Global Commercial System with Commercial Law
Governments are Corporate-governments as they are incorporated.
corporate-governments:
Most governments are now incorporated and are for profit business, but they are determined to hide this truth.
Most government officials and workers are unaware of this, as well as the general public.
The global financial system is now a matrix of Central Banks, institutional investment managers and governments that are chartered to feed and regulate this rigged ponzi scheme where the currency is created at whim and for narrow interests.
In search of justice – Summary of an International
Law Case in Finland
In search of justice – Summary of an international law case in Finland
by Jukka Davidsson – jukka.davidsson@pp.armas.fi
Finland, as so many other countries in Europe as well as in Asia, experienced a devastating economical collapse in the 1990’s. This writer has been researching the event privately and in the Uppsala University, Sweden. The summary presented here is only a superficial scratch of the very complex case. Only main events, outcomes together with the legal analysis will be presented. The huge amount of victims should finally get justice.
This is a story of a country which has been sold to foreign actors i.e. foreign people planned and executed the economical destruction and local top people aided the process. In this sense there are no news compared with other cases.
The background of the developments in Finland lies on the concept of globalization. All capabilities to protect the country were lifted. This is, financial market was opened and local finance inspection was controlled. The so called market forces made everything happen.
The planning of the banking crises began in early state in 1990. First in 1992 when the chaos was well on the way started to happen. In March President Mauno Koivisto invited the top baking executives to the presidential premises. The message of the banks was that they should get rid of liabilities up to FIM 180 billion. When calculated this number with all liabilities the real figure would be about FIM 256 billion. This equals about 45 percent of all liabilities on the banking sector. The plan was accepted and adopted.
The following meeting held with the President Koivisto took place in May 1992. This time the judicial people were invited to the President Koivisto. Although President Koivisto was officially the host of the seminar, the program and management of the seminar was carried out by invited people. The invited group, about 40 people, consisted of the Supreme Court members, judges from lower level courts as well as professors of law. Finance Inspection authority was also invited. According to the invitation letter the objective of the seminar was to evaluate and criticize the judicial operations and practice. The outcome of the seminar was the total collapse of the legal system in Finland. The effective remedies and fair trial as legal principles were removed. One study presented the result of the meeting with the following figure – out of about 3000 hearings banks won 2998 and the debtor only two.
Although the period of financial crises consists of several taskforces and publication the third quotable matter is the secret agreement signed in October 1993 between the major banks and the State of Finland. Parties agreed that the buyers were entitled to transfer customers with loans and guarantees to the bad bank Arsenal. The right to transfer was defined through the ownership of companies and through loan agreements i.e. promissory notes and notes of debt etc. It was also agreed that the banks were entitled to transfer certain lines of businesses which are real estate business and any business related to real estate business, other investment business, construction, any retail business, hotel and restaurant business, any business related to leisure business.
This meant from bank customer point of view that the banks were entitled to transfer any customer or force the company in bankruptcy. Beside private people about 22 percent of all active companies faced the bankruptcy. According to the bank of Finland provided statistics about FIM 256 billion worth nominal value loans were transferred out from banks. Due to the undervaluation of properties the real amount of stolen property is about 1,7 – 2 times of the nominal value. This is that the stolen value would be about 70 – 90 billion Euros.
Other outcomes besides the lost property values are the decreased volumes in sales, construction etc. The horrified result of this exercise is the increased numbers of suicides, divorces and mental damages and so on.
People have tried to get justice, tried to get the case of their heard by an independent court. So far this has not succeeded. There is, however, one possibility to do. It is the international criminal law based on the universality principle.
The fair trial and effective remedies are the core elements in a constitutional state. In Finland those values were forgotten during the time of banking crisis. The case law provides the proof on that issue. The rulings of the European Court of Human Rights support the comprehension. In the absence of fair trials and effective remedies the trials are useless. Therefore it is important to discuss the additional possibilities how the victims of the Finnish plot would be able to enjoy the benefits of fair justice, claim damages and begin the healing process.
The main are in the international trial would be crimes against the humanity. The crime against humanity is described in the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity of the United Nations as follows: The General Assembly of the United Nations states in its resolutions 2184(XXI) of 12 December 1966 and 2202(XXI) of 16 December 1966 which expresslycondemned as crimes against humanity the violation of the economic and political rights. The Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court is another foundation for the elements of the crime of the crimes against humanity.
Thousands of deaths should be analyzed against elements of crime like causing death by indirect methods or extermination by inflicting conditions of life. Further there are questions concerning serious discrimination, expropriation, crime against humanity of imprisonment, torture i.e. the perpetrator inflicted severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon one or more persons, persecution i.e. the perpetrator severely deprived, contrary to international law, one or more persons of fundamental rights, other inhumane acts i.e. the perpetrator inflicted great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health, by means of an inhumane act.
In this context we shouldn’t either forget in this context the United Nations’ Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power and Principles of international co-operation in the detection, arrest, extradition of persons guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Among other things following requirements are presented by the United Nations:
“Victims” means persons who, individually or collectively, have suffered harm, including physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss or substantial impairment of their fundamental rights, through acts or omissions that are in violation of criminal laws operative within Member States, including those laws proscribing criminal abuse of power.
War crimes and crimes against humanity, wherever they are committed, shall be subject to investigation and the persons against whom there is evidence that they have committed such crimes shall be subject to tracing, arrest, trial and, if found guilty, to punishment.
The Finnish people are persistent and unyielding. At the moment this process needs international support and some resources. The European international lawyers have accepted the case and they are ready and willing to file the case. The proof and documentation exists. This trial would be partly a trial against the international financial cabal.
___________________________________
U.N. Conference Slyly Introduces Resolution to Gain Control of Internet—in Middle of Night
Daniel Halper
December 12, 2012 10:48 PM
In the middle of the night at a U.N. conference in Dubai, the presiding chairman of the International Telecommunication Union conference surveyed the assembled countries to see whether there was interest in having greater involvement in the U.N. governing the Internet. A majority of countries gave their approval.
With a sufficient majority supporting the U.N. becoming more active in controlling the Internet, the chairman put forth a resolution. The chairman, though, insisted the survey “was not a vote.”
The resolution was supported by Cuba, Algeria, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia; the United States opposed it.
The proposed resolution resolves that the secretary general of the U.N. “continue to take the necessary steps for ITU to play an active and constructive role in the multi-stakeholder model of the Internet,” according to a draft of the text.
“While it is our understanding that the resolutions made at the WCIT are non-binding, the Secretary-General might treat them as binding, which effectively creates a dangerous mandate for the ITU to continue to hold discussions about internet policy into the future,” accessnow.org writes, responding to this proposed text.
The pro-digital freedom blog writes, “Further, although minor in scale compared to the impact that defining internet in the ITRs and giving control of it to member states, as Russia proposed, this resolution problematically opens the door to further debate over internet policymaking within ITU fora, and away from multi-stakeholder bodies. As Access has made clear, the ITU is government-centric, lacks transparency, excludes key stakeholders including civil society, and fails to promote a multi-stakeholder approach to internet governance that was embraced by the world’s governments at the 2005 World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). And in a similar vain as this resolution’s recognition of the WSIS Outcome Documents and Tunis Agenda before it, future ITU documents will undoubtedly cite to this resolution as approving the ITU as a forum for discussing internet governance and justifying a further expansion of its role.”
The preliminary draft resolution also states, “To foster an enabling environment for the greater growth of the Internet … that, as stated in the WSIS outcomes, all governments should have an equal role and responsibility for international Internet governance and for ensuring the stability, security and continuity of the existing Internet and its future development and of the future internet, and that the need for development of public policy by governments I consultation with all stakeholders is also recognized.”
Accessnow.org explains the concern with this article:
it gives governments primacy in the development of internet-related public policy, which is contrary to Paragraph 35 of the Tunis Agenda – a provision cited twice in this resolution. Provision e’s wording could also be read to give preference to discussing internet policy in UN fora, because these are the only institutions that explicitly give “all governments… an equal role and responsibility…”
Provision a of the resolution further invites Member States to discuss internet policy issues in other ITU fora. While this provision is caveated to only refer to internet-related issues that are within the ITU’s mandate, which lessens the impact somewhat, Access does not believe that the ITU is an appropriate institution to discuss internet policy.
Given the shady nature of the middle-of-the-night introduction of the resolution, it’s unclear how ITU conference will proceed.
Nevertheless, they are expected to meet again early Thursday morning (local time), and will need to have the resolution finalized, if they decide to go further, before the conference concludes on Friday.
Here’s the full text of the proposed resolution:
PRELIMINARY DRAFT NEW RESOLUTION
To foster an enabling environment for the greater growth of the InternetThe World Conference of International Telecommunication (Dubai, 2012), recognizing
a) the WSIS Outcome Documents including Geneva (2003) and Tunis Phases (2005);
b) that the Internet is a central element of the infrastructure of the Information Society, has evolved from a research and academic facility into a global facility available to the public.;
c) the importance of Broadband capacity to facilitate the delivery of a broader range of services and applications, promote investment and provide Internet access at affordable to both existing and new users.;
d) the valuable contribution of all stakeholder groups in their respective roles as recognized in paragraph 35 of the Tunis Agenda to the evolution, functioning and development of the Internet.;
e) that, as stated in the WSIS outcomes, all governments should have an equal role and responsibility for international Internet governance and for ensuring the stability, security and continuity of the existing Internet and its future development and of the future internet, and that the need for development of public policy by governments I consultation with all stakeholders is also recognized,;
f) Resolutions 101, 102, and 133 of the 2010 Plenipotentiary Conference.,
invites Member States
1 to elaborate on their respective position on international Internet-related technical, development and public policy issues within the mandate of the ITU at various ITU fora including, inter alia, the World Telecommunication/ICT Policy Forum, the Broadband Commission and ITU-T and ITU-¬D Study Groups.;
2 to engage with all their stakeholders in this regard.,
resolves to instruct the Secretary-General
1 to continue to take the necessary steps for ITU to play an active and constructive role in the multi-stakeholder model of the Internet as expressed in § 35 of the Tunis Agenda;
2 to support the participation of Member States and all other stakeholders, as applicable, in the activities of the ITU in this regard.
For more, read this post at accessnow.org.
_______________________________
Timeline: The Best Government Money Can Buy
A short, shady history of how American elections are bought and paid for.
—By Aaron Ross
1758
George Washington’s successful campaign for the Virginia House of Burgesses spends £39 on booze to “treat” voters on Election Day ($8,130 in 2011 dollars).
1800Thomas Jefferson hires a writer to smear President John Adams as “mentally deranged” and a “hideous hermaphroditical character.” Propagandist is imprisoned under the Sedition Act; Jefferson wins the election.1829President Andrew Jackson advocates rewarding loyalists with political office. Sen. William Marcy later notes approvingly, “To the victor belong the the spoils of the enemy.”
Thomas Nast/Harpers Weekly/Wikimedia1867In America’s first federal campaign finance reform law, Congress makes it illegal to pressure workers at naval yards for political contributions.1872Railroad financier Jay Cooke gives $50,000 to the Republican Party—25 percent of its budget. A historian writes of President Ulysses S. Grant, “Never before was a candidate placed under such great obligation to men of wealth.”1875Mark Twain: “I think I can say, and say with pride, that we have some legislatures that bring higher prices than any in the world.”1883Congress prohibits soliciting civil servants for political contributions.1896President William McKinley’s campaign manager hits up corporations for donations sized “according to [their] stake in the general prosperity of the country.”1906Accused of fundraising improprieties, President Theodore Roosevelt calls for a ban on all corporate contributions “for any political purpose,” leading to passage of the Tillman Act (named after white supremacist Sen. “Pitchfork Ben” Tillman).1911Congress introduces individual spending limits for federal campaigns.1943After Congress bans political giving by unions, the Congress of Industrial Organizations forms the first PAC, skirting the restrictions by collecting campaign money outside of regular dues.1952VP candidate Richard Nixon delivers his “Checkers” speech, defending more than $18,000 in secret donations: “Every penny of it was used to pay for political expenses that I did not think should be charged to the taxpayers.”
billypalooza/Flickr1971President Nixon tells his chief of staff to tell donors, “Anybody who wants to be an ambassador must at least give $250,000.” Dwayne Andreas, CEO of Archer Daniels Midland, later delivers $100,000 to Nixon’s secretary and helps fund the Watergate break-in.1974Congress imposes stricter limits on individual contributions and outside expenditures and sets up the Federal Election Commission (FEC).1976Buckley v. Valeo strikes down some of the new restrictions, finding that election spending is constitutionally protected speech.1979Newfound loopholes permit corporations and unions to give unlimited “soft money” to the Republican and Democratic national committees for “party-building activities.”1991Five senators, including Sen. John McCain, are found to have advocated on behalf of Charles Keating’s failing S&L after receiving a combined $1.3 million in campaign money.1996A California Buddhist temple illegally gives at least $65,000 to the Democratic National Committee on behalf of wealthy donors. The scandal prompts the DNC to return $3 million in donations.1997The Clinton administration releases a list of 938 overnight guests at the White House, many of whom slumbered in the Lincoln Bedroom. Others received coffee, golf outings, or morning jogs with the president. All told, these donors gave some $10 million to Democrats in the 1996 election.2002The McCain-Feingold Act bans soft money in federal elections and bans the use of corporate or union funds to make ads about candidates in the weeks before an election.
Aaron Webb/Flickr2005GOP Majority Leader Tom DeLay is indicted for funneling corporate money through the RNC to Texas Republicans. More than five years later, he is convicted of money laundering and sentenced to three years in prison. He’s out on bail while appealing.2006Lobbyist Jack Abramoff admits trading golf junkets, meals at his DC restaurant, and campaign contributions for political favors. President George W. Bush and GOP leaders rush to dump donations linked to him.2007The Supreme Court sides with lawyer James Bopp (who will later bring the Citizens United case) and eases limits on corporate and union-backed ads close to an election, so long as they’re not for or against candidates (wink, wink).2010Citizens United ruling allows corporations and unions to advocate for or against candidates at any time. Two months later, in Speechnow.org v. FEC, an appeals court strikes down limits on contributions to independent-expenditure shops. The super-PAC is born.
| United Nations | A/CONF.166/9 |
World Summit for Social Development
Distr. GENERAL
19 April 1995
ORIGINAL:
ENGLISH/FRENCH/SPANISH
Copenhagen, Denmark
6-12 March 1995
REPORT OF THE WORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT*
(Copenhagen, 6-12 March 1995)
* The present document is a preliminary version of the report of the
World Summit for Social Development.
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
I. RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE SUMMIT ............................... 4
1. Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme
of Action of the World Summit for Social Development ........ 4
2. Expression of thanks to the people and Government of Denmark 92
3. Credentials of representatives to the World Summit for
Social Development ..........................................92
II. ATTENDANCE AND ORGANIZATION OF WORK .............................93
A. Date and place of the Summit ................................93
B. Attendance ..................................................93
C. Opening of the Summit and election of the President .........96
D. Messages from heads of State ................................96
E. Adoption of the rules of procedure ..........................96
F. Adoption of the agenda ......................................97
G. Election of officers other than the President ...............97
H. Organization of work, including establishment of the Main
Committee ...................................................98
I. Accreditation of intergovernmental organizations ............98
J. Accreditation of non-governmental organizations .............98
K. Appointment of the members of the Credentials Committee .....98
III. GENERAL EXCHANGE OF VIEWS .......................................99
IV. REPORT OF THE MAIN COMMITTEE ....................................102
V. ADOPTION OF THE COPENHAGEN DECLARATION ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
AND THE PROGRAMME OF ACTION OF THE WORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT .....................................................105
VI. REPORT OF THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE .............................112
VII. MEETING OF HEADS OF STATE OR GOVERNMENT .........................113
VIII. ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE SUMMIT ............................121
IX. CLOSURE OF THE SUMMIT ...........................................122
Annexes
I. LIST OF DOCUMENTS .. .............................................123
II. OPENING STATEMENTS ...............................................125
III. CLOSING STATEMENT ................................................132
Chapter I
RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE SUMMIT
Resolution 1
Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and
Programme of Action of the World Summit for
Social Development*
* Adopted at the 14th plenary meeting on 12 March 1995; for the
discussion, see chap. V.
The World Summit for Social Development,
Having met in Copenhagen from 6 to 12 March 1995,
1. Adopts the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the
Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, which are
annexed to the present resolution;
2. Recommends to the General Assembly of the United Nations at its
fiftieth session that it endorses the Copenhagen Declaration and the Programme
of Action, as adopted by the Summit.
Annex I
COPENHAGEN DECLARATION ON SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
1. For the first time in history, at the invitation of the United Nations,
we gather as heads of State and Government to recognize the significance of
social development and human well-being for all and to give to these goals the
highest priority both now and into the twenty-first century.
2. We acknowledge that the people of the world have shown in different ways
an urgent need to address profound social problems, especially poverty,
unemployment and social exclusion, that affect every country. It is our task
to address both their underlying and structural causes and their distressing
consequences in order to reduce uncertainty and insecurity in the life of
people.
3. We acknowledge that our societies must respond more effectively to the
material and spiritual needs of individuals, their families and the
communities in which they live throughout our diverse countries and regions.
We must do so not only as a matter of urgency but also as a matter of
sustained and unshakeable commitment through the years ahead.
4. We are convinced that democracy and transparent and accountable
governance and administration in all sectors of society are indispensable
foundations for the realization of social and people-centred sustainable
development.
5. We share the conviction that social development and social justice are
indispensable for the achievement and maintenance of peace and security within
and among our nations. In turn, social development and social justice cannot
be attained in the absence of peace and security or in the absence of respect
for all human rights and fundamental freedoms. This essential interdependence
was recognized 50 years ago in the Charter of the United Nations and has since
grown ever stronger.
6. We are deeply convinced that economic development, social development
and environmental protection are interdependent and mutually reinforcing
components of sustainable development, which is the framework for our efforts
to achieve a higher quality of life for all people. Equitable social
development that recognizes empowering the poor to utilize environmental
resources sustainably is a necessary foundation for sustainable development.
We also recognize that broad-based and sustained economic growth in the
context of sustainable development is necessary to sustain social development
and social justice.
7. We recognize, therefore, that social development is central to the needs
and aspirations of people throughout the world and to the responsibilities of
Governments and all sectors of civil society. We affirm that, in both
economic and social terms, the most productive policies and investments are
those that empower people to maximize their capacities, resources and
opportunities. We acknowledge that social and economic development cannot be
secured in a sustainable way without the full participation of women and that
equality and equity between women and men is a priority for the international
community and as such must be at the centre of economic and social
development.
8. We acknowledge that people are at the centre of our concerns for
sustainable development and that they are entitled to a healthy and productive
life in harmony with the environment.
9. We gather here to commit ourselves, our Governments and our nations to
enhancing social development throughout the world so that all men and women,
especially those living in poverty, may exercise the rights, utilize the
resources and share the responsibilities that enable them to lead satisfying
lives and to contribute to the well-being of their families, their communities
and humankind. To support and promote these efforts must be the overriding
goals of the international community, especially with respect to people
suffering from poverty, unemployment and social exclusion.
10. We make this solemn commitment on the eve of the fiftieth anniversary of
the United Nations, with a determination to capture the unique possibilities
offered by the end of the cold war to promote social development and social
justice. We reaffirm and are guided by the principles of the Charter of the
United Nations and by agreements reached at relevant international
conferences, including the World Summit for Children, held at New York in
1990; 1/ the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held at
Rio de Janeiro in 1992; 2/ the World Conference on Human Rights, held at
Vienna in 1993; 3/ the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of
Small Island Developing States, held at Bridgetown, Barbados in 1994; 4/ and
the International Conference on Population and Development, held at Cairo in
1994. 5/ By this Summit we launch a new commitment to social development in
each of our countries and a new era of international cooperation between
Governments and peoples based on a spirit of partnership that puts the needs,
rights and aspirations of people at the centre of our decisions and joint
actions.
11. We gather here in Copenhagen in a Summit of hope, commitment and action.
We gather with full awareness of the difficulty of the tasks that lie ahead
but with a conviction that major progress can be achieved, must be achieved
and will be achieved.
12. We commit ourselves to this Declaration and Programme of Action for
enhancing social development and ensuring human well-being for all throughout
the world now and into the twenty-first century. We invite all people in all
countries and in all walks of life, as well as the international community, to
join us in our common cause.
A. Current social situation and reasons for convening
the Summit
13. We are witnessing in countries throughout the world the expansion of
prosperity for some, unfortunately accompanied by an expansion of unspeakable
poverty for others. This glaring contradiction is unacceptable and needs to
be corrected through urgent actions.
14. Globalization, which is a consequence of increased human mobility,
enhanced communications, greatly increased trade and capital flows, and
technological developments, opens new opportunities for sustained economic
growth and development of the world economy, particularly in developing
countries. Globalization also permits countries to share experiences and to
learn from one another's achievements and difficulties, and promotes a
cross-fertilization of ideals, cultural values and aspirations. At the same
time, the rapid processes of change and adjustment have been accompanied by
intensified poverty, unemployment and social disintegration. Threats to human
well-being, such as environmental risks, have also been globalized.
Furthermore, the global transformations of the world economy are profoundly
changing the parameters of social development in all countries. The challenge
is how to manage these processes and threats so as to enhance their benefits
and mitigate their negative effects upon people.
15. There has been progress in some areas of social and economic
development:
(a) The global wealth of nations has multiplied sevenfold in the past
50 years and international trade has grown even more dramatically;
(b) Life expectancy, literacy and primary education, and access to basic
health care, including family planning, have increased in the majority of
countries and average infant mortality has been reduced, including in
developing countries;
(c) Democratic pluralism, democratic institutions and fundamental civil
liberties have expanded. Decolonization efforts have achieved much progress,
while the elimination of apartheid is a historic achievement.
16. Yet we recognize that far too many people, particularly women and
children, are vulnerable to stress and deprivation. Poverty, unemployment and
social disintegration too often result in isolation, marginalization and
violence. The insecurity that many people, in particular vulnerable people,
face about the future - their own and their children's - is intensifying:
(a) Within many societies, both in developed and developing countries,
the gap between rich and poor has increased. Furthermore, despite the fact
that some developing countries are growing rapidly the gap between developed
and many developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, has
widened;
(b) More than one billion people in the world live in abject poverty,
most of whom go hungry every day. A large proportion, the majority of whom
are women, have very limited access to income, resources, education, health
care or nutrition, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries;
(c) There are also serious social problems of a different nature and
magnitude in countries with economies in transition and countries experiencing
fundamental political, economic and social transformations;
(d) The major cause of the continued deterioration of the global
environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production,
particularly in industrialized countries, which is a matter of grave concern,
aggravating poverty and imbalances;
(e) Continued growth in the world's population, its structure and
distribution, and its relationship with poverty and social and gender
inequality challenge the adaptive capacities of Governments, individuals,
social institutions and the natural environment;
(f) Over 120 million people world wide are officially unemployed and
many more are underemployed. Too many young people, including those with
formal education, have little hope of finding productive work;
(g) More women than men live in absolute poverty and the imbalance
continues to grow, with serious consequences for women and their children.
Women carry a disproportionate share of the problems of coping with poverty,
social disintegration, unemployment, environmental degradation and the effects
of war;
(h) One of the world's largest minorities, more than 1 in 10, are people
with disabilities, who are too often forced into poverty, unemployment and
social isolation. In addition, in all countries older persons may be
particularly vulnerable to social exclusion, poverty and marginalization;
(i) Millions of people world wide are refugees or internally displaced
persons. The tragic social consequences have a critical effect on the social
stability and development of their home countries, their host countries and
their respective regions.
17. While these problems are global in character and affect all countries,
we clearly acknowledge that the situation of most developing countries, and
particularly of Africa and the least developed countries, is critical and
requires special attention and action. We also acknowledge that these
countries, which are undergoing fundamental political, economic and social
transformation, including countries in the process of consolidating peace and
democracy, require the support of the international community.
18. Countries with economies in transition, which are also undergoing
fundamental political, economic and social transformation, require the support
of the international community as well.
19. Other countries that are undergoing fundamental political, economic and
social transformation require the support of the international community as
well.
20. The goals and objectives of social development require continuous
efforts to reduce and eliminate major sources of social distress and
instability for the family and for society. We pledge to place particular
focus on and give priority attention to the fight against the world-wide
conditions that pose severe threats to the health, safety, peace, security and
well-being of our people. Among these conditions are chronic hunger;
malnutrition; illicit drug problems; organized crime; corruption; foreign
occupation; armed conflicts; illicit arms trafficking, terrorism, intolerance
and incitement to racial, ethnic, religious and other hatreds; xenophobia; and
endemic, communicable and chronic diseases. To this end, coordination and
cooperation at the national level and especially at the regional and
international levels should be further strengthened.
21. In this context, the negative impact on development of excessive
military expenditures, the arms trade, and investment for arms production and
acquisition must be addressed.
22. Communicable diseases constitute a serious health problem in all
countries and are a major cause of death globally; in many cases, their
incidence is increasing. These diseases are a hindrance to social development
and are often the cause of poverty and social exclusion. The prevention,
treatment and control of these diseases, covering a spectrum from tuberculosis
and malaria to the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency
syndrome (HIV/AIDS), must be given the highest priority.
23. We can continue to hold the trust of the people of the world only if we
make their needs our priority. We know that poverty, lack of productive
employment and social disintegration are an offence to human dignity. We also
know that they are negatively reinforcing and represent a waste of human
resources and a manifestation of ineffectiveness in the functioning of markets
and economic and social institutions and processes.
24. Our challenge is to establish a people-centred framework for social
development to guide us now and in the future, to build a culture of
cooperation and partnership, and to respond to the immediate needs of those
who are most affected by human distress. We are determined to meet this
challenge and promote social development throughout the world.
B. Principles and goals
25. We heads of State and Government are committed to a political, economic,
ethical and spiritual vision for social development that is based on human
dignity, human rights, equality, respect, peace, democracy, mutual
responsibility and cooperation, and full respect for the various religious and
ethical values and cultural backgrounds of people. Accordingly, we will give
the highest priority in national, regional and international policies and
actions to the promotion of social progress, justice and the betterment of the
human condition, based on full participation by all.
26. To this end, we will create a framework for action to:
(a) Place people at the centre of development and direct our economies
to meet human needs more effectively;
(b) Fulfil our responsibility for present and future generations by
ensuring equity among generations and protecting the integrity and sustainable
use of our environment;
(c) Recognize that, while social development is a national
responsibility, it cannot be successfully achieved without the collective
commitment and efforts of the international community;
(d) Integrate economic, cultural and social policies so that they become
mutually supportive, and acknowledge the interdependence of public and private
spheres of activity;
(e) Recognize that the achievement of sustained social development
requires sound, broadly based economic policies;
(f) Promote democracy, human dignity, social justice and solidarity at
the national, regional and international levels; ensure tolerance,
non-violence, pluralism and non-discrimination, with full respect for
diversity within and among societies;
(g) Promote the equitable distribution of income and greater access to
resources through equity and equality of opportunity for all;
(h) Recognize the family as the basic unit of society, and acknowledge
that it plays a key role in social development and as such should be
strengthened, with attention to the rights, capabilities and responsibilities
of its members. In different cultural, political and social systems various
forms of family exist. It is entitled to receive comprehensive protection and
support;
(i) Ensure that disadvantaged and vulnerable persons and groups are
included in social development, and that society acknowledges and responds to
the consequences of disability by securing the legal rights of the individual
and by making the physical and social environment accessible;
(j) Promote universal respect for, and observance and protection of, all
human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, including the right to
development; promote the effective exercise of rights and the discharge of
responsibilities at all levels of society; promote equality and equity between
women and men; protect the rights of children and youth; and promote the
strengthening of social integration and civil society;
(k) Reaffirm the right of self-determination of all peoples, in
particular of peoples under colonial or other forms of alien domination or
foreign occupation, and the importance of the effective realization of this
right, as enunciated, inter alia, in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of
Action 3/ adopted at the World Conference on Human Rights;
(l) Support progress and security for people and communities whereby
every member of society is enabled to satisfy his or her basic human needs and
to realize his or her personal dignity, safety and creativity;
(m) Recognize and support indigenous people in their pursuit of economic
and social development, with full respect for their identity, traditions,
forms of social organization and cultural values;
(n) Underline the importance of transparent and accountable governance
and administration in all public and private national and international
institutions;
(o) Recognize that empowering people, particularly women, to strengthen
their own capacities is a main objective of development and its principal
resource. Empowerment requires the full participation of people in the
formulation, implementation and evaluation of decisions determining the
functioning and well-being of our societies;
(p) Assert the universality of social development and outline a new and
strengthened approach to social development, with a renewed impetus for
international cooperation and partnership;
(q) Improve the possibility of older persons achieving a better life;
(r) Recognize that the new information technologies and new approaches
to access to and use of technologies by people living in poverty can help in
fulfilling social development goals; and therefore recognize the need to
facilitate access to such technologies;
(s) Strengthen policies and programmes that improve, ensure and broaden
the participation of women in all spheres of political, economic, social and
cultural life, as equal partners, and improve their access to all resources
needed for the full exercise of their fundamental rights;
(t) Create the political, legal, material and social conditions that
allow for the voluntary repatriation of refugees in safety and dignity to
their countries of origin, and the voluntary and safe return of internally
displaced persons to their places of origin and their smooth reintegration
into their societies;
(u) Emphasize the importance of the return of all prisoners of war,
persons missing in action and hostages to their families, in accordance with
international conventions, in order to reach full social development.
27. We acknowledge that it is the primary responsibility of States to attain
these goals. We also acknowledge that these goals cannot be achieved by
States alone. The international community, the United Nations, the
multilateral financial institutions, all regional organizations and local
authorities, and all actors of civil society need to positively contribute
their own share of efforts and resources in order to reduce inequalities among
people and narrow the gap between developed and developing countries in a
global effort to reduce social tensions, and to create greater social and
economic stability and security. Radical political, social and economic
changes in the countries with economies in transition have been accompanied by
a deterioration in their economic and social situation. We invite all people
to express their personal commitment to enhancing the human condition through
concrete actions in their own fields of activities and through assuming
specific civic responsibilities.
C. Commitments
28. Our global drive for social development and the recommendations for
action contained in the Programme of Action are made in a spirit of consensus
and international cooperation, in full conformity with the purposes and
principles of the Charter of the United Nations, recognizing that the
formulation and implementation of strategies, policies, programmes and actions
for social development are the responsibility of each country and should take
into account the economic, social and environmental diversity of conditions in
each country, with full respect for the various religious and ethical values,
cultural backgrounds and philosophical convictions of its people, and in
conformity with all human rights and fundamental freedoms. In this context,
international cooperation is essential for the full implementation of social
development programmes and actions.
29. On the basis of our common pursuit of social development, which aims at
social justice, solidarity, harmony and equality within and among countries,
with full respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well
as policy objectives, development priorities and religious and cultural
diversity, and full respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, we
launch a global drive for social progress and development embodied in the
following commitments.
Commitment 1
------------
We commit ourselves to creating an economic, political, social, cultural
and legal environment that will enable people to achieve social development.
