A/50/PV.85 General Assembly

This morning the General Assembly will first resume its consideration of agenda item 21, entitled “University for Peace”, for the purpose of taking action on draft resolution A/50/42/Rev.1. We shall now proceed to consider that draft resolution. After the presentation of the draft resolution, we were informed that the following countries had become co- sponsors: Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, India, Jamaica, Senegal and Venezuela. The Assembly will now take a decision on draft resolution A/50/L.42/Rev.1. May I take it that the Assembly decides to adopt draft resolution A/50/L.42/Rev.1?

I am very grateful for the opportunity to speak on this occasion, which is of great importance to my delegation. I wish to express my deep and sincere appreciation to the General Assembly for adopting draft resolution A/50/L.42/Rev.1, entitled “University for Peace”, and to the delegations that were kind enough to become co- sponsors: those that I mentioned in my earlier statement; those that became co-sponsors later and whose names appear in document A/50/L.42/Rev.1 — Benin, and the Russian Federation; as well as those that were added to the list yesterday and today — Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, India, Jamaica, Senegal and Venezuela. We consider this to be a splendid birthday gift to the University for Peace, which was established by resolution 35/55 on 5 December 1980 and has thus just celebrated its fifteenth birthday precisely as the United Nations is celebrating its own fiftieth anniversary. I was not mistaken two days ago when I said that the number of sponsors was about to reach 50; in fact, it has since surpassed that many. It is also very significant that the General Assembly should be considering today the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development, since the University for Peace is working on master’s programmes on many of the proposals adopted at the Summit.

I should like to inform the Assembly that the representative of Egypt has requested to participate in the debate on agenda item 161. Inasmuch as the list of speakers was closed yesterday morning, may I ask the Assembly whether there is any objection to the inclusion of that delegation in the list of speakers? I see no objection. Egypt is therefore included in the list.

The delegation of Botswana is grateful to the Secretary-General for his comprehensive report (A/50/670) concerning implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development. We have no doubt that the report will enable the General Assembly to take fruitful decisions on this important subject. Botswana is committed to the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. The World Summit for Social Development provided a vital opportunity to highlight the centrality of social issues to human-centred development and the critical role that international cooperation should play in this respect. Social problems cut across borders, and in the world in which we live no nation can enjoy economic and social prosperity when its neighbours languish in abject poverty. We fully share the view that: “An essential requirement for the implementation of the Summit, including through international cooperation, is solidarity, extending the concept of partnership and a moral imperative of mutual respect and concern among individuals, communities and nations”. (A/50/670, para. 13) Our commitment to achieving this important objective was emphasized by the personal participation of our Head of State. We have made a deliberate effort to ensure that the people of Botswana lead healthy lives, by improving health services and making them accessible to all people, especially the poor, in both rural and urban areas. The results of our efforts have been an increase in life expectancy from 46 to 63 years; 80 per cent of school-age children have access to education; at least 86 per cent of the entire population have access to health services; about 80 per cent of children are immunized; and 90 per cent of the population have access to safe water. We did not make these modest achievements on our own. We benefited tremendously from the generous assistance of the international community, and we are grateful to its members, individually and collectively. In accordance with the decisions and recommendations of the Social Summit, Botswana has undertaken initiatives aimed at ensuring the full participation of people in the decision-making process on matters that determine their future well-being. We have established a National Committee to prepare a national plan of action, which will be presented in June 1996 at the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) in Turkey. The Committee is made up of participants from central government, local government, non-governmental organizations, educational institutes and private individuals. The final plan of action will indicate the amount of resources the nation will need in the social fields, especially in health and education. The plan will specify national priority areas where international cooperation will be needed to assist in the implementation of the plan of action during the next 20 years. The membership of the National Committee is not only diverse in terms of institutional representation, it is also gender conscious to ensure that issues affecting disadvantaged groups are taken into account. Finally, I should like to reiterate my Government’s commitment to the recommendations of the Social Summit and to assure you that Botswana will do everything possible to implement them. As I have indicated, Botswana has made some modest progress in this direction, but a lot still needs to be done, and it is our intention to increase the momentum. We hope we can count on the international community to continue to render much-valued assistance to enable us to consolidate what has been achieved and embark on a path of sustained and sustainable social development.

The World Summit for Social Development made important gains in reshaping both national and international development policies, institutions and resources to promote more equitable and people-centred sustainable development. We believe the Social Summit represents a significant building block in the conference continuum through its focus on human security and sustainable development. The United States believes that our cooperative effort to implement in a fully integrated way the conference commitments of the Rio Summit and the subsequent global conferences — Vienna, Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing and finally Istanbul — will require at least a decade of work. The World Summit for Social Development was designed to put people at the centre in the Rio sustainable- development equation. The Summit highlighted how investments in people — their education and health — were critical to their productivity. It focused positively on the role of multilateral banks, structural-adjustment programmes and the power of free markets in reducing poverty and promoting social integration. Copenhagen reinforced the concept that poverty is substantially alleviated only through policies that promote job creation and that workers who enjoy the protection of core labor standards are most likely to fulfil their human potential. As a Conference of commitments, the Social Summit broke new ground with a specific commitment to equality for women, paving the way for the forward-looking human- The Social Summit reaffirmed the Rio principle that national Governments have the primary responsibility for development; it also acknowledged that social development goals cannot be achieved by individual States alone. In that regard, the Summit called for increased funding for foreign assistance by governmental and non-governmental donors and multilateral financial institutions to specific programmes — in primary education for girls, preventive health care and political participation — and encouraged developing countries to use the 20/20 concept in planning and funding their human development priorities. To this end, the United States pledged to accelerate development activities in Africa and the less developed countries through programmes funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). During the Summit, the First Lady and Vice- President of the United States each announced initiatives designed to support the aims of the Social Summit. Eight months after the Summit, we can report progress on both programmes. The Women and Girls Education Initiative announced by Mrs. Clinton pledged an investment of $100 million over 10 years to achieve higher school- completion rates for girls in developing countries. Programmes have been funded in 9 less-developed countries in Central America, Asia and Africa as well as in two African and one Latin American regional organizations. The New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) announced by the Vice-President at the Social Summit emphasizes work at the local level to build sustainable institutional capacity in three areas — non-governmental organization empowerment across sectors, small- business partnerships and democratic local governance — as well as efforts at the national level to ensure a supportive policy, regulatory and resource environment for private and community action. The policy framework of the Initiative has been In addition, USAID has continued to make gains in its micro-enterprise programme initiated in June 1994. The programme is designed to meet the needs of the poorest members of society, particularly women, by providing very small loans. The core objective of this programme is the development of self-sufficient operations, covering all costs so that the programme is sustainable. During 1995, USAID allocated $140 million for micro-enterprise funding in less developed countries. Finally, in response to both Copenhagen and Beijing, programmes supporting women’s political participation and women’s legal rights are under way. The USAID-funded Women’s Political Participation Initiative will increase women’s access to and participation in political processes and elections in both transitional and consolidating democracies around the world. In support of this Initiative, USAID recently awarded the Asia Foundation, in partnership with other non-governmental organizations, a cooperative agreement to support the full integration of women into the political process. Working through local non-governmental organizations, the Women’s Legal Rights Initiative will help women develop an understanding of the legal system and empower women to understand how law inhibits or promotes their participation in social and economic life. These programmes demonstrate the United States commitment to developing the potential of the individual through programmes designed at the local level and working through a broad array of non-governmental actors. We look forward to the commitment of the United Nations and other key donors to support similar activities. Gone are the days of massive investments in super programmes designed by expensive consultants and imposed from the outside without taking into account the community’s perceived needs. For the most part, those programmes did not work, and the world can no longer afford to invest scarce resources in consultants and their products rather than in people. We look forward to cooperating with this body and its subsidiary organs to move forward with our shared vision of a better world for all people.

