with disabilities.

In many countries with strong welfare policies, Governments poured money into charities to ensure that people with disabilities were well taken care of at home, he said.  But they were not allowed to integrate into society or to work outside the home.  The way to change that was through inclusive integration policies and strong monitoring mechanisms to ensure that the appropriate policies were implemented.

Representatives from Mexico, Qatar, the European Union, Switzerland, African Union, Australia and Botswana participated in that discussion.

General Discussion

When the Commission continued its general discussion on poverty eradication, AMADOU ROUAMBA ( Mali) pointed to the country’s recent national development programme focused on eradicating poverty through strong agricultural growth and full employment.  The Government had created youth employment programmes and training courses.  To ensure social protection, which was the cornerstone of decent work, Mali had adopted its first social protection plan for 2005-2009 to extend such protection by reforming social security institutions, creating mandatory health insurance and ensuring medical aid for the poor.  In 2009, it had adopted a second social protection plan for 2009-2014, which would extend medical insurance to people working in the informal economy.  In 2006, it had adopted the second strategic framework to combat poverty through economic growth for 2007-2011.  Mali aimed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and reduce poverty to 51 per cent in 2011.  Despite progress, Mali’s prospects to achieve all the Goals by 2015 were not very good.  Without swift vigorous action, Mali would not succeed in that regard.  He called on development partners to bolster official development assistance (ODA).

MOTLATSI RAMAFOLE ( Lesotho), aligning himself with the statements of the Group of 77 and China, the African Group and SADC, said “poverty eradication should be the goal of all of us if we are to achieve all the other MDGs”, a priority for his Government, which had employed various means to reduce poverty.  The “National Vision 2020” initiative recognized poverty eradication as a long-term process and condition for development.  It aimed to ensure a stable democracy and developed human resource base.  Also, the Government had put in place social protections to reduce the vulnerability of social groups.  Those included free and compulsory education at primary and secondary levels and pensions for the elderly.  However, one quarter of Lesotho’s population was infected with HIV/AIDS and the number of children orphaned due to the disease was on the rise.  Subsidized medication and assistance for orphans were some of the steps being taken to address the problem, but poor countries needed international assistance in addressing such problems.

ARNAUD LORETI ( Belgium) noted that, in the course of the current session, the Youth Council in Belgium wished to speak about the situation of youth and poverty.  He noted that 17 per cent of children lived in poverty and that no country was spared from the poverty.  Children were a very fragile segment; many were placed in institutions and many received special support.  Child labour should be prohibited, and in countries where it was not, there should be restrictions governing the working conditions of children.  The right to work followed the right to education.  In times of crisis, more efforts should be made to limit discriminatory hiring practices.  To improve the situation of the poor, there had to be an equal distribution of wealth.

Aligning with the statement made on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, HASSAN EL MKHANTAR ( Morocco) said various summits on the Millennium Development Goals had called on the international community to implement inclusive policies when combating poverty.  Morocco was dedicated to doing that and to eradicating extreme poverty.  Reforms in Morocco to combat poverty aimed to let individuals develop.  The country was also taking steps to enable small and medium-sized businesses to create jobs for the most vulnerable members of society, among other things.  It had implemented an annual strategy for literacy, including for young girls in rural areas, and had set up homes for female students from poor, rural families.  Morocco was committed to fighting poverty and had worked with certain African countries in that regard.  Strengthening global cooperation was needed.

BUKUN-OLU ONEMOLA ( Nigeria), agreeing with the statements of the Group of 77 and China and the African Group, said his country showed its commitment to eradicate poverty and to the overall social development agenda with its National Agency for Poverty Eradication Programme.  Last year, Nigeria had ratified ILO Convention No. 158 of 1983 — Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of the Disabled, which aimed to enable persons with disabilities to secure, retain and move ahead with suitable employment, thereby promoting their full integration into society.  Nigeria had already ratified the Disabilities Convention, and the passage of the Nigeria Disability Bill in 2009 by both Houses of the National Assembly was awaiting the President’s approval.  In order to ensure efficient delivery of services to persons with disabilities, Nigeria had carried out a baseline survey to help Government at all levels create and implement programmes and policies to care for those people.  A similar project on children with disabilities, now under way with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), was at the midway point.