To this end, at the national level, we will:
(a) Provide a stable legal framework, in accordance with our
constitutions, laws and procedures, and consistent with international law and
obligations, which includes and promotes equality and equity between women and
men, full respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule
of law, access to justice, the elimination of all forms of discrimination,
transparent and accountable governance and administration and the
encouragement of partnership with free and representative organizations of
civil society;
(b) Create an enabling economic environment aimed at promoting more
equitable access for all to income, resources and social services;
(c) Reinforce, as appropriate, the means and capacities for people to
participate in the formulation and implementation of social and economic
policies and programmes through decentralization, open management of public
institutions and strengthening the abilities and opportunities of civil
society and local communities to develop their own organizations, resources
and activities;
(d) Reinforce peace by promoting tolerance, non-violence and respect for
diversity, and by settling disputes by peaceful means;
(e) Promote dynamic, open, free markets, while recognizing the need to
intervene in markets, to the extent necessary, to prevent or counteract market
failure, promote stability and long-term investment, ensure fair competition
and ethical conduct, and harmonize economic and social development, including
the development and implementation of appropriate programmes that would
entitle and enable people living in poverty and the disadvantaged, especially
women, to participate fully and productively in the economy and society;
(f) Reaffirm, promote and strive to ensure the realization of the rights
set out in relevant international instruments and declarations, such as the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 6/ the Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights 7/ and the Declaration on the Right to Development, 8/
including those relating to education, food, shelter, employment, health and
information, particularly in order to assist people living in poverty;
(g) Create the comprehensive conditions to allow for the voluntary
repatriation of refugees in safety and dignity to their countries of origin,
and the voluntary and safe return of internally displaced persons to their
places of origin and their smooth reintegration into their societies.
At the international level, we will:
(h) Promote international peace and security and make and support all
efforts to settle international disputes by peaceful means in accordance with
the Charter of the United Nations;
(i) Strengthen international cooperation for achieving social
development;
(j) Promote and implement policies to create a supportive external
economic environment, through, inter alia, cooperation in the formulation and
implementation of macroeconomic policies, trade liberalization, mobilization
and/or provision of new and additional financial resources that are both
adequate and predictable and mobilized in a way that maximizes the
availability of such resources for sustainable development, using all
available funding sources and mechanisms, enhanced financial stability, and
more equitable access of developing countries to global markets, productive
investments and technologies and appropriate knowledge, with due consideration
to the needs of countries with economies in transition;
(k) Strive to ensure that international agreements relating to trade,
investment, technology, debt and official development assistance are
implemented in a manner that promotes social development;
(l) Support, particularly through technical and financial cooperation,
the efforts of developing countries to achieve rapid, broadly based
sustainable development. Particular consideration should be given to the
special needs of small island and land-locked developing countries and the
least developed countries;
(m) Support, through appropriate international cooperation, the efforts
of countries with economies in transition to achieve rapid broadly based
sustainable development;
(n) Reaffirm and promote all human rights, which are universal,
indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, including the right to
development as a universal and inalienable right and an integral part of
fundamental human rights, and strive to ensure that they are respected,
protected and observed.
Commitment 2
------------
We commit ourselves to the goal of eradicating poverty in the world,
through decisive national actions and international cooperation, as an
ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind.
To this end, at the national level, in partnership with all actors of
civil society and in the context of a multidimensional and integrated
approach, we will:
(a) Formulate or strengthen, as a matter of urgency, and preferably by
the year 1996, the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, 9/
national policies and strategies geared to substantially reducing overall
poverty in the shortest possible time, reducing inequalities and eradicating
absolute poverty by a target date to be specified by each country in its
national context;
(b) Focus our efforts and policies to address the root causes of poverty
and to provide for the basic needs of all. These efforts should include the
elimination of hunger and malnutrition; the provision of food security,
education, employment and livelihood, primary health-care services including
reproductive health care, safe drinking water and sanitation, and adequate
shelter; and participation in social and cultural life. Special priority will
be given to the needs and rights of women and children, who often bear the
greatest burden of poverty, and to the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged
groups and persons;
(c) Ensure that people living in poverty have access to productive
resources, including credit, land, education and training, technology,
knowledge and information, as well as to public services, and participate in
decision-making on a policy and regulatory environment that would enable them
to benefit from expanding employment and economic opportunities;
(d) Develop and implement policies to ensure that all people have
adequate economic and social protection during unemployment, ill health,
maternity, child-rearing, widowhood, disability and old age;
(e) Ensure that national budgets and policies are oriented, as
necessary, to meeting basic needs, reducing inequalities and targeting
poverty, as a strategic objective;
(f) Seek to reduce inequalities, increase opportunities and access to
resources and income, and remove any political, legal, economic and social
factors and constraints that foster and sustain inequality.
At the international level, we will:
(g) Strive to ensure that the international community and international
organizations, particularly the multilateral financial institutions, assist
developing countries and all countries in need in their efforts to achieve our
overall goal of eradicating poverty and ensuring basic social protection;
(h) Encourage all international donors and multilateral development
banks to support policies and programmes for the attainment, in a sustained
manner, of the specific efforts of the developing countries and all countries
in need relating to people-centred sustainable development and to meeting
basic needs for all; to assess their existing programmes in consultation with
the concerned developing countries to ensure the achievement of the agreed
programme objectives; and to seek to ensure that their own policies and
programmes will advance the attainment of agreed development goals that focus
on meeting basic needs for all and eradicating absolute poverty. Efforts
should be made to ensure that participation by the people concerned is an
integral part of such programmes;
(i) Focus attention on and support the special needs of countries and
regions in which there are substantial concentrations of people living in
poverty, in particular in South Asia, and which therefore face serious
difficulties in achieving social and economic development.
Commitment 3
------------
We commit ourselves to promoting the goal of full employment as a basic
priority of our economic and social policies, and to enabling all men and
women to attain secure and sustainable livelihoods through freely chosen
productive employment and work.
To this end, at the national level, we will:
(a) Put the creation of employment, the reduction of unemployment and
the promotion of appropriately and adequately remunerated employment at the
centre of strategies and policies of Governments, with full respect for
workers' rights and with the participation of employers, workers and their
respective organizations, giving special attention to the problems of
structural, long-term unemployment and underemployment of youth, women, people
with disabilities, and all other disadvantaged groups and individuals;
(b) Develop policies to expand work opportunities and productivity in
both rural and urban sectors by achieving economic growth, investing in human
resource development, promoting technologies that generate productive
employment, and encouraging self-employment, entrepreneurship, and small and
medium-sized enterprises;
(c) Improve access to land, credit, information, infrastructure and
other productive resources for small and micro-enterprises, including those in
the informal sector, with particular emphasis on the disadvantaged sectors of
society;
(d) Develop policies to ensure that workers and employers have the
education, information and training needed to adapt to changing economic
conditions, technologies and labour markets;
(e) Explore innovative options for employment creation and seek new
approaches to generating income and purchasing power;
(f) Foster policies that enable people to combine their paid work with
their family responsibilities;
(g) Pay particular attention to women's access to employment, the
protection of their position in the labour market and the promotion of equal
treatment of women and men, in particular with respect to pay;
(h) Take due account of the importance of the informal sector in our
employment development strategies with a view to increasing its contribution
to the eradication of poverty and to social integration in developing
countries, and to strengthening its linkages with the formal economy;
(i) Pursue the goal of ensuring quality jobs, and safeguard the basic
rights and interests of workers and to this end, freely promote respect for
relevant International Labour Organization conventions, including those on the
prohibition of forced and child labour, the freedom of association, the right
to organize and bargain collectively, and the principle of non-discrimination.
At the international level, we will:
(j) Ensure that migrant workers benefit from the protections provided by
relevant national and international instruments, take concrete and effective
measures against the exploitation of migrant workers, and encourage all
countries to consider the ratification and full implementation of the relevant
international instruments on migrant workers;
(k) Foster international cooperation in macroeconomic policies,
liberalization of trade and investment so as to promote sustained economic
growth and the creation of employment, and exchange experiences on successful
policies and programmes aimed at increasing employment and reducing
unemployment.
Commitment 4
------------
We commit ourselves to promoting social integration by fostering
societies that are stable, safe and just and that are based on the promotion
and protection of all human rights, as well as on non-discrimination,
tolerance, respect for diversity, equality of opportunity, solidarity,
security, and participation of all people, including disadvantaged and
vulnerable groups and persons.
To this end, at the national level, we will:
(a) Promote respect for democracy, the rule of law, pluralism and
diversity, tolerance and responsibility, non-violence and solidarity by
encouraging educational systems, communication media and local communities and
organizations to raise people's understanding and awareness of all aspects of
social integration;
(b) Formulate or strengthen policies and strategies geared to the
elimination of discrimination in all its forms and the achievement of social
integration based on equality and respect for human dignity;
(c) Promote access for all to education, information, technology and
know-how as essential means for enhancing communication and participation in
civil, political, economic, social and cultural life, and ensure respect for
civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights;
(d) Ensure the protection and full integration into the economy and
society of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and persons;
(e) Formulate or strengthen measures to ensure respect for and
protection of the human rights of migrants, migrant workers and their
families, to eliminate the increasing acts of racism and xenophobia in sectors
of many societies, and to promote greater harmony and tolerance in all
societies;
(f) Recognize and respect the right of indigenous people to maintain and
develop their identity, culture and interests, support their aspirations for
social justice and provide an environment that enables them to participate in
the social, economic and political life of their country;
(g) Foster the social protection and full integration into the economy
and society of veterans, including veterans and victims of the Second World
War and other wars;
(h) Acknowledge and encourage the contribution of people of all age
groups as equally and vitally important for the building of a harmonious
society, and foster dialogue between generations in all parts of society;
(i) Recognize and respect cultural, ethnic and religious diversity,
promote and protect the rights of persons belonging to national, ethnic,
religious or linguistic minorities, and take measures to facilitate their full
participation in all aspects of the political, economic, social, religious and
cultural life of their societies and in the economic progress and social
development of their countries;
(j) Strengthen the ability of local communities and groups with common
concerns to develop their own organizations and resources and to propose
policies relating to social development, including through the activities of
non-governmental organizations;
(k) Strengthen institutions that enhance social integration, recognizing
the central role of the family and providing it with an environment that
assures its protection and support. In different cultural, political and
social systems, various forms of the family exist;
(l) Address the problems of crime, violence and illicit drugs as factors
of social disintegration.
At the international level, we will:
(m) Encourage the ratification of, the avoidance as far as possible of
the resort to reservations to, and the implementation of international
instruments and adherence to internationally recognized declarations relevant
to the elimination of discrimination and the promotion and protection of all
human rights;
(n) Further enhance international mechanisms for the provision of
humanitarian and financial assistance to refugees and host countries and
promote appropriate shared responsibility;
(o) Promote international cooperation and partnership on the basis of
equality, mutual respect and mutual benefit.
Commitment 5
------------
We commit ourselves to promoting full respect for human dignity and to
achieving equality and equity between women and men, and to recognizing and
enhancing the participation and leadership roles of women in political, civil,
economic, social and cultural life and in development.
To this end, at the national level, we will:
(a) Promote changes in attitudes, structures, policies, laws and
practices in order to eliminate all obstacles to human dignity, equality and
equity in the family and in society, and promote full and equal participation
of urban and rural women and women with disabilities in social, economic and
political life, including in the formulation, implementation and follow-up of
public policies and programmes;
(b) Establish structures, policies, objectives and measurable goals to
ensure gender balance and equity in decision-making processes at all levels,
broaden women's political, economic, social and cultural opportunities and
independence, and support the empowerment of women, including through their
various organizations, especially those of indigenous women, those at the
grass-roots level, and those of poverty-stricken communities, including
through affirmative action, where necessary, and also through measures to
integrate a gender perspective in the design and implementation of economic
and social policies;
(c) Promote full and equal access of women to literacy, education and
training, and remove all obstacles to their access to credit and other
productive resources and to their ability to buy, hold and sell property and
land equally with men;
(d) Take appropriate measures to ensure, on the basis of equality of men
and women, universal access to the widest range of health-care services,
including those relating to reproductive health care, consistent with the
Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and
Development; 5/
(e) Remove the remaining restrictions on women's rights to own land,
inherit property or borrow money, and ensure women's equal right to work;
(f) Establish policies, objectives and goals that enhance the equality
of status, welfare and opportunity of the girl child, especially in regard to
health, nutrition, literacy and education, recognizing that gender
discrimination starts at the earliest stages of life;
(g) Promote equal partnership between women and men in family and
community life and society, emphasize the shared responsibility of men and
women in the care of children and support for older family members, and
emphasize men's shared responsibility and promote their active involvement in
responsible parenthood and responsible sexual and reproductive behaviour;
(h) Take effective measures, including through the enactment and
enforcement of laws, and implement policies to combat and eliminate all forms
of discrimination, exploitation, abuse and violence against women and girl
children, in accordance with relevant international instruments and
declarations;
(i) Promote and protect the full and equal enjoyment by women of all
human rights and fundamental freedoms;
(j) Formulate or strengthen policies and practices to ensure that women
are enabled to participate fully in paid work and in employment through such
measures as positive action, education, training, appropriate protection under
labour legislation, and facilitating the provision of quality child care and
other support services.
At the international level, we will:
(k) Promote and protect women's human rights and encourage the
ratification of, if possible by the year 2000, the avoidance, as far as
possible, of the resort to reservations to, and the implementation of the
provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women 10/ and other relevant instruments, as well as the
implementation of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement
of Women, 11/ the Geneva Declaration for Rural Women, 12/ and the Programme of
Action of the International Conference on Population and Development;
(l) Give specific attention to the preparations for the Fourth World
Conference on Women, to be held at Beijing in September 1995, and to the
implementation and follow-up of the conclusions of that Conference;
(m) Promote international cooperation to assist developing countries, at
their request, in their efforts to achieve equality and equity and the
empowerment of women;
(n) Devise suitable means to recognize and make visible the full extent
of the work of women and all their contributions to the national economy,
including contributions in the unremunerated and domestic sectors.
Commitment 6
------------
We commit ourselves to promoting and attaining the goals of universal
and equitable access to quality education, the highest attainable standard of
physical and mental health, and the access of all to primary health care,
making particular efforts to rectify inequalities relating to social
conditions and without distinction as to race, national origin, gender, age or
disability; respecting and promoting our common and particular cultures;
striving to strengthen the role of culture in development; preserving the
essential bases of people-centred sustainable development; and contributing to
the full development of human resources and to social development. The
purpose of these activities is to eradicate poverty, promote full and
productive employment and foster social integration.
To this end, at the national level, we will:
(a) Formulate and strengthen time-bound national strategies for the
eradication of illiteracy and universalization of basic education, which
includes early childhood education, primary education and education for the
illiterate, in all communities, in particular for the introduction, if
possible, of national languages in the educational system and by support of
the various means of non-formal education, striving to attain the highest
possible standard of learning;
(b) Emphasize lifelong learning by seeking to improve the quality of
education to ensure that people of all ages are provided with useful
knowledge, reasoning ability, skills, and the ethical and social values
required to develop their full capacities in health and dignity and to
participate fully in the social, economic and political process of
development. In this regard, women and girls should be considered a priority
group;
(c) Ensure that children, particularly girls, enjoy their rights and
promote the exercise of those rights by making education, adequate nutrition
and health care accessible to them, consistent with the Convention on the
Rights of the Child, 13/ and recognizing the rights, duties and
responsibilities of parents and other persons legally responsible for
children;
(d) Take appropriate and affirmative steps to enable all children and
adolescents to attend and complete school and to close the gender gap in
primary, secondary, vocational and higher education;
(e) Ensure full and equal access to education for girls and women,
recognizing that investing in women's education is the key element in
achieving social equality, higher productivity and social returns in terms of
health, lower infant mortality and the reduced need for high fertility;
(f) Ensure equal educational opportunities at all levels for children,
youth and adults with disabilities, in integrated settings, taking full
account of individual differences and situations;
(g) Recognize and support the right of indigenous people to education in
a manner that is responsive to their specific needs, aspirations and cultures,
and ensure their full access to health care;
(h) Develop specific educational policies, with gender perspective, and
design appropriate mechanisms at all levels of society in order to accelerate
the conversion of general and specific information available world wide into
knowledge, and the conversion of that knowledge into creativity, increased
productive capacity and active participation in society;
(i) Strengthen the links between labour market and education policies,
realizing that education and vocational training are vital elements in job
creation and in combating unemployment and social exclusion in our societies,
and emphasize the role of higher education and scientific research in all
plans of social development;
(j) Develop broad-based education programmes that promote and strengthen
respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to
development, promote the values of tolerance, responsibility and respect for
the diversity and rights of others, and provide training in peaceful conflict
resolution, in recognition of the United Nations Decade for Human Rights
Education (1995-2005); 14/
(k) Focus on learning acquisition and outcome, broaden the means and
scope of basic education, enhance the environment for learning and strengthen
partnerships among Governments, non-governmental organizations, the private
sector, local communities, religious groups and families to achieve the goal
of education for all;
(l) Establish or strengthen both school-based and community-based health
education programmes for children, adolescents and adults, with special
attention to girls and women, on a whole range of health issues, as one of the
prerequisites for social development, recognizing the rights, duties and
responsibilities of parents and other persons legally responsible for children
consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
(m) Expedite efforts to achieve the goals of national Health-for-All
strategies, based on equality and social justice in line with the Alma-Ata
Declaration on Primary Health Care, 15/ by developing or updating country
action plans or programmes to ensure universal, non-discriminatory access to
basic health services, including sanitation and drinking water, to protect
health, and to promote nutrition education and preventive health programmes;
(n) Strive to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to
rehabilitation and other independent living services and assistive technology
to enable them to maximize their well-being, independence and full
participation in society;
(o) Ensure an integrated and intersectoral approach so as to provide for
the protection and promotion of health for all in economic and social
development, taking cognizance of the health dimensions of policies in all
sectors;
(p) Seek to attain the maternal and child health objectives, especially
the objectives of reducing child and maternal mortality, of the World Summit
for Children, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development and
the International Conference on Population and Development;
(q) Strengthen national efforts to address more effectively the growing
HIV/AIDS pandemic by providing necessary education and prevention services,
working to ensure that appropriate care and support services are available and
accessible to those affected by HIV/AIDS, and taking all necessary steps to
eliminate every form of discrimination against and isolation of those living
with HIV/AIDS;
(r) Promote, in all educational and health policies and programmes,
environmental awareness, including awareness of unsustainable patterns of
consumption and production.
At the international level, we will:
(s) Strive to ensure that international organizations, in particular the
international financial institutions, support these objectives, integrating
them into their policy programmes and operations as appropriate. This should
be complemented by renewed bilateral and regional cooperation;
(t) Recognize the importance of the cultural dimension of development to
ensure respect for cultural diversity and that of our common human cultural
heritage. Creativity should be recognized and promoted;
(u) Request the specialized agencies, notably the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Health
Organization, as well as other international organizations dedicated to the
promotion of education, culture and health, to give greater emphasis to the
overriding goals of eradicating poverty, promoting full and productive
employment and fostering social integration;
(v) Strengthen intergovernmental organizations that utilize various
forms of education to promote culture; disseminate information through
education and communication media; help spread the use of technologies; and
promote technical and professional training and scientific research;
(w) Provide support for stronger, better coordinated global actions
against major diseases that take a heavy toll of human lives, such as malaria,
tuberculosis, cholera, typhoid fever and HIV/AIDS; in this context, continue
to support the joint and co-sponsored United Nations programme on
HIV/AIDS; 16/
(x) Share knowledge, experience and expertise and enhance creativity,
for example by promoting the transfer of technology, in the design and
delivery of effective education, training and health programmes and policies,
including substance-abuse awareness, prevention and rehabilitation programmes,
which will result, inter alia, in endogenous capacity-building;
(y) Intensify and coordinate international support for education and
health programmes based on respect for human dignity and focused on the
protection of all women and children, especially against exploitation,
trafficking and harmful practices, such as child prostitution, female genital
mutilation and child marriages.
Commitment 7
------------
We commit ourselves to accelerating the economic, social and human
resource development of Africa and the least developed countries.
To this end, we will:
(a) Implement, at the national level, structural adjustment policies,
which should include social development goals, as well as effective
development strategies that establish a more favourable climate for trade and
investment, give priority to human resource development and further promote
the development of democratic institutions;
(b) Support the domestic efforts of Africa and the least developed
countries to implement economic reforms, programmes to increase food security,
and commodity diversification efforts through international cooperation,
including South-South cooperation and technical and financial assistance, as
well as trade and partnership;
(c) Find effective, development-oriented and durable solutions to
external debt problems, through the immediate implementation of the terms of
debt forgiveness agreed upon in the Paris Club in December 1994, which
encompass debt reduction, including cancellation or other debt-relief
measures; invite the international financial institutions to examine
innovative approaches to assist low-income countries with a high proportion of
multilateral debt, with a view to alleviating their debt burdens; and develop
techniques of debt conversion applied to social development programmes and
projects in conformity with Summit priorities. These actions should take into
account the mid-term review of the United Nations New Agenda for the
Development of Africa in the 1990s 17/ and the Programme of Action for the
Least Developed Countries for the 1990s, 18/ and should be implemented as soon
as possible;
(d) Ensure the implementation of the strategies and measures for the
development of Africa decided by the international community, and support the
reform efforts, development strategies and programmes decided by the African
countries and the least developed countries;
(e) Increase official development assistance, both overall and for
social programmes, and improve its impact, consistent with countries' economic
circumstances and capacities to assist, and consistent with commitments in
international agreements;
(f) Consider ratifying the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or
Desertification, Particularly in Africa, 19/ and support African countries in
the implementation of urgent action to combat desertification and mitigate the
effects of drought;
(g) Take all necessary measures to ensure that communicable diseases,
particularly HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, do not restrict or reverse
the progress made in economic and social development.
Commitment 8
------------
We commit ourselves to ensuring that when structural adjustment
programmes are agreed to they include social development goals, in particular
eradicating poverty, promoting full and productive employment, and enhancing
social integration.
To this end, at the national level, we will:
(a) Promote basic social programmes and expenditures, in particular
those affecting the poor and the vulnerable segments of society, and protect
them from budget reductions, while increasing the quality and effectiveness of
social expenditures;
(b) Review the impact of structural adjustment programmes on social
development, including, where appropriate, by means of gender-sensitive social
impact assessments and other relevant methods, in order to develop policies to
reduce their negative effects and improve their positive impact; the
cooperation of international financial institutions in the review could be
requested by interested countries;
(c) Promote, in the countries with economies in transition, an
integrated approach to the transformation process, addressing the social
consequences of reforms and human resource development needs;
(d) Reinforce the social development components of all adjustment
policies and programmes, including those resulting from the globalization of
markets and rapid technological change, by designing policies to promote more
equitable and enhanced access to income and resources;
(e) Ensure that women do not bear a disproportionate burden of the
transitional costs of such processes.
At the international level, we will:
(f) Work to ensure that multilateral development banks and other donors
complement adjustment lending with enhanced targeted social development
investment lending;
(g) Strive to ensure that structural adjustment programmes respond to
the economic and social conditions, concerns and needs of each country;
(h) Enlist the support and cooperation of regional and international
organizations and the United Nations system, in particular the Bretton Woods
institutions, in the design, social management and assessment of structural
adjustment policies, and in implementing social development goals and
integrating them into their policies, programmes and operations.
Commitment 9
------------
We commit ourselves to increasing significantly and/or utilizing more
efficiently the resources allocated to social development in order to achieve
the goals of the Summit through national action and regional and international
cooperation.
To this end, at the national level, we will:
(a) Develop economic policies to promote and mobilize domestic savings
and attract external resources for productive investment, and seek innovative
sources of funding, both public and private, for social programmes, while
ensuring their effective utilization;
(b) Implement macroeconomic and micro-economic policies to ensure
sustained economic growth and sustainable development to support social
development;
(c) Promote increased access to credit for small and micro-enterprises,
including those in the informal sector, with particular emphasis on the
disadvantaged sectors of society;
(d) Ensure that reliable statistics and statistical indicators are used
to develop and assess social policies and programmes so that economic and
social resources are used efficiently and effectively;
(e) Ensure that, in accordance with national priorities and policies,
taxation systems are fair, progressive and economically efficient, cognizant
of sustainable development concerns, and ensure effective collection of tax
liabilities;
(f) In the budgetary process, ensure transparency and accountability in
the use of public resources, and give priority to providing and improving
basic social services;
(g) Undertake to explore new ways of generating new public and private
financial resources, inter alia, through the appropriate reduction of
excessive military expenditures, including global military expenditures and
the arms trade, and investments for arms production and acquisition, taking
into consideration national security requirements, so as to allow possible
allocation of additional funds for social and economic development;
(h) Utilize and develop fully the potential and contribution of
cooperatives for the attainment of social development goals, in particular the
eradication of poverty, the generation of full and productive employment, and
the enhancement of social integration.
At the international level, we will:
(i) Seek to mobilize new and additional financial resources that are
both adequate and predictable and are mobilized in a way that maximizes the
availability of such resources and uses all available funding sources and
mechanisms, inter alia, multilateral, bilateral and private sources, including
on concessional and grant terms;
(j) Facilitate the flow to developing countries of international
finance, technology and human skill in order to realize the objective of
providing new and additional resources that are both adequate and predictable;
(k) Facilitate the flow of international finance, technology and human
skill towards the countries with economies in transition;
(l) Strive for the fulfilment of the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of
gross national product for overall official development assistance as soon as
possible, and increase the share of funding for social development programmes,
commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to achieve the
objectives and goals of the present Declaration and the Programme of Action of
the Summit;
(m) Increase the flow of international resources to meet the needs of
countries facing problems relating to refugees and displaced persons;
(n) Support South-South cooperation, which can take advantage of the
experience of developing countries that have overcome similar difficulties;
(o) Ensure the urgent implementation of existing debt-relief agreements
and negotiate further initiatives, in addition to existing ones, to alleviate
the debts of the poorest and heavily indebted low-income countries at an early
date, especially through more favourable terms of debt forgiveness, including
application of the terms of debt forgiveness agreed upon in the Paris Club in
December 1994, which encompass debt reduction, including cancellation or other
debt-relief measures; where appropriate, these countries should be given a
reduction of their bilateral official debt sufficient to enable them to exit
from the rescheduling process and resume growth and development; invite the
international financial institutions to examine innovative approaches to
assist low-income countries with a high proportion of multilateral debt, with
a view to alleviating their debt burdens; develop techniques of debt
conversion applied to social development programmes and projects in conformity
with Summit priorities;
(p) Fully implement the Final Act of the Uruguay Round of multilateral
trade negotiations 20/ as scheduled, including the complementary provisions
specified in the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the World Trade
Organization, 20/ in recognition of the fact that broadly based growth in
incomes, employment and trade are mutually reinforcing, taking into account
the need to assist African countries and the least developed countries in
evaluating the impact of the implementation of the Final Act so that they can
benefit fully;
(q) Monitor the impact of trade liberalization on the progress made in
developing countries to meet basic human needs, giving particular attention to
new initiatives to expand their access to international markets;
(r) Give attention to the needs of countries with economies in
transition with respect to international cooperation and financial and
technical assistance, stressing the need for the full integration of economies
in transition into the world economy, in particular to improve market access
for exports in accordance with multilateral trade rules, taking into account
the needs of developing countries;
(s) Support United Nations development efforts by a substantial increase
in resources for operational activities on a predictable, continuous and
assured basis, commensurate with the increasing needs of developing countries,
as stated in General Assembly resolution 47/199, and strengthen the capacity
of the United Nations and the specialized agencies to fulfil their
responsibilities in the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for
Social Development.
Commitment 10
-------------
We commit ourselves to an improved and strengthened framework for
international, regional and subregional cooperation for social development, in
a spirit of partnership, through the United Nations and other multilateral
institutions.
To this end, at the national level, we will:
(a) Adopt the appropriate measures and mechanisms for implementing and
monitoring the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development, with the
assistance, upon request, of the specialized agencies, programmes and regional
commissions of the United Nations system, with broad participation of all
sectors of civil society.
At the regional level, we will:
(b) Pursue such mechanisms and measures as are necessary and appropriate
in particular regions or subregions. The regional commissions, in cooperation
with regional intergovernmental organizations and banks, could convene, on a
biennial basis, a meeting at a high political level to evaluate progress made
towards fulfilling the outcome of the Summit, exchange views on their
respective experiences and adopt appropriate measures. The regional
commissions should report, through the appropriate mechanisms, to the Economic
and Social Council on the outcome of such meetings.
At the international level, we will:
(c) Instruct our representatives to the organizations and bodies of the
United Nations system, international development agencies and multilateral
development banks to enlist the support and cooperation of these organizations
and bodies to take appropriate and coordinated measures for continuous and
sustained progress in attaining the goals and commitments agreed to by the
Summit. The United Nations and the Bretton Woods institutions should
establish regular and substantive dialogue, including at the field level, for
more effective and efficient coordination of assistance for social
development;
(d) Refrain from any unilateral measure not in accordance with
international law and the Charter of the United Nations that creates obstacles
to trade relations among States;
(e) Strengthen the structure, resources and processes of the Economic
and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies, and other organizations within
the United Nations system that are concerned with economic and social
development;
(f) Request the Economic and Social Council to review and assess, on the
basis of reports of national Governments, the regional commissions, relevant
functional commissions and specialized agencies, progress made by the
international community towards implementing the outcome of the World Summit
for Social Development, and to report to the General Assembly, accordingly,
for its appropriate consideration and action;
(g) Request the General Assembly to hold a special session in the
year 2000 for an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of the
outcome of the Summit and to consider further actions and initiatives.
Notes
1/ See First Call for Children (New York, United Nations Children's
Fund, 1990).
2/ See Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992, vol. I, Resolutions Adopted by
the Conference (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8 and
corrigenda).
3/ See Report of the World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna,
14-25 June 1993 (A/CONF.157/24 (Part I)).
4/ See Report of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development
of Small Island Developing States, Bridgetown, Barbados, 25 April-6 May 1994
(United Nations publication, Sales No. E.94.I.18 and corrigenda).
5/ See Report of the International Conference on Population and
Development, Cairo, 5-13 September 1994 (A/CONF.171/13 and Add.1).
6/ General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).
7/ General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
8/ General Assembly resolution 41/128, annex.
9/ See General Assembly resolution 48/183.
10/ General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex.
11/ Report of the World Conference to Review and Appraise the
Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development
and Peace, Nairobi, 15-26 July 1985 (United Nations publication, Sales No.
E.85.IV.10), chap. I, sect. A.
12/ A/47/308, annex.
13/ General Assembly resolution 44/25, annex.
14/ See General Assembly resolution 49/184.
15/ See Report of the International Conference on Primary Health Care,
Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan, 6-12 September 1978 (Geneva, World Health Organization,
1978).
16/ See Economic and Social Council resolution 1994/24.
17/ General Assembly resolution 46/151, annex, sect. II.
18/ Report of the Second United Nations Conference on the Least
Developed Countries, Paris, 3-14 September 1990 (A/CONF.147/18), part one.
19/ A/49/84/Add.2, annex, appendix II.
20/ See The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade
Negotiations: The Legal Texts (Geneva, GATT secretariat, 1994).