The peoples of the United Nations that participated in the World Summit for Social Development at Copenhagen Our participation in the Copenhagen Summit left us with a realization based on social ethics: that we cannot solve social problems while allowing the vulnerable, the most disadvantaged and the weak to remain stuck in a morass of need, treating them as though they were encumbrances undermining the well-being of the rest of us. We must act with the aim of delivering every human being from the distress of their problems and from the anguish of want. In the social sphere, we must devise and set up solid and lasting safeguards covering development in the areas of peace, the economy, the environment, social justice and democracy. Each of us — men, women and children, the young and the old, the sick, the healthy and the disabled — must have our berth in the Ark of social progress, giving pride of place to justice, decency, dignity and the value of the individual. That is the aspect of the Summit that the representative of Chile, Mr. Juan Somavía, highlighted yesterday, when he said, At the national level, the necessary social changes must be effected with grass-roots participation and with Governments and actors from civil society participating on an equal footing. The reciprocal commitment by developed and developing countries to allocate an average — we would say a minimum — of 20 per cent of official development assistance and 20 per cent of national budgets, respectively, to basic social programmes has yet to be fulfilled. The Programme of Action gives the United Nations the great task of encouraging a kind of international cooperation that, because of its ambitious goals and high level of responsibility, involves a creative undertaking that in turn involves searching for and finding new approaches and means of action. Thus, the United Nations must ensure the complementarity of these activities by seeing Let me recall the words of Mr. Victor Marrero, who represents the United States in the Economic and Social Council, who said here this morning that “our cooperative effort to implement in a fully integrated way the conference commitments of the Rio Summit and the subsequent global conferences — Vienna, Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing and finally Istanbul — will require at least a decade of work”. (Supra, p. 3) We share Ambassador Marrero’s optimism that this will take a mere decade. We believe that third-world countries have the right to expect that we will now prepare a budget, for developed and developing countries, relating to how much will need to be invested during that decade to fulfil the commitments of those United Nations conferences in such a way that each year we see further success and so that by the year 2000 we will be half-way through the work of that decade. My delegation does not believe that the time for thinking and debate on social development is over for the United Nations. To the contrary, we believe that this is of a piece with social issues and with individual, family and community well-being. It is truly heartening that on Monday, 18 December, we shall inaugurate the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, 1996, which will unquestionably help start the implementation of the commitments undertaken in Copenhagen, following the inspiring and enthusiastic lead of the United Nations Children’s Fund on the eve of its fiftieth anniversary. We possess a Programme of Action that must be implemented, and a whole set of commitments set out in the Declaration that must be met. But both those documents set tasks that the United Nations can carry out only through dialogue, deliberation and legislation — functions proper to the United Nations and its principal organs, to wit the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council and its functional commissions, including the Commission for Social Development — as well as through financing. We have already stated in the Third Committee our views on follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women, held at Beijing. We believe in dialogue and debate as irreplaceable ways to ensure effective, coordinated action. We appreciate the fact that in his report (A/50/670) the Secretary-General devotes substantial space to the functions of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council stemming from the recommendations of the Copenhagen Summit, and to indicating how important he considers the interdependence that exists between economic development, social development and environmental protection. In this context, let me thank the Department of Economic and Social Information and Policy Analysis, headed by Mr. Jean-Claude Milleron, which is responsible for generating and producing economic, demographic, social and environmental information and for analyzing national and regional development policies and trends. It also provides technical assistance to developing countries for their projects in the areas of statistics and population. The Department’s activities in the sphere of integrated environmental and economic accounting are of particular interest to the developing world. The Department’s work on the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Systems will be most useful in the period 1995-2004, which the Statistical Commission of the Economic and Social Council has designated the decade of the 2000 World Population and Housing Census Programme. This appreciation also goes to the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, headed by Mr. Nitin Desai, as well as to the Department for Development Support and Management Services, headed by Mr. Chaozhu Ji. My delegation confirms its support for the Summit’s request that the General Assembly hold a special session in the year 2000. It is clear that in the next four years in the United Nations we shall have many tasks to perform and shall have to act responsibly and efficiently in the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and the working groups on the strengthening of the Organization and on the Agenda for Development. All of these bodies need to close ranks and to act in a sound and effective way. We have studied this proposal, which concerns the establishment of an independent forum on social development. As we see it, this attests to the firm resolve of the Danish Government to contribute intellectually and materially to the implementation of the Programme of Action and the fulfilment of the Commitments in the Declaration, relying on a solid basis of statistical data that already exist or have yet to be produced. My delegation would like to express its conviction that the establishment of such a forum or of other independent national or international bodies, whether public or private, should be made proof against egoistic interests, cliquishness, and the belief that success and efficiency can be the exclusive possession of any party. Such independent bodies should be inspired by a concern to ensure the complementarity of the various efforts. Within the new framework of world cooperation for development, as indicated by the Secretary-General in his report on the work of the Organization, there will be a need to enhance cooperation between the United Nations, the specialized agencies and the Bretton Woods institutions. The United Nations requires the support and assistance of its Member States and the whole of civil society. Civil society must make generous contributions, avoiding the temptation of taking an outsider’s stance, which might impoverish the Organization and diminish its achievements. My delegation is grateful to the Danish Government for its initiative and hopes that it will look upon our comments as encouragement and a sincere expression of our commitment to the United Nations and to its key role in the area of international cooperation. My delegation would like to place on record its gratification that paragraph 43 of document A/50/670 mentions, with respect to the Summit for Social Development, the initiative of the Rio Group, of which Panama is a member, which was finalized in Buenos Aires in May 1995 and in Quito last month. We would also like to mention that on 30 March 1995 the Governments of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, The references to the mobilization of the Governments of the countries which are members of the Rio Group and of the Governments of Central America and Panama enable us to reaffirm our support for the work that the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) is doing in the social field in our region, without disregarding the valuable assistance of the Latin American Economic System and taking into account the fact that the driving force of social development is economic growth, which is reflected in improvements in the quality of life. We also wish to once again express our hope for an increase in the financial and operational contributions that the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank may direct towards our region. The regional project on social indicators is a key phase which will be useful in both the methodology and the practical aspects of the work to combat poverty. In the document presented to us by the Secretariat, the questions of decentralization, strengthening of regional offices and coordination of all the activities of the United Nations system within a particular region are correctly addressed. In my delegation’s view, and I say this by way of conclusion, all these measures should serve to widen the areas of effective implementation of the Programme of Action through operational activities, which should continue to be global in nature and to conserve the principles of neutrality and universality. The international community should focus its efforts on support to specific country programmes, while at the same time creating a propitious international environment. On the international level, coordinated action is essential. We must bridge differences, pool intergovernmental and non-governmental energies and overcome the inconsistencies and distortions in the way in which institutions work. The universal dimension of social problems and the urgent need for concerted action to address them are the most striking elements in the Declaration and the Programme of Action adopted at Copenhagen.