SHANKER BAIRAGI ( Nepal) said Nepal’s current interim plan to eradicate poverty focused on pro-poor and broad-based economic growth, social sector development and targeted programmes for the poor in the agriculture sector and rural areas.  The social security sector covered senior citizens, widows, endangered ethnic and indigenous groups, and persons with disabilities.  The Health Shelter for Elderly Citizens Programme gave medical care to elderly people affected by conflict.  The Government was committed to ensuring that all children, particularly girls and those of ethnic minorities, had access to a free education.  Thanks to those initiatives, Nepal had made tangible progress in reducing poverty from 42 per cent in 1996 to 25.4 per cent in 2009.  But disparity between rural and urban areas persisted.  Income inequality was unacceptably high and was widening further, having a negative impact on education, health and the environment.  Furthermore, Nepal still lacked a strong industrial base and was largely dependent on the traditional farming system and a few commodity exports.

LINYI BAIDAL SEQUEIRA ( Costa Rica) said the country had strengthened its commitments to eradicate poverty, of the view that its people were its greatest wealth.  Costa Rica had a social security system that took care of its people.  That included benefits that provided health and maternity services, and assistance for the elderly, protecting 89 per cent of the population.  There were still great challenges ahead.  Social policies were stronger when they were part of a solid development agenda and, thus, there had to be solid economic growth and investment in social services.  Children in early childhood must be taken care of.  There had to be increased opportunities for women, and efforts should be made to close the gap in wages between women and men.  Efforts to stimulate qualified employment for all people were also crucial.  Costa Rica believed in South-South and triangular cooperation.

ALPHEUS MUHEUA, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Namibia, said that over 10 years, from roughly 1994 to 2004, the percentage of poor households in Namibia, based on a food consumption ratio definition, had dropped from 38 per cent to 28 per cent, while the percentage of extremely poor households had fallen from 9 per cent to 4 per cent.  Still, there was a great gap between the rich and poor in Namibia.  Poverty was concentrated in rural areas, where it affected 38.2 per cent of households, compared with 12 per cent in urban areas.  Most rural people were subsistence farmers earning 830 Namibian dollars monthly.  The Government had set up social safety nets for older persons, children and war veterans, as well as affirmative action schemes for acquiring land and livestock, and a microcredit scheme for youth.  It had also created a resettlement programme, whereby it purchased land from commercial farmers for the poor to engage in subsistence farming.  A National Employment Creation Summit had been held to address the high unemployment rate, which stood at 51.2 per cent.  Participants had agreed to focus on areas with good job creation potential, such as agriculture, tourism, transport, logistics, housing, and sanitation to generate faster economic growth and jobs.

FRANCIS CHULLIKATT, Permanent Observer for the Holy See to the United Nations, said that the Holy See currently worked in every region of the world to achieve poverty eradication, and supported a “heuristic view” of human development, which sought to foster the development of each human being and of the “whole human being”.  At the centre of that view of development was the recognition of the dignity of the human person — an ethical foundation linked to families, generation and people and which was founded on the institution of marriage between a man and a woman.  That institution was being challenged by many factors in the modern world, and should be safeguarded.  While policymakers often stated that population growth was detrimental to development, the reality was that, where economic growth had increased, it was often accompanied with population increases.  Therefore, poverty was not caused by too many children, but by too little investment and support in children’s development.  Thus, social integration policies must not focus simply on the individual, but on all elements of society, including families, and should foster and augment — not replace — the “legitimate function” of groups at the local level.  He drew attention to the plight of migrants, for whom extra efforts were needed to defend their human rights and to respect their inalienable right to human dignity.

SALMA HAMID United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said the Fund was placing special emphasis on young people, who made up nearly half of the world’s population.  UNFPA was a strong advocate for girls’ education, especially through the secondary level, and was supporting youth participation, leadership and gender equality.  It also worked with United Nations country teams to support nations in responding to the diverse needs and rights of young people, including adolescent girls.  Noting that research showed that fewer dependents per worker allowed for greater economic growth — and that complications from pregnancy were the leading cause of death among girls aged 15 to 19 worldwide — UNFPA supported a comprehensive package of sexual and reproductive health services, including sexuality education.  It looked forward to participating in the Fourth United Nations Conference on Least Developed Countries.  Those countries faced high rates of population growth, poverty and maternal and child mortality.  The Fund would “carry forward the message that investing in young people, gender quality and reproductive health” could put countries on a path towards economic growth and equitable development.

RHITU SIDDARTH, Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), said the agency’s latest estimates indicated that 925 million people were hungry and malnourished in 2010.  The current surge of commodity food prices, occurring only two years after the 2007-2008 food crisis, showed the fragility of the global food system and the extreme vulnerability of countries and people.  Low-income and food deficit countries were affected the most, including poor households, especially urban buyers and small farmers.  It was time to tackle the root causes of food insecurity by reversing the past three decades of decline in funding for the agricultural sector.  Investment in agriculture should total $44 billion a year, and domestic and private investments also needed to be boosted to $200 billion.