Annex II
PROGRAMME OF ACTION OF THE WORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
CONTENTS
Chapter Paragraphs Page
INTRODUCTION ...............................................1 - 3 29
I. AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT ....... 4 - 17 30
II. ERADICATION OF POVERTY ...............................18 - 41 41
III. EXPANSION OF PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT AND REDUCTION OF
UNEMPLOYMENT .........................................42 - 65 57
IV. SOCIAL INTEGRATION ...................................66 - 81 68
V. IMPLEMENTATION AND FOLLOW-UP .........................82 - 100 79
INTRODUCTION
1. The present Programme of Action outlines policies, actions and measures
to implement the principles and fulfil the commitments enunciated in the
Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development adopted by the World Summit for
Social Development. Our success will be based on the results that we achieve.
2. Actions are recommended to create, in a framework of sustained economic
growth and sustainable development, a national and international environment
favourable to social development, to eradicate poverty, to enhance productive
employment and reduce unemployment, and to foster social integration. All the
recommended actions are linked, either in the requirements for their design,
including the participation of all concerned, or in their consequences for the
various facets of the human condition. Policies to eradicate poverty, reduce
disparities and combat social exclusion require the creation of employment
opportunities, and would be incomplete and ineffective without measures to
eliminate discrimination and promote participation and harmonious social
relationships among groups and nations. Enhancing positive interaction
between environmental, economic and social policies is also essential for
success in the longer term. The well-being of people also requires the
exercise of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, access to the provision
of good education, health care and other basic public services, and the
development of harmonious relations within communities. Social integration,
or the capacity of people to live together with full respect for the dignity
of each individual, the common good, pluralism and diversity, non-violence and
solidarity, as well as their ability to participate in social, cultural,
economic and political life, encompasses all aspects of social development and
all policies. It requires the protection of the weak, as well as the right to
differ, to create and to innovate. It calls for a sound economic environment,
as well as for cultures based on freedom and responsibility. It also calls
for the full involvement of both the State and civil society.
3. Many of the issues mentioned in the present Programme of Action have
been addressed in greater detail by previous world conferences concerned with
questions closely related to the different aspects of social development. The
Programme of Action was elaborated against the background of, and taking into
account the commitments, principles and recommendations of, these other
conferences, and is also based on the experience of many countries in
promoting social objectives in the context of their particular conditions.
The special importance of the Programme of Action lies in its integrated
approach and its attempt to combine many different actions for poverty
eradication, employment creation and social integration in coherent national
and international strategies for social development. The implementation of
the recommendations contained in the Programme of Action is the sovereign
right of each country, consistent with national laws and development
priorities, with full respect for the various religious and ethical values and
cultural backgrounds of its people, and in conformity with all human rights
and fundamental freedoms. Each country will also take action in accordance
with its evolving capacities. The outcomes of relevant international
conferences should also be duly taken into account in the implementation of
the present Programme of Action.
Chapter I
AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Basis for action and objectives
4. Social development is inseparable from the cultural, ecological,
economic, political and spiritual environment in which it takes place. It
cannot be pursued as a sectoral initiative. Social development is also
clearly linked to the development of peace, freedom, stability and security,
both nationally and internationally. To promote social development requires
an orientation of values, objectives and priorities towards the well-being of
all and the strengthening and promotion of conducive institutions and
policies. Human dignity, all human rights and fundamental freedoms, equality,
equity and social justice constitute the fundamental values of all societies.
The pursuit, promotion and protection of these values, among others, provides
the basic legitimacy of all institutions and all exercise of authority and
promotes an environment in which human beings are at the centre of concern for
sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life
in harmony with nature.
5. The economies and societies of the world are becoming increasingly
interdependent. Trade and capital flows, migrations, scientific and
technological innovations, communications and cultural exchanges are shaping
the global community. The same global community is threatened by
environmental degradation, severe food crises, epidemics, all forms of racial
discrimination, xenophobia, various forms of intolerance, violence and
criminality and the risk of losing the richness of cultural diversity.
Governments increasingly recognize that their responses to changing
circumstances and their desires to achieve sustainable development and social
progress will require increased solidarity, expressed through appropriate
multilateral programmes and strengthened international cooperation. Such
cooperation is particularly crucial to ensure that countries in need of
assistance, such as those in Africa and the least developed countries, can
benefit from the process of globalization.
6. Economic activities, through which individuals express their initiative
and creativity and which enhance the wealth of communities, are a fundamental
basis for social progress. But social progress will not be realized simply
through the free interaction of market forces. Public policies are necessary
to correct market failures, to complement market mechanisms, to maintain
social stability and to create a national and international economic
environment that promotes sustainable growth on a global scale. Such growth
should promote equity and social justice, tolerance, responsibility and
involvement.
7. The ultimate goal of social development is to improve and enhance the
quality of life of all people. It requires democratic institutions, respect
for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, increased and equal economic
opportunities, the rule of law, the promotion of respect for cultural
diversity and the rights of persons belonging to minorities, and an active
involvement of civil society. Empowerment and participation are essential for
democracy, harmony and social development. All members of society should have
the opportunity and be able to exercise the right and responsibility to take
an active part in the affairs of the community in which they live. Gender
equality and equity and the full participation of women in all economic,
social and political activities are essential. The obstacles that have
limited the access of women to decision-making, education, health-care
services and productive employment must be eliminated and an equitable
partnership between men and women established, involving men's full
responsibility in family life. It is necessary to change the prevailing
social paradigm of gender to usher in a new generation of women and men
working together to create a more humane world order.
8. Against this background, we will promote an enabling environment based
on a people-centred approach to sustainable development, with the following
features:
~ Broad-based participation and involvement of civil society in the
formulation and implementation of decisions determining the
functioning and well-being of our societies;
~ Broad-based patterns of sustained economic growth and sustainable
development and the integration of population issues into economic
and development strategies, which will speed up the pace of
sustainable development and poverty eradication and contribute to
the achievement of population objectives and an improved quality of
life of the population;
~ Equitable and non-discriminatory distribution of the benefits of
growth among social groups and countries and expanded access to
productive resources for people living in poverty;
~ An interaction of market forces conducive to efficiency and social
development;
~ Public policies that seek to overcome socially divisive disparities
and that respect pluralism and diversity;
~ A supportive and stable political and legal framework that promotes
the mutually reinforcing relationship between democracy, development
and all human rights and fundamental freedoms;
~ Political and social processes that avoid exclusion while respecting
pluralism and diversity, including religious and cultural diversity;
~ A strengthened role for the family in accordance with the
principles, goals and commitments of the Copenhagen Declaration on
Social Development and those of the International Conference on
Population and Development, as well as for community and civil
society;
~ Expanded access to knowledge, technology, education, health-care
services and information;
~ Increased solidarity, partnership and cooperation at all levels;
~ Public policies that empower people to enjoy good health and
productivity throughout their lives;
~ Protection and conservation of the natural environment in the
context of people-centred sustainable development.
Actions
A. A favourable national and international
economic environment
9. The promotion of mutually reinforcing, broad-based, sustained economic
growth and sustainable development on a global scale, as well as growth in
production, a non-discriminatory and multilateral rule-based international
trading system, employment and incomes, as a basis for social development,
requires the following actions:
(a) Promoting the establishment of an open, equitable, cooperative and
mutually beneficial international economic environment;
(b) Implementing sound and stable macroeconomic and sectoral policies
that encourage broad-based, sustained economic growth and development that is
sustainable and equitable, that generate jobs, and that are geared towards
eradicating poverty and reducing social and economic inequalities and
exclusion;
(c) Promoting enterprise, productive investment and expanded access to
open and dynamic markets in the context of an open, equitable, secure,
non-discriminatory, predictable, transparent and multilateral rule-based
international trading system, and to technologies for all people, particularly
those living in poverty and the disadvantaged, as well as for the least
developed countries;
(d) Implementing fully and as scheduled the Final Act of the Uruguay
Round of multilateral trade negotiations; 1/
(e) Refraining from any unilateral measure not in accordance with
international law and the Charter of the United Nations that creates obstacles
to trade relations among States, impedes the full realization of social and
economic development and hinders the well-being of the population in the
affected countries;
(f) Increasing food production, through the sustainable development of
the agricultural sector and improvement of market opportunities, and improving
access to food by low-income people in developing countries, as a means of
alleviating poverty, eliminating malnutrition and raising their standards of
living;
(g) Promoting the coordination of macroeconomic policies at the
national, subregional, regional and international levels in order to promote
an international financial system that is more conducive to stable and
sustained economic growth and sustainable development through, inter alia, a
higher degree of stability in financial markets, reducing the risk of
financial crisis, improving the stability of exchange rates, stabilizing and
striving for low real interest rates in the long run and reducing the
uncertainties of financial flows;
(h) Establishing, strengthening or rehabilitating, inter alia, through
capacity-building where necessary, national and international structures,
processes and resources available, to ensure appropriate consideration and
coordination of economic policy, with special emphasis on social development;
(i) Promoting or strengthening capacity-building in developing
countries, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries, to
develop social activities;
(j) Ensuring that, in accordance with Agenda 21 2/ and the various
consensus agreements, conventions and programmes of action adopted within the
framework of the follow-up to the outcome of the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development, broad-based, sustained economic growth and
sustainable development respects the need to protect the environment and the
interests of future generations;
(k) Ensuring that the special needs and vulnerabilities of small island
developing States are adequately addressed in order to enable them to achieve
sustained economic growth and sustainable development with equity by
implementing the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small
Island Developing States. 3/
10. To ensure that the benefits of global economic growth are equitably
distributed among countries, the following actions are essential:
(a) Continuing efforts to alleviate the onerous debt and debt-service
burdens connected with the various types of debt of many developing countries,
on the basis of an equitable and durable approach and, where appropriate,
addressing the full stock of debt of the poorest and most indebted developing
countries as a matter of priority, reducing trade barriers and promoting
expanded access by all countries to markets, in the context of an open,
equitable, secure, non-discriminatory, predictable, transparent and
multilateral rule-based international trading system, as well as to productive
investment, technologies and know-how;
(b) Strengthening and improving technical and financial assistance to
developing countries to promote sustainable development and overcome
hindrances to their full and effective participation in the world economy;
(c) Changing unsustainable consumption and production patterns, taking
into account that the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global
environment is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production,
particularly in industrialized countries, which is a matter of grave concern,
aggravating poverty and imbalances;
(d) Elaborating policies to enable developing countries to take
advantage of expanded international trading opportunities in the context of
the full implementation of the Final Act of the Uruguay Round of multilateral
trade negotiations; and assisting countries, particularly in Africa, that are
not currently in a position to benefit fully from the liberalization of the
world economy;
(e) Supporting the efforts of developing countries, particularly those
heavily dependent on commodity exports, to diversify their economies.
11. Within the framework of support to developing countries, giving priority
to the needs of Africa and the least developed countries, the following
actions are necessary at the national and international levels, as
appropriate:
(a) Implementing effective policies and development strategies that
establish a more favourable climate for social development, trade and
investments, giving priority to human resource development and promoting the
further development of democratic institutions;
(b) Supporting African countries and least developed countries in their
efforts to create an enabling environment that attracts foreign and domestic
direct investment, encourages savings, induces the return of flight capital
and promotes the full participation of the private sector, including
non-governmental organizations, in the growth and development process;
(c) Supporting economic reforms to improve the functioning of commodity
markets and commodity diversification efforts through appropriate mechanisms,
bilateral and multilateral financing and technical cooperation, including
South-South cooperation, as well as through trade and partnership;
(d) Continuing to support the commodity diversification efforts of
Africa and the least developed countries, inter alia, by providing technical
and financial assistance for the preparatory phase of their commodity
diversification projects and programmes;
(e) Finding effective, development-oriented and durable solutions to
external debt problems, through the immediate implementation of the terms of
debt forgiveness agreed upon in the Paris Club in December 1994, which
encompass debt reduction, including cancellation or other debt relief
measures; inviting the international financial institutions to examine
innovative approaches to assist low-income countries with a high proportion of
multilateral debt with a view to alleviating their debt burden; developing
techniques of debt conversion applied to social development programmes and
projects in conformity with Summit priorities. These actions should take into
account the mid-term review of the United Nations New Agenda for the
Development of Africa in the 1990s 4/ and the Programme of Action for the
Least Developed Countries for the 1990s 5/ and should be implemented as soon
as possible;
(f) Supporting the development of strategies adopted by these countries
and working in partnership to ensure the implementation of measures for their
development;
(g) Taking appropriate actions, consistent with the Final Act of the
Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, 1/ in particular the
decision on measures in favour of the least developed countries and the
decision on measures concerning the possible negative effects of the reform
programme on the least developed countries and the net food importing
developing countries, in order to give these countries special attention, with
a view to enhancing their participation in the multilateral trading system and
to mitigating any adverse effects of the implementation of the Uruguay Round,
while stressing the need to support the African countries so that they can
benefit fully from the results of the Uruguay Round;
(h) Increasing official development assistance, both in total and for
social programmes, and improving its impact, consistent with countries'
economic circumstances and capabilities to assist, and consistent with
commitments in international agreements, and striving to attain the agreed
upon target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official development
assistance and 0.15 per cent to the least developed countries, as soon as
possible.
12. Making economic growth and the interaction of market forces more
conducive to social development requires the following actions:
(a) Implementing measures to open market opportunities for all,
especially people living in poverty and the disadvantaged, and to encourage
individuals and communities to take economic initiatives, innovate and invest
in activities that contribute to social development while promoting
broad-based sustained economic growth and sustainable development;
(b) Improving, broadening and regulating, to the extent necessary, the
functioning of markets to promote sustained economic growth and sustainable
development, stability and long-term investment, fair competition and ethical
conduct; adopting and implementing policies to promote equitable distribution
of the benefits of growth and protect crucial social services, inter alia,
through complementing market mechanisms and mitigating any negative impacts
posed by market forces; and implementing complementary policies to foster
social development, while dismantling, consistent with the provisions of the
Final Act of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations,
protectionist measures, and to integrate social and economic development;
(c) Establishing an open market policy that reduces barriers to entry,
promotes transparency of markets through, inter alia, better access to
information and widens the choices available to consumers;
(d) Promoting greater access to technology and technical assistance, as
well as corresponding know-how, especially for micro-enterprises and small and
medium-sized enterprises in all countries, particularly in developing
countries;
(e) Encouraging transnational and national corporations to operate in a
framework of respect for the environment while complying with national laws
and legislation, and in accordance with international agreements and
conventions, and with proper consideration for the social and cultural impact
of their activities;
(f) Adopting and implementing long-term strategies to ensure
substantial, well-directed public and private investment in the construction
and renewal of basic infrastructure, which will benefit people living in
poverty and generate employment;
(g) Ensuring substantial public and private investment in human resource
development and in capacity-building in health and education, as well as in
empowerment and participation, especially for people living in poverty or
suffering from social exclusion;
(h) Supporting and paying special attention to the development of
small-scale and micro-enterprises, particularly in rural areas, as well as
subsistence economies, to secure their safe interaction with larger economies;
(i) Supporting the economic activities of indigenous people, improving
their conditions and development, and securing their safe interaction with
larger economies;
(j) Supporting institutions, programmes and systems to disseminate
practical information to promote social progress.
13. Ensuring that fiscal systems and other public policies are geared
towards poverty eradication and that they do not generate socially divisive
disparities calls for:
(a) Enacting rules and regulations and creating a moral and ethical
climate that prevents all forms of corruption and exploitation of individuals,
families and groups;
(b) Promoting fair competition and ethical responsibility in business
activities, and enhancing cooperation and interaction among Governments, the
private sector and civil society;
(c) Ensuring that fiscal and monetary policies promote savings and
long-term investment in productive activities in accordance with national
priorities and policies;
(d) Considering measures to address inequities arising from accumulation
of wealth through, inter alia, the use of appropriate taxation at the national
level, and to reduce inefficiencies and improve stability in financial markets
in accordance with national priorities and policies;
(e) Re-examining the distribution of subsidies, inter alia, between
industry and agriculture, urban and rural areas, and private and public
consumption, to ensure that subsidy systems benefit people living in poverty,
especially the vulnerable, and reduce disparities;
(f) Promoting international agreements that address effectively issues
of double taxation, as well as cross-border tax evasion, in accordance with
the priorities and policies of the States concerned, while improving the
efficiency and fairness of tax collection;
(g) Assisting developing countries, upon their request, to establish
efficient and fair tax systems by strengthening the administrative capacity
for tax assessment and collection and tax evader prosecution, and to support a
more progressive tax system;
(h) Assisting countries with economies in transition to establish fair
and effective systems of taxation on a solid legal basis, contributing to the
socio-economic reforms under way in those countries.
B. A favourable national and international
political and legal environment
14. To ensure that the political framework supports the objectives of social
development, the following actions are essential:
(a) Ensuring that governmental institutions and agencies responsible for
the planning and implementation of social policies have the status, resources
and information necessary to give high priority to social development in
policy-making;
(b) Ensuring the rule of law and democracy and the existence of rules
and processes to create transparency and accountability for all public and
private institutions and to prevent and combat all forms of corruption,
sustained through education and the development of attitudes and values
promoting responsibility, solidarity and a strengthened civil society;
(c) Eliminating all forms of discrimination, while developing and
encouraging educational programmes and media campaigns to that end;
(d) Encouraging decentralization of public institutions and services to
a level that, compatible with the overall responsibilities, priorities and
objectives of Governments, responds properly to local needs and facilitates
local participation;
(e) Establishing conditions for the social partners to organize and
function with guaranteed freedom of expression and association and the right
to engage in collective bargaining and to promote mutual interests, taking due
account of national laws and regulations;
(f) Establishing similar conditions for professional organizations and
organizations of independent workers;
(g) Promoting political and social processes inclusive of all members of
society and respectful of political pluralism and cultural diversity;
(h) Strengthening the capacities and opportunities of all people,
especially those who are disadvantaged or vulnerable, to enhance their own
economic and social development, to establish and maintain organizations
representing their interests and to be involved in the planning and
implementation of government policies and programmes by which they will be
directly affected;
(i) Ensuring full involvement and participation of women at all levels
in the decision-making and implementation process and in the economic and
political mechanisms through which policies are formulated and implemented;
(j) Removing all legal impediments to the ownership of all means of
production and property by men and women;
(k) Taking measures, in cooperation with the international community, as
appropriate, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 6/ other international instruments and
relevant United Nations resolutions, to create the appropriate political and
legal environment to address the root cause of movements of refugees, to allow
their voluntary return in safety and dignity. Measures should also be taken
at the national level, with international cooperation, as appropriate, in
accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, to create conditions for
internally displaced persons to voluntarily return to their places of origin.
15. It is essential for social development that all human rights and
fundamental freedoms, including the right to development as an integral part
of fundamental human rights, be promoted and protected through the following
actions:
(a) Encouraging ratification of existing international human rights
conventions that have not been ratified; and implementing the provisions of
conventions and covenants that have been ratified;
(b) Reaffirming and promoting all human rights and fundamental freedoms,
which are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, including
the right to development, and striving to ensure that they are respected,
protected and observed through appropriate legislation, dissemination of
information, education and training and the provision of effective mechanisms
and remedies for enforcement, inter alia, through the establishment or
strengthening of national institutions responsible for monitoring and
enforcement;
(c) Taking measures to ensure that every human person and all peoples
are entitled to participate, to contribute to and to enjoy economic, social,
cultural and political development; encouraging all human persons to take
responsibility for development, individually and collectively; and recognizing
that States have the primary responsibility for the creation of national and
international conditions favourable for the realization of the right to
development, taking into account the relevant provisions of the Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action;
(d) Promoting the realization of the right to development through
strengthening democracy, development and respect for human rights and
fundamental freedoms and through effective development policies at the
national level, as well as equitable economic relations and a favourable
economic environment at the international level, since sustained action is
indispensable for fostering a more rapid development of developing countries;
(e) Removing obstacles to the realization of the right of peoples to
self-determination, in particular of peoples living under colonial or other
forms of alien domination or foreign occupation, which adversely affect their
social and economic development;
(f) Promoting and protecting the human rights of women and removing all
obstacles to full equality and equity between women and men in political,
civil, economic, social and cultural life;
(g) Giving special attention to promoting and protecting the rights of
the child, with particular attention to the rights of the girl child, by,
inter alia, encouraging the ratification and implementation of the Convention
on the Rights of the Child and the Plan of Action for Implementing the World
Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children in the
1990s adopted at the World Summit for Children; 7/
(h) Providing all people, in particular the vulnerable and disadvantaged
in society, with the benefit of an independent, fair and effective system of
justice, and ensuring access by all to competent sources of advice about legal
rights and obligations;
(i) Taking effective measures to bring to an end all de jure and de
facto discrimination against persons with disabilities;
(j) Strengthening the ability of civil society and the community to
participate actively in the planning, decision-making and implementation of
social development programmes, by education and access to resources;
(k) Promoting and protecting the rights of individuals in order to
prevent and eliminate situations of domestic discrimination and violence.
16. An open political and economic system requires access by all to
knowledge, education and information by:
(a) Strengthening the educational system at all levels, as well as other
means of acquiring skills and knowledge, and ensuring universal access to
basic education and lifelong educational opportunities, while removing
economic and socio-cultural barriers to the exercise of the right to
education;
(b) Raising public awareness and promoting gender-sensitivity education
to eliminate all obstacles to full gender equality and equity;
(c) Enabling and encouraging access by all to a wide range of
information and opinion on matters of general interest through the mass media
and other means;
(d) Encouraging education systems and, to the extent consistent with
freedom of expression, communication media to raise people's understanding and
awareness of all aspects of social integration, including gender sensitivity,
non-violence, tolerance and solidarity and respect for the diversity of
cultures and interests, and to discourage the exhibition of pornography and
the gratuitous depiction of explicit violence and cruelty in the media;
(e) Improving the reliability, validity, utility and public availability
of statistical and other information on social development and gender issues,
including the effective use of gender-disaggregated statistics collected at
the national, regional and international levels, including through support to
academic and research institutions.
17. International support for national efforts to promote a favourable
political and legal environment must be in conformity with the Charter of the
United Nations and principles of international law and consistent with the
Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations
and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United
Nations. 8/ Support calls for the following actions:
(a) Making use, as appropriate, of the capacity of the United Nations
and other relevant international, regional and subregional organizations to
prevent and resolve armed conflicts and promote social progress and better
standards of life in larger freedom;
(b) Coordinating policies, actions and legal instruments and/or measures
to combat terrorism, all forms of extremist violence, illicit arms
trafficking, organized crime and illicit drug problems, money laundering and
related crimes, trafficking in women, adolescents, children, migrants, and
human organs, and other activities contrary to human rights and human dignity;
(c) States cooperating with one another in ensuring development and
eliminating obstacles to development. The international community should
promote effective international cooperation, supporting the efforts of
developing countries, for the full realization of the right to development and
the elimination of obstacles to development, through, inter alia, the
implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on the Right to
Development 9/ as reaffirmed by the Vienna Declaration and Programme of
Action. 10/ Lasting progress towards the implementation of the right to
development requires effective development policies at the national level, as
well as equitable economic relations and a favourable economic environment at
the international level. The right to development should be fulfilled so as
to equitably meet the social development and environmental needs of present
and future generations;
(d) Ensuring that human persons are at the centre of social development
and that this is fully reflected in the programmes and activities of
subregional, regional and international organizations;
(e) Reinforcing the capacity of relevant national, regional and
international organizations, within their mandates, to promote the
implementation of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and the
elimination of all forms of discrimination;
(f) Elaborating policies, within the mandates and functions of the
various international institutions, that will support the objectives of social
development and contribute to institutional development through
capacity-building and other forms of cooperation;
(g) Strengthening the capacities of Governments, the private sector and
civil society, especially in Africa and the least developed countries, to
enable them to meet their specific and global responsibilities;
(h) Reinforcing the capacities of Governments, the private sector and
civil society in the countries with economies in transition, with a view to
helping them in the process of transforming their economies from centrally
planned to market-oriented ones.
Chapter II
ERADICATION OF POVERTY
Basis for action and objectives
18. Over 1 billion people in the world today live under unacceptable
conditions of poverty, mostly in developing countries, and particularly in
rural areas of low-income Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the
Caribbean, and the least developed countries.
19. Poverty has various manifestations, including lack of income and
productive resources sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and
malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other
basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness
and inadequate housing; unsafe environments; and social discrimination and
exclusion. It is also characterized by a lack of participation in
decision-making and in civil, social and cultural life. It occurs in all
countries: as mass poverty in many developing countries, pockets of poverty
amid wealth in developed countries, loss of livelihoods as a result of
economic recession, sudden poverty as a result of disaster or conflict, the
poverty of low-wage workers, and the utter destitution of people who fall
outside family support systems, social institutions and safety nets. Women
bear a disproportionate burden of poverty, and children growing up in poverty
are often permanently disadvantaged. Older people, people with disabilities,
indigenous people, refugees and internally displaced persons are also
particularly vulnerable to poverty. Furthermore, poverty in its various forms
represents a barrier to communication and access to services, as well as a
major health risk, and people living in poverty are particularly vulnerable to
the consequences of disasters and conflicts. Absolute poverty is a condition
characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe
drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and
information. It depends not only on income but also on access to social
services.
20. There is general agreement that persistent widespread poverty, as well
as serious social and gender inequities, have significant influences on and
are in turn influenced by demographic parameters, such as population growth,
structure and distribution. There is also general agreement that
unsustainable consumption and production patterns are contributing to the
unsustainable use of natural resources and environmental degradation, as well
as to the reinforcement of social inequities and poverty, with the
above-mentioned consequences for demographic parameters.
21. Urban poverty is rapidly increasing in pace with overall urbanization.
It is a growing phenomenon in all countries and regions, and often poses
special problems, such as overcrowding, contaminated water and bad sanitation,
unsafe shelter, crime and additional social problems. An increasing number of
low-income urban households are female-maintained.
22. Among people living in poverty, gender disparities are marked, especially
in the increase in female-maintained households. With increasing population,
the numbers of youth living in poverty will increase significantly.
Therefore, specific measures are needed to address the juvenilization and
feminization of poverty.
23. Poverty has various causes, including structural ones. Poverty is a
complex multidimensional problem with origins in both the national and
international domains. No uniform solution can be found for global
application. Rather, country-specific programmes to tackle poverty and
international efforts supporting national efforts, as well as the parallel
process of creating a supportive international environment, are crucial for a
solution to this problem. Poverty is inseparably linked to lack of control
over resources, including land, skills, knowledge, capital and social
connections. Without those resources, people are easily neglected by policy
makers and have limited access to institutions, markets, employment and public
services. The eradication of poverty cannot be accomplished through
anti-poverty programmes alone but will require democratic participation and
changes in economic structures in order to ensure access for all to resources,
opportunities and public services, to undertake policies geared to more
equitable distribution of wealth and income, to provide social protection for
those who cannot support themselves, and to assist people confronted by
unforeseen catastrophe, whether individual or collective, natural, social or
technological.
24. The eradication of poverty requires universal access to economic
opportunities that will promote sustainable livelihood and basic social
services, as well as special efforts to facilitate access to opportunities and
services for the disadvantaged. People living in poverty and vulnerable
groups must be empowered through organization and participation in all aspects
of political, economic and social life, in particular in the planning and
implementation of policies that affect them, thus enabling them to become
genuine partners in development.
25. There is therefore an urgent need for:
~ National strategies to reduce overall poverty substantially,
including measures to remove the structural barriers that prevent
people from escaping poverty, with specific time-bound commitments
to eradicate absolute poverty by a target date to be specified by
each country in its national context;
~ Stronger international cooperation and the support of international
institutions to assist countries in their efforts to eradicate
poverty and to provide basic social protection and services;
~ Development of methods to measure all forms of poverty, especially
absolute poverty, and to assess and monitor the circumstances of
those at risk, within the national context;
~ Regular national reviews of economic policies and national budgets
to orient them towards eradicating poverty and reducing
inequalities;
~ Expanded opportunities to enable people living in poverty to enhance
their overall capacities and improve their economic and social
conditions, while managing resources sustainably;
~ Human resource development and improved infrastructural facilities;
~ Comprehensive provision for the basic needs of all;
~ Policies ensuring that all people have adequate economic and social
protection during unemployment, ill health, maternity, disability
and old age;
~ Policies that strengthen the family and contribute to its stability
in accordance with the principles, goals and commitments contained
in the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and in the
Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population
and Development; 11/
~ Mobilization of both the public and the private sectors, more
developed areas, educational and academic institutions and
non-governmental organizations to assist poverty-stricken areas.
Actions
A. Formulation of integrated strategies
26. Governments should give greater focus to public efforts to eradicate
absolute poverty and to reduce overall poverty substantially by:
(a) Promoting sustained economic growth, in the context of sustainable
development, and social progress, requiring that growth be broadly based,
offering equal opportunities to all people. All countries should recognize
their common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed countries
acknowledge the responsibility they bear in the international pursuit of
sustainable development, and should continue to improve their efforts to
promote sustained economic growth and to narrow imbalances in a manner that
can benefit all countries, particularly the developing countries;
(b) Formulating or strengthening, preferably by 1996, and implementing
national poverty eradication plans to address the structural causes of
poverty, encompassing action on the local, national, subregional, regional and
international levels. These plans should establish, within each national
context, strategies and affordable time-bound goals and targets for the
substantial reduction of overall poverty and the eradication of absolute
poverty. In the context of national plans, particular attention should be
given to employment creation as a means of eradicating poverty, giving
appropriate consideration to health and education, assigning a higher priority
to basic social services, generating household income, and promoting access to
productive assets and economic opportunities;
(c) Identifying the livelihood systems, survival strategies and
self-help organizations of people living in poverty and working with such
organizations to develop programmes for combating poverty that build on their
efforts, ensuring the full participation of the people concerned and
responding to their actual needs;
(d) Elaborating, at the national level, the measurements, criteria and
indicators for determining the extent and distribution of absolute poverty.
Each country should develop a precise definition and assessment of absolute
poverty, preferably by 1996, the International Year for the Eradication of
Poverty; 12/
(e) Establishing policies, objectives and measurable targets to enhance
and broaden women's economic opportunities and their access to productive
resources, particularly women who have no source of income;
(f) Promoting effective enjoyment by all people of civil, cultural,
economic, political and social rights, and access to existing social
protection and public services, in particular through encouraging the
ratification and ensuring the full implementation of relevant human rights
instruments, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights 13/ and the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights; 13/
(g) Eliminating the injustice and obstacles that women are faced with,
and encouraging and strengthening the participation of women in taking
decisions and in implementing them, as well as their access to productive
resources and land ownership and their right to inherit goods;
(h) Encouraging and supporting local community development projects that
foster the skill, self-reliance and self-confidence of people living in
poverty and that facilitate their active participation in efforts to eradicate
poverty.