It gives me pleasure to associate myself with the previous speakers in extending our thanks and appreciation to His Excellency the Secretary-General and to all those who participated in the elaboration of the Declaration and Programme of Action of the Copenhagen Social Summit. The General Assembly’s consideration today of the Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of the outcome of that Conference clearly reflects the Member States’ aspirations after finding solutions to increasing economic and social problems, such as poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and terrorism. To deal with these problems is a political, social and ethical imperative for us all that requires a collective approach, both national and international, on the basis of a new understanding of cooperation, equality, tolerance and respect for the customs and beliefs of different societies. The commitments entered into by the Heads of State and Government at the Copenhagen Summit for social development in March 1995 represent a new approach for comprehensive international action. This approach involves elaborating the strategies and policies of comprehensive development programmes in a manner that takes into account the future aspirations of societies and the religious, cultural and social traditions of different societies. The United Arab Emirates, under the guidance of His Excellency Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, the Head of State has consistently pursued policies and taken measures in the area of development that are in consonance with its national interests and that take into account the importance of using international mechanisms in seeking to achieve sustainable development and in developing the concept of human security. The United Arab Emirates has made the development of the individual citizen the focus and goal of its national strategies. For that purpose, it has enacted the appropriate legislation and put in place various programmes in the areas of education, training, culture and free health care, in We have also formulated our laws and our development, economic and social policies on the basis of the principles of equality and justice and the lofty Islamic shariah, in accordance with the current changes in the international environment and in an attempt to achieve our various national objectives in the social, economic, and cultural fields. We have also established new institutions in the fields of scientific research, training and academic studies. Our interests and efforts have not been confined to the external environment but have extended to other areas of cooperation with regional and international mechanisms. We have participated in conferences and seminars on issues such as the environment and housing. We have hosted conferences and specialized meetings. The latest of these, the Dubai International Conference on Best Practices for Improving the Living Environment, considered issues relating to human settlements that will be taken into consideration at the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) which is scheduled to be held in Istanbul in June 1996. Our efforts stem from our conviction and awareness of the need to mobilize all international, regional and national resources in improving the living conditions of human beings in all parts of the World and in particular in cities where poverty is rife. In pursuit of that objective we have contributed to the exchange of information and expertise in the various areas of development; we have opened our markets to free international trade; we have established the Abu Dhabi development fund to make concessional loans to developing countries; and we have participated in the provision of assistance through regional and international bilateral and multilateral development institutions. Given our awareness of the need to mitigate the severity of the external-debt burden of certain developing countries, we have sought to forgive part of their debts and their accrued interest. The regional disputes we have witnessed in the Middle East over the past few decades have impeded the The need to narrow the economic and social gap between States and to make use of the information revolution, especially in the areas of communications, information and the transfer of technology has become most pressing indeed and requires the international community to take the appropriate measures, and to set up the necessary specialized mechanisms within the context of the Economic and Social Council and its various bodies as well as through the other relevant international agencies. In conclusion, we hope that the world will live up to the level of the aspirations contained in the Declaration and Programme of Action of the Copenhagen Summit for social development as those aspirations voice the yearning after justice and after the improvement of the living conditions of millions of people throughout the world.

The World Summit for Social Development was an important success. The Summit articulated in a systematic and coherent manner a set of basic commitments and a Programme of Action which represents a solid platform for policy-making by the Governments and by the international organizations. The commitments to eradicate absolute poverty by a target date to be set by each country, to support full employment as a basic policy goal and to promote social integration based on the enhancement and protection of all human rights, to name just a few of the commitments, provide a challenge to the policy-makers worldwide. We agree with Ambassador Somavía of Chile, the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the Summit who spoke earlier in this debate and who reminded us of the historical dimension of the Summit. The vision and programmes developed by the Summit are far-reaching and therefore long-term in nature. As such they can be compared with the visions and the programmes adopted at the United Nations global conferences in the 1970s, starting with the Stockholm United Nations Conference on Human There are two basic conditions which have to be met in order to make the implementation of the commitments of the World Summit for Social Development successful. One is ethical while the other is essentially political. The first — the ethical condition — relates to the actual readiness of decision-makers both at the national and at the international level to take the commitments seriously. The other requires careful policy-making and appropriate development of the relevant institutions. These two conditions are closely interrelated. Without an ethical quality, without a serious commitment, there cannot be serious success in policy-making while without effective policy-making even a genuine ethical commitment remains empty. Slovenia takes the ethical aspect of the implementation of the outcome of the World Social Summit very seriously. Our experience is that in actual reality many difficult choices have to be made. It is very important that in such situations — in situations where choices need to be made — the commitments of the World Summit for Social Development are not neglected and that the objectives of its Programme of Action are pursued despite various obstacles. We believe that the same ethical issues and the need to make the right choices arise in all situations of decision-making — at the local or national level and internationally. The process of implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development will be an important test of the international community and its faithfulness to the commitments agreed to in Copenhagen. The aspect of the actual policy-making is equally important. It requires the policy-makers to act with determination and persistence and imagination. The question of how to involve in a meaningful way the ever more important non-State actors and civil society at large poses a major challenge to policy-making for the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development. The most important part of policy-making has to take place at the national level. The United Nations Let me now make several observations concerning the role of the United Nations organs in the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development. We commend the Secretary-General for the useful and comprehensive report which helps us in this discussion. It is our view that the Commission for Social Development should be the central intergovernmental body for the substantive follow-up and monitoring of the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and the Programme of Action. For this purpose its mandate needs to be reviewed, adapted and strengthened, as well as brought into synergy with other functional commissions. We encourage the Secretary-General to increase his support to the Commission, through technical and substantive servicing. For instance, we find merit in the proposal to establish a common data system task force aimed at developing better statistics and indicators in response to requests by different conferences, including the World Summit for Social Development. In this connection we wish to pay tribute to the Government of Denmark for its research project on the statistical follow-up of the Programme of Action adopted at Copenhagen. Taking into account the broad scope of the Declaration and the Programme of Action, it is important that different parts of the United Nations system contribute to its implementation, including through the relevant United Nations specialized agencies, funds and programmes, such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and its system of resident coordinators. We also welcome the establishment of task forces for the follow-up of the Summit and other related United Nations conferences, under lead agencies to address issues of enabling environment for social and economic development, and employment and sustainable livelihoods for all. We join those who called during this debate for the adaptation of the mandate of the Commission for Social Development during the next year in order to ensure an integrated approach in addressing the social development issues. We support proposals for its formulation of a multi-year thematic work programme until the year 2000, While the overall responsibility for the implementation of the outcome of the recent United Nations conferences, including the World Summit for Social Development, is with the General Assembly, we believe that the Economic and Social Council is the most appropriate forum in which a substantive and effective coordination of all functional commissions can be achieved. The potential of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) should be further utilized as a forum where delegations can report, assess, compare and integrate outcomes of different conferences in related fields. We thus support very much the idea of holding each year, during the coordination segment, a review of cross-cutting themes of different conferences, harmonizing thus the outcome of the work of the functional commissions and providing policy coordination for their future work. In closing, I wish to join all those speakers who paid tribute to the Government of Denmark for having hosted the World Summit for Social Development and for its active role both in the preparation and in the follow-up to the Summit.

