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
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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 socialndevelopment;
(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
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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
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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, theprotection 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
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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
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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
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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
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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 ofdebt 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
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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 enhancingsocial 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
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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 inevaluating 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
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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.
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; 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:
Transparent and accountable public institutions that are accessible to people on an equal basis and are responsive to their needs;
Opportunities for all to participate in all spheres of public life;
Strengthened participation and involvement of civil society in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of decisions determining the functioning and well-being of societies;
Publicly available objective data to enable people to make informed decisions;
Maintenance of social stability and promotion of social justice and progress;
Promotion of non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual respect for and the value of diversity;
Equity and equality of opportunity and social mobility;
Gender equality and equity and empowerment of women;
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;
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;
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;
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;
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:
The promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, the support for democratic institutions and the empowerment of women;
The integration of goals, programmes and review mechanisms that have developed separately in response to specific problems;
Partnership involving States, local authorities, non-governmental organizations, especially voluntary organizations, other major groups as defined in Agenda 21, the media, families and individuals;
The recognition of the diversity in the world and the need to take measures geared to achieve the Summit’s goals;
The empowerment of people, who are to be assisted so that they fully participate in setting goals, designing programmes, implementing activities and evaluating performance;
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;
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.
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.