27. Governments are urged to integrate goals and targets for combating
poverty into overall economic and social policies and planning at the local,
national and, where appropriate, regional levels by:
(a) Analysing policies and programmes, including those relating to
macroeconomic stability, structural adjustment programmes, taxation,
investments, employment, markets and all relevant sectors of the economy, with
respect to their impact on poverty and inequality, assessing their impact on
family well-being and conditions, as well as their gender implications, and
adjusting them, as appropriate, to promote a more equitable distribution of
productive assets, wealth, opportunities, income and services;
(b) Redesigning public investment policies that relate to infrastructure
development, the management of natural resources and human resource
development to benefit people living in poverty and to promote their
compatibility with the long-term improvement of livelihoods;
(c) Ensuring that development policies benefit low-income communities
and rural and agricultural development;
(d) Selecting, wherever possible, development schemes that do not
displace local populations, and designing an appropriate policy and legal
framework to compensate the displaced for their losses, to help them to
re-establish their livelihoods and to promote their recovery from social and
cultural disruption;
(e) Designing and implementing environmental protection and resource
management measures that take into account the needs of people living in
poverty and vulnerable groups in accordance with Agenda 21 and the various
consensus agreements, conventions and programmes of action adopted in the
framework of the follow-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development;
(f) Establishing and strengthening, as appropriate, mechanisms for the
coordination of efforts to combat poverty, in collaboration with civil
society, including the private sector, and developing integrated intersectoral
and intra-governmental responses for such purposes.
28. People living in poverty and their organizations should be empowered by:
(a) Involving them fully in the setting of targets and in the design,
implementation, monitoring and assessment of national strategies and
programmes for poverty eradication and community-based development, and
ensuring that such programmes reflect their priorities;
(b) Integrating gender concerns in the planning and implementation of
policies and programmes for the empowerment of women;
(c) Ensuring that policies and programmes affecting people living in
poverty respect their dignity and culture and make full use of their
knowledge, skills and resourcefulness;
(d) Strengthening education at all levels and ensuring the access to
education of people living in poverty, in particular their access to primary
education and other basic education opportunities;
(e) Encouraging and assisting people living in poverty to organize so
that their representatives can participate in economic and social
policy-making and work more effectively with governmental, non-governmental
and other relevant institutions to obtain the services and opportunities they
need;
(f) Placing special emphasis on capacity-building and community-based
management;
(g) Educating people about their rights, the political system and the
availability of programmes.
29. There is a need to periodically monitor, assess and share information on
the performance of poverty eradication plans, evaluate policies to combat
poverty, and promote an understanding and awareness of poverty and its causes
and consequences. This could be done, by Governments, inter alia, through:
(a) Developing, updating and disseminating specific and agreed gender-
disaggregated indicators of poverty and vulnerability, including income,
wealth, nutrition, physical and mental health, education, literacy, family
conditions, unemployment, social exclusion and isolation, homelessness,
landlessness and other factors, as well as indicators of the national and
international causes underlying poverty; for this purpose, gathering
comprehensive and comparable data, disaggregated by ethnicity, gender,
disability, family status, language groupings, regions and economic and social
sectors;
(b) Monitoring and assessing the achievement of goals and targets agreed
to in international forums in the area of social development; evaluating,
quantitatively and qualitatively, changes in poverty levels, the persistence
of poverty, and vulnerability to poverty, particularly concerning household
income levels and access to resources and services; and assessing the
effectiveness of poverty eradication strategies, based on the priorities and
perceptions of households living in poverty and low-income communities;
(c) Strengthening international data collection and statistical systems
to support countries in monitoring social development goals, and encouraging
the expansion of international databases to incorporate socially beneficial
activities that are not included in available data, such as women's
unremunerated work and contributions to society, the informal economy and
sustainable livelihoods;
(d) Mobilizing public awareness, in particular through educational
institutions, non-governmental organizations and the media, to enable society
to prioritize the struggle against poverty, while focusing attention on
progress or failure in the pursuit of defined goals and targets;
(e) Mobilizing the resources of universities and research institutions
to improve the understanding of the causes of poverty and their solutions, as
well as the impact of structural adjustment measures on people living in
poverty and the effectiveness of anti-poverty strategies and programmes,
strengthening the capacity for social science research in developing countries
and integrating, as appropriate, the results of research into decision-making
processes;
(f) Facilitating and promoting the exchange of knowledge and experience,
especially among developing countries, through, inter alia, subregional and
regional organizations.
30. Members of the international community should, bilaterally or through
multilateral organizations, foster an enabling environment for poverty
eradication by:
(a) Coordinating policies and programmes to support the measures being
taken in the developing countries, particularly in Africa and the least
developed countries, to eradicate poverty, provide remunerative work and
strengthen social integration in order to meet basic social development goals
and targets;
(b) Promoting international cooperation to assist developing countries,
at their request, in their efforts, in particular at the community level,
towards achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women;
(c) Strengthening the capacities of developing countries to monitor the
progress of national poverty eradication plans and to assess the impact of
national and international policies and programmes on people living in poverty
and address their negative impacts;
(d) Strengthening the capacity of countries with economies in transition
to develop their social protection systems and social policies for, inter
alia, the reduction of poverty;
(e) Addressing the special needs of small island developing States with
respect to eradicating poverty and meeting poverty eradication goals and
targets, within the context of social development programmes that reflect
their national priorities;
(f) Addressing the problems faced by the land-locked developing
countries in eradicating poverty and supporting their efforts aimed at social
development;
(g) Supporting societies disrupted by conflict in their efforts to
rebuild their social protection systems and eradicate poverty.
B. Improved access to productive resources and infrastructure
31. The opportunities for income generation, diversification of activities
and increase of productivity in low-income and poor communities should be
enhanced by:
(a) Improving the availability and accessibility of transportation,
communication, power and energy services at the local or community level, in
particular for isolated, remote and marginalized communities;
(b) Ensuring that investments in infrastructure support sustainable
development at the local or community levels;
(c) Emphasizing the need for developing countries that are heavily
dependent on primary commodities to continue to promote a domestic policy and
an institutional environment that encourage diversification and enhance
competitiveness;
(d) Supporting the importance of commodity diversification as a means to
increase the export revenues of developing countries and to improve their
competitiveness in the face of the persistent instability in the price of some
primary commodities and the general deterioration in the terms of trade;
(e) Promoting, including by micro-enterprises, rural non-farm production
and service activities, such as agro-processing, sales and services of
agricultural equipment and inputs, irrigation, credit services and other
income-generating activities through, inter alia, supportive laws and
administrative measures, credit policies, and technical and administrative
training;
(f) Strengthening and improving financial and technical assistance for
community-based development and self-help programmes, and strengthening
cooperation among Governments, community organizations, cooperatives, formal
and informal banking institutions, private enterprises and international
agencies, with the aim of mobilizing local savings, promoting the creation of
local financial networks, and increasing the availability of credit and market
information to small entrepreneurs, small farmers and other low-income
self-employed workers, with particular efforts to ensure the availability of
such services to women;
(g) Strengthening organizations of small farmers, landless tenants and
labourers, other small producers, fisherfolk, community-based and workers'
cooperatives, especially those run by women, in order to, inter alia, improve
market access and increase productivity, provide inputs and technical advice,
promote cooperation in production and marketing operations, and strengthen
participation in the planning and implementation of rural development;
(h) Promoting national and international assistance in providing
economically viable alternatives for social groups, especially farmers
involved in the cultivation and processing of crops used for the illegal drug
trade;
(i) Improving the competitiveness of natural products with environmental
advantages and strengthening the impact that this could have on promoting
sustainable consumption and production patterns, and strengthening and
improving financial and technical assistance to the developing countries for
research and development of such products;
(j) Promoting comprehensive rural development, including by land reform,
land improvement and economic diversification;
(k) Improving economic opportunities for rural women through the
elimination of legal, social, cultural and practical obstacles to women's
participation in economic activities and ensuring that women have equal access
to productive resources.
32. Rural poverty should be addressed by:
(a) Expanding and improving land ownership through such measures as land
reform and improving the security of land tenure, and ensuring the equal
rights of women and men in this respect, developing new agricultural land,
promoting fair land rents, making land transfers more efficient and fair, and
adjudicating land disputes;
(b) Promoting fair wages and improving the conditions of agricultural
labour, and increasing the access of small farmers to water, credit, extension
services and appropriate technology, including for women, persons with
disabilities and vulnerable groups on the basis of equality;
(c) Strengthening measures and actions designed to improve the social,
economic and living conditions in rural areas and thereby discouraging rural
exodus;
(d) Promoting opportunities for small farmers and other agricultural,
forestry and fishery workers on terms that respect sustainable development;
(e) Improving access to markets and market information in order to
enable small producers to obtain better prices for their products and pay
better prices for the materials they need;
(f) Protecting, within the national context, the traditional rights to
land and other resources of pastoralists, fishery workers and nomadic and
indigenous people, and strengthening land management in the areas of pastoral
or nomadic activity, building on traditional communal practices, controlling
encroachment by others, and developing improved systems of range management
and access to water, markets, credit, animal production, veterinary services,
health including health services, education and information;
(g) Promoting education, research and development on farming systems and
smallholder cultivation and animal husbandry techniques, particularly in
environmentally fragile areas, building on local and traditional practices of
sustainable agriculture and taking particular advantage of women's knowledge;
(h) Strengthening agricultural training and extension services to
promote a more effective use of existing technologies and indigenous knowledge
systems and to disseminate new technologies in order to reach both men and
women farmers and other agricultural workers, including through the hiring of
more women as extension workers;
(i) Promoting infrastructural and institutional investment in
small-scale farming in resource-poor regions so that small-scale farmers can
fully explore market opportunities, within the context of liberalization.
33. Access to credit by small rural or urban producers, landless farmers and
other people with low or no income should be substantially improved, with
special attention to the needs of women and disadvantaged and vulnerable
groups, by:
(a) Reviewing national legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks
that restrict the access of people living in poverty, especially women, to
credit on reasonable terms;
(b) Promoting realistic targets for access to affordable credit, where
appropriate;
(c) Providing incentives for improving access to and strengthening the
capacities of the organized credit system to deliver credit and related
services to people living in poverty and vulnerable groups;
(d) Expanding financial networks, building on existing community
networks, promoting attractive opportunities for savings and ensuring
equitable access to credit at the local level.
34. Urban poverty should further be addressed by:
(a) Promoting and strengthening micro-enterprises, new small businesses,
cooperative enterprises, and expanded market and other employment
opportunities and, where appropriate, facilitating the transition from the
informal to the formal sector;
(b) Promoting sustainable livelihoods for people living in urban poverty
through the provision or expansion of access to training, education and other
employment assistance services, in particular for women, youth, the unemployed
and the underemployed;
(c) Promoting public and private investments to improve for the deprived
the overall human environment and infrastructure, in particular housing, water
and sanitation, and public transportation;
(d) Ensuring that strategies for shelter give special attention to women
and children, bearing in mind the perspectives of women in the development of
such strategies;
(e) Promoting social and other essential services, including, where
necessary, assistance for people to move to areas that offer better employment
opportunities, housing, education, health and other social services;
(f) Ensuring safety through effective criminal justice administration
and protective measures that are responsive to the needs and concerns of the
community;
(g) Strengthening the role and expanding the means of municipal
authorities, non-governmental organizations, universities and other
educational institutions, businesses and community organizations, enabling
them to be more actively involved in urban planning, policy development and
implementation;
(h) Ensuring that special measures are taken to protect the displaced,
the homeless, street children, unaccompanied minors and children in special
and difficult circumstances, orphans, adolescents and single mothers, people
with disabilities, and older persons, and to ensure that they are integrated
into their communities.
C. Meeting the basic human needs of all
35. Governments, in partnership with all other development actors, in
particular with people living in poverty and their organizations, should
cooperate to meet the basic human needs of all, including people living in
poverty and vulnerable groups, by:
(a) Ensuring universal access to basic social services, with particular
efforts to facilitate access by people living in poverty and vulnerable
groups;
(b) Creating public awareness that the satisfaction of basic human needs
is an essential element of poverty reduction; these needs are closely
interrelated and comprise nutrition, health, water and sanitation, education,
employment, housing and participation in cultural and social life;
(c) Ensuring full and equal access to social services, especially
education, legal services and health-care services for women of all ages and
children, recognizing the rights, duties and responsibilities of parents and
other persons legally responsible for children, consistent with the Convention
on the Rights of the Child;
(d) Ensuring that due priority is given and adequate resources made
available, at the national, regional and international levels, to combat the
threat to individual and public health posed by the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS
globally and by the re-emergence of major diseases, such as tuberculosis,
malaria, onchocerciasis (river blindness) and diarrhoeal diseases, in
particular cholera;
(e) Taking particular actions to enhance the productive capacities of
indigenous people, ensuring their full and equal access to social services and
their participation in the elaboration and implementation of policies that
affect their development, with full respect for their cultures, languages,
traditions and forms of social organizations, as well as their own
initiatives;
(f) Providing appropriate social services to enable vulnerable people
and people living in poverty to improve their lives, to exercise their rights
and to participate fully in all social, economic and political activities and
to contribute to social and economic development;
(g) Recognizing that improving people's health is inseparably linked to
a sound environment;
(h) Ensuring physical access to all basic social services for persons
who are older, disabled or home-bound;
(i) Ensuring that people living in poverty have full and equal access to
justice, including knowledge of their rights and, as appropriate, through the
provision of free legal assistance. The legal system should be made more
sensitive and responsive to the needs and special circumstances of vulnerable
and disadvantaged groups in order to ensure a strong and independent
administration of justice;
(j) Promoting full restorative services, in particular for those who
require institutional care or are home-bound, and a comprehensive array of
community-based, long-term care services for those facing loss of
independence.
36. Governments should implement the commitments that have been made to meet
the basic needs of all, with assistance from the international community
consistent with chapter V of the present Programme of Action, including,
inter alia, the following:
(a) By the year 2000, universal access to basic education and completion
of primary education by at least 80 per cent of primary school-age children;
closing the gender gap in primary and secondary school education by the
year 2005; universal primary education in all countries before the year 2015;
(b) By the year 2000, life expectancy of not less than 60 years in any
country;
(c) By the year 2000, reduction of mortality rates of infants and
children under five years of age by one third of the 1990 level, or 50 to 70
per 1,000 live births, whichever is less; by the year 2015, achievement of an
infant mortality rate below 35 per 1,000 live births and an under-five
mortality rate below 45 per 1,000;
(d) By the year 2000, a reduction in maternal mortality by one half of
the 1990 level; by the year 2015, a further reduction by one half;
(e) Achieving food security by ensuring a safe and nutritionally
adequate food supply, at both the national and international levels, a
reasonable degree of stability in the supply of food, as well as physical,
social and economic access to enough food for all, while reaffirming that food
should not be used as a tool for political pressure;
(f) By the year 2000, a reduction of severe and moderate malnutrition
among children under five years of age by half of the 1990 level;
(g) By the year 2000, attainment by all peoples of the world of a level
of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive
life, and to this end, ensuring primary health care for all;
(h) Making accessible through the primary health-care system
reproductive health to all individuals of appropriate ages as soon as possible
and no later than the year 2015, in accordance with the Programme of Action of
the International Conference on Population and Development, and taking into
account the reservations and declarations made at that Conference, especially
those concerning the need for parental guidance and parental responsibility;
(i) Strengthening efforts and increasing commitments with the aim, by
the year 2000, of reducing malaria mortality and morbidity by at least 20 per
cent compared to 1995 levels in at least 75 per cent of affected countries, as
well as reducing social and economic losses due to malaria in the developing
countries, especially in Africa, where the overwhelming majority of both cases
and deaths occur;
(j) By the year 2000, eradicating, eliminating or controlling major
diseases constituting global health problems, in accordance with paragraph
6.12 of Agenda 21; 2/
(k) Reducing the adult illiteracy rate - the appropriate age group to be
determined in each country - to at least half its 1990 level, with an emphasis
on female literacy; achieving universal access to quality education, with
particular priority being given to primary and technical education and job
training, combating illiteracy, and eliminating gender disparities in access
to, retention in and support for education;
(l) Providing, on a sustainable basis, access to safe drinking water in
sufficient quantities, and proper sanitation for all;
(m) Improving the availability of affordable and adequate shelter for
all, in accordance with the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000; 14/
(n) Monitoring the implementation of those commitments at the highest
appropriate level and considering the possibility of expediting their
implementation through the dissemination of sufficient and accurate
statistical data and appropriate indicators.
37. Access to social services for people living in poverty and vulnerable
groups should be improved through:
(a) Facilitating access and improving the quality of education for
people living in poverty by establishing schools in unserved areas, providing
social services, such as meals and health care, as incentives for families in
poverty to keep children in school, and improving the quality of schools in
low-income communities;
(b) Expanding and improving opportunities for continuing education and
training by means of public and private initiatives and non-formal education
in order to improve opportunities for people living in poverty, including
people with disabilities, and in order to develop the skills and knowledge
that they need to better their conditions and livelihoods;
(c) Expanding and improving preschool education, both formal and
non-formal, including through new learning technologies, radio and television,
to overcome some of the disadvantages faced by young children growing up in
poverty;
(d) Ensuring that people living in poverty and low-income communities
have access to quality health care that provides primary health-care services,
consistent with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on
Population and Development, free of charge or at affordable rates;
(e) Promoting cooperation among government agencies, health-care
workers, non-governmental organizations, women's organizations and other
institutions of civil society in order to develop a comprehensive national
strategy for improving reproductive health care and child health-care services
and ensuring that people living in poverty have full access to those services,
including, inter alia, education and services on family planning, safe
motherhood and prenatal and postnatal care, and the benefits of
breast-feeding, consistent with the Programme of Action of the International
Conference on Population and Development;
(f) Encouraging health-care workers to work in low-income communities
and rural areas, and providing outreach services to make health care available
to otherwise unserved areas, recognizing that investing in a primary
health-care system that ensures prevention, treatment and rehabilitation for
all individuals is an effective means of promoting social and economic
development as well as broad participation in society.
D. Enhanced social protection and reduced vulnerability
38. Social protection systems should be based on legislation and, as
appropriate, strengthened and expanded, as necessary, in order to protect from
poverty people who cannot find work; people who cannot work due to sickness,
disability, old age or maternity, or to their caring for children and sick or
older relatives; families that have lost a breadwinner through death or
marital breakup; and people who have lost their livelihoods due to natural
disasters or civil violence, wars or forced displacement. Due attention
should be given to people affected by the human immunodeficiency
virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) pandemic. Actions to this
end should include:
(a) Strengthening and expanding programmes targeted to those in need,
programmes providing universal basic protection, and social security insurance
programmes, with the choice of programmes depending on national financial and
administrative capacities;
(b) Developing, where necessary, a strategy for a gradual expansion of
social protection programmes that provide social security for all, according
to a schedule and terms and conditions related to national contexts;
(c) Ensuring that social safety nets associated with economic
restructuring are considered as complementary strategies to overall poverty
reduction and an increase in productive employment. Short term by nature,
safety nets must protect people living in poverty and enable them to find
productive employment;
(d) Designing social protection and support programmes to help people
become self-sufficient as fully and quickly as possible, to assist and protect
families, to reintegrate people excluded from economic activity and to prevent
the social isolation or stigmatization of those who need protection;
(e) Exploring a variety of means for raising revenues to strengthen
social protection programmes, and promoting efforts by the private sector and
voluntary associations to provide social protection and support;
(f) Promoting the innovative efforts of self-help organizations,
professional associations and other organizations of civil society in this
sphere;
(g) Expanding and strengthening social protection programmes to protect
working people, including the self-employed and their families, from the risk
of falling into poverty, by extending coverage to as many as possible,
providing benefits quickly and ensuring that entitlements continue when
workers change jobs;
(h) Ensuring, through appropriate regulation, that contributory social
protection plans are efficient and transparent so that the contributions of
workers, employers and the State and the accumulation of resources can be
monitored by the participants;
(i) Ensuring an adequate social safety net under structural adjustment
programmes;
(j) Ensuring that social protection and social support programmes meet
the needs of women, and especially that they take into account women's
multiple roles and concerns, in particular the reintegration of women into
formal work after periods of absence, support for older women, and the
promotion of acceptance of women's multiple roles and responsibilities.
39. Particular efforts should be made to protect children and youth by:
(a) Promoting family stability and supporting families in providing
mutual support, including in their role as nurturers and educators of
children;
(b) Promoting social support, including good quality child care and
working conditions that allow both parents to reconcile parenthood with
working life;
(c) Supporting and involving family organizations and networks in
community activities;
(d) Taking the necessary legislative, administrative, social and
educational measures to protect and promote the rights of the child, with
particular attention to the girl child;
(e) Improving the situation and protecting the rights of children in
especially difficult circumstances, including children in areas of armed
conflict, children who lack adequate family support, urban street children,
abandoned children, children with disabilities, children addicted to narcotic
drugs, children affected by war or natural and man-made disasters,
unaccompanied minor refugee children, working children, and children who are
economically and sexually exploited or abused, including the victims of the
sale and trafficking of children; ensuring that they have access to food,
shelter, education and health care and are protected from abuse and violence,
as well as provided with the necessary social and psychological assistance for
their healthy reintegration into society and for family reunification
consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and substituting
education for child work;
(f) Developing and strengthening programmes targeted at youth living in
poverty in order to enhance their economic, educational, social and cultural
opportunities, to promote constructive social relations among them and to
provide them with connections outside their communities to break the
intergenerational cycle of poverty;
(g) Addressing the special needs of indigenous children and their
families, particularly those living in poor areas, enabling them to benefit
adequately from economic and social development programmes, with full respect
for their cultures, languages and traditions;
(h) Improving the condition of the single parent in society and ensuring
that single-parent families and female-headed or female-maintained households
receive the social support they need, including support for adequate housing
and child care.
40. Particular efforts should be made to protect older persons, including
those with disabilities, by:
(a) Strengthening family support systems;
(b) Improving the situation of older persons, in particular in cases
where they lack adequate family support, including rural older persons,
working older persons, those affected by armed conflicts and natural or
man-made disasters, and those who are exploited, physically or psychologically
neglected, or abused;
(c) Ensuring that older persons are able to meet their basic human needs
through access to social services and social security, that those in need are
assisted, and that older persons are protected from abuse and violence and are
treated as a resource and not a burden;
(d) Providing assistance to grandparents who have been required to
assume responsibility for children, particularly of parents who are affected
by serious diseases, including AIDS or leprosy, or others who are unable to
care for their dependants;
(e) Creating a financial environment that encourages people to save for
their old age;
(f) Strengthening measures and mechanisms to ensure that retired workers
do not fall into poverty, taking into account their contribution to the
development of their countries;
(g) Encouraging and supporting cross-generational participation in
policy and programme development and in decision-making bodies at all levels.
41. People and communities should be protected from impoverishment and
long-term displacement and exclusion resulting from disasters through the
following actions at the national and international levels, as appropriate:
(a) Designing effective mechanisms to reduce the impact and to mitigate
the effects of natural disasters, such as droughts, earthquakes, cyclones and
floods;
(b) Developing long-term strategies and contingency plans for the
effective mitigation of natural disasters and for famine, including early
warning, assessment, information dissemination and management, as well as
rapid response strategies, that ensure the quick evolution of relief
activities into rehabilitation and development;
(c) Developing complementary mechanisms that integrate governmental,
intergovernmental and non-governmental efforts, including the establishment of
national volunteer corps to support United Nations activities in the areas of
humanitarian emergency assistance, as well as mechanisms to promote a smooth
transition from relief to rehabilitation, reconstruction and development, in
accordance with General Assembly resolutions 46/182 and 49/139 B;
(d) Developing and strengthening emergency food reserves as a means to
prevent acute food shortages and stabilize prices, with facilities for food
storage, transportation and distribution during emergencies, making full use
of traditional and market mechanisms;
(e) In disaster-prone areas and in cooperation with community-based
organizations, developing drought and flood mitigation agronomic practices and
resource conservation and infrastructure-building programmes, using
food-for-work, where appropriate, and incorporating traditional
disaster-response practices that can be rapidly expanded into emergency
employment and rebuilding programmes in disaster situations;
(f) Establishing the necessary planning and logistical mechanisms to
enable quick and effective response in disaster situations to provide food,
psychological and social care, medicines, medical supplies and other relief to
victims, especially women and children, and ensuring that the relief is
effectively targeted to those who need it; and channelling and organizing
disaster assistance so as to regenerate the local economy and support resource
protection and development efforts;
(g) Mobilizing and coordinating regional and international assistance,
including assistance from the United Nations system, and from non-governmental
organizations, to support the actions of Governments and communities
confronting disaster situations;
(h) Reducing vulnerability to natural disasters through the development
of early warning systems.
Chapter III
EXPANSION OF PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYMENT AND
REDUCTION OF UNEMPLOYMENT
Basis for action and objectives
42. Productive work and employment are central elements of development as
well as decisive elements of human identity. Sustained economic growth and
sustainable development as well as the expansion of productive employment
should go hand in hand. Full and adequately and appropriately remunerated
employment is an effective method of combating poverty and promoting social
integration. The goal of full employment requires that the State, the social
partners and all the other parts of civil society at all levels cooperate to
create conditions that enable everyone to participate in and benefit from
productive work. In a world of increasing globalization and interdependence
among countries, national efforts need to be buttressed by international
cooperation.
43. Globalization and rapid technological development give rise to increased
labour mobility, bringing new employment opportunities as well as new
uncertainties. There has been an increase in part-time, casual and other
forms of atypical employment. In addition to requiring the creation of new
employment opportunities on an unprecedented scale, such an environment calls
for expanded efforts to enhance human resource development for sustainable
development by, inter alia, enhancing the knowledge and skills necessary for
people, particularly for women and youth, to work productively and adapt to
changing requirements.
44. In many developed countries, growth in employment is currently great in
small and medium-sized enterprises and in self-employment. In many developing
countries, informal sector activities are often the leading source of
employment opportunities for people with limited access to formal-sector wage
employment, in particular for women. The removal of obstacles to the
operation of such enterprises and the provision of support for their creation
and expansion must be accompanied by protection of the basic rights, health
and safety of workers and the progressive improvement of overall working
conditions, together with the strengthening of efforts to make some
enterprises part of the formal sector.
45. While all groups can benefit from more employment opportunities,
specific needs and changing demographic patterns and trends call for
appropriate measures. Particular efforts by the public and private sectors
are required in all spheres of employment policy to ensure gender equality,
equal opportunity and non-discrimination on the basis of race/ethnic group,
religion, age, health and disability, and with full respect for applicable
international instruments. Special attention must also be paid to the needs
of groups who face particular disadvantages in their access to the labour
market so as to ensure their integration into productive activities, including
through the promotion of effective support mechanisms.
46. Much unremunerated productive work, such as caring for children and
older persons, producing and preparing food for the family, protecting the
environment and providing voluntary assistance to vulnerable and disadvantaged
individuals and groups, is of great social importance. World wide, most of
this work is done by women who often face the double burden of remunerated and
unremunerated work. Efforts are needed to acknowledge the social and economic
importance and value of unremunerated work, to facilitate labour-force
participation in combination with such work through flexible working
arrangements, encouraging voluntary social activities as well as broadening
the very conception of productive work, and to accord social recognition for
such work, including by developing methods for reflecting its value in
quantitative terms for possible reflection in accounts that may be produced
separately from, but consistent with, core national accounts.
47. There is therefore an urgent need, in the overall context of promoting
sustained economic growth and sustainable development, for:
~ Placing the creation of employment at the centre of national
strategies and policies, with the full participation of employers
and trade unions and other parts of civil society;
~ Policies to expand work opportunities and increase productivity in
both rural and urban sectors;
~ Education and training that enable workers and entrepreneurs to
adapt to changing technologies and economic conditions;
~ Quality jobs, with full respect for the basic rights of workers as
defined by relevant International Labour Organization and other
international instruments;
~ Giving special priority, in the design of policies, to the problems
of structural, long-term unemployment and underemployment of youth,
women, persons with disabilities and all other disadvantaged groups
and individuals;
~ Empowerment of women, gender balance in decision-making processes at
all levels and gender analysis in policy development to ensure equal
employment opportunities and wage rates for women and to enhance
harmonious and mutually beneficial partnerships between women and
men in sharing family and employment responsibilities;
~ Empowerment of members of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups,
including through the provision of education and training;
~ A broader recognition and understanding of work and employment and
greater flexibility in working time arrangements for both men and
women.
Actions
A. The centrality of employment in policy formulation
48. Placing the expansion of productive employment at the centre of
sustainable development strategies and economic and social policies requires:
(a) Promoting and pursuing active policies for full, productive,
appropriately remunerated and freely chosen employment;
(b) Giving priority at the national and international levels to the
policies that can address the problems of unemployment and underemployment.
49. Minimizing the negative impact on jobs of measures for macroeconomic
stability requires:
(a) Pursuing the coordination of macroeconomic policies so that they are
mutually reinforcing and conducive to broad-based and sustained economic
growth and sustainable development, as well as to substantial increases in
productive employment expansion and a decline in unemployment world wide;
(b) Giving priority to programmes that most directly promote viable and
long-term job growth when budgetary adjustments are required;
(c) Removing structural constraints to economic growth and employment
creation as a part of stabilization policies;
(d) Enabling competing claims on resources to be resolved in a
non-inflationary manner through the development and use of sound industrial
relations systems;
(e) Monitoring, analysing and disseminating information on the impact of
trade and investment liberalization on the economy, especially on employment;
(f) Exchanging information on different employment promotion measures
and their consequences, and monitoring the development of global employment
trends;
(g) Establishing appropriate social safety mechanisms to minimize the
adverse effects of structural adjustment, stabilization or reform programmes
on the workforce, especially the vulnerable, and for those who lose their
jobs, creating conditions for their re-entry through, inter alia, continuing
education and retraining.
50. Promoting patterns of economic growth that maximize employment creation
requires:
(a) Encouraging, as appropriate, labour-intensive investments in
economic and social infrastructure that use local resources and create,
maintain and rehabilitate community assets in both rural and urban areas;
(b) Promoting technological innovations and industrial policies that
have the potential to stimulate short and long-term employment creation, and
considering their impact on vulnerable and disadvantaged groups;
(c) Giving developing countries the capacity to select specific and
suitable technologies;
(d) Providing technical assistance and expanded transfer of technology
to developing countries to integrate technology and employment policies with
other social objectives, and to establish and strengthen national and local
technology institutions;
(e) Encouraging the realization in the countries with economies in
transition of programmes for on-the-job personnel training, facilitating their
adaptation to market-oriented reforms and reducing mass unemployment;
(f) Promoting mutually supportive improvements in rural farm and
non-farm production, including animal husbandry, forestry, fisheries and
agro-processing industries, aiming to expand and diversify environmentally
sound, sustained economic activity and productive employment in the rural
sector;
(g) Encouraging community economic development strategies that build on
partnerships among Governments and members of civil society to create jobs and
address the social circumstances of individuals, families and communities;
(h) Introducing sound policies to mobilize savings and stimulate
investment in capital-short areas;
(i) Maximizing the job creation potential inherent in Agenda 21 through
the conservation and management of natural resources, the promotion of
alternative livelihoods in fragile ecosystems, and the rehabilitation and
regeneration of critically affected and vulnerable land areas and natural
resources;
(j) Encouraging the utilization of renewable energy, based on local
employment-intensive resources, in particular in rural areas.