The World Summit for Social Development was one of the most important events in the last decade of the twentieth century. It is not merely the symbolism of a gathering of 118 world leaders that makes this event great. It was the first time in history that the world policy makers had decided to treat the problems facing human existence as part of one whole rather than in bits and pieces. The momentous decisions taken at Copenhagen require effective follow-up. We would like to place on record our deepest appreciation to Ambassador Juan Somavía for his untiring efforts in the preparation of the Summit, his clear direction to the Main Committee and his vision and clarity of purpose. Without Ambassador Somavía, we could not have achieved the impressive results at the Summit. Today it is only befitting that the Mission of Chile is steering the resolution on the follow-up to the Social Summit. We would also like to thank Mr. Nitin Desai, Under-Secretary-General, and Mr. Jacques Baudot, the Coordinator for the Social Summit, for their substantive contribution to the Summit. “poverty, employment and the reduction of unemployment, and social integration. Of all these issues, action to combat poverty is perhaps the key. More than one billion people in the world live in poverty; even more do not have access to drinking water and sanitation. At least 500 million children do not have access to primary education and about one billion adults remain illiterate. Most people who are poor are born into poverty.” Mr. James Gustave Speth, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, commenting on the same book said: “We live in a world where one fifth of the world’s population goes hungry every night, where one quarter lacks even the most basic necessities, such as safe drinking water, where one third lives in a state of poverty — below any recognizable level of human dignity. Poverty and its handmaidens — joblessness and social disintegration — stand with environmental decay as the four horsemen of the modern apocalypse.” We have given these quotations to emphasize that poverty is the root cause of social underdevelopment. The central message of the Summit, therefore, is that all national and international efforts should be aimed at eliminating the scourge of poverty. Poverty cannot be restricted to certain pockets. Poverty is a global concern. A global approach is necessary for combating widespread poverty, taking into consideration the regional, national and local particularities. There is no magic wand for eradicating poverty. It can be done only through sustained and diversified investment in food and nutrition, health, education, human resource development in a broader sense, infrastructure and, above all, economic growth. Redistribution of income can be a mere hoax without generation of enough resources and opportunity for employment. The United Nations has to play a central role in the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. The main responsibility for the implementation of the Social Summit rests with national Governments. However, the United Nations should make its contribution by promoting international cooperation through the deliberations and decisions of intergovernmental bodies Follow-up by the United Nations should be system-wide, effective and efficient. At the policy-making level, the primary task is an unbiased and accurate assessment of the world social situation and review of the implementation of the commitments made at Copenhagen. This policy framework should be strengthened by support to national activities and financing of social development. The General Assembly, the highest organ of the United Nations responsible for implementation of the outcome of the Copenhagen Summit, has to launch a decade for eradication of poverty starting from 1996, hold a special session in the year 2000 and promote a high-level dialogue for international cooperation. We hope that all these steps will be taken with due care and preparation. At the next level, it is the responsibility of the Economic and Social Council to ensure system-wide coordination for the implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action and to find ways and means to mobilize resources for that purpose. Within the United Nations system, the most effective follow-up is guaranteed by the designation of a focal point. ln the past, the Rio Conference led to the creation of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the Cairo Conference to the strengthening and reorientation of the Population Commission. At the Social Summit, a wise decision was taken to earmark the Commission for Social Development as a focal point after necessary review by the Economic and Social Council. We believe that the strengthening of the Commission for Social Development would ensure effective review and monitoring of the implementation of the outcome of the Social Summit. The Commission can devote its next session to the theme of poverty in pursuance of an Economic and Social Council decision. The implementation and follow-up of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action would require close coordination between the United Nations system, international development agencies and multilateral banks. We hope that the Bretton Woods institutions would expand and improve their cooperation in the field of social development. While the Commission for Social Development has to be strengthened to enable it to assist the Economic and Social Council in the implementation of the Summit outcome, the United Nations Development Programme should support the The developed countries must meet their commitment to allocate 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official development assistance. Fulfilment of this commitment alone can be a big stride towards solving problems related to social and economic development in the developing countries. We appreciate the announcement made by Ireland at Copenhagen to meet the target of 0.7 per cent. Reallocation of the existing resources for social development is only a partial measure. It must be accompanied by allocation of new and additional resources. The announcements made by Denmark and Austria for debt cancellation in Copenhagen should set a trend for other developed countries. There is an urgency to reduce the debt of low-income countries, decrease the multilateral debt burden of other developing countries and cancel the public debt of African countries and the least developed countries. Our intention to eliminate poverty, generate employment and promote social integration will not be realized until we define time-bound targets. The implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action will require mobilization of new and additional financial resources at the national and international levels, better and effective utilization of the existing resources, enhanced assistance from the developing countries and a substantial reduction in their debt burden. The Government of Pakistan, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, has launched a comprehensive $8 billion Social Action Programme to address the urgent needs of the people in basic education, primary health care, nutrition, water supply and sanitation. The main objectives of this Programme are eradication of poverty, redress of gender inequities, rural development and environmental protection. Economic reform, supported by the privatization policy, has enabled us to allocate larger budgetary resources for social development. The key goals are universal access to primary education, increasing involvement of the private sector in health care, particularly in the rural areas, reduction of population growth from 3.1 per cent to 2.5 per cent per annum by the year 2000, provision of potable water to 100 per cent of the urban population and 90 per cent of the rural population, provision of electricity to all villages, empowerment of women through well-targeted welfare and development projects in the areas of health, education, agricultural skills and access to credit, and construction of 5,000 kilometres of farm-to-market roads by 1998. The post-cold war era has been marked by eruption of regional and ethnic conflicts. Global military spending has declined only marginally. In order to realize the goal of the peace dividend, we must accelerate the process of disarmament and diversion of resources from defence-oriented security to social security. This would depend largely on the efforts to resolve festering disputes and to remove new threats to peace and security. The United Nations, in this context, should play a more assertive role through the use of mediation, arbitration, good offices, preventive diplomacy, peacemaking, peace- keeping and peace-building. Mr. Ouane (Mali), Vice-President, took the Chair. Social disintegration affects people living in situations of strife, violence and armed conflicts. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Kashmir and many other parts of the world, millions of people are suffering from the consequences of conflicts in the form of poverty, displacement and exclusion. These people are living without homes, without livelihoods and without any hope for the future. National and international mechanisms need to be created to arrest these eruptions and to provide them humanitarian assistance. In situations where conflicts have been resolved, the international community should undertake the important task of peace-building through the promotion of reconciliation, rehabilitation and reconstruction. Miss Durrant (Jamaica): It is now nine months since the convening of the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen. During these past months, Governments as well as the United Nations system as a whole have been working to implement the provisions of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action, to safeguard the commitment of We in Jamaica are no different in this respect. Taking our cue from the Copenhagen Declaration which acknowledges in paragraph 27 that it is the "primary responsibility of States" to attain the goals of the Summit, Jamaica has established a monitoring committee to oversee a National Plan of Action, identify core projects for integrating the key Summit issues and mobilize resources for their implementation. The committee includes representatives from the Government and non-governmental agencies, including women’s organizations, the Council of Voluntary Social Services and the Combined Disabilities Association. In addition to establishing the monitoring committee, Jamaica is presently enhancing its National Poverty Alleviation Programme to take account of the provisions of the Copenhagen Declaration. Prior to the Summit, an extensive assessment of the character of poverty, unemployment and social integration in Jamaica was undertaken. Following Copenhagen, a national conference on poverty was held in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). This conference saw participation from a wide spectrum of community-based and private voluntary organizations, the private sector, the Government and the political opposition. Subsequently, based on this consultation, an extensive programme was prepared, outlining cross-sectoral strategies and committing substantial funds to the Poverty Alleviation Programme. This Programme incorporates a five-year plan and also adopts a multi-faceted approach to dealing with specific deprived communities across the island as well as vulnerable groups such as unemployed youth, families with children, the chronically needy and the new poor. The Programme also emphasizes the primary role of the State in providing the enabling environment for community empowerment. Jamaica has focused on human resource development as the foundation of its poverty eradication efforts. Since 1989, the Human Resource Development Programme - one of investment and policy reform in health and education - has been in operation. The Jamaican Government continues to maintain that any strategy against poverty and for social improvement demands considerable investment in education and training. This creates an environment in which the individual can access opportunities for self-help, through his or her own initiative and enterprise. We have, therefore, embarked on programmes directed towards training, employment and productivity, and are currently pursuing The Jamaican Government is now finalizing, with the assistance of the World Bank, the establishment of a Social Investment Fund, scheduled to begin operations in 1996. This Fund will channel resources to community-based organizations for the development of social and economic infrastructure projects. Underemployment has long been identified as a key feature of poverty in Jamaica. A Labour Market Reform Committee has been given the task of considering recommendations for improvements to the employment environment. Consultations are currently under way between Government and the private sector regarding the formulation of an industrial policy which will facilitate increased private sector investment for increased economic growth. Efforts are also being made to provide additional credit and technical assistance to strengthen the participation of the poor in these programmes, and in the micro-enterprise sector which has experienced some growth in recent years. New and innovative ways to utilize labour-intensive techniques are also being examined to contribute to employment generation. We recognize that in the area of social integration, there is still work to be done in my country. So far, however, family centres have been established in recognition of the integral role of the family in social stability. These centres provide counselling services for family members, facilitating access to youth programmes, employment and training opportunities available within the area. It must be recalled that at Copenhagen, many countries including Jamaica, emphasized that national Governments alone cannot achieve the ambitious goals of the Summit. We are therefore very pleased that the United Nations system has been responsive to initiatives of the Jamaican Government. In particular the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have participated significantly in national consultations and have made financial and human resources available to the Government of Jamaica. These bodies have also collaborated with multilateral financial institutions in mobilizing support for poverty alleviation initiatives. Jamaica fully supports the proposal to convene a special session in the year 2000 to review and appraise the outcome of the World Summit. We feel that this would go a long way in helping to keep the themes of social development and poverty eradication as priorities on the international agenda. We would not wish the very ambitious recommendations of Copenhagen to come to nothing because of a lack of follow-up and of proper management of the implementation process. In this connection, we note that the Economic and Social Council, in its resolution 1995/60, reaffirmed the Copenhagen Programme of Action’s recommendation that it should oversee the system-wide coordination of the implementation of the outcome of the Summit. In this respect, we call for the strengthening of the Economic and Social Council and its subsidiary bodies, in accordance with Commitment 10 of the Copenhagen Declaration. We also reiterate the call made for the Council not only to contribute to the mobilization of financial resources, but also to examine new and innovative ideas for generating funds. Jamaica restates its call for the United Nations to develop an appropriate programme to sensitize the scientific and technological community to the crucial importance of science and technology to development and poverty alleviation. The international community has learned from hard experience that initiatives implemented to supply the poor with basic needs have been less than successful when based solely on concerns for welfare, economic growth and income levels. We will continue to emphasize that scientific and technological innovations, when properly applied, can become major factors in satisfying basic needs and promoting the alleviation of poverty. Jamaica continues to call for urgent attention to be directed towards finding solutions to the problems of external-debt servicing, as these can only impede any “There can be no lasting and universal peace until we forge that new global partnership which eradicates the scourge of poverty, provides adequate shelter, combats illiteracy, malnutrition and drug addiction, affords adequate health security and halts human exploitation.” In conclusion, I wish to express my delegation’s deep appreciation to Ambassador Juan Somavía of Chile for his vision, determination and leadership, which led to the global commitment to action on the issues of poverty, unemployment and social disintegration. I also wish to thank the Government of Denmark not only for having so ably hosted the World Social Summit, but also for the innovative initiatives it has announced for the promotion and implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. As we look forward to the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, it is my delegation’s fervent hope that the issues raised at the Social Summit will be seriously addressed.