FREDERICO NETO, the representative for the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), said that in Western Asia the number of people living in extreme poverty had tripled between 1990 and 2005, and millions faced obstacles to social integration.  Inclusive societies that successfully integrated all social groups into development processes were better able to maintain social cohesion and avoid declines into poverty.  Current poverty assessments, therefore, must pay greater attention to the multidimensional nature of poverty, which included lack of access to health and education, inadequate housing, discrimination and exclusion, and lack of participation.  Social protection mechanisms were vital to improving the capacity of vulnerable groups to manage the risks that pushed them into poverty.  As unemployment remained the most urgent socio-economic development challenge in Western Asia, the region needed a comprehensive social development strategy targeting employment generation and enhanced job quality, notably for vulnerable groups.  While several Governments in the region had responded to those needs by stimulating job growth through increased investment in infrastructure, adopting measures to support workers through job and skills training and other social protection systems, more remained to be done.  ESCWA was committed to working with member States to put in place relevant institutional frameworks and mechanisms that supported an integrated approach to poverty based on social protection, social integration and employment generation.

BERTRAND DE LOOZ KARAGEORGIADES, representative of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, said social integration depended on social inclusion.  He noted the shocking fact that even if Millennium Development Goal 1 was attained, nearly 900 people would still live in extreme poverty in 2015.  His organization supported the fight against poverty and exclusion.  It had helped those experiencing extreme suffering, such as victims of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the flooding in Pakistan, and the recent humanitarian disasters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  It worked in more than 120 countries and had an international staff of trained medical personnel.

UFUK GOKCEN, Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said the 10-year programme of action, adopted by Conference leaders in December 2005 at the OIC Extraordinary Summit held in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, mandated the creation of a special fund within the OIC specialized organ, the Islamic Development Bank, to help alleviate poverty and create jobs.  In line with the Summit’s mandate, the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development had been created in 2006 to reduce poverty, eliminate illiteracy, eradicate major communicable diseases, and build human capacities, particularly in the least developed countries of the OIC.  That fund was envisaged to have a seed capital of $10 billion, of which $2.63 billion had already been committed by the Bank and more than 20 States.

JANE STEWART, International Labour Organization (ILO), said perceptions of unfairness and frustration were growing, as unemployment reached about 205 million, according to ILO Global Employment Trends, 2011, and about half of the world’s population lived on the equivalent of $2 a day.  Macroeconomic policies alone had limited success in creating conditions for rapid and sustainable growth, job creation, increased productivity and wages, and reducing poverty.  That was demonstrated by the high levels of unemployment, which contrasted sharply with the recovery shown by other macroeconomic indicators, such as global gross domestic product (GDP), consumption and world trade.  Those persistent challenges had led to a deterioration of social development.  Expanding social protection for all through the implementation and expansion of a basic social protection floor was not just good social policy, but good economic policy.  It could produce a virtuous cycle among incomes and aggregate demand as it expanded markets and created jobs.  The Commission could play a role in ensuring that an important policy plank of the outcome document of the Millennium Development Goals summit last September — that the social protection floor be scaled up — was expanded.

ANKE STRAUSS, Liaison Officer, International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that migration was a powerful manifestation of an individual’s right to development and, therefore, also to poverty eradication.  One in every seven people in the world was a migrant, and migration could provide critical livelihood, educational and other opportunities, as well as help to spread money, skills, knowledge and networks.  Migrants, diasporas and returnees, therefore, were important actors for development.  As it brought remittances to families worldwide, migration had a strong link to the Millennium Development Goal of ending poverty and hunger.  It also helped families invest in education and health, thereby promoting other development targets.  IOM was working to promote the “humane” management of migration, particularly through its integration into development planning.  Within the framework of the Global Migration Group, IOM co-chaired the Working Group on Mainstreaming Migration into National Development Strategies and helped to promote the use of the Group’s Handbook on Mainstreaming Migration into Development Planning, which had been launched at the fourth Global Forum on Migration and Development, in Mexico, in November 2010.

SETHURAMIAH L. RAO, Permanent Observer for Partners in Population and Development, said poverty eradication was the main objective of development.  The population dynamics in many poorer developing countries were often characterized by high fertility rates; rapid population growth; high infant, child and maternal mortality; and many infectious, parasitic and respiratory diseases.  There were also very high proportions of young dependents.  Experience had shown that family planning, as an integral component of reproductive health, was an important measure that could improve maternal health, reduce maternal mortality, slow population growth, dampen poverty and contribute to economic development.  Yet, current global investments in family planning and reproductive health were woefully inadequate.  In order to help reduce poverty, it was necessary, among other things, to achieve the agreed millennium target of universal access to reproductive health, including the provision of quality family planning services.

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For information media • not an official record