51. Enhancing opportunities for the creation and growth of private-sector
enterprises that would generate additional employment requires:
(a) Removing obstacles faced by small and medium-sized enterprises and
easing regulations that discourage private initiative;
(b) Facilitating access by small and medium-sized enterprises to credit,
national and international markets, management training and technological
information;
(c) Facilitating arrangements between large and small enterprises, such
as subcontracting programmes, with full respect for workers' rights;
(d) Improving opportunities and working conditions for women and youth
entrepreneurs by eliminating discrimination in access to credit, productive
resources and social security protection, and providing and increasing, as
appropriate, family benefits and social support, such as health care and child
care;
(e) Promoting, supporting and establishing legal frameworks to foster
the development of cooperative enterprises, and encouraging them to mobilize
capital, develop innovative lending programmes and promote entrepreneurship;
(f) Assisting informal sectors and local enterprises to become more
productive and progressively integrated into the formal economy through access
to affordable credit, information, wider markets, new technology and
appropriate technological and management skills, opportunities to upgrade
technical and management skills, and improved premises and other physical
infrastructure, as well as by progressively extending labour standards and
social protection without destroying the ability of informal sectors to
generate employment;
(g) Promoting the creation and development of independent organizations,
such as chambers of commerce and other associations or self-help institutions
of small formal and informal enterprises;
(h) Facilitating the expansion of the training and employment-generating
opportunities of industries.
B. Education, training and labour policies
52. Facilitating people's access to productive employment in today's rapidly
changing global environment and developing better quality jobs requires:
(a) Establishing well-defined educational priorities and investing
effectively in education and training systems;
(b) Introducing new and revitalized partnerships between education and
other government departments, including labour, and communications and
partnerships between Governments and non-governmental organizations, the
private sector, local communities, religious groups and families;
(c) Ensuring broad basic education, especially literacy, and promoting
general education, including the analytical and critical thinking that is
essential to improve learning skills. This is the foundation for acquiring
specialized skills and for renewing, adapting and upgrading them rapidly to
facilitate horizontal and vertical occupational mobility;
(d) Promoting the active participation of youth and adult learners in
the design of literacy campaigns, education and training programmes to ensure
that the labour force and social realities of diverse groups are taken into
account;
(e) Promoting lifelong learning to ensure that education and training
programmes respond to changes in the economy, provide full and equal access to
training opportunities, secure the access of women to training programmes,
offer incentives for public and private sectors to provide and for workers to
acquire training on a continuous basis, and stimulate entrepreneurial skills;
(f) Encouraging and supporting through technical assistance programmes,
including those of the United Nations system, well-designed and adaptable
vocational training and apprenticeship programmes to enhance productivity and
productive employment;
(g) Promoting and strengthening training programmes for the employment
of new entrants to the job market and retraining programmes for displaced and
retrenched workers;
(h) Developing an enhanced capacity for research and knowledge
dissemination by encouraging national and international exchanges of
information on innovative models and best practices;
(i) Developing, in the area of vocational and continuing education,
innovative methods of teaching and learning, including interactive
technologies and inductive methods involving close coordination between
working experience and training.
53. Helping workers to adapt and to enhance their employment opportunities
under changing economic conditions requires:
(a) Designing, developing, implementing, analysing and monitoring active
labour policies to stimulate the demand for labour in order to ensure that the
burden of indirect labour costs on employers does not constitute a
disincentive to hiring workers, identifying skill shortages and surpluses,
providing vocational guidance and counselling services and active help in job
searches, promoting occupational choice and mobility, offering advisory
services and support to enterprises, particularly small enterprises, for the
more effective use and development of their workforce, and establishing
institutions and processes that prevent all forms of discrimination and
improve the employment opportunities of groups that are vulnerable and
disadvantaged;
(b) Improving employment opportunities and increasing ways and means of
helping youth and persons with disabilities to develop the skills they need to
enable them to find employment;
(c) Promoting access by women and girls to traditionally male-dominated
occupations;
(d) Developing strategies to address the needs of people engaged in
various forms of atypical employment;
(e) Promoting labour mobility, retraining and maintenance of adequate
levels of social protection to facilitate worker redeployment when there is
phasing out of production or closure of an enterprise, giving special
attention to vulnerable and disadvantaged groups;
(f) Facilitating the integration or reintegration of women into the
workforce by developing adequate child care, care for older persons and other
support services and facilities;
(g) Encouraging cooperation between employers and workers to prepare for
the introduction of new technologies and to plan for their employment effects
as far in advance as possible, while ensuring adequate protection and
adjustment;
(h) Strengthening public and private employment services to assist
workers to adapt to changing job markets and provide social safety mechanisms,
occupational guidance, employment and job search counselling, training,
placement, apprenticeships and the sharing of information;
(i) Strengthening labour market information systems, particularly
through development of appropriate data and indicators on employment,
underemployment, unemployment and earnings, as well as dissemination of
information concerning labour markets, including, as far as possible, work
situations outside formal markets. All such data should be disaggregated by
gender in order to monitor the status of women relative to men.
C. Enhanced quality of work and employment
54. Governments should enhance the quality of work and employment by:
(a) Observing and fully implementing the human rights obligations that
they have assumed;
(b) Safeguarding and promoting respect for basic workers' rights,
including the prohibition of forced labour and child labour, freedom of
association and the right to organize and bargain collectively, equal
remuneration for men and women for work of equal value, and non-discrimination
in employment, fully implementing the conventions of the International Labour
Organization (ILO) in the case of States parties to those conventions, and
taking into account the principles embodied in those conventions in the case
of those countries that are not States parties to thus achieve truly sustained
economic growth and sustainable development;
(c) Strongly considering ratification and full implementation of ILO
conventions in these areas, as well as those relating to the employment rights
of minors, women, youth, persons with disabilities and indigenous people;
(d) Using existing international labour standards to guide the
formulation of national labour legislation and policies;
(e) Promoting the role of ILO, particularly as regards improving the
level of employment and the quality of work;
(f) Encouraging, where appropriate, employers and workers to consider
ways and means for enhancing the sharing of workers in the profits of
enterprises and promoting cooperation between workers and employers in the
decisions of enterprises.
55. To achieve a healthy and safe working environment, remove exploitation,
abolish child labour, raise productivity and enhance the quality of life
requires:
(a) Developing and implementing policies designed to promote improved
working conditions, including health and safety conditions;
(b) Improving health policies that reduce, with a view to eliminating,
environmental health hazards and provide for occupational health and safety,
in conformity with the relevant conventions, and providing informal sector
enterprises and all workers with accessible information and guidance on how to
enhance occupational safety and reduce health risks;
(c) Promoting, in accordance with national laws and regulations, sound
labour relations based on tripartite cooperation and full respect for freedom
of association and the right to organize and bargain collectively;
(d) Setting specific target dates for eliminating all forms of child
labour that are contrary to accepted international standards and ensuring the
full enforcement of relevant existing laws, and, where appropriate, enacting
the legislation necessary to implement the Convention on the Rights of the
Child and ILO standards, ensuring the protection of working children, in
particular of street children, through the provision of appropriate health,
education and other social services;
(e) Designing labour policies and programmes to help eradicate family
poverty, which is a main cause of child labour, eliminating child labour and
encouraging parents to send their children to school through, inter alia, the
provision of social services and other incentives;
(f) Establishing policies and programmes to protect workers, especially
women, from sexual harassment and violence;
(g) Encouraging incentives to public and private enterprises to develop,
transfer and adopt technologies and know-how that improve the working
environment, enhance occupational safety and reduce, with a view to
eliminating, health risks.
56. The full participation of women in the labour market and their equal
access to employment opportunities require:
(a) Establishing the principle of equality between men and women as a
basis for employment policy and promoting gender-sensitivity training to
eliminate prejudice against the employment of women;
(b) Eliminating gender discrimination, including by taking positive
action, where appropriate, in hiring, wages, access to credit, benefits,
promotion, training, career development, job assignment, working conditions,
job security and social security benefits;
(c) Improving women's access to technologies that facilitate their
occupational and domestic work, encourage self-support, generate income,
transform gender-prescribed roles within the productive process and enable
them to move out of stereotyped, low-paying jobs;
(d) Changing those policies and attitudes that reinforce the division of
labour based on gender, and providing institutional support, such as social
protection for maternity, parental leave, technologies that facilitate the
sharing and reduce the burden of domestic chores, and flexible working
arrangements, including parental voluntary part-time employment and
work-sharing, as well as accessible and affordable quality child-care
facilities, to enable working parents to reconcile work with family
responsibilities, paying particular attention to the needs of single-parent
households;
(e) Encouraging men to take an active part in all areas of family and
household responsibilities, including the sharing of child-rearing and
housework.
D. Enhanced employment opportunities for groups
with specific needs
57. The improvement of the design of policies and programmes requires:
(a) Identifying and reflecting the specific needs of particular groups,
and ensuring that programmes are equitable and non-discriminatory, efficient
and effective in meeting the needs of those groups;
(b) Actively involving representatives of these groups in planning,
design and management, and monitoring, evaluating and reorienting these
programmes by providing access to accurate information and sufficient
resources to ensure that they reach their intended beneficiaries.
58. Employment policies can better address the problem of short- and
long-term unemployment by:
(a) Incorporating, with the involvement of the unemployed and/or their
associations, a comprehensive set of measures, including employment planning,
re-education and training programmes, literacy, skills upgrading, counselling
and job-search assistance, temporary work schemes, frequent contact with
employment service offices and preparing for entry and re-entry into the
labour market;
(b) Analysing the underlying causes of long-term unemployment and their
effect on different groups, including older workers and single parents, and
designing employment and other supporting policies that address specific
situations and needs;
(c) Promoting social security schemes that reduce barriers and
disincentives to employment so as to enable the unemployed to improve their
capacity to participate actively in society, to maintain an adequate standard
of living and to be able to take advantage of employment opportunities.
59. Programmes for entry or re-entry into the labour market aimed at
vulnerable and disadvantaged groups can effectively combat the causes of
exclusion on the labour market by:
(a) Complementing literacy actions, general education or vocational
training by work experience that may include support and instruction on
business management and training so as to give better knowledge of the value
of entrepreneurship and other private-sector contributions to society;
(b) Increasing the level of skills, and also improving the ability to
get a job through improvements in housing, health and family life.
60. Policies should seek to guarantee all youth constructive options for
their future by:
(a) Providing equal access to education at the primary and secondary
levels, with literacy as a priority and with special attention to girls;
(b) Encouraging the struggle against illiteracy and promoting literacy
training in national languages in developing countries, in particular in
Africa;
(c) Encouraging various actors to join forces in designing and carrying
out comprehensive and coordinated programmes that stimulate the
resourcefulness of youth, preparing them for durable employment or
self-employment, and providing them with guidance, vocational and managerial
training, social skills, work experience and education in social values;
(d) Ensuring the participation of youth, commensurate with their age and
responsibility, in planning and decision-making with regard to their future.
61. The full participation of indigenous people in the labour market and
their equal access to employment opportunities requires developing
comprehensive employment, education and training programmes that take account
of the particular needs of indigenous people.
62. Broadening the range of employment opportunities for persons with
disabilities requires:
(a) Ensuring that laws and regulations do not discriminate against
persons with disabilities;
(b) Taking proactive measures, such as organizing support services,
devising incentive schemes and supporting self-help schemes and small
businesses;
(c) Making appropriate adjustments in the workplace to accommodate
persons with disabilities, including in that respect the promotion of
innovative technologies;
(d) Developing alternative forms of employment, such as supported
employment, for persons with disabilities who need these services;
(e) Promoting public awareness within society regarding the impact of
the negative stereotyping of persons with disabilities on their participation
in the labour market.
63. There is need for intensified international cooperation and national
attention to the situation of migrant workers and their families. To that
end:
(a) Governments are invited to consider ratifying existing instruments
pertaining to migrant workers, particularly the International Convention on
the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their
Families; 15/
(b) In accordance with national legislation, Governments of receiving
countries are urged to consider extending to documented migrants who meet
appropriate length-of-stay requirements and to members of their families whose
stay in the receiving country is regular, treatment equal to that accorded
their own nationals with regard to the enjoyment of basic human rights,
including equality of opportunity and treatment in respect of religious
practices, working conditions, social security, participation in trade unions
and access to health, education, cultural and other social services, as well
as equal access to the judicial system and equal treatment before the law;
(c) Governments of countries of origin, transit countries and countries
of destination are urged to cooperate in reducing the causes of undocumented
migration, safeguarding the basic human rights of undocumented migrants and
preventing their exploitation;
(d) Governments of both receiving countries and countries of origin
should adopt effective sanctions against those who organize undocumented
migration, exploit undocumented migrants or engage in trafficking in
undocumented migrants;
(e) Governments of countries of origin are urged to facilitate the
return of migrants and their reintegration into their home communities and to
devise ways of using their skills. Governments of countries of origin should
consider collaborating with countries of destination and engaging the support
of appropriate international organizations in promoting the return on a
voluntary basis of qualified migrants who can play a crucial role in the
transfer of knowledge, skills and technology. Countries of destination are
encouraged to facilitate return migration on a voluntary basis by adopting
flexible policies, such as the transferability of pensions and other work
benefits.
E. A broader recognition and understanding of work
and employment
64. A broader recognition and understanding of work and employment requires:
(a) Acknowledging the important contribution of unremunerated work to
societal well-being and bringing respect, dignity and value to societal
perceptions of such work and the people who do it;
(b) Developing a more comprehensive knowledge of work and employment
through, inter alia, efforts to measure and better understand the type, extent
and distribution of unremunerated work, particularly work in caring for
dependants and unremunerated work done for family farms or businesses, and
encouraging, sharing and disseminating information, studies and experience in
this field, including on the development of methods for assessing its value in
quantitative terms, for possible reflection in accounts that may be produced
separately from, but are consistent with, core national accounts;
(c) Recognizing the relationship between remunerated employment and
unremunerated work in developing strategies to expand productive employment,
to ensure equal access by women and men to employment, and to ensure the care
and well-being of children and other dependants, as well as to combat poverty
and promote social integration;
(d) Encouraging an open dialogue on the possibilities and institutional
requirements for a broader understanding of various forms of work and
employment;
(e) Examining a range of policies and programmes, including social
security legislation, and taxation systems, in accordance with national
priorities and policies, to ascertain how to facilitate flexibility in the way
people divide their time between education and training, paid employment,
family responsibilities, volunteer activity and other socially useful forms of
work, leisure and retirement, giving particular attention to the situation of
women, especially in female-maintained households;
(f) Promoting socially useful volunteer work and allocating appropriate
resources to support such work without diluting the objectives regarding
employment expansion;
(g) Intensifying international exchange of experience on various aspects
of change in the recognition and understanding of work and employment and on
new forms of flexible working time arrangements over the lifetime.
65. The development of additional socially useful new types of employment
and work requires, inter alia:
(a) Helping vulnerable and disadvantaged groups to integrate better into
society and thus participate more effectively in economic and social
development;
(b) Helping older persons who are dependent or providing support for
families in need of educational assistance or social support;
(c) Strengthening social ties through these forms of employment and
work, which represents an important achievement of social development policy.
Chapter IV
SOCIAL INTEGRATION
Basis for action and objectives
66. The aim of social integration is to create "a society for all", in which
every individual, each with rights and responsibilities, has an active role to
play. Such an inclusive society must be based on respect for all human rights
and fundamental freedoms, cultural and religious diversity, social justice and
the special needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, democratic
participation and the rule of law. The pluralistic nature of most societies
has at times resulted in problems for the different groups to achieve and
maintain harmony and cooperation, and to have equal access to all resources in
society. Full recognition of each individual's rights in the context of the
rule of law has not always been fully guaranteed. Since the founding of the
United Nations, this quest for humane, stable, safe, tolerant and just
societies has shown a mixed record at best.
67. Nevertheless, progress has been noted, as shown in the continuation of
the ongoing process of decolonization; the elimination of apartheid; the
spread of democracy; wider recognition of the need to respect human dignity,
all human rights and fundamental freedoms and cultural diversity; the
unacceptability of discrimination; increasing recognition of the unique
concerns of indigenous people in the world; an expanded notion of collective
responsibility for all members of a society; expanded economic and educational
opportunities and the globalization of communication; and greater
possibilities for social mobility, choice and autonomy of action.
68. Notwithstanding the instances of progress, there are negative
developments that include social polarization and fragmentation; widening
disparities and inequalities of income and wealth within and among nations;
problems arising from uncontrolled urban development and the degradation of
the environment; marginalization of people, families, social groups,
communities and even entire countries; and strains on individuals, families,
communities and institutions as a result of the rapid pace of social change,
economic transformation, migration and major dislocations of population,
particularly in the areas of armed conflict.
69. Furthermore, violence, in its many manifestations, including domestic
violence, especially against women, children, older persons and people with
disabilities, is a growing threat to the security of individuals, families and
communities everywhere. Total social breakdown is an all too real
contemporary experience. Organized crime, illegal drugs, the illicit arms
trade, trafficking in women and children, ethnic and religious conflict, civil
war, terrorism, all forms of extremist violence, xenophobia, and politically
motivated killing and even genocide present fundamental threats to societies
and the global social order. These are compelling and urgent reasons for
action by Governments individually and, as appropriate, jointly to foster
social cohesion while recognizing, protecting and valuing diversity.
70. There is therefore an urgent need for:
þ Transparent and accountable public institutions that are accessible
to people on an equal basis and are responsive to their needs;
þ Opportunities for all to participate in all spheres of public life;
þ Strengthened participation and involvement of civil society in the
formulation, implementation and evaluation of decisions determining
the functioning and well-being of societies;
þ Publicly available objective data to enable people to make informed
decisions;
þ Maintenance of social stability and promotion of social justice and
progress;
þ Promotion of non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual respect for
and the value of diversity;
þ Equity and equality of opportunity and social mobility;
þ Gender equality and equity and empowerment of women;
þ Elimination of physical and social barriers with the aim of creating
a society accessible for all, with special emphasis on measures to
meet the needs and interests of those who face obstacles in
participating fully in society;
þ Giving special attention to the right to the enjoyment of the
highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and to
health as a factor of development;
þ Promoting the principle of caring for one another's well-being and
fostering the spirit of mutual support, within the context of human
rights education;
þ While acknowledging legitimate national defence needs, recognizing
and addressing the dangers to society of armed conflict, and the
negative effect of excessive military expenditures, trade in arms,
especially of those arms that are particularly injurious or have
indiscriminate effects, and excessive investment for arms production
and acquisition. Similarly, the need to combat illicit arms
trafficking, violence, crime, the production, use and trafficking of
illicit drugs, and trafficking in women and children should be
recognized and addressed;
þ The elimination of all forms of violence and the full implementation
of the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. 16/
Actions
A. Responsive government and full participation in society
71. Governments should promote and protect all human rights and fundamental
freedoms, including the right to development, bearing in mind the
interdependent and mutually reinforcing relationship between democracy,
development and respect for human rights, and should make public institutions
more responsive to people's needs by:
(a) Ensuring that decisions are based on accurate data and are taken
with the participation of those who will be affected, keeping under review,
within each country's constitutional framework, the responsibilities of the
different levels of government and the administrative arrangements for
organizing and delivering services;
(b) Keeping under review, within each country's constitutional
framework, the national, provincial, municipal and local capacity and
capability in raising revenue, and allocating resources to promote local
initiatives in maintaining and increasing community cohesion;
(c) Simplifying administrative regulations, disseminating information
about public policy issues and initiatives for collective interests, and
facilitating maximum access to information;
(d) Opening channels and promoting full confidence between citizens and
government agencies, and developing affordable recourse procedures accessible
to all people, especially those who have no access to channels and agencies of
communication to seek redress of grievances;
(e) Encouraging the production of relevant studies/research to assess
the consequences of global and technological changes on social integration and
the production of evaluations of the policies and programmes put in place to
achieve the various components of social integration; and encouraging national
and international exchanges and dissemination of information on innovative
models and successful practices;
(f) Requiring accountability for the honest, just and equitable delivery
of public services to the people from all public officials;
(g) Making their services accessible to all citizens and taking special
care to ensure that the services are provided to all persons in need;
(h) Strengthening popular political participation, and promoting the
transparency and accountability of political groupings at the local and
national levels;
(i) Encouraging the ratification of, the avoidance as far as possible of
the resort to reservations to and the implementation of international human
rights instruments aiming to eliminate barriers to the full enjoyment of all
human rights.
72. Encouraging the fullest participation in society requires:
(a) Strengthening the capacities and opportunities for all people,
especially those who are vulnerable and disadvantaged, to establish and
maintain independent organizations representing their interests, within each
country's constitutional framework;
(b) Enabling institutions of civil society, with special attention to
those representing vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, to participate in the
formulation, on a consultative basis, implementation and evaluation of
policies related to social development;
(c) Giving community organizations greater involvement in the design and
implementation of local projects, particularly in the areas of education,
health care, resource management and social protection;
(d) Ensuring a legal framework and a support structure that encourage
the formation of and constructive contributions from community organizations
and voluntary associations of individuals;
(e) Encouraging all members of society to exercise their rights, fulfil
their responsibilities and participate fully in their societies, recognizing
that Governments alone cannot meet all needs in society;
(f) Establishing a universal and flexible social safety net that takes
into account available economic resources and encourages rehabilitation and
active participation in society;
(g) Facilitating the access of disadvantaged and marginalized people to
education and information, as well as their participation in social and
cultural life;
(h) Promoting equality and social integration through sports and
cultural activities.
B. Non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual
respect for and value of diversity
73. Eliminating discrimination and promoting tolerance and mutual respect
for and the value of diversity at the national and international levels
requires:
(a) Enacting and implementing appropriate laws and other regulations to
combat racism, racial discrimination, religious intolerance in all its various
forms, xenophobia and all forms of discrimination in all walks of life in
societies;
(b) Encouraging the ratification of the avoidance as far as possible of
the resort to reservations, and the implementation of international
instruments, including the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination 17/ and the Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Discrimination against Women; 18/
(c) Taking specific measures, in the context of the implementation of
the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, 19/ to
remove long-standing legal and social barriers to employment, education,
productive resources and public services; assist women in becoming aware of
and realizing their rights; and ensure the elimination of intra-family
discrimination for the girl child, especially in regard to health, nutrition
and education;
(d) Ensuring gender equality and equity through changes in attitudes,
policies and practices, encouraging the full participation and empowerment of
women in social, economic and political life, and enhancing gender balance in
decision-making processes at all levels;
(e) Reviewing with a view to changing legislation, public codes and
practices that perpetuate discriminatory practices;
(f) Disseminating information in plain language to all groups in society
about people's rights and the means available to redress complaints;
(g) Strengthening or establishing machinery for monitoring and resolving
disputes and conflicts related to discriminatory practices, and developing
arbitration and conciliation procedures at the local and national levels;
(h) Setting an example through State institutions and the educational
system to promote and protect respect for freedom of expression; democracy;
political pluralism; diversity of heritage, cultures and values; religious
tolerance and principles; and the national traditions on which a country has
been built;
(i) Recognizing that the languages spoken or used in the world should be
respected and protected;
(j) Recognizing that it is of utmost importance for all people to live
in cooperation and harmony, and ensuring that the traditions and cultural
heritage of nations are fully protected;
(k) Encouraging independent communication media that promote people's
understanding and awareness of all aspects of social integration, with full
respect for freedom of information and expression.
C. Equality and social justice
74. Governments should promote equality and social justice by:
(a) Ensuring that all people are equal before the law;
(b) Carrying out a regular review of public policy, including health and
education policies, and public spending from a social and gender equality and
equity perspective, and promoting their positive contribution to equalizing
opportunities;
(c) Expanding and improving access to basic services with the aim of
ensuring universal coverage;
(d) Providing equal opportunities in public-sector employment and
providing guidance, information and, as appropriate, incentives to private
employers to do the same;
(e) Encouraging the free formation of cooperatives, community and other
grass-roots organizations, mutual support groups, recreational/sports
associations and similar institutions that tend to strengthen social
integration, paying particular attention to policies that assist families in
their support, educational, socializing and nurturing roles;
(f) Ensuring that structural adjustment programmes are so designed as
to minimize their negative effects on vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and
communities while ensuring their positive effects on them by preventing their
marginalization in economic and social activities, and devising measures to
ensure that such groups and communities gain access to and control over
economic resources and economic and social activities. Actions should be
taken to reduce inequality and economic disparity;
(g) Promoting full access to preventive and curative health care to
improve the quality of life, especially by the vulnerable and disadvantaged
groups, in particular women and children;
(h) Expanding basic education by developing special measures to provide
schooling for children and youth living in sparsely populated and remote
areas, for children and youth of nomadic, pastoral, migrant or indigenous
parents, and for street children, children and youth working or looking after
younger siblings and disabled or aged parents, and disabled children and
youth; establishing, in partnership with indigenous people, educational
systems that will meet the unique needs of their cultures;
(i) Ensuring that the expansion of basic education is accompanied by
improved quality, appropriate attention to children of different abilities,
cooperation between family and school, and a close link between the school
curriculum and the needs of the workplace;
(j) Evaluating school systems on a regular basis by results achieved,
and disseminating research findings regarding the appropriateness of different
methods of evaluation;
(k) Ensuring that all people can have access to a variety of formal and
non-formal learning activities throughout their lives that allows them to
contribute to and benefit from full participation in society; making use of
all forms of education, including non-conventional and experimental means of
education, such as tele-courses and correspondence courses, through public
institutions, the institutions of civil society and the private sector, to
provide educational opportunities for those who in childhood missed necessary
schooling, for youth in the process of transition from school to work, and for
those who wish to continue education and upgrade skills throughout their
lives;
(l) Providing equal access for girls to all levels of education,
including non-traditional and vocational training, and ensuring that measures
are taken to address the various cultural and practical barriers that impede
their access to education through such measures as the hiring of female
teachers, adoption of flexible hours, care of dependants and siblings, and
provision of appropriate facilities.
D. Responses to special social needs
75. Governmental responses to special needs of social groups should include:
(a) Identifying specific means to encourage institutions and services to
adapt to the special needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups;
(b) Recognizing and promoting the abilities, talents and experience of
groups that are vulnerable and disadvantaged, identifying ways to prevent
isolation and alienation, and enabling them to make a positive contribution to
society;
(c) Ensuring access to work and social services through such measures as
education, language training and technical assistance for people adversely
affected by language barriers;
(d) Supporting by legislation, incentives and other means, where
appropriate, organizations of the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups so that
they may promote the interests of the groups concerned and become involved in
local and national, economic, social and political decision-making that guides
society as a whole;
(e) Improving the opportunities for people who are disadvantaged or
vulnerable to seek positions in legislatures, Governments, judiciaries and
other positions of public authority or influence;
(f) Taking measures to integrate into economic and social life
demobilized persons and persons displaced by civil conflict and disasters;
(g) Promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous people, and
empowering them to make choices that enable them to retain their cultural
identity while participating in national, economic and social life, with full
respect for their cultural values, languages, traditions and forms of social
organization;
(h) Implementing the Plan of Action adopted by the World Summit for
Children in 1990 and ratifying, as appropriate, and implementing the
provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
(i) Encouraging youth to participate in discussions and decisions
affecting them and in the design, implementation and evaluation of policies
and programmes; ensuring that youth acquire the skills to participate in all
aspects of life in society and to lead self-sufficient lives through the
provision of relevant and innovative educational programmes; and establishing
laws and measures that ensure the protection of youth against physical and
mental abuse and economic exploitation;
(j) Adopting specific measures to equip young people for responsible
adulthood, particularly out-of-school youth and street children;
(k) Promoting the United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities 20/ and developing strategies for
implementing the Rules. Governments, in collaboration with organizations of
people with disabilities and the private sector, should work towards the
equalization of opportunities so that people with disabilities can contribute
to and benefit from full participation in society. Policies concerning people
with disabilities should focus on their abilities rather than their
disabilities and should ensure their dignity as citizens;
(l) Within the context of the United Nations Principles for Older
Persons 21/ and the global targets on ageing for the year 2001, 22/ reviewing
or developing strategies for implementing the International Plan of Action on
Ageing 23/ so that older persons can maximize their contribution to society
and play their full part in the community;
(m) Facilitating the implementation of the guidelines for further
planning and suitable follow-up in the field of youth 24/ with a view to
promoting the integration of youth into societies;
(n) Taking measures to enable persons belonging to minorities to
participate fully and contribute to the development of their society.
E. Responses to specific social needs of refugees, displaced
persons and asylum-seekers, documented migrants and
undocumented migrants
76. In order to address the special needs of refugees, displaced persons and
asylum-seekers:
(a) Governments are urged to address the root causes of movements of
refugees and displaced persons by taking appropriate measures, particularly
with respect to conflict resolution; the promotion of peace and
reconciliation; respect for human rights, including those of persons belonging
to minorities; and respect for the independence, territorial integrity and
sovereignty of States. Governments and all other entities should respect and
safeguard the right of people to remain in safety in their homes and should
refrain from policies or practices that force people to flee;
(b) Governments are urged to strengthen their support for international
protection and assistance activities on behalf of refugees and, as
appropriate, displaced persons, and to promote the search for durable
solutions to their plight. In so doing, Governments are encouraged to enhance
regional and international mechanisms that promote appropriate shared
responsibility for the protection and assistance needs of refugees. All
necessary measures should be taken to ensure the physical protection of
refugees, in particular that of refugee women and refugee children and
especially against exploitation, abuse and all forms of violence;
(c) Adequate international support should be extended to countries of
asylum to meet the basic needs of refugees and to assist in the search for
durable solutions. Refugee populations should be assisted in achieving
self-sufficiency. Refugees, particularly refugee women, should be involved in
the planning of refugee assistance activities and in their implementation. In
planning and implementing refugee assistance activities, special attention
should be given to the specific needs of refugee and displaced women and
children. Refugees should be provided with access to adequate accommodation,
education, health services, including family planning, and other necessary
social services. Refugees should respect the laws and regulations of their
countries of asylum;
(d) Governments and other relevant actors should create comprehensive
conditions that allow for the voluntary repatriation of refugees in safety and
dignity, and the voluntary and safe return of internally displaced persons to
their homes of origin and their smooth reintegration into society;
(e) Governments are urged to abide by international law concerning
refugees. States that have not already done so are invited to consider
acceding to the international instruments concerning refugees, in particular
the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 25/ and the 1967
Protocol to the Convention. 26/ Governments are furthermore urged to respect
the principle of non-refoulement, that is, the principle of no forcible return
of persons to places where their lives or freedom would be threatened because
of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or
political opinion. Governments should ensure that asylum-seekers in the
Government's territory have access to a fair hearing and should facilitate the
expeditious processing of asylum requests, ensuring that guidelines and
procedures for the determination of refugee status are sensitive to the
particular situation of women;
(f) Governments and relevant actors should respect the right of people
to seek and enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
77. To promote the equitable treatment and integration of documented
migrants, particularly documented migrant workers and members of their
families:
(a) Governments should ensure that documented migrants receive fair and
equal treatment, including full respect of their human rights, protection of
the laws of the host society, appropriate access to economic opportunities and
social services; protection against racism, ethnocentrism and xenophobia; and
protection from violence and exploitation. Language training should be
provided, in recognition of the centrality of language acquisition to the
effective integration of documented migrants, including those not destined for
the labour market, in so far as resources permit. Early integration is the
key to allowing documented migrants to contribute their skills, knowledge and
potential to the development of countries of destination, and involves mutual
understanding by documented migrants and the host society. The former need to
know and respect the values, laws, traditions and principles of the host
society, which in turn should respect the religions, cultures and traditions
of documented migrants;
(b) Governments of receiving countries are urged to consider giving to
documented migrants having the right to long-term residence, civil and
political rights and responsibilities, as appropriate, and facilitating their
naturalization. Special efforts should be made to enhance the integration of
the children of long-term migrants by providing them with educational and
training opportunities equal to those of nationals, allowing them to exercise
an economic activity and facilitating the naturalization of those who have
been raised in the receiving country. Consistent with article 10 of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child 27/ and all relevant universally
recognized human rights instruments, all Governments, particularly those of
receiving countries, must recognize the vital importance of family
reunification and promote its integration into their national legislation in
order to ensure protection of the unity of the families of documented
migrants. Governments of receiving countries must ensure the protection of
migrants and their families, giving priority to programmes and strategies that
combat religious intolerance, racism, ethnocentrism, xenophobia and gender
discrimination, and that generate the necessary public sensitivity in that
regard;
(c) Governments and relevant actors should encourage the international
exchange of information on educational and training institutions in order to
promote the productive employment of documented migrants through greater
recognition of foreign education and credentials;
(d) Governments should encourage interracial harmony and cross-cultural
understanding through educational programmes, where appropriate, including
alternative dispute resolution and conflict prevention training in schools.