Malta associates itself with the statement delivered earlier at yesterday morning’s meeting by the Permanent Representative of Spain on behalf of the European Union. We often marvel at the advances that have been made within the global civilization to which we all belong. Yet, when reviewing the world social and economic situation, notwithstanding all these advances we still see the poor, the unemployed and others who are socially excluded continuing to suffer as the most vulnerable groups in our societies. These groups should be the first to benefit from mankind’s successes and the last to suffer from its failures. However, the social crises that afflict many parts of our world community often also rob these groups of the basic minimums required for human dignity, in addition to the emotional shelter and moral sustenance that they deserve. Extreme poverty has spread at an alarming pace. In the process, its momentum is denying millions of people The end of the cold war has altered our way of viewing the world as a community. We now understand better than before that the maintenance of peace and security also requires the better management of the world’s economic and social affairs. The reduction and removal of disparities between North and South require a constructive and cooperative dialogue. The main thrust of the Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Summit for Social Development is its call for the creation of more just societies that address the underlying and structural causes of poverty, unemployment and social exclusion. In Copenhagen, our Heads of State and Government, in pledging commitment, recommended measures aimed at eliminating inequalities within and between nations. These inequalities breed resentment and unrest among people and threaten the security of nations, thereby hampering wider economic development and impeding lasting peace. Those commitments are at the basis for the international community’s drive to confront urgently the structural causes and distressing consequences of those profound social problems that were the core issues examined during the Summit. Agreed measures to foster social development must now be transformed into practical modalities and acted upon at the national, international and United Nations levels. Solidarity and cooperation must remain the two main ingredients in translating words into deeds. One of the most important and fundamental documents adopted by the United Nations soon after its formation was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 10 December 1948. In that document, the international community acknowledged that: “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.” (res. 217 A (III), article 16, para. 3) The family, as the basic unit of society, has an enormous role to play in facilitating a stable and secure social In his inaugural statement at the Summit, the Secretary-General declared that “now is the time to act because the potential for cooperation has never been greater”. He called for a sense of solidarity to prevail within and among nations which would not permit those who are privileged to ignore those who are poor, vulnerable and marginalized. Our common engagement in furthering social- development objectives must be seen to come to fruition. The provisions contained in the Declaration and Programme of Action constitute important breakthroughs. The eradication of absolute poverty, the need for socially responsible structural adjustment programmes, the recognition of unremunerated work performed by women and broader participation in the design and implementation of social-development policies all establish new and important criteria. The social ills which face the world and national communities today cannot be cured by any “quick fix”. In striving to consolidate social development, nations must invest in human beings. In the Programme of Action, the Heads of State and Government bound themselves to ensure “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” (A/CONF.166/9, annex II, para. 17 (d)). We cannot, under any guise, ignore the dignity and worth of each and every human person. As my Prime Minister had the opportunity to state during the World Summit: “My Government has never lost sight of the need to retain and consolidate a social networking which ensures the dignity of each and every citizen where education, health, housing and welfare are concerned. We have built a social safety net which ensures that no citizen is denied of his or her basic needs”. The follow-up and implementation of the Summit’s recommendations are particularly challenging owing to the complexity and interconnected nature of the issues involved. Although the main responsibility for the implementation rests with national Governments, the contribution of all the other social partners within the State cannot be minimized. Similarly, one cannot but underscore the important contribution of programmes undertaken by the United Nations and its agencies. In this respect we welcome the agreement reached by all United Nations agencies on a process to strengthen their commitment to and collaboration in the goals established at Copenhagen and the proposal to establish four new high-level Inter-Agency Task Forces, one to deal with basic social services for all, to be chaired by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA); one to deal with full employment and sustainable livelihoods for all, to be chaired by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and one on an enabling environment for social development, to be chaired by the World Bank. The fourth Task Force, on the empowerment of women, is to be established to complement the other three. We also welcome the statement by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator that UNDP has been asked to work with each Task Force and provide support, and that it is making the successful implementation of the Copenhagen agreements its primary objective for the years immediately ahead. In this respect may I reiterate my Prime Minister’s offer to host in Malta a global or regional centre for the training of trainers to cover such areas as the design and implementation of a programme of action related to various parts of the Action Plan. When deciding on policies and actions to activate and enact the provisions of Copenhagen, the international community must remain aware of the bond between economic development and the rule of law. This goal can only be achieved with the contribution of all the social actors, who contribute in distinct and varied ways.