78. In order to address the concerns and basic human needs related to
undocumented migrants:
(a) Governments are urged to cooperate in reducing the causes of
undocumented migration, safeguarding the basic human rights of undocumented
migrants, preventing their exploitation and offering them appropriate means of
appeal according to national legislation, and punishing criminals who organize
trafficking in human beings;
(b) Countries of destination, countries of transit and countries of
origin should cooperate, as appropriate, to manage immigration flows, prevent
undocumented migration, and, if appropriate, facilitate the return of migrants
and their reintegration in their home communities;
(c) Governments are urged to cooperate to reduce the effects of
undocumented migration on receiving countries, bearing in mind the special
circumstances and needs of such countries, in particular developing countries;
(d) Governments are urged to promote effective measures to protect all
undocumented migrants and members of their families against racism,
ethnocentrism and xenophobia.
F. Violence, crime, the problem of illicit drugs
and substance abuse
79. Addressing the problems created by violence, crime, substance abuse and
the production, use and trafficking of illicit drugs, and the rehabilitation
of addicts requires:
(a) Introducing and implementing specific policies and public health and
social service programmes to prevent and eliminate all forms of violence in
society, particularly to prevent and eliminate domestic violence and to
protect the victims of violence, with particular attention to violence against
women, children, older persons and persons with disabilities. In particular,
the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women should be
implemented and enforced nationally. In addition, the provisions of the
Convention on the Rights of the Child should be respected;
(b) Taking full measures to eliminate all forms of exploitation, abuse,
harassment and violence against women, in particular domestic violence and
rape. Special attention should be given to violence resulting from harmful
traditional or customary practices and all forms of extremism, which implies
both preventive actions and the rehabilitation of victims;
(c) Implementing programmes that channel the energy and creativity of
children and youth towards improving themselves and their communities in order
to prevent their participation in crime, violence, and drug abuse and
trafficking;
(d) Improving mechanisms for resolving conflicts peacefully and
reintegrating society following conflicts, including efforts towards
reconciliation and confidence-building between the conflicting groups,
training in non-violent conflict resolution at all levels of education, the
reconstruction of social institutions that have been destroyed, the
reintegration of displaced and disabled persons, and the re-establishment of
the rule of law and respect for all human rights;
(e) Establishing partnerships with non-governmental organizations and
community organizations to make adequate provision for the rehabilitation and
reintegration into society of offenders, especially young offenders; measures
will include efforts to maintain links with their families during detention
and to reintegrate them into productive employment and social life after their
release from detention;
(f) Strengthening international cooperation and coordination in devising
strategies, policies, legislation and other measures in combating national and
transnational organized crime and the use of violence and terrorism;
(g) Adopting effective and environmentally sound national strategies to
prevent or substantially reduce the cultivation and processing of crops used
for the illegal drug trade, paying particular attention to national and
international support for development programmes that create viable economic
alternatives to drug production and promote the full integration of the social
groups involved in such activities;
(h) Combating drug and substance abuse and drug trafficking, corruption
and related criminal activities through national and internationally
coordinated measures, while strengthening integrated, multisectoral programmes
to prevent and reduce the demand for consumption of drugs in order to create a
society free of illicit drugs. In cooperation with the institutions of civil
society and the private sector, drug abuse prevention should be promoted as
well as preventive education for children and youth, rehabilitation and
education programmes for former drug and alcohol addicts, especially children
and youth, to enable them to obtain productive employment and achieve the
independence, dignity and responsibility for a drug-free, crime-free,
productive life;
(i) Working nationally and internationally to identify narcotics
trafficking and money laundering networks, prosecuting their leaders and
seizing assets derived from such criminal activities;
(j) Supporting comprehensive drug interdiction strategies and
strengthening efforts to control precursor chemicals and firearms, ammunition
and explosives in order to prevent their diversion to drug trafficking and
terrorist groups;
(k) Combating trafficking in women and children through national and
internationally coordinated measures, at the same time establishing or
strengthening institutions for the rehabilitation of the victims of the
trafficking of women and children.
G. Social integration and family responsibilities
80. The family is the basic unit of society and as such should be
strengthened. It is entitled to receive comprehensive protection and support.
In different cultural, political and social systems, various forms of the
family exist. Marriage must be entered into with the free consent of the
intending spouses, and husband and wife should be equal partners.
81. Helping the family in its supporting, educating and nurturing roles in
contributing to social integration should involve:
(a) Encouraging social and economic policies that are designed to meet
the needs of families and their individual members, especially the most
disadvantaged and vulnerable members, with particular attention to the care of
children;
(b) Ensuring opportunities for family members to understand and meet
their social responsibilities;
(c) Promoting mutual respect, tolerance and cooperation within the
family and within society;
(d) Promoting equal partnership between women and men in the family.
Chapter V
IMPLEMENTATION AND FOLLOW-UP
82. Nothing short of a renewed and massive political will at the national
and international levels to invest in people and their well-being will achieve
the objectives of social development. Social development and the
implementation of the Programme of Action of the Summit are primarily the
responsibility of Governments, although international cooperation and
assistance are essential for their full implementation. At all levels of
implementation, the crucial and essential requirements are:
þ The promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental
freedoms, the support for democratic institutions and the
empowerment of women;
þ The integration of goals, programmes and review mechanisms that have
developed separately in response to specific problems;
þ Partnership involving States, local authorities, non-governmental
organizations, especially voluntary organizations, other major
groups as defined in Agenda 21, the media, families and individuals;
þ The recognition of the diversity in the world and the need to take
measures geared to achieve the Summit's goals;
þ The empowerment of people, who are to be assisted so that they fully
participate in setting goals, designing programmes, implementing
activities and evaluating performance;
þ Efforts to mobilize new and additional financial resources that are
both adequate and predictable, and are mobilized in a way that
maximizes the availability of such resources, and uses all available
funding sources and mechanisms, inter alia, multilateral, bilateral
and private sources, including on concessional and grant terms;
þ Solidarity, extending the concept of partnership and a moral
imperative of mutual respect and concern among individuals,
communities and nations.
Actions
A. National strategies, evaluations and reviews
83. The promotion of an integrated approach to the implementation of the
Programme of Action at the national level, in accordance with national
specificities, requires:
(a) Analysing and reviewing macroeconomic, micro-economic and sectoral
policies and their impact on poverty, employment, social integration and
social development;
(b) Enhancing government policies and programmes to promote social
development by strengthening the coordination of all efforts by national and
international actors, strengthening the efficiency and operational capacity of
public management structures, and facilitating the effective and transparent
use of resources, taking due account of the recommendations and follow-up to
Agenda 21;
(c) Assessing the extent, distribution and characteristics of poverty,
unemployment, social tensions, and social exclusion, taking measures aiming at
eradicating poverty, increasing productive employment and enhancing social
integration;
(d) Formulating or strengthening, by 1996, comprehensive cross-sectoral
strategies for implementing the Summit outcome and national strategies for
social development, including government action, actions by States in
cooperation with other Governments, international, regional and subregional
organizations, and actions taken in partnership and cooperation with actors of
civil society, the private sector and cooperatives, with specific
responsibilities to be undertaken by each actor and with agreed priorities and
time-frames;
(e) Integrating social development goals into national development
plans, policies and budgets, cutting across traditional sectoral boundaries,
with transparency and accountability, and formulated and implemented with the
participation of the groups directly affected;
(f) Defining time-bound goals and targets for reducing overall poverty
and eradicating absolute poverty, expanding employment and reducing
unemployment, and enhancing social integration, within each national context;
(g) Promoting and strengthening institutional capacity-building for
inter-ministerial coordination, intersectoral collaboration, the coordinated
allocation of resources and vertical integration from national capitals to
local districts;
(h) Developing quantitative and qualitative indicators of social
development, including, where possible, disaggregation by gender, to assess
poverty, employment, social integration and other social factors, to monitor
the impact of social policies and programmes, and to find ways to improve the
effectiveness of policies and programmes and introduce new programmes;
(i) Strengthening implementation and monitoring mechanisms, including
arrangements for the participation of civil society in policy-making and
implementation and collaboration with international organizations;
(j) Regularly assessing national progress towards implementing the
outcome of the Summit, possibly in the form of periodic national reports,
outlining successes, problems and obstacles. Such reports could be considered
within the framework of an appropriate consolidated reporting system, taking
into account the different reporting procedures in the economic, social and
environmental fields.
84. International support for the formulation of national strategies for
social development will require actions by bilateral and multilateral agencies
for:
(a) Assisting countries to strengthen or rebuild their capacities for
formulating, coordinating, implementing and monitoring integrated strategies
for social development;
(b) Coordinating the assistance provided by different agencies for
similar planning processes under other international action plans;
(c) Developing improved concepts and programmes for the collection and
dissemination of statistics and indicators for social development to
facilitate review and policy analysis and provide expertise, advice and
support to countries at their request.
B. Involvement of civil society
85. Effective implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social
Development and the Programme of Action of the Summit requires strengthening
community organizations and non-profit non-governmental organizations in the
spheres of education, health, poverty, social integration, human rights,
improvement of the quality of life, and relief and rehabilitation, enabling
them to participate constructively in policy-making and implementation. This
will require:
(a) Encouraging and supporting the creation and development of such
organizations, particularly among the disadvantaged and vulnerable people;
(b) Establishing legislative and regulatory frameworks, institutional
arrangements and consultative mechanisms for involving such organizations in
the design, implementation and evaluation of social development strategies and
programmes;
(c) Supporting capacity-building programmes for such organizations in
critical areas, such as participatory planning, programme design,
implementation and evaluation, economic and financial analysis, credit
management, research, information and advocacy;
(d) Providing resources through such measures as small grant programmes,
and technical and other administrative support for initiatives taken and
managed at the community level;
(e) Strengthening networking and exchange of expertise and experience
among such organizations.
86. The contribution of civil society, including the private sector, to
social development can be enhanced by:
(a) Developing planning and policy-making procedures that facilitate
partnership and cooperation between Governments and civil society in social
development;
(b) Encouraging business enterprises to pursue investment and other
policies, including non-commercial activities, that will contribute to social
development, especially in relation to the generation of work opportunities,
social support services at the workplace, access to productive resources and
construction of infrastructure;
(c) Enabling and encouraging trade unions to participate in the planning
and implementation of social development programmes, especially in relation to
the generation of work opportunities under fair conditions, the provision of
training, health care and other basic services, and the development of an
economic environment that facilitates sustained economic growth and
sustainable development;
(d) Enabling and encouraging farmers' representative organizations and
cooperatives to participate in the formulation and implementation of
sustainable agricultural and rural development policies and programmes;
(e) Encouraging and facilitating the development of cooperatives,
including among people living in poverty or belonging to vulnerable groups;
(f) Supporting academic and research institutions, particularly in the
developing countries, in their contribution to social development programmes,
and facilitating mechanisms for independent, detached, impartial and objective
monitoring of social progress, especially through collecting, analysing and
disseminating information and ideas about economic and social development;
(g) Encouraging educational institutions, the media and other sources of
public information and opinion to give special prominence to the challenges of
social development and to facilitate widespread and well-informed debate about
social policies throughout the community.
C. Mobilization of financial resources
87. The implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and the Programme of
Action of the Summit at the national level may require substantial new and
additional resources, in both the public and the private sectors. Augmenting
the availability of public resources for social development requires at the
national level:
(a) Implementing macroeconomic and micro-economic policies in accordance
with national priorities and policies, aimed at encouraging greater domestic
savings and investment required for public spending, through progressive, fair
and economically efficient taxes that are cognizant of sustainable development
concerns, and through cutting back on subsidies that do not benefit the poor;
(b) Reducing, as appropriate, excessive military expenditures and
investments for arms production and acquisition, consistent with national
security requirements, in order to increase resources for social and economic
development;
(c) Giving high priority to social development in the allocation of
public spending and ensuring predictable funding for the relevant programmes;
(d) Ensuring that the resources for social development are available at
the level of administration that is responsible for formulating and
implementing the relevant programmes;
(e) Increasing the effective and transparent utilization of public
resources, reducing waste and combating corruption, and concentrating on the
areas of greatest social need;
(f) Developing innovative sources of funding, both public and private,
for social programmes, and creating a supportive environment for the
mobilization of resources by civil society for social development, including
beneficiary contributions and individual voluntary contributions.
88. Implementation of the Declaration and the Programme of Action in
developing countries, in particular in Africa and the least developed
countries, will need additional financial resources and more effective
development cooperation and assistance. This will require:
(a) Translating the commitments of the Summit into financial
implications for social development programmes in developing countries,
particularly Africa and the least developed countries;
(b) Striving for the fulfilment of the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of
gross national product for overall official development assistance (ODA) as
soon as possible, and increasing the share of funding for social development
programmes, commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to
achieve the objectives and goals of the Declaration and Programme of Action;
(c) Agreeing on a mutual commitment between interested developed and
developing country partners to allocate, on average, 20 per cent of ODA and
20 per cent of the national budget, respectively, to basic social programmes;
(d) Giving high priority in ODA to the eradication of poverty in
developing countries, in particular in Africa, low-income countries in Asia
and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the least developed
countries;
(e) Providing assistance for social-sector activities, such as the
rehabilitation and development of social infrastructure, including in the form
of grants or soft loans;
(f) Implementing the commitments of the international community to the
special needs and vulnerabilities of the small island developing States, in
particular by providing effective means, including adequate, predictable, new
and additional resources for social development programmes, in accordance with
the Declaration of Barbados 3/ and on the basis of the relevant provisions of
the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States;
(g) Providing international support and assistance to the land-locked
developing countries in their efforts to implement the outcome of the Summit,
taking into account the challenges and problems characteristic to those
countries;
(h) Giving preference, wherever possible, to the utilization of
competent national experts or, where necessary, of competent experts from
within the subregion or region or from other developing countries, in project
and programme design, preparation and implementation, and to the building of
local expertise where it does not exist;
(i) Exploring ways and means to strengthen support and expand
South-South cooperation based on partnership between developing and developed
countries, as well as enhanced cooperation among developing countries;
(j) Maximizing project and programme efficiency by keeping overhead
costs to a minimum;
(k) Developing economic policies to promote and mobilize domestic
savings and attract external resources for productive investment, and seeking
innovative sources of funding, both public and private, for social programmes,
while ensuring their effective utilization;
(l) Monitoring the impact of trade liberalization on progress made in
developing countries to meet basic human needs, giving particular attention to
new initiatives to expand the access of developing countries to international
markets;
(m) Encouraging direct cooperation to promote joint ventures, including
in the sector of social programmes and infrastructure;
(n) Encouraging recipient Governments to strengthen their national
coordination mechanisms for international cooperation in social development
and to ensure the effective use of international assistance so as to assist
donors to secure commitment to further resources for national action plans;
(o) Inviting multilateral and bilateral donors to consult with a view to
coordinating their financing policies and planning procedures in order to
improve the impact, complementarity and cost-effectiveness of their
contributions to the achievement of the objectives of social development
programmes of developing countries.
89. Implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and the Programme of Action
of the Summit in countries with economies in transition will require continued
international cooperation and assistance. To this end, there is a need to:
(a) Assess the financial implications of the commitments of the Summit
for social development programmes in countries with economies in transition;
(b) Enhance technical and financial assistance for the implementation of
programmes of macroeconomic stabilization in order to ensure sustained
economic growth and sustainable development;
(c) Support and encourage transformations in the field of human
resources development;
(d) Invite multilateral and bilateral donors to consult with a view to
coordinating their financing policies and planning procedures in order to
improve the impact of their contribution to the achievement of the objectives
of social development programmes of countries with economies in transition.
90. Substantial debt reduction is needed to enable developing countries to
implement the Declaration and Programme of Action. Building on, inter alia,
the momentum from the July 1994 meeting of the seven major industrialized
countries in Naples and the October 1994 meeting of the governors of the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund, further progress can be made by:
(a) Inviting the international community, including the international
financial institutions, to continue to explore ways of implementing additional
and innovative measures to alleviate substantially the debt burdens of
developing countries, in particular of the highly indebted low-income
countries, in order to help them to achieve sustained economic growth and
sustainable development without falling into a new debt crisis;
(b) Adopting measures to substantially reduce the bilateral debts of the
least developed countries, in particular the countries of Africa, as soon as
possible, and exploring other innovative approaches to managing and
alleviating the onerous debts and debt service burdens of other developing
countries as soon as possible;
(c) Giving special consideration to those developing countries in which
multilateral debt constitutes an important part of their total debt in order
to seek a durable solution to this increasing problem;
(d) Encouraging the possibilities of debt swaps for social development,
with the resources released by debt cancellation or reduction to be invested
in social development programmes, without prejudice to more durable solutions,
such as debt reduction and/or cancellation;
(e) Mobilizing the resources of the Debt Reduction Facility of the
International Development Association in order to help eligible developing
countries to reduce their commercial debt; considering alternative mechanisms
to complement that Facility;
(f) Inviting creditor countries, private banks and multilateral
financial institutions, within their prerogatives, to consider continuing the
initiatives and efforts to address the commercial debt problems of the least
developed countries and of low and middle-income developing countries; to
consider the extension of appropriate new financial support to the low-income
countries with substantial debt burdens that continue, at great cost, to
service debt and meet their international obligations; to continue to explore
ways of implementing additional and innovative measures to substantially
alleviate the debt burdens of developing countries, in particular of the
highly indebted low-income countries, in order to help them achieve sustained
economic growth and sustainable development without falling into a new debt
crisis.
91. In order to ensure that structural adjustment programmes include social
development goals, in particular the eradication of poverty, the generation of
productive employment and the enhancement of social integration, Governments,
in cooperation with the international financial institutions and other
international organizations, should:
(a) Protect basic social programmes and expenditures, in particular
those affecting the poor and vulnerable segments of society, from budget
reductions;
(b) Review the impact of structural adjustment programmes on social
development by means of gender-sensitive social-impact assessments and other
relevant methods, and develop policies to reduce their negative effects and
improve their positive impact;
(c) Further promote policies enabling small enterprises, cooperatives
and other forms of micro-enterprises to develop their capacities for income
generation and employment creation.
92. International financial institutions should contribute to the
mobilization of resources for the implementation of the Declaration and
Programme of Action. To this end, the relevant institutions are urged to take
the following measures:
(a) The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the regional and
subregional development banks and funds, and all other international finance
organizations should further integrate social development goals in their
policies, programmes and operations, including by giving higher priority to
social-sector lending, where applicable, in their lending programmes;
(b) The Bretton Woods institutions and other organizations and bodies of
the United Nations system should work together with concerned countries to
improve policy dialogues and develop new initiatives to ensure that structural
adjustment programmes promote sustained economic and social development, with
particular attention to their impact on people living in poverty and
vulnerable groups;
(c) The United Nations, in cooperation with the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund and other multilateral development institutions,
should study the impact of structural adjustment programmes on economic and
social development and assist adjusting countries in creating conditions for
economic growth, job creation, poverty eradication and social development.
93. In addition to augmenting the flow of resources through established
channels, relevant United Nations bodies, in particular the Economic and
Social Council, should be requested to consider new and innovative ideas for
generating funds and, for this purpose, to offer any useful suggestions.
D. The role of the United Nations system
94. A framework for international cooperation must be developed in the
context of the agenda for development 28/ in order to ensure the integrated
and comprehensive implementation, follow-up and assessment of the outcome of
the Summit, together with the results of other recent and planned United
Nations conferences related to social development, in particular the World
Summit for Children, the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, the World Conference on Human Rights, the Global Conference on
the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, the
International Conference on Population and Development, the Fourth World
Conference on Women, and the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements
(Habitat II). At the international level, as at the national, the financial
and organizational implications of the commitments, goals and targets should
be assessed, priorities established, and budgets and work programmes planned.
95. With regard to the consideration of social development at the
intergovernmental level, special consideration should be given to the roles of
the General Assembly and of the Economic and Social Council. To this end:
(a) The General Assembly, as the highest intergovernmental mechanism, is
the principal policy-making and appraisal organ on matters relating to the
follow-up to the Summit. The Assembly should include the follow-up to the
Summit in its agenda as an item entitled "Implementation of the outcome of the
World Summit for Social Development". In 1996, it should review the
effectiveness of the steps taken to implement the outcome of the Summit with
regard to poverty eradication, as part of the activities relating to the
International Year for the Eradication of Poverty;
(b) The General Assembly should hold a special session in the year 2000
for an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of the outcome of
the Summit, and should consider further action and initiatives;
(c) The General Assembly, at its fiftieth session, should declare the
first United Nations decade for the eradication of poverty, following the
International Year for the Eradication of Poverty (1996), with a view to its
considering further initiatives on the eradication of poverty;
(d) The General Assembly, as well as the Economic and Social Council,
could convene meetings of high-level representatives to promote international
dialogue on critical social issues and on policies for addressing them through
international cooperation;
(e) The General Assembly should draw upon the initial work of the agenda
for development working group on a common framework for the implementation of
the outcome of conferences;
(f) The Economic and Social Council, in the context of its role under
the Charter of the United Nations vis-a`-vis the General Assembly and in
accordance with Assembly resolutions 45/264, 46/235 and 48/162, would oversee
system-wide coordination in the implementation of the Summit outcome and make
recommendations in this regard. It should look at ways to strengthen,
consistent with the mandates of the Charter of the United Nations, the role
and authority, structures, resources and processes of the Council, bringing
specialized agencies into a closer working relationship with the Council so
that it can review progress made towards implementing the outcome of the
Summit as well as improving the Council's effectiveness. The Council, at its
substantive session of 1995, should be invited to review the mandate, agenda
and composition of the Commission for Social Development, including
considerations of the strengthening of the Commission, taking into account the
need for synergy with other related commissions and conference follow-up. The
Council should also draw upon any initial work completed by that time on a
common framework for the implementation of conference outcomes (see paras. 94
and 95 (e) above). The Council should also be invited to review the reporting
system in the area of social development with a view to establishing a
coherent system that would result in clear policy recommendations for
Governments and international actors;
(g) Within the framework of the discussions on an agenda for development
and the discussions of the Economic and Social Council at its coordination
segment of 1995 on a common framework for the implementation of the outcome of
United Nations conferences in the economic and social fields, consideration
should be given to the possibility of holding joint meetings of the Council
and the Development Committee of the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund. The Secretary-General and the heads of IMF, the World Bank, ILO, the
United Nations funds and programmes, and other relevant agencies should
consider the possibility of holding joint meetings for the purpose of
considering the implementation of the Declaration and the Programme of Action
prior to the Development Committee sessions;
(h) To promote implementation of the outcomes at the regional and
subregional levels, the regional commissions, in cooperation with the regional
intergovernmental organizations and banks, could convene, on a biennial basis,
a meeting at a high political level to review progress made towards
implementing the outcome of the Summit, exchange views on their respective
experiences and adopt the appropriate measures. The regional commissions
should report to the Council on the outcome of such meetings through the
appropriate mechanisms;
(i) The important role of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights in monitoring those aspects of the Declaration and Programme of Action
that relate to compliance, by States Parties, with the International Covenant
on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights should be emphasized.
96. The United Nations system should provide technical cooperation and other
forms of assistance to the developing countries, in particular in Africa and
the least developed countries, in implementing the Declaration and Programme
of Action. To this end:
(a) The United Nations system, including the technical and sectoral
agencies and the Bretton Woods institutions, should expand and improve their
cooperation in the field of social development to ensure that their efforts
are complementary and, where possible, should combine resources in joint
initiatives for social development built around common objectives of the
Summit;
(b) In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of United
Nations organizations in providing support for social development efforts at
the national level, and to enhance their capacity to serve the objectives of
the Summit, there is a need to renew, reform and revitalize the various parts
of the United Nations system, in particular its operational activities. All
specialized agencies and related organizations of the United Nations system
are invited to strengthen and adjust their activities, programmes and
medium-term strategies, as appropriate, to take into account the follow-up to
the Summit. Relevant governing bodies should review their policies,
programmes, budgets and activities in this regard;
(c) The Administrative Committee on Coordination should consider how its
participating entities might best coordinate their activities to implement the
objectives of the Summit;
(d) Regular reports on their plans and programmes related to
implementation should be provided to the appropriate forums by United Nations
funds and programmes and the specialized agencies.
97. The United Nations system should consider and provide appropriate
technical cooperation and other forms of assistance to the countries with
economies in transition. To this end:
(a) The respective United Nations bodies should assist the efforts of
those countries in designing and implementing social development programmes;
(b) The United Nations Development Programme should continue to
undertake efforts to support the implementation of the social development
programmes, taking into account the specific needs of the countries with
economies in transition;
(c) The organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, including
the technical and sectoral agencies, the International Monetary Fund and the
World Bank, should continue their cooperation in the field of social
development of countries with economies in transition.
98. The implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and the Programme of
Action of the Summit will involve many entities of the United Nations system.
In order to ensure coherence in this effort, the General Assembly should give
consideration to:
(a) Promoting and strengthening the coordination of United Nations
system activities, the Bretton Woods institutions and the World Trade
Organization at the global, regional and national levels in the area of
economic and social development programmes, including, inter alia, through
reports to and meetings in coordination with the Economic and Social Council;
(b) Inviting the World Trade Organization to consider how it might
contribute to the implementation of the Programme of Action, including
activities in cooperation with the United Nations system;
(c) Requesting the International Labour Organization, which because of
its mandate, tripartite structures and expertise has a special role to play in
the field of employment and social development, to contribute to the
implementation of the Programme of Action;
(d) Requesting the Secretary-General to ensure effective coordination of
the implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action.
99. United Nations operational activities for development should be
strengthened in order to implement the Summit outcome, in accordance with
relevant resolutions, particularly General Assembly resolution 47/199, and to
this end:
(a) The United Nations Development Programme should organize United
Nations system efforts towards capacity-building at the local, national and
regional levels, and should support the coordinated implementation of social
development programmes through its network of field offices;
(b) Coordination at the country level should be improved through the
resident coordinator system to take full account of the Copenhagen Declaration
and the Programme of Action of the Summit and related international
agreements;
(c) The United Nations system should encourage and assist South-South
cooperation and technical cooperation among developing countries, at all
levels, as an important instrument for social development and the
implementation of the Programme of Action;
(d) United Nations development efforts should be supported by a
substantial increase in resources for operational activities for development
on a predictable, continuous and assured basis, commensurate with the
increasing needs of developing countries, as stated in resolution 47/199;
(e) The United Nations system's capacity for gathering and analysing
information and developing indicators of social development should be
strengthened, taking into account the work carried out by different countries,
in particular by developing countries. The capacity of the United Nations
system for providing policy and technical support and advice, upon request, to
improve national capacities in this regard should also be strengthened.
100. The support and participation of major groups as defined in Agenda 21
are essential to the success of the implementation of the Programme of Action.
To ensure the commitment of these groups, they must be involved in planning,
elaboration, implementation and evaluation at both the national and the
international levels. To this end, mechanisms are needed to support, promote
and allow their effective participation in all relevant United Nations bodies,
including the mechanisms responsible for reviewing the implementation of the
Programme of Action.
Notes
1/ See The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade
Negotiations: The Legal Texts (Geneva, GATT secretariat, 1994).
2/ Report of the United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992, vol. I, Resolutions Adopted by
the Conference (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.I.8), resolution 1,
annex II.
3/ Report of the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of
Small Island Developing States, Bridgetown, Barbados, 25 April-6 May 1994
(United Nations publication, Sales No. 94.I.18), resolution 1, annex II.
4/ General Assembly resolution 46/151, annex, sect. III.
5/ Report of the Second United Nations Conference on the Least
Developed Countries, Paris, 3-14 September 1990 (A/CONF.147/18), part one.
6/ General Assembly resolution 217 A (III).
7/ See First Call for Children (New York, United Nations Children's
Fund, 1990).
8/ General Assembly resolution 2625 (XXV), annex.
9/ General Assembly resolution 41/128, annex.
10/ Report of the World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna,
14-25 June 1993 (A/CONF.157/24 (Part I)), chap. III.
11/ Report of the International Conference on Population and
Development, Cairo, 5-13 September 1994 (A/CONF.171/13 and Add.1), chap. I,
resolution 1, annex.
12/ See General Assembly resolution 48/183.
13/ General Assembly resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.
14/ General Assembly resolution 43/181.
15/ General Assembly resolution 45/158, annex.
16/ General Assembly resolution 48/104.
17/ General Assembly resolution 2106 A (XX), annex.
18/ General Assembly resolution 34/180, annex.
19/ Report of the World Conference to Review and Appraise the
Achievements of the United Nations Decade for Women: Equality, Development
and Peace, Nairobi, 15-26 July 1985 (United Nations publication, Sales No.
E.85.IV.10), chap. I, sect. A.
20/ General Assembly resolution 48/96, annex.
21/ General Assembly resolution 46/91, annex.
22/ See A/47/339, sect. III.
23/ See Report of the World Assembly on Ageing, Vienna, 26 July-
6 August 1992 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.82.I.16), chap. VI.
24/ See General Assembly resolution 40/14 and A/40/256, annex.
25/ United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 189 (1954), No. 2545.
26/ Ibid., vol. 606 (1970), No. 8791.
27/ See General Assembly resolution 44/25, annex.
28/ See A/48/935 and An Agenda for Development (United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.95.I.16).
Resolution 2
Expression of thanks to the people and Government of Denmark*
* Adopted at the 14th plenary meeting, on 12 March 1995; for the
discussion, see chap. IX.
The World Summit for Social Development,
Having met in Copenhagen from 6 to 12 March 1995 at the invitation of
the Government of Denmark,
1. Expresses its profound gratitude to the Government of Denmark for
having made it possible for the World Summit for Social Development to be held
in Copenhagen and for the excellent facilities, staff and services so
graciously placed at its disposal;
2. Requests the Government of Denmark to convey to the city of
Copenhagen and to the people of Denmark the gratitude of the Summit for the
hospitality and warm welcome extended to all participants.
Resolution 3
Credentials of representatives to the World Summit
for Social Development**
** Adopted at the 10th plenary meeting, on 10 March 1995; for the
discussion, see chap. VI.
The World Summit for Social Development,
Having considered the report of the Credentials Committee 1/ and the
recommendation contained therein,
Approves the report of the Credentials Committee.
----------------
1/ A/CONF.166/7.
Chapter II
ATTENDANCE AND ORGANIZATION OF WORK
A. Date and place of the Summit
1. The World Summit for Social Development was held at Copenhagen from 6 to
12 March 1995, in conformity with General Assembly resolution 47/92 of
16 December 1992. During that period, the Summit held 14 plenary meetings.
B. Attendance
2. The following States and regional economic integration organization were
represented at the Summit:
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei Darussalam
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Congo
Cook Islands
Costa Rica
Co^te d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Democratic People's Republic of
Korea
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
European Community
Fiji
Finland
France
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Holy See
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran (Islamic Republic of)
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Lao People's Democratic Republic
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia (Federated States of)
Monaco
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
Niue
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Republic of Korea
Republic of Moldova
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syrian Arab Republic
Tajikistan
Thailand
The former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland
United Republic of Tanzania
United States of America
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Viet Nam
Yemen
Zaire
Zambia
Zimbabwe
3. The observer for Palestine attended the Summit.
4. The following associate members of the regional commissions were
represented by observers:
Macau
Netherlands Antilles
5. The secretariats of the following regional commissions were represented:
Economic Commission for Africa
Economic Commission for Europe
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
6. The following United Nations bodies and programmes were represented:
United Nations Children's Fund
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
United Nations Development Fund for Women
United Nations Development Programme
United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Population Fund
United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the
Near East
United Nations University
World Food Programme
United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat)
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the
United Nations International Drug Control Programme
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of
Women
United Nations Research Institute for Social Development
7. The following specialized agencies were represented:
International Labour Organization
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
World Health Organization
World Bank
International Monetary Fund
World Meteorological Organization
World Intellectual Property Organization
International Fund for Agricultural Development
United Nations Industrial Development Organization
8. The following intergovernmental organizations were accredited to
participate in the Summit:
African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States
African Development Bank
African Society for Humanitarian Aid and Development Sudan
Andean Parliament
Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development
Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee
Asian and Pacific Development Centre
Asian Development Bank
Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development
Association of South-East Asian Nations
Commonwealth of Independent States
Commonwealth Secretariat
Council of Europe
Economic Affairs Secretariat
Gulf Cooperation Council
Inter-American Development Bank
International Committee of the Red Cross
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
International Food Policy Research Institute
International Organization for Migration
Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Latin American Economic System
Latin American Parliament
League of Arab States
Nordic Council Secretariat of the Presidium
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development
Organization of African Unity
Organization of American States
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
Organization of the Islamic Conference
South Pacific Commission
9. A large number of non-governmental organizations attended the Summit.
The list of non-governmental organizations participating is given in documents
A/CONF.166/PC/11 and Add.1-3 and A/CONF.166/4.
C. Opening of the Summit and election of the President
10. The Summit was declared open by the Secretary-General of the United
Nations. The Secretary-General then addressed the Summit.
11. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 6 March, the Summit elected, by
acclamation, as President of the Summit, His Excellency Mr. Poul Nyrup
Rasmussen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark. The President of the
Summit made a statement.
D. Messages from heads of State
12. The Summit received a message wishing it success from His Excellency
Mr. Jose' Eduardo dos Santos, President of the Republic of Angola.
E. Adoption of the rules of procedure
13. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 6 March, the Summit adopted the
provisional rules of procedure (A/CONF.166/2) as recommended by the
Preparatory Committee for the Summit and approved by the General Assembly in
its decision 49/446 of 23 December 1994.
F. Adoption of the agenda
14. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 6 March, the Summit adopted as its agenda
the provisional agenda (A/CONF.166/1) recommended by the Preparatory Committee
in its decision 3/3. The agenda as adopted was as follows:
1. Inaugural ceremony.
2. Election of the President.
3. Adoption of the rules of procedure.
4. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters.
5. Election of officers other than the President.
6. Organization of work, including establishment of the Main Committee.
7. Credentials of representatives to the Summit:
(a) Appointment of the members of the Credentials Committee;
(b) Report of the Credentials Committee.
8. General exchange of views.
9. Meeting of heads of State or Government.
10. Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social
Development.
11. Adoption of the report of the Summit.
G. Election of officers other than the President
15. At the 1st and 7th plenary meetings, on 6 and 9 March, the Summit
elected Vice-Presidents from the following regional groups:
African States (7 Vice-Presidents): Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon,
Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan and Zimbabwe;
Asian States (6 Vice-Presidents): China, India, Indonesia, Philippines,
Qatar and Republic of Korea;
Eastern European States (3 Vice-Presidents): Latvia, Slovakia and
Ukraine;
Latin American and Caribbean States (5 Vice-Presidents): Belize, Chile,
Cuba, Panama and Paraguay;
Western European and other States (6 Vice-Presidents): Andorra,
Australia, Canada, Germany, Portugal and Sweden.
16. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 6 March, the Summit elected, by
acclamation, an ex officio Vice-President from the host country, His
Excellency Mr. Poul Nielson, Minister for Development Cooperation of the
Kingdom of Denmark.
17. At the same meeting, the Summit elected Mr. Sadok Rabah (Tunisia),
Rapporteur-General of the Summit.
18. Also at the 1st plenary meeting, the Summit elected Mr. Juan Somavia
(Chile), Chairman of the Main Committee.
H. Organization of work, including establishment
of the Main Committee
19. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 6 March, the Summit approved the
organization of work as set out in document A/CONF.166/3 and orally amended.
It decided to allocate agenda item 10 (Declaration and Programme of Action of
the World Summit for Social Development) to the Main Committee.
I. Accreditation of intergovernmental organizations
20. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 6 March, the Summit approved the
accreditation of the intergovernmental organizations listed in document
A/CONF.166/6.
J. Accreditation of non-governmental organizations
21. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 6 March, the Summit approved the
accreditation of the non-governmental organizations listed in document
A/CONF.166/4.
K. Appointment of the members of the Credentials Committee
22. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 6 March, in conformity with rule 4 of the
rules of procedure of the Summit (A/CONF.166/2), the Summit established a
Credentials Committee composed of China, Fiji, Honduras, Namibia, Portugal,
the Russian Federation, Suriname, Togo and the United States of America, on
the understanding that if one of those States did not participate in the
Summit, it would be replaced by another State from the same regional group.
Chapter III
GENERAL EXCHANGE OF VIEWS
1. The Summit held a general exchange of views at the 1st to 10th meetings,
from 6 to 10 March 1995. Representatives of States, specialized agencies,
United Nations bodies, programmes and offices, intergovernmental organizations
and non-governmental organizations and observers of associate members of the
regional commissions addressed the Summit. All speakers expressed their
appreciation of the efforts made by the host Government and the secretariat in
preparing for the Summit.
2. At the 1st meeting, on 6 March, statements were made by the
representatives of the Philippines (on behalf of the States Members of the
United Nations that are members of the Group of 77), France (on behalf of the
European Union), Chile, Malaysia, Venezuela, Slovakia, Mali and Ukraine.
3. At the 2nd meeting, on 6 March, statements were made by the
representatives of Norway, Kuwait, Jamaica, Italy, Germany, the Republic of
Korea, Barbados, Seychelles, Azerbaijan, Bolivia and Papua New Guinea.
4. At the same meeting, the Director-General of the World Health
Organization made a statement. The Administrator of the United Nations
Development Programme made a statement. The representative of the Islamic
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, an intergovernmental
organization, made a statement. Statements were also made by the
representatives of the following non-governmental organizations: World
Council of Churches, Baha'i International Community and South Asia Caucus.
Her Royal Highness Princess Basma Bint Talal of Jordan introduced the report
of the forty-seventh annual Department of Public Information/Non-Governmental
Organizations Conference, held on 20-22 September 1994.
5. At the 3rd meeting, on 7 March, statements were made by the
representatives of Mexico, Burkina Faso, the Syrian Arab Republic, Algeria,
Romania, Guyana, Kenya, Ethiopia, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea,
the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, the
Gambia, Tunisia and China.
6. At the same meeting, statements were made by the Managing Director of
the International Monetary Fund and the Director-General of the Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The representative of the
Commission on Global Governance, a non-governmental organization, also made a
statement.
7. At the 4th meeting, on 7 March, statements were made by the
representatives of Swaziland, the United Arab Emirates, Austria, India, Benin,
the Holy See, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Switzerland, Malawi,
Sri Lanka, Guinea, Peru, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nepal and the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia.
8. At the same meeting, the President of the International Fund for
Agricultural Development made a statement. Statements were made by the
Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme,
the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, the Deputy Executive
Director of the United Nations Children's Fund and the Executive Director of
the United Nations Environment Programme. Statements were made by the
representatives of the following intergovernmental organizations:
International Committee of the Red Cross, International Organization for
Migration and Latin American Parliament. Statements were also made by the
representatives of the following non-governmental organizations:
International Planned Parenthood Federation, Me'decins du Monde, International
Council on Social Welfare, International Federation of Agricultural Producers,
International Union of Local Authorities and World Assembly of Youth.
9. At the 5th meeting, on 8 March, statements were made by the First Lady
of Panama and by the representatives of Pakistan, Spain, Ghana, Namibia,
Senegal, Haiti, the Bahamas, Slovenia, the Niger, the United States of
America, Botswana, Belize and the Russian Federation.
10. At the same meeting, the representative of the Women's Environment and
Development Organization, a non-governmental organization, made a statement.
11. At the 6th meeting, on 8 March, statements were made by His Highness
Prince Sisowath Sirirath of Cambodia and by the representatives of
Liechtenstein, Brazil, Guinea-Bissau, Malta, Antigua and Barbuda, Iceland,
Cameroon, Jordan, the Sudan, Ireland, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Ecuador, Nigeria,
Rwanda, the Congo and Chad.
12. At the same meeting, statements were made by the Secretary-General of
the Fourth World Conference on Women, the Executive Director of the United
Nations Population Fund, the Director of the United Nations Development Fund
for Women, the President of the Board of Trustees of the International
Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, the Executive
Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers and the Director of the United
Nations Research Institute for Social Development. Statements were made by
the representatives of the following intergovernmental organizations:
Organization of African Unity, Asian Development Bank and International Food
Policy Research Institute. Statements were also made by the representatives
of the following non-governmental organizations: Inter-Parliamentary Union,
Women's Caucus, Union Nationale de la Femme Tunisienne, World Movement of
Mothers, National Union of Working Women, Soroptimist International,
International Council of Women, International Center for Economic Growth and
World Blind Union.
13. At the 7th meeting, on 9 March, statements were made by the
representatives of Colombia, Belarus, Poland, Finland, Turkey, Canada,
Andorra, Portugal, Bulgaria, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, Estonia, Cyprus and Gabon.
14. At the same meeting, statements were made by the Directors-General of
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the
International Labour Organization and the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights made a statement. The representative of the European Commission, an
intergovernmental organization, also made a statement.
15. At the 8th meeting, on 9 March, statements were made by the
representatives of Mauritius, the Netherlands, Suriname, Guatemala, Greece,
Djibouti, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Lesotho, Brunei Darussalam,
Myanmar, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Nicaragua, Niue and the Cook
Islands.
16. At the same meeting, statements were made by the Secretary-General of
the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), the Rector of
the United Nations University and the Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development. Statements were made by the
representatives of the following intergovernmental organizations: Agency for
Cultural and Technical Cooperation and Nordic Council. Statements were also
made by the representatives of the following non-governmental organizations:
International Chamber of Commerce, International Confederation of Free Trade
Unions, Rotary International, Small Farmers, Producers and Micro-entrepreneurs
Caucus, World Confederation of Labour, Independent Commission for Population
and Quality of Life, Values Caucus, African Caucus, International Movement ATD
Fourth World and Bonn International Centre for Conversion. The President of
the Conference of Non-Governmental Organizations in Consultative Status with
the Economic and Social Council and the representative of the NGO Committee on
Ageing made statements.
17. At the 9th meeting, on 10 March, statements were made by the
representatives of Viet Nam, Sweden, Vanuatu, Denmark, Singapore, the Islamic
Republic of Iran, Trinidad and Tobago, Japan, Israel, Latvia, Croatia,
Belgium, Lithuania and Uruguay. The observer for Palestine made a statement.
18. At the same meeting, the Managing Director of the World Bank made a
statement. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees made a
statement. The representative of the Commonwealth Secretariat, an
intergovernmental organization, made a statement. The representative of the
Disability Caucus, a non-governmental organization, made a statement.
19. At the 10th meeting, on 10 March, statements were made by the
representatives of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
Fiji, Thailand, Egypt, Angola, Cuba, Hungary, Lebanon, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Qatar, Iraq, Argentina, Mauritania, Saint Lucia, Morocco, Georgia, the Central
African Republic and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. The observer for Macau made
a statement.
20. At the same meeting, the representative of the World Meteorological
Organization made a statement. Statements were made by the following
intergovernmental organizations: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development, Inter-American Development Bank, Council of Europe, League of
Arab States and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies. The following non-governmental organizations also made statements:
Business Association for the World Social Summit, Copenhagen Alternative
Declaration, Cousteau Society, Development Caucus, Latin American Caucus,
Rights of the Child Caucus, Third World Network and Eurostep, People's
Alliance of Social Development and Center of Concern.
Chapter IV
REPORT OF THE MAIN COMMITTEE
1. The Main Committee considered agenda item 10 (Declaration and Programme
of Action of the World Summit for Social Development) at its 1st to 5th
meetings, on 6, 7, 9 and 10 March 1995. It also held a number of informal
meetings.
2. The Main Committee had before it a note by the Secretary-General
transmitting the draft declaration and draft programme of action of the World
Summit for Social Development (A/CONF.166/L.1 and Corr.1 and 2) and a note by
the Secretariat transmitting additional proposals for the draft declaration
and draft programme of action (A/CONF.166/L.2).
3. The Chairman of the Main Committee was Juan Somavia (Chile), who was
elected by acclamation at the 1st plenary meeting of the Summit.
4. The Main Committee, at the 1st meeting, on 6 March, elected by
acclamation the following States as Vice-Chairmen: Australia, Cameroon,
India, Indonesia, Latvia, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Zimbabwe and Denmark
(ex officio).
5. Also at the 1st meeting, the Main Committee established a Working Group,
chaired by Mr. Prakash Shah (India). The Working Group held a number of
meetings.
Consideration of the draft declaration and
draft programme of action
6. At the 2nd to 5th meetings, on 6, 7, 9 and 10 March, the Main Committee
considered the draft declaration and draft programme of action and the
amendments thereto (see A/CONF.166/L.3/Add.1, Add.1/Corr.1-3, Add.2 and 3,
Add.3/Corr.1, Add.4, Add.4/Corr.1, Add.5-7 and Add.7/Corr.1).
7. At the 4th meeting, on 9 March, the Main Committee approved a new
commitment for the draft declaration, to be included in the declaration as
commitment 6, and recommended it to the Summit for adoption (see
A/CONF.166/L.3/Add.2). Statements were made by the representatives of
Tunisia, Indonesia, the Holy See, Brazil, India, the United States of America,
Egypt, Canada, Benin, Switzerland, Uganda, Guatemala, the Islamic Republic of
Iran, Algeria, Malta, France (on behalf of the European Union), the Sudan,
Fiji, Pakistan and the Philippines (on behalf of the States Members of the
United Nations that are members of the Group of 77 and China). The Vice-
Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Shah (India), also made a statement.
8. The Main Committee then considered the draft declaration as a whole.
The Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Richard Butler (Australia), informed
the Committee of the progress made during informal consultations. Statements
were made by the representatives of the United State of America, Egypt, the
Russian Federation, the Philippines (on behalf of the States Members of the
United Nations that are members of the Group of 77 and China) and Cuba.
9. At the same meeting, the Main Committee considered chapter I of the
draft programme of action. The Vice-Chairman of the Committee, Mr. Butler
(Australia), informed the Committee of the progress made during informal
consultations. Statements were made by the representatives of the United
States of America, Egypt, Pakistan, the Sudan, Benin, China, Bangladesh,
Canada, France (on behalf of the European Union), the Holy See, Azerbaijan and
Belize.
10. Also at the 4th meeting, the Main Committee approved chapter II of the
draft programme of action and recommended it to the Summit for adoption (see
A/CONF.166/L.3/Add.4 and Corr.1). Statements were made by the representatives
of Saudi Arabia, Canada, the United States of America, Pakistan, Guatemala,
the United Arab Emirates, the Sudan, Norway, Mongolia, Zambia, Jamaica,
Australia, Malta, Bangladesh, the Holy See, the Islamic Republic of Iran and
Egypt.
11. At the same meeting, the Main Committee approved chapter III of the
draft programme of action and recommended it to the Summit for adoption (see
A/CONF.166/L.3/Add.5). Statements were made by the representatives of the
United States of America and Australia.
12. At the same meeting, the Main Committee approved chapter IV of the draft
programme of action and recommended it to the Summit for adoption (see
A/CONF.166/L.3/Add.6). Statements were made by the representatives of the
Philippines (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are
members of the Group of 77 and China), Canada and the Holy See.
13. Also at the 4th meeting, the Main Committee considered chapter V of the
draft programme of action. The representative of Malaysia informed the
Committee of the progress made during informal consultations. Statements were
made by the representatives of Ukraine, Egypt, the United States of America,
Benin, Algeria and Indonesia.
14. At the 5th meeting, on 10 March, the Main Committee approved the draft
declaration (see A/CONF.166/L.3/Add.1 and Corr.1-3) and chapters I and V of
the draft programme of action (see A/CONF.166/L.3/Add.3 and Corr.1 and
A/CONF.166/L.3/Add.7 and Corr.1). It deleted former paragraph 88 (c) of the
draft programme of action, concerning the establishment of an international
fund for social development, on the understanding that the issue would be
considered by the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of
1995 in the context of the discussion of the World Summit for Social
Development.
15. Statements were made by the representatives of the Philippines (on
behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the
Group of 77 and China), the United States of America, Azerbaijan, Egypt,
India, Iraq, Tunisia, Guatemala, Kuwait, Belize, Saudi Arabia, Costa Rica,
Pakistan, Ecuador, Argentina, Malta, Peru, the Holy See, the Sudan and Jordan.
16. At the same meeting, the Chairman of the Main Committee and the Under-
Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development made
statements.
17. The following requested that their reservations or comments be placed on
record:
(a) The representative of Egypt expressed a reservation on any reference
counter to the laws and Constitution of Egypt and wished to see specific
commitments from donor countries on assistance to social development and debt
alleviation;
(b) The representatives of Iraq and Kuwait stated that the thrust of
commitment 9 of the Copenhagen Declaration should be on social development;
(c) The representative of Peru stated that nothing in the Copenhagen
Declaration or the Programme of Action should be contrary to the right to
life;
(d) The representative of the Philippines, on behalf of the States
Members of the United Nations that are members of the Group of 77, stated
that, owing to inequalities between the developing countries and countries
with economies in transition, the two should not be treated on an equal basis.
He expressed a reservation on paragraph 6 of the Copenhagen Declaration;
(e) The representative of the Sudan expressed a reservation on any
paragraphs that contradict Islamic law (Sharia);
(f) The representative of Ukraine expressed a preference for alternative
wording at the end of paragraph 89 (b).
Chapter V
ADOPTION OF THE COPENHAGEN DECLARATION ON SOCIAL
DEVELOPMENT AND THE PROGRAMME OF ACTION OF THE
WORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
1. At the 14th plenary meeting, on 12 March, the representative of the
Philippines, on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are
members of the Group of 77 and China, introduced and orally revised a draft
resolution (A/CONF.166/L.5) entitled "Declaration and Programme of Action of
the World Summit for Social Development".
2. At the same meeting, the Summit adopted the draft resolution as revised
(for the text, see chap. I, resolution 1).
3. Before the adoption of the draft resolution, statements were made by the
representatives of Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the Islamic Republic of
Iran, Qatar, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, the United Arab Emirates and the Holy
See.
Reservations on the Copenhagen Declaration and the Programme of Action
4. The representatives of a number of countries made statements which they
requested the secretariat of the Summit to place on record. Those statements
are set out below.
5. The representative of Argentina submitted the following written
statement:
The Argentine Republic wishes to place on record the following
reservations with regard to the terms "reproductive health" and "forms
of family", contained in the text of the Declaration and Programme of
Action of the World Summit for Social Development held in Copenhagen,
adopted at a plenary meeting of the Summit:
Reproductive health
The Argentine Republic cannot accept the idea that reproductive health
should include abortion, either as a service or as a method of birth
control. This reservation, which is based on the universal nature of
the right to life, extends to all references of this kind.
Forms of family
The Argentine Republic declares that it accepts those paragraphs that
refer to forms of family on the understanding that the references in
question do not imply any change in the meaning of the origin and
foundation of the family, which is the union of a man and a woman from
which children are derived.
6. The representative of Azerbaijan submitted the following written
statement:
The delegation of Azerbaijan welcomes the adoption of the Declaration
and Programme of Action.
Paragraph 26 (k) of the Declaration is based on article 2 of the Vienna
Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted at the World Conference on
Human Rights. However, this paragraph does not completely reflect the
wording of the Vienna Declaration.
In fact, section I, paragraph 2, of the Vienna Declaration states:
"Taking into account the particular situation of peoples under colonial
or other forms of alien domination or foreign occupation ...".
The wording of paragraph 26 (k) of the Declaration is different from
that of the Vienna Declaration. Instead of stating: "Taking into
account the particular situation of peoples ...", it states: "... in
particular of peoples ...". We would prefer that paragraph 26 (k)
reflect the exact wording of the Vienna Declaration.
As far as paragraph 15 (e) of the Programme of Action of the Summit is
concerned, there is no reference at all to the Vienna Declaration.
For this reason, my delegation would like to reserve its position on
paragraph 15 (e) and ask the secretariat to duly reflect this
reservation in the records of the Summit.
7. The representative of Costa Rica submitted the following written
statement:
Costa Rica respectfully requests the President of the World Summit for
Social Development, held in Copenhagen, to include in the report Costa
Rica's reservation concerning paragraph 21 of the Declaration and the
twelfth point in paragraph 70 in chapter IV, on social integration.
Even though Costa Rica recognizes the existence of conflicts and
differences between nations and peoples and between social groups, it
considers that such conflicts should be resolved through negotiation,
dialogue and efforts to achieve a consensus, and that the resources
spent on arms would be better invested in the social development of
peoples.
8. The representative of Guatemala submitted the following written
statement:
My delegation requests that the following statement be included in the
final report of the World Summit for Social Development. For reasons
that concern my country, Guatemala wishes to make an express reservation
with regard to all uses of the term "territorial integrity" or of any
other term which might have implications with respect to the territorial
dispute in which Guatemala is involved and which my Government is
seeking to resolve in accordance with the principle of the peaceful
settlement of disputes between States.
The delegation of Guatemala also has reservations with respect to all
such topics as "reproductive health", "family planning" and "health
education" which, in one way or another, might be contrary to the
Constitution of our country, our laws or the religious, ethical and
cultural values upheld by Guatemala.
My delegation also wishes to express the reservations of Guatemala with
respect to anything that might in any way be prejudicial to the
commitments and positions of Guatemala set forth in the following
documents:
The Alliance for the Sustainable Development of Central America,
adopted at the Central American environment summit meeting for
sustainable development held in Managua, Nicaragua, on 12 October 1994,
and circulated as an official document of the General Assembly and the
Security Council (A/49/580-S/1994/1217, annex I), dated 27 October 1994,
The Tegucigalpa International Declaration on Peace and Development
in Central America adopted by the Central American Presidents at the
International Conference on Peace and Development in Central America,
held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on 24 and 25 October 1994, and circulated
as an official document of the General Assembly and the Security Council
(A/49/639-S/1994/1247, annex I), dated 4 November 1994,
The reservations submitted by Guatemala to the Programme of Action
of the Conference on Population and Development, held in Cairo on
13 September 1994, and the documents referred to in the aforementioned
reservations, in particular:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the constitutional
principles and provisions embodied in the domestic law of the Republic
of Guatemala.
9. The representative of the Holy See submitted the following written
statement:
The Holy See, in conformity with its nature and particular mission,
in joining the consensus at the World Summit for Social Development,
held in Copenhagen from 6 to 12 March 1995, wishes to express its
understanding of some concepts used in the documents of the Summit.
1. The Holy See reaffirms the reservation it expressed at the
conclusion of the International Conference on Population and
Development, held in Cairo from 5 to 13 September 1994, which is
included in the report of that Conference, concerning the interpretation
given to the term "reproductive health". In particular, the Holy See
reiterates that it does not consider abortion or access to abortion as a
dimension of reproductive health or reproductive health services.
2. The Holy See's joining the consensus on the term "family planning"
should in no way be interpreted as constituting a change in its well-
known position concerning those family planning methods that the
Catholic Church considers morally unacceptable or concerning family
planning services that do not respect the liberty of spouses, human
dignity and the human rights of those concerned.
3. The Holy See, in line with the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, stresses that the family is the basic unit of society and is
based on marriage as an equal partnership between husband and wife.
4. With reference to all international agreements and instruments
mentioned in the documents of the Summit, the Holy See reserves its
position in a manner consistent with its acceptance or non-acceptance of
them or of any expression found in them.
5. Nothing that the Holy See has done in this consensus process should
be understood or interpreted as an endorsement of concepts that it
cannot support for moral reasons. Especially, nothing is to be
understood to imply that the Holy See endorses abortion or has in any
way changed its moral position concerning abortion or on contraceptives,
sterilization or the use of condoms in HIV/AIDS prevention programmes.
The Holy See asks that these reservations be included in the report
of the Summit.
10. The representative of Iraq submitted the following written statement:
Although the delegation of Iraq joined the other delegations in agreeing
on the Declaration and the Programme of Action, it is important to point
out that this document neglected to deal with a very important question
that has negative effects on the process of social development, that is,
the "brain drain". It is well known that some of the industrialized
countries are enacting legislation and inciting qualified third world
persons to emigrate from their home countries. This process has had
very adverse effects on the development of the affected third world
countries.
It is unfortunate that the Summit did not pay any attention to this
question. The delegation of Iraq would, therefore, like to put this
question on record.
The pressures that were applied by some Western countries have also
resulted in the Summit not dealing with the serious effects of economic
sanctions on the social development of targeted countries that belong to
the third world, which are already suffering from social backwardness.
Here, also, the delegation of Iraq would like to put on record this
defect in the final document of the Summit.
11. The representative of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya submitted the following
written statement:
The delegation of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has expressed certain
observations during previous meetings namely:
"What has been ordained to us by God cannot be changed by man. What
has been particularly textually defined by the Holy Koran cannot be
countered."
The delegation of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya expresses reservations
about what has been stated in the Declaration and the Programme of
Action that counters Islamic Sharia.
12. The representative of Malta submitted the following written statement:
The delegation of Malta reserves its position on the use of the term
"reproductive health" in the Declaration and the Programme of Action.
The interpretation given by Malta to this term is consistent with its
national legislation which considers the termination of pregnancy
through procedures of induced abortion as illegal.
The delegation of Malta requests that this reservation be included in
the final document of the World Summit for Social Development.
13. The representative of Oman submitted the following written statement:
The Sultanate of Oman adopts the Declaration and Programme of Action of
the World Summit for Social Development, provided they are not in
conflict with the requirements of the Islamic religion and our national
laws.
14. The representative of Qatar submitted the following written statement:
The delegation of the State of Qatar would like to make reservations on
any part or paragraph of the Declaration and Programme of Action adopted
by the Summit, in case of any contradictions with Islamic principles
(Sharia), our moral values or our national traditions.
The delegation of Qatar requests that its reservations be included in
the final report of the Summit.
15. The representative of Saudi Arabia submitted the following written
statement:
The delegation of Saudi Arabia would like to express its reservations on
any part of the Declaration or Programme of Action of the Summit that
does not conform to, is not in line with or contradicts Islamic law
(Sharia) or our values and traditions.
We would not be obliged to implement and will not commit ourselves to
implementing any such part.
The delegation of Saudi Arabia requests that its reservations be
included in the final report of the Summit.
16. The representative of the United Arab Emirates submitted the following
written statement:
The delegation of the United Arab Emirates would like to express its
reservations on any part or paragraph in the Declaration or Programme of
Action of the Summit that contradicts in any way Islamic law (Sharia) or
does not conform to our ethical values and traditions. It should be
noted that we have expressed our reservations during the discussion in
the Main Committee.
The delegation of the United Arab Emirates requests that its
reservations be included in the final report of the Summit.
17. The representative of the United States of America submitted the
following written statement:
Declaration, paragraph 16 (d), and Programme of Action, paragraph 10 (c)
As recognized in paragraph 10 of the Declaration, Governments
reaffirm and are guided by the principles of the Charter of the United
Nations and by the decisions of, inter alia, the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development, held at Rio de Janeiro in
1992. We understand and accept the references to consumption in both
paragraph 16 (d) of the Declaration and paragraph 10 (c) of the
Programme of Action in the context of the full reference from
paragraph 4.3 of Agenda 21, as follows:
Poverty and environmental degradation are closely interrelated.
While poverty results in certain kinds of environmental stress, the
major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment
is the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production,
particularly in industrialized countries, which is a matter of grave
concern, aggravating poverty and imbalances.
Declaration, paragraph 27
We understand and accept that the goals referred to in paragraph 27
refer to achieving social development in general and to creating a
suitable framework of action in particular.
Commitment 9 (l) and Programme of Action, paragraphs 11 (h) and 88 (b)
The United States reiterates that, with respect to commitment 9 (l)
and paragraphs 11 (h) and 88 (b) of the Programme of Action, it is not
one of the countries that have accepted an "agreed target" for official
development assistance or have made a commitment to fulfil such a
target. We believe that national Governments, not international donors,
must have primary responsibility for their country's development.
Targets detract from the more important issues of the effectiveness and
quality of aid and the policies of the recipient country. The United
States has traditionally been one of the largest aid donors in volume
terms and will continue to work with developing countries to provide aid
in support of their efforts.
In addition, the United States understands and accepts the reference
in commitment 9 (l) to increasing the share of official development
assistance for social development programmes to apply to only those
countries that have accepted the target.
Commitment 9 (m)
The United States understands the word "resources" in
commitment 9 (m) to include technical and other non-financial forms of
assistance, and accepts the commitment on that basis. The United States
will strive to increase resources for the United States Food for Peace
Program and will continue to provide resources for major refugee relief
and logistic activities. The United States does not accept an
interpretation of commitment 9 (m) that would commit States to provide
only financial assistance.
Commitment 9 (s)
The United States understands commitment 9 (s) to reiterate, as
stated in General Assembly resolution 47/199, that there is a need for a
substantial increase in resources for operational activities from all
available sources for development and accepts the commitment on that
basis. The United States understands the word "resources" to include
technical and other non-financial forms of assistance and, in the spirit
of commitment 9 (s) and General Assembly resolution 47/199, will seek to
increase such resources from governmental and other sources in support
of United Nations development efforts.