At the outset I should like to reiterate our thanks to the Government of Denmark for having acted as host to the World Summit for Social Development at Copenhagen, which gave us the opportunity to discuss in depth the issues related to social development with the aim of pursuing strategies for sustainable development. I should also like to extend our thanks to Ambassador Somavía, Chairman of the Preparatory Committee, for his valuable contributions. The World Summit for Social Development has been a landmark in that it has shown a strong common political commitment to direct efforts at the international level, as well as at the national and regional levels, towards sustainable development, especially for the benefit of the developing countries. Now that nine months have elapsed since the convening of the Summit, we believe that the time has come to make efforts to translate the objectives set forth at Copenhagen into concrete action. The success of the Summit will become more apparent in the future as these objectives are achieved one by one. And the success will depend on the determination of national Governments to keep up with their commitments. The progress of globalization in our times is accelerating every day. Information and ideas float more freely between countries, commensurate with the progress achieved in the field of technology. Global wealth has increased considerably. Unfortunately, however, the distribution of this wealth has not been equitable and to It is important that the Summit’s principles are taken into account in the design and implementation of national economic and social programmes and plans. However, this cannot be achieved by Governments alone. All actors in civil society have to participate actively at different stages of policy formulation and decision- making. At the same time, it is essential that these national strategies for social development are supported through cooperation with United Nations agencies and multilateral institutions as well as through inter-agency cooperation. Social-development issues have always been a priority item on our agenda, even before the Copenhagen Summit. Therefore, we attributed great importance to the Declaration and Programme of Action of the Summit, which gave social development a high priority on the international agenda. The Turkish Parliament has recently adopted the seventh five-year development plan, which emphasizes the development of human resources while concentrating on the eradication of poverty through such measures as improving equality of opportunity for all, bridging gaps between the regions of the country and developing adequate rural and social infrastructures. In this context, Turkey is ready to contribute to the efforts directed towards the eradication of poverty at the international level. Another test case for the guidelines and principles set out in the Declaration and Programme of Action will be the extent of international cooperation, which is an essential tool in the achievement of sustainable social development. Improving and strengthening social development in a spirit of partnership will reinforce efforts towards peace and stability. We must not forget that peace and prosperity are indivisible at the international level as well as at the national and regional levels. The United Nations has an important role to play in the implementation and follow-up of the Copenhagen Summit. In this context, coordination among the activities and programmes of United Nations bodies and specialized agencies is of utmost importance. The Summit itself showed that the international community has the will to foster social development and the determination to achieve the objectives set and fulfil the commitments undertaken in Copenhagen. The realization of our goals in this field will be the reward of international solidarity among peoples and countries.