Programme of Action, paragraph 54 (b)
The United States understands the intention of the inclusion of
"equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value" to be to
promote pay equity between men and women and accepts the recommendation
on that basis. The United States implements it by observing the
principle of "equal pay for equal work".
Programme of Action, paragraph 83 (b)
The United States understands and accepts the reference in
paragraph 83 (b) of the Programme of Action to social development as
primarily the responsibility of Governments to refer to Governments'
responsibility to create an environment that includes the promotion and
protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, thereby
allowing each person to reach his or her full human potential.
Terminology
The United States understands and accepts that paragraph 28 of the
Declaration and paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Programme of Action confirm
that the Programme of Action, like the Declaration, is not legally
binding and that it consists of recommendations concerning how States
can and should promote social development. Accordingly, the United
States understands and accepts that the words "requires" and "required"
as used in the Declaration and in the Programme of Action suggest
practical measures to help achieve social development and do not alter
the status of the documents or the recommendations contained therein.
Reservation
Commitment 7 (e) and Programme of Action, paragraph 11 (h)
As the United States stated several times during the World Summit
for Social Development and the preparations for it, owing to domestic
funding constraints it cannot agree to increase official development
assistance, as called for by commitment 7 (e) and as recommended in
paragraph 11 (h) of the Programme of Action. Accordingly, the United
States wishes to express its reservations on commitment 7 (e) and on
paragraph 11 (h) of the Programme of Action. The United States remains
none the less committed to working to accelerate the development of
Africa and the least developed countries.
Chapter VI
REPORT OF THE CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE
1. At the 1st plenary meeting, on 6 March 1995, the World Summit for Social
Development, in accordance with rule 4 of its rules of procedure, appointed a
Credentials Committee, based on that of the Credentials Committee of the
General Assembly of the United Nations at its forty-ninth session, consisting
of the following nine members: China, Fiji, Honduras, Namibia, Portugal,
Russian Federation, Suriname, Togo and United States of America.
2. The Credentials Committee held one meeting, on 9 March 1995.
3. Mr. Pedro Catarino (Portugal) was unanimously elected Chairman of the
Committee.
4. The Committee had before it a memorandum by the Secretary-General dated
8 March 1995 on the status of credentials of representatives participating in
the Summit. Additional information on credentials received by the
Secretary-General after the issuance of the memorandum was provided to the
Committee by its Secretary.
5. The Chairman proposed that the Committee accept the credentials of all
the representatives mentioned in the memorandum by the Secretary-General, on
the understanding that formal credentials for representatives referred to in
paragraph 2 of the Secretary-General's memorandum would be communicated to the
Secretary-General as soon as possible. The following draft resolution was
proposed by the Chairman for adoption by the Committee:
The Credentials Committee,
Having examined the credentials of the representatives to the World
Summit for Social Development referred to in the memorandum by the
Secretary-General dated 8 March 1995,
Accepts the credentials of the representatives concerned.
6. The draft resolution was adopted by the Committee without a vote.
7. Subsequently, on the proposal of the Chairman, the Committee agreed to
recommend to the Summit the adoption of a draft resolution approving the
report of the Credentials Committee.
Action taken by the Summit
8. At the 10th plenary meeting, on 10 March 1995, the Summit considered the
report of the Credentials Committee (A/CONF.166/7).
9. The Summit adopted the draft resolution recommended by the Committee in
its report (for the text, see chap. I, resolution 3). The States and regional
economic integration organization that participated in the Summit are listed
in chapter II, paragraph 2.
Chapter VII
MEETING OF HEADS OF STATE OR GOVERNMENT
The meeting of heads of State or Government took place on 11 and
12 March 1995. The following 134 heads of State or Government or their
personal representatives made statements:
H.E. Mr. Poul Nyrup Rasmussen
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Denmark and
President of the Summit
H.E. Sr. Eduardo Frei Ruiz Tagle
President of the Republic of Chile
H.E. President Soeharto
Republic of Indonesia
H.E. Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari
President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
H.E. Mr. Li Peng
Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China
H.E. Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao
Prime Minister of the Republic of India
H.E. Mr. Franz Vranitzky
Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria
H.E. Mr. Tomiichi Murayama
Prime Minister of Japan
H.E. Mr. Ingvar Carlsson
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sweden
H.E. Mr. Leonid D. Kuchma
President of Ukraine
H.E. Sr. Felipe Gonzalez
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain
H.E. M. Franc'ois Mitterrand
President of the French Republic
H.E. Mr. Willem Kok
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
H.E. Mr. Robert G. Mugabe
President of the Republic of Zimbabwe
H.E. Mr. Kim Young Sam
President of the Republic of Korea
H.E. Mr. Su"leyman Demirel
President of the Republic of Turkey
H.E. Mr. Sam Nujoma
President of the Republic of Namibia
H.E. M. Blaise Compaore
President of Burkina Faso
H.E. Sr. Marc Forne' Molne'
Head of Government of the Principality of Andorra
H.E. Flt. Lt. (Rtd.) Jerry John Rawlings
President of the Republic of Ghana
H.E. Mr. Lamberto Dini
President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic
H.E. Dr. Cheddi B. Jagan
President of the Republic of Guyana
H.E. Mr. Martti Ahtisaari
President of the Republic of Finland
H.E. Mr. Helmut Kohl
Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany
H.E. Mrs. Gro Harlem Brundtland
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Norway
H.E. Mr. Lech Walesa
President of the Republic of Poland
H.E. M. Jean-Luc Dehaene
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium
H.E. M. Liamine Zeroual
President of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
H.E. Mr. Ion Iliescu
President of Romania
H.E. Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah
Amir of the State of Kuwait
H.E. Dato' Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
Prime Minister of Malaysia
H.E. Dr. Janez Drnovsek
Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia
H.E. El Hadj Omar Bongo
President of the Gabonese Republic
H.E. Mr. Levon Ter-Petrossian
President of the Republic of Armenia
H.E. M. Paul Biya
President of the Republic of Cameroon
H.E. M. Habib Thiam
Prime Minister of the Republic of Senegal
H.E. Mr. Va'clav Klaus
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
H.E. Mr. Alberto Fujimori Fujimori
President of the Republic of Peru
H.E. Mr. Chuan Leekpai
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand
H.E. The Hon. Ali Hassan Mwinyi
President of the United Republic of Tanzania
His Majesty King Mswati III of the Kingdom of Swaziland
H.E. Mr. Joaquim Alberto Chissano
President of the Republic of Mozambique
H.E. Mr. Kim Pyong Sik
Vice-President of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
H.E. Mr. Victor S. Chernomyrdin
Prime Minister of the Russian Federation
H.E. Dr. Ernesto Samper Pizano
President of the Republic of Colombia
H.E. Ing. Juan Carlos Wasmosy
President of the Republic of Paraguay
H.E. The Rt. Hon. Percival James Patterson
Prime Minister of Jamaica
H.E. Mr. Fidel V. Ramos
President of the Republic of the Philippines
H.E. Begum Khaleda Zia
Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
H.E. Mr. Albert Gore
Vice-President of the United States of America
H.E. Mr. Lennart Meri
President of the Republic of Estonia
H.E. Mr. Heydar Alirza ogly Aliyev
President of the Azerbaijani Republic
H.E. Dr. Ramiro de Leon Carpio
President of the Republic of Guatemala
H.E. Mr. Mare'chal Mobuto Sese Seko
President of the Republic of Zaire
H.E. Dr. Fidel Castro Ruz
President of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of the
Republic of Cuba
H.E. The Rt. Hon. Dr. Ntsu Mokhehle
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Lesotho
H.E. Sir Ketumile Masire
President of the Republic of Botswana
H.E. Mr. Puntsagiin Jasrai
Prime Minister of Mongolia
H.E. The Hon. Paul Keating
Prime Minister of Australia
H.E. The Hon. Daniel Toroitich arap Moi
President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic
of Kenya
H.E. Dr. Franjo Tudjman
President of the Republic of Croatia
H.E. Madame Ruth Dreifuss
Federal Counsellor, Head of the Federal Department of the Interior of
the Swiss Confederation
H.E. Dr. Haris Silajdzic
Prime Minister of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina
H.E. The Hon. Dr. Edward Fenech Adami
Prime Minister of the Republic of Malta
H.E. Lic. Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada
President of the Republic of Bolivia
H.E. Mrs. Violeta Barrios de Chamorro
President of Nicaragua
H.E. Mr. Jacques Santer
President of the European Community
H.E. Mr. Nelson Rorihlahla Mandela
President of the Republic of South Africa
H.E. Mr. Alberto Dahik
Vice-President of the Republic of Ecuador
H.E. The Hon. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga
President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
H.E. Mr. Daniel Kablan Duncan
Prime Minister of the Republic of Co^te d'Ivoire
H.E. Mr. Eduard A. Shevardnadze
President of the Republic of Georgia
H.E. Ing. Jose' Mari'a Figueres Olsen
President of the Republic of Costa Rica
H.E. Mr. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni
President of the Republic of Uganda
H.E. Mr. Alpha Oumar Konare
President of the Republic of Mali
H.E. Mr. Abdellatif Filali
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Morocco
His Eminence Angelo Cardinal Sodano
Secretary of State of the Holy See
H.E. Mr. Alyaksandr Lukashenka
President of the Republic of Belarus
H.E. Mr. John Bruton
Prime Minister of Ireland
H.E. Mr. Guntis Ulmanis
President of the Republic of Latvia
H.E. Mr. Islam A. Karimov
President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
H.E. General Lansana Conte
President of the Republic of Guinea
H.E. Dr. Mario Frick
Prime Minister of the Principality of Liechtenstein
H.E. Dr. Sali Berisha
President of the Republic of Albania
H.E. Captain Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh
President of the Republic of the Gambia
H.E. Dr. Arpa'd Go"ncz
President of the Republic of Hungary
H.E. Mr. Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas
President of the Republic of Lithuania
H.E. Mr. David Oddsson
Prime Minister of the Republic of Iceland
H.E. Dr. Carlos Roberto Reina Idiaquez
President of the Republic of Honduras
H.E. The Rt. Hon. Man Mohan Adhikari
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Nepal
H.E. Mr. Hassan Gouled Aptidon
President of the Republic of Djibouti
H.E. Mr. Zhelyu Zhelev
President of the Republic of Bulgaria
H.E. General Joao Bernardo Vieira
President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau
H.E. Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker
Prime Minister of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
H.E. Mr. Glafcos Clerides
President of the Republic of Cyprus
H.E. Mr. Ange-Fe'lix Patasse
President of the Central African Republic
H.E. Mr. Sidi Mohamed Ould Boubacar
Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania
H.E. Mr. Kiro Gligorov
President of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
H.E. Dr. Carlos Alberto Wahnon de Carvalho Veiga
Prime Minister of the Republic of Cape Verde
H.E. Lt. Gen. Omer Hassan Ahmed Al Bashir
President of the Republic of the Sudan
H.E. Dr. Armando Calderon Sol
President of the Republic of El Salvador
H.E. Mr. Andrei Nicolae Sangheli
Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova
H.E. Mr. Renzo Ghiotti
Captain Regent of the Republic of San Marino
H.E. Mr. Emomaili Rakhmonov
President of the Republic of Tajikistan
H.E. Mr. Runaldo Ronald Venetiaan
President of the Republic of Suriname
H.E. Mr. Michal Kovac
President of the Slovak Republic
H.E. Mr. Edem Kodjo
Prime Minister of the Togolese Republic
H.E. The Hon. Dr. Kennedy A. Simmonds
Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis
H.E. Mr. Jacinto Peynado
Vice-President of the Dominican Republic
H.E. Mr. Halifa Houmadi
Prime Minister of the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros
H.E. Mr. Sylvestre Ntibantunganya
President of the Republic of Burundi
H.E. Mr. Abdorabo Mansoor Hadi
Vice-President of the Republic of Yemen
H.E. Mr. Miguel dos Angos da Canha Lisboa Trovoada
Head of State of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe
H.E. Mr. Francisque Ravony
Prime Minister of the Republic of Madagascar
His Highness Sheikh Sultan Bin Zayed Al-Nahayan
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates
H.E. The Hon. Philip Muller
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Marshall Islands
H.E. Dr. Paulo Renato de Souza
Minister for Education and Sports of the Federative Republic of Brazil
H.E. Mr. Jose' Angel Gurria Trevin~a
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Mexican States
H.E. Mr. Abdallah Kallel
Minister of State, Adviser to the President of the Republic of Tunisia
H.E. Mr. Desire' Vieyra
Ministre d'Etat, Charge' de la Coordination de l'Action Gourvernementale
of the Republic of Benin
H.E. The Hon. Peter Gresham
Minister for Social Welfare of New Zealand
H.E. Shaikh Isa Bin Ali Al-Khalifa
Minister for Labour and Social Affairs of the State of Bahrain
H.E. Mr. Sadoom Hamadi
Adviser to the Office of the President of the Republic of Iraq
H.E. The Hon. Ratu Jo Nacola
Minister for Regional Development and Multi-Ethnic Affairs of the
Republic of Fiji
H.E. The Hon. Dharmanand Goopt Fokeer
Minister for Social Security and National Solidarity of the Republic of
Mauritius
H.E. The Hon. Ismail Shafeeu
Minister for Planning, Human Resources and Environment of the Republic
of Maldives
H.E. Mr. Ali Khalil
Minister of Social Affairs and Labour of the Syrian Arab Republic
H.E. Mr. Fares Bouez
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Lebanese Republic
H.E. Mrs. Salwa Damen Al-Masri
Minister for Social Development of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
H.E. Mr. Omar Mustafa Muntasser
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
H.E. Chief Anthony A. Ani
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Finance of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria
H.E. Mr. Arse`ne Tsaty-Boungou
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Congo
H.E. Mr. Usmonakum Ibraimov
Vice-Prime Minister of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan
H.E. Dr. Ali Akbar Velayati
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran*
* The representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran delivered a
message from his head of State in advance, on 10 March 1995.
Chapter VIII
ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE SUMMIT
1. The Rapporteur-General introduced and orally revised the draft report of
the Summit (A/CONF.166/L.4 and Add.1) at the 14th plenary meeting, on
12 March 1995.
2. At the same meeting, the Summit adopted the draft report, as revised,
and authorized the Rapporteur-General to complete the report, in conformity
with the practice of the United Nations, with a view to submitting it to the
General Assembly at its fiftieth session.
Chapter IX
CLOSURE OF THE SUMMIT
1. At the 14th plenary meeting, on 12 March 1995, the representative of the
Philippines, on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are
members of the Group of 77 and China, introduced a draft resolution
(A/CONF.166/L.6) expressing the Summit's gratitude to the host country.
2. At the same meeting, the Summit adopted the draft resolution (for the
text, see chap. I, resolution 2).
3. Also at the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of
the Philippines (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that
are members of the Group of 77 and China), France (on behalf of the European
Union) and the United States of America.
4. After a statement had been made by the Secretary-General, the President
of the Summit made a concluding statement and declared the Summit closed.
Annex I
LIST OF DOCUMENTS
Symbol Title or description
A/CONF.166/1 Provisional agenda
A/CONF.166/2 Provisional rules of procedure: note by the
Secretariat
A/CONF.166/3 Organizational and procedural matters: note by the
Secretariat
A/CONF.166/4 Accreditation of non-governmental organizations in
accordance with the rules for their participation set
out in Preparatory Committee decision 2: note by the
Secretariat
A/CONF.166/5 Note verbale dated 2 February 1995 from the Permanent
Mission of Bangladesh to the United Nations addressed
to the secretariat of the World Summit for Social
Development
A/CONF.166/6 Participation of intergovernmental organizations in
the work of the World Summit for Social Development:
note by the secretariat of the Summit
A/CONF.166/7 Report of the Credentials Committee
A/CONF.166/8 Note verbale dated 11 March 1995 from the delegation
of Greece to the World Summit for Social Development
addressed to the secretariat of the Summit
A/CONF.166/L.1 and Draft declaration and draft programme of action: note
Corr.1 and 2 by the Secretary-General
A/CONF.166/L.2 Additional proposals for the draft declaration and
draft programme of action: note by the Secretariat
A/CONF.166/L.3 and Report of the Main Committee
Add.1, Add.1/Corr.1-3,
Add.2 and 3, Add.3/
Corr.1, Add.4, Add.4/
Corr.1, Add.5-7 and
Add.7/Corr.1
A/CONF.166/L.4 and Draft report of the Summit
Add.1
A/CONF.166/L.5 Declaration and Programme of Action of the World
Summit for Social Development: draft resolution
submitted by the Philippines (on behalf of the States
Members of the United Nations that are members of the
Group of 77 and China)
A/CONF.166/L.6 Expression of thanks to the people and Government of
Denmark: draft resolution submitted by the
Philippines (on behalf of the States Members of the
United Nations that are members of the Group of 77 and
China)
A/CONF.166/INF/1 Information for participants
A/CONF.166/INF/2 and Provisional list of delegations to the Summit
Add.1
A/CONF.166/INF/3 and List of documents circulated for information
Add.1-4
A/CONF.166/PC/28 Report of the Preparatory Committee for the World
Summit for Social Development on its third session
Annex II
OPENING STATEMENTS
Statement by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
and President of the World Summit for Social Development
The American astronaut, James Lovell, had no doubts about the qualities
of the planet Earth, when in 1968 on board Apollo 8 he described the Earth as
a grand oasis to the vastness of space.
But we have not treated our planet in a way that warrants this
description. Man has often treated nature unwisely and short-sightedly. We
are gradually beginning to do things better. But man has treated man even
worse. In this century alone we have lived in the shadow of two world wars
and of totalitarian regimes, not to mention the nuclear bomb.
Security of the State has been more important than security of people.
We have now learned that real lasting security is based upon the security of
people.
We have come to a turning-point for mankind. At last we recognize that
the security of people is the main topic of the international agenda.
Let this Summit focus on the security of people.
The Summit is the first of its kind: a World Summit for Social
Development. We will provide leadership and direction.
I wish to thank the General Assembly of the United Nations for having
chosen Copenhagen as the venue for the World Summit for Social Development.
The Government and people of Denmark are proud to be hosting this Summit.
I welcome you to Copenhagen and Denmark. I hope that you will find time
to get to know this country, its people, its culture and its social
development.
I wish to express my deep appreciation to the Summit for having elected
me President.
My task is made easier through the tremendous work done by the
Secretary-General of the United Nations, his collaborators in the Secretariat,
and the Preparatory Committee.
In particular, I wish to pay tribute to the Chairman of the Preparatory
Committee, Ambassador Juan Somavia of Chile. For years he has worked hard and
with dedication to make this Summit come true.
Let us use the Summit to turn the analysis of problems and possibilities
into concrete commitments and actions as we did in Rio.
If we are to shape the future, we must have goals, ambition and
decisions. These we have. We are gathered here to promote social development
and social justice, placing the needs, rights and aspirations of people at the
centre of our decisions and joint actions. We want to open a new era of
international cooperation between Governments and people based on a spirit of
partnership.
The core issues to be discussed at the Summit - poverty, employment and
social integration - are well chosen. At this Summit we are discussing the
real problems, which concern all people. Therefore the Summit is at the very
heart of all political work and governance.
We need to focus on human security. Human security and social progress
must be maintained by ensuring proper living conditions.
Each person's security has to do with adequate income and employment,
education and training, health and housing, equality and legal protection and
the exercise of human rights.
The key word is solidarity. The means are political power and economic
and sustainable growth used for the right purposes. It is not a question of
whether we can afford it. It is a question of priorities and determination.
We must find new answers to these well-known, fundamental questions.
Poverty is linked to lack of access to resources, including knowledge.
Poor people are easily neglected by policy makers. Anti-poverty programmes
alone are not sufficient. Democratic participation is necessary to ensure
equal access to opportunities, public services and political life.
All Governments should undertake policies geared to a better
distribution of wealth and income. We must offer social protection and
opportunities for those who cannot support themselves. We must assist people
in social distress. In short, we must empower people to become genuine
partners in developing our societies.
For the poorest countries, we must extend the national effort to include
international actions of solidarity.
For many years the international community was divided into ideological
blocs. This Summit is historic as it gives us the chance - for the first time
after the cold war - to share a common vision on how to solve the social
problems of the world.
Let this Summit of hope result in better opportunities for an exchange
of experiences. No country can claim to have solved its social problems.
Some countries are rich. Some are poor. The acuteness of the problems
varies. But they have one thing in common: they are an offence to human
dignity and a threat to mankind if not attended to in time.
Social problems are of a size and a complexity that call for new
solutions, new alliances and new values. Many nations have welfare systems
that could be an inspiration to others. It is our task to encourage people to
take an active part in creating new societies.
We have learned that social progress will not be realized simply through
the free market forces. Nothing short of the political will to invest -
nationally and internationally - in people's well-being will accomplish the
objective of social security.
The private sector, including businesses and enterprises, must assume a
co-responsibility for the solution of social problems.
This new partnership for social development must include actions that
enable poor and disadvantaged people to participate fully and productively in
the economy and in society.
This Summit is a historic and unique platform for global social
development. But we must not give the impression that the Summit alone will
dramatically change daily life. We still have to put actions behind the
words.
The true significance of the Summit will therefore have to be measured
by what happens after the Summit. This is only the beginning of a new, global
process. But the difference between last week and next week should be
increased awareness and the mobilization of resources for social development.
We gather here in Copenhagen for a Summit of hope, commitment and
action.
Let us transform hope into action. That is what people expect from us.
I am confident that we can forge a new partnership for social
development. The Copenhagen Summit will make a difference. Because we have
decided so.
Statement by Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary-General
of the United Nations
The message of this World Summit for Social Development should be clear.
The international community is today taking a clear stand against social
injustice, exclusion and poverty in the world.
So, as we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Organization, we
should ask ourselves some searching questions about our own record.
We should ask how seriously we have taken our Charter commitments. Can
we say that we have fulfilled our solemn undertaking, entered into 50 years
ago at San Francisco, to promote "the economic and social advancement of all
peoples"?
Today's global economy affects everyone. We also know that its effects
are not all positive. It erodes traditional ties of solidarity among
individuals. It has marginalized entire countries and regions. The gap
between rich and poor is getting wider.
So the task before us today is nothing more nor less than to rethink the
notion of collective social responsibility.
A new social contract, at the global level, is required, to bring hope
to States and to nations, and to men and women around the world. That should
be the focus of this World Summit. That is how I believe its work should be
seen.
When, in 1992, the General Assembly took the initiative of calling this
World Summit, its aim was to make social development a major priority for the
international community. The agenda for this Summit meeting faithfully
reflects that intention. We will be discussing how to carry forward the fight
against poverty; how to combat social exclusion and disintegration; how to
create productive employment; and how to awaken a new awareness of social
responsibility at the international level.
It is clear from these concerns that this Copenhagen World Summit is
part of a process. It is part of the process of profound reflection and
debate on which the international community has embarked - about itself and
its future, and about the role of the individual human being.
As part of this collective rethinking, the international community has
given a good deal of thought to the position of the individual human being.
At Rio we debated the relationship between the human being and the
environment. At Vienna we looked at the human being as the bearer of rights.
The human person as a collective being was the theme of the Cairo Population
Conference. And once more, the human person - this time through the rights
and status of women - will bring us together next September, at Beijing.
The concept of social development gives coherence and perspective to the
entire process of reflection in which the international community has been
engaged.
Social development says that only within a social order based on justice
can the individual human being reach his or her full potential. Social
development says, too, that real economic progress is impossible without
progress in the social sphere. Social development is also the international
community's political response - political in the fullest sense of the term -
to the global society in which we live. That is why I see it as part of the
task of the United Nations to attempt to provide such a response - starting
now.
Clearly, no one has a ready-made model or answer. But it is possible
for us to define what I would call "priority objectives", which are basically
three in number:
Providing social protection for the individual;
Assisting social integration;
Maintaining social peace.
These are the three priority goals which I would like to consider with
you for a few moments.
Providing social protection for the individual is the ultimate goal of
this Conference and, as we are about to begin our work, I think it is
important not to lose sight of the indissoluble link between the promotion of
social development and the protection of human rights.
In 1948, the Universal Declaration made explicit the social dimension of
human rights. That dimension was to be still more strongly reaffirmed in the
Covenants of 1966, particularly the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights, to whose importance I would call attention. It was in
that context that the basic concept of the right to development came into
being a few years later.
In the name of that concept and its underlying values, we are now under
a compelling obligation to tackle the problem of poverty in the world.
It has to be remembered that 1.3 billion people are currently living in
a state of absolute poverty, and that 1.5 billion have no access to the most
elementary health care. We also know that the principal victims of poverty
are women, since they represent more than 70 per cent of the disinherited of
the Earth.
It should also be emphasized that, although a struggle against social
inequalities must be waged all over the planet, the scale of the problem, as
well as its severity, differ from one region to another.
Only through constant awareness of the realities of the world can we,
here in Copenhagen, truly be the spokesmen of all those who desire improved
social justice, and play a part in creating a new social policy on a global
scale.
The second priority goal I wish to propose is that of assisting social
integration. This is all the more necessary as disturbing situations of
exclusion and marginalization are developing all over the world.
To struggle for social integration, therefore, means condemning
selfishness and indifference first of all. It also means combating all forms
of discrimination throughout the world, whatever their cause. It also means
calling upon all humanity to show tolerance, solidarity, and involvement.
Lastly, it means giving all men, women, and children the education they need
in order to take their place in society.
The World Summit for Social Development has quite rightly emphasized the
connection between the struggle against poverty, the campaign for social
integration and the creation of productive jobs. In fact in the world of
today, employment is an essential factor in integration. On the other hand,
unemployment is a form of exclusion leading to a combination of social
handicaps.
It is primarily the duty of States to implement dynamic social policies.
Social development calls for wide-ranging political action, particularly in
the area of laws and regulations.
But social development is a matter, not only for States, but also for
the entire United Nations system. The latter has long been active in the
service of social progress. Many of its organs, such as the United Nations
Development Programme, and numerous specialized agencies, including the
International Labour Organization and the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, have done pioneering work in this area.
However, in this social project of ours, we must also take account of
the extraordinary capacity for mobilization of the non-governmental
organizations, and the force for integration represented by private enterprise
and investors.
Maintaining social peace is the third priority goal which I invite you
to pursue. In fact, there is a clear interaction between political issues and
social issues.
On the one hand, it is obvious that a stable political environment is
essential to harmonious social development. One of the purposes of political
activity is to give tangible reality to social aspirations.
On the other hand, it is equally clear that a dynamic social environment
is one of the requirements for political stability itself. For a State in
which inequality and privilege prevail is potentially in danger of suffering
the gravest social upheavals. A State which, by not permitting satisfactory
social integration, generates large numbers of marginalized people has to fear
the most unpredictable social explosions. It has to be clearly stated:
political serenity goes hand in hand with social contentment.
Furthermore, it is now well known that most of the armed conflicts
facing the United Nations are internal conflicts taking place within nations.
We also know that most of those conflicts have clear economic and social
causes. Consequently, we can reaffirm once more the indissoluble link between
the promotion of development and the preservation of peace.
I have sought to place the World Summit for Social Development in the
perspective of the major goals of the United Nations because, as Secretary-
General of the Organization, I am conscious of our collective responsibility
towards future generations. I therefore hope that the United Nations may
acquire the necessary means to follow up this Conference, so that the
important recommendations adopted here may have a genuine impact on the lives
of peoples and nations. I sincerely trust that the Bretton Woods institutions
will play a full role in the social action which we are now redefining and
reinventing.
For the social development project is an opportunity for the
international community as a whole to say:
No to the inevitability of crisis!
No to the persistence of inequalities!
No to the division of the world!
Giving social issues the status of universal priorities shows our
determination to accept responsibility for the collective destiny of
international society and to establish a new planet-wide pact of solidarity.
Annex III
CLOSING STATEMENTS
Statement by Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Prime Minister of Denmark
and President of the World Summit for Social Development
It falls upon me now to bring to a close the World Summit for Social
Development.
What lies ahead of us is a task even more important than the one we have
just successfully completed. For documents, well crafted as they may be, and
commitments, forceful as they may be, must stand the test of time. It is our
duty to ensure that this is done.
I would not want to close this meeting without expressing my profound
appreciation for all those whose personal contribution has made this Summit
possible:
To Ambassador Somavia, whose country proposed the Summit, and on whose
broad shoulders so much of its preparations fell. May I commend his
untiring work on behalf of the Summit; he guided the negotiating process
with tenacity, skill and commitment; his intellect, spirit, constancy of
purpose and optimism were instrumental to our success. Our gratitude
also goes to the talented diplomats who so ably assisted
Ambassador Somavia in his work, both here and in New York: Ambassadors
Richard Butler of Australia, Koos Richelle of the Netherlands, Ismail
Razali of Malaysia and Prakesh Shah of India;
To you, Mr. Secretary-General, for your personal and untiring efforts on
behalf of the Summit which demonstrate your commitment to the role of
the United Nations in development. Many of the heads of State and
Government who have been with us over the past two days know first hand
the strength of your conviction. If this Summit was attended by so many
eminent statesmen and women, it is in no small measure due to you
personally, but also to the entire United Nations Secretariat staff, led
by Under-Secretaries-General Ismat Kittani and Nitin Desai and
Conference Coordinator Jacques Baudot, who were the true backbone of the
Summit;
And, finally, to all the other participants of civil society, who have
brought their expertise, their talent and, above all, their imagination
and enthusiasm to this Summit and its preparations. Their spirit and
impatience for change brought much passion and energy to our task.
The Declaration we have just adopted states that the General Assembly
should hold a special session in the year 2000 to appraise how far we will
have gone by then in implementing the results of this meeting. I would like,
when we meet five years hence, to look back to this Summit of hope, as many
have called it, as a Summit of fulfilled expectations.
-----
This document has been posted online by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). Reproduction and dissemination of the document – in electronic and/or printed format – is encouraged, provided acknowledgement is made of the role of the United Nations in making it available.
Date last posted: 25/01/2000 14:36:31
Comments and suggestions: esa@un.org
Ronmamita's Blog 
There will be many more documents like this one…
while tedious it is worthwhile to grasp the amount of legal control regulating and enabling the global corporations.
I ask everyone to share legal documents that mentions monarchs and popes so we can determine their roles as well.
Thank you so much!
LikeLike
[…] Re-Examining Corporate-Governments […]
LikeLike
I think this is one of the so much vital information for
me. And i am glad reading your article. But want to statement on some basic things,
The site taste is wonderful, the articles is in reality excellent
: D. Good task, cheers
LikeLike
Happy greetings Jolie,
and thank you for being here!
All information here is shared freely for AMPLIFYING the Global-Dialogue.
I encourage all to share freely and discuss with others.
We mostly discuss and share information and events that relates to creating global Peace and Prosperity, however occasionally, we share reports, and re-blog appropriate information and discussions from other sources in a global effort to amplify the dialogue for fundamental change.
A paradigm-shift where global peace and prosperity exists with us all.
If you have information to share we encourage you to share it on the internet (social sites or your personal blog or website/webpage or alternately leave a comment). Help us AMPLIFY the global dialogue because you are part of it, either directly or indirectly.
LOVE and Peace
(GLOBALLY)
LikeLike