The Secretary-General has characterized the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development — the Copenhagen Declaration and the Programme of Action — as a “new social contract, at the global level” (A/CONF.166/9, annex II). It has certainly created a unique and unprecedented framework for promoting social development world wide. In Copenhagen, many expressed doubts over the outcome of the World Summit and remained sceptical that it was merely a paper plan of action with little hope of translation into reality. Almost nine months after that historic conference, we may well ask whether this scepticism was valid. In evaluating progress, certain positive elements are clearly discernible. First and foremost, the Summit set in motion a process that was to galvanize the assembling of an array of actors to reverse the trend towards the marginalization and erosion of the cause of development. This process was perceived not as an end in itself but as a continuum that would identify and promote a whole series of ideas and issues: improving coordination within the United Nations system; strengthening consultation and communication between donors and recipients at the highest level; mobilizing civil society; and reordering our thinking on world development. In defining key elements of this process, we need to take into account some significant gains achieved by the Thus, follow-up of the implementation of the Summit must be charted through several planes, at the conceptual as well as the practical level. The World Summit for Social Development itself identified five broad-based elements: it recognized that primary responsibility for implementing Summit agreements will be at the national level. Secondly, at the international level, the Summit strongly endorsed the leadership of the United Nations in social development. Thirdly, it called for closer links between the Bretton Woods international financial institutions and the United Nations system. Fourthly, in 1996, which has been designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, the General Assembly, at its regular session, is to review progress in implementing the Summit pledges on poverty eradication. And finally, a special session of the General Assembly is to be held in the year 2000 to examine the overall implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. We fully support this series of actions. Yet they need to be buttressed and rounded off by several supportive measures. Prime amongst them is to assess the common elements in the recommendations and commitments generated by world conferences over the past decade and together to forge strategies that will facilitate an effective response to the key concerns of those conferences. Compliance with such commitments will require an evaluation and monitoring process and the development of viable indicators for this purpose. The creation of innovative financing mechanisms for social development is yet another key area, along with measures to enhance participation by non-governmental organizations and to foster the strengthening of civil society. The need to balance public and private responsibility is a vital element. Too often, the supportive role of Governments in backing up non-governmental organizations is forgotten. At the Copenhagen Summit, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Begum Khaleda Zia, highlighted the plight of the least-developed countries in the context of the ground- breaking agreements reached in Copenhagen, which aimed at the eradication of absolute poverty and the acceleration of the development of Africa and the least developed countries. In this context, she specifically proposed that Heads of Government of a small number of developing countries, including a few from the least-developed countries, should meet with the leaders of the industrialized countries during summit meetings of the Group of Seven. At the heart of the issue is the recognition of the need to mobilize political will at all levels to keep in the forefront the cause of development as a whole, and that of social development as an integral element of it. It is a matter of some satisfaction that the Group of Seven, in Halifax, accorded importance to the evolving Agenda for Development. It is our understanding that the Secretary-General has been invited to present his views at the Lyon meeting of the Group of Seven next year. It is our earnest hope that, following the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting on the Mid-Term Global Review of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s, held in New York this year, the necessary efforts will be made to project its outcome through in-depth pre-summit preparations. Another initiative proposed by our Prime Minister as an important follow-up measure was the need for a high-level task force to be immediately established by the United Nations Secretary-General in consultation with the heads of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) with a view inter alia to making the entire multilateral system more responsive to the war against poverty, achieving proper coordination among the United Nations and these bodies and introducing transparency in their work, as well as towards framing procedures which would enable active participation of developing countries in the decision-making process of the World Bank, IMF and WTO. In response to our Prime Minister’s letter on this subject, the United Nations Secretary-General underlined In this context, he also acknowledged that he had been personally pursuing with the heads of these institutions the participation and close cooperation of the Bretton Woods Institutions and the World Trade Organization, and that he intended to keep under close review the progress being made through the Administrative Committee on Coordination. We are happy to note in this connection the increased representation in New York of World Bank officials. Prime Minister Khaleda Zia had also proposed to the President of the World Social Summit for Social Development, Prime Minister Rasmussen of Denmark, that an independent commission of eminent personalities from the North and South should be established under his leadership to submit recommendations on such crucial issues as cancellation of outstanding debt, providing a more human face to structural adjustment and matching the official development assistance targets set in 1981 for the least developed countries, as well as the implementation of the Programme of Action adopted in Copenhagen. We have, therefore, followed with great interest the statement of Mr. Poul Nielson, the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, in which he stated that the idea to establish an independent forum on social development had not succeeded, due to lack of financing and broad-based political backing. We fully agree with him in his conclusion that we must not let ourselves be limited by what seems possible and to support alternative approaches to attain goals intended through the forum. I have outlined the progress — or lack of it — of some of the initiatives suggested by Bangladesh at the highest level in the World Summit for Social Development. This is because we are fully aware, as the Summit itself has underscored, that 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. What we need is sustained pursuit and stimulation of ideas, meaningful consultations and concrete and positive results — in short, a constant process of accretion. Finally, Bangladesh supports the setting up of an effective machinery in which the United Nations system as a whole should be involved in the follow-up process. Key impetus must, however, be concentrated through the Commission for Social Development, the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly.

Allow me at the outset to pay a special tribute to the Government and people of Denmark for having hosted the Social Summit and brought it to a successful conclusion. I should also like to express our deep appreciation to Ambassador Somavia of Chile, Chairman of the Preparatory Committee, for his commitment and excellent work throughout the process. One of the unique features of the Social Summit was its acknowledgment of the intimate interlinkages between the various aspects of development — in particular between the social and economic dimensions. The Summit emphasized the need to pursue the core objectives of poverty eradication, productive employment and social integration in a comprehensive manner. The Copenhagen Summit also reaffirmed that the most productive policies and investments — in both economic and social terms — are those that empower people to maximize their capacities, resources and opportunities. At the Summit, world leaders stated their commitment to promote people-centred development, based on the promotion and protection of all human rights and fundamental freedoms. They reaffirmed that social development, economic development and environmental protection are interdependent components of sustainable development, which cannot be effectively pursued without the full participation of women. One of the most concrete outcomes of Copenhagen was the adoption — on a voluntary basis — of the 20/20 principle, which calls for interested developed and developing country partners to allocate, on average, 20 per cent of official development assistance and 20 per cent of the national budget, respectively, to basic social programmes. The uniqueness of this principle lies in its emphasis on the need for a mutual commitment: the solidarity of the international community and the responsibility of each national Government. We believe this is a promising path towards ensuring basic social services for everybody — girls as well as boys — women as well as men. There is no doubt that in implementing this mutual commitment, special efforts need to be expended in order to ensure that girls and women benefit fully from such services — not least health and education. Norway strongly welcomes, therefore, the reiteration of the principle by the Beijing Conference and fully endorses the emphasis put on implementing it with a gender perspective. In order to speed up the process of making the 20/20 principle operational, Norway has proposed to host a meeting among interested countries next year. A small preparatory group consisting of three developed and three developing countries has already started to prepare the framework for such a meeting to be held in Oslo, in close cooperation with relevant organizations within the United Nations system. The preparatory group has identified three main issues that need to be resolved at the Oslo meeting: first, that we need to reach a common understanding of what “basic social programmes” to include in this context; secondly, we need to define the modalities for implementing the 20/20 principle in operational terms; and thirdly, we need to agree on ways of monitoring its implementation. It is our hope that the planned meeting in Oslo will be an important step towards implementing the Social Summit’s goal of securing universal access to basic social services on a global basis. We believe that the 20/20 concept is a concrete way of investing in human beings to promote sustainable social and economic development. For the United Nations system, which to a large extent is organized along sectoral lines, follow-up to Copenhagen will be a particularly challenging task. The broad range of themes taken up by the Summit means that the implementation of its outcome falls within the mandate of a large number of United Nations bodies and agencies. Hence, the Summit agenda cannot, and should not, belong to any given entity within the United Nations system — neither to one agency nor to one intergovernmental body, even though some organs will have a more central role to play than others, not least in terms of coordination. At the agency level, we would like to welcome the decision by the Administrative Committee on Coordination to establish three inter-agency task forces in order to strengthen the system’s coordinated support for action at the country level. We also endorse the proposal to establish a fourth task force on the empowerment and advancement of women. We believe that the establishment of such task forces may constitute one important step towards a more effective and coordinated response by the United Nations system, in particular to the challenge of eradicating poverty. At the intergovernmental level, there seems to be slower progress towards a better coordination and a clearer division of responsibilities, not least between the functional commissions. The Economic and Social Council has a challenging task ahead in ensuring the harmonization and coordination of the agendas and work programmes of the functional commissions. There is also a need for the General Assembly to look into the distribution of agenda items between the Second and Third Committees in order to ensure a more focused and integrated approach to social and economic development issues. In concluding, I should like to reiterate the Norwegian position: the challenge is to translate the commitments made at the Summit into concrete action.

Speaking today under item 161 of the agenda, entitled “Implementation of the outcome of the World Today’s consideration of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development gives us another opportunity to continue our dialogue about the best ways and means of strengthening the necessary complementarity between our countries, in a world where interdependence is the salient feature at the economic level. This interaction in trade has not, however, been accompanied by a similar development at the human level. All our countries are affected by the globalization of the economy, which has lent new momentum to global growth. This new situation has, at the same time, helped to erode the links of solidarity between individuals and to widen the gap between rich and poor, between the wealthier countries and the developing ones. The result has been an unprecedented marginalization of a large number of countries and the impoverishment of large areas, particularly in Africa. Mindful of the acuteness of the problem, which has taken on global dimensions and which could call into question the democratic achievements of this decade, the international community, at these major conferences over the last five years, has tried to find a collective and global response that would emphasize an integrated development approach, reflecting its multidimensional aspects. At the 1992 Earth Summit, which concerned man and his environment; at the Vienna Conference, which focused on human rights; at the Cairo Conference, which dealt with the link between population and development; and at the conferences held in 1995 in Copenhagen in March and Beijing in September, the States Members of the United Nations, through these major events, sought to stress the sustainable development of the individual and society through a global integrated development strategy that would combine the struggle against poverty and marginalization with the creation of productive jobs and the development of social solidarity at the national and international levels. However, we must stress that the follow-up and implementation of the decisions and recommendations adopted at international conferences require strong support at the national and international levels, given the complex Eliminating poverty, creating productive jobs, and establishing a political and economic climate that could bring about these goals will mean bringing together many national and international actors, even if it is clear that it is the Governments themselves that bear the primary responsibility for implementing the measures advocated in the programmes of action. At the national level, I should like to refer to the experience of Tunisia in this area and, more specifically, to the work done within the framework of the national solidarity fund, which was established in 1992 upon the initiative of the President of Tunisia, His Excellency Mr. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The Tunisian approach to reducing marginalization and guaranteeing social peace was backed up by the plans of action worked out at these major conferences. Our approach seeks to ensure the harmonious development of Tunisia, reconciling growth with the environment and guaranteeing the well-being of all, in a society at peace with itself. Indeed, the national solidarity fund was set up to help isolated and relatively inaccessible rural areas that do not meet the criteria of the development plans. The fund is intended to finance the various projects to benefit low-income groups and to promote the development of towns that lack minimum basic infrastructures. Among the main criteria used in selecting areas eligible for assistance provided by the fund are, inter alia, the poverty of the areas and their populations, caused either by scarce natural resources or their insufficient development, or by poor diversification of economic activities, resulting in unemployment and poverty; isolation — the absence or the poor state of transportation between the area in question and neighbouring towns and villages; the absence of basic equipment and communal services — drinking water, clinics, schools, clean housing, electricity, roads; and the non-eligibility of the area for assistance by the development plans for reasons that have to do in particular with the cost of the projects. Six basic services were identified: roads and postal services, drinking water, electricity, education, health, and housing. The impact of the national solidarity fund on the people concerned and on opinion in general has been very favourable. It has been heightened by the speed with The human dimension, which is the basis of Tunisia’s policy, has enabled us to enhance national solidarity by placing economically weak categories and the poorest strata at the forefront of the country’s concerns. Our leaders therefore hope to strengthen the sense of dignity and of belonging to the nation by giving the least advantaged social strata the resources whereby they will be spared deprivation and can become part of the development process and benefit from the fruits of growth. With regard to action at the international level, Tunisia would like, first, to express its satisfaction with the initiatives taken by the Secretary-General to translate into action the commitment of the international community as set forth in the Copenhagen Programme of Action, which advocates improving the framework of social development cooperation, in a spirit of partnership, through the United Nations and the multilateral agencies. Here, I wish to underline in particular the steps taken by the Secretary-General to draw the attention of Governments and the heads of the United Nations specialized agencies and Bretton Woods institutions to the political scope of the commitments undertaken and to invite them to work towards the realization of those commitments in the framework of an integrated approach reflecting all United Nations conferences. Tunisia would like to mention the role that the specialized agencies — in particular, the Bretton Woods institutions — play in mobilizing financial resources for social development to fulfil the commitments undertaken in Copenhagen and, more particularly, to reduce the debt of the developing countries and to assist countries that have undertaken structural-adjustment measures. Turning to the role of the General Assembly itself in following up and implementing the recommendations of the World Summit for Social Development, my country wishes to reaffirm its support for these actions: the convening in the year 2000 of a special session to review and appraise the implementation of the outcome of the Summit; the inclusion in the Assembly’s agenda of the question of implementation of the outcome of the Summit; and the declaration at the current session of a decade for the eradication of poverty. In this respect, need I say that the experiments conducted by many countries over the past two decades have demonstrated clearly that social progress is far from being a mere game of market forces. The priority objectives of guaranteeing the social protection of the individual, promoting his social integration and guaranteeing social peace and harmony cannot be attained without a firm political will to invest at the national level, but also at the international level, in the well-being of all. Without this new partnership at the national level, but also at the international level — a partnership whose translation into action requires mobilization of the necessary resources by Member States and Bretton Woods multilateral financial institutions — our solidarity will be in vain and the social contract worked out in Copenhagen for the well-being of present and future generations will remain a hypothetical goal. Stability, security and development are a collective responsibility and a common aspiration, and Member States should take this into account in making public opinion aware of the need for partnership and solidarity. This approach, which is the one adopted by Tunisia with its Maghreb, Mediterranean and African partners, is the only one that we think can reduce the existing imbalances between peoples and help to build for future generations a more just, safer and better balanced world.

This meeting is especially important because of its subject. The World Summit for Social Development, held in Copenhagen in March 1995 was the crowning of the international commitment towards the achievement of comprehensive development. The Declaration and the Programme of Action adopted at the Summit have defined the parameters of the international strategy aimed at attaining this lofty goal. My delegation has perused with interest the Secretary- General’s report “Implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development” (A/50/670). Today we are considering that process of follow-up and implementation. It should be clear that the phase of actual work has already begun and that implementation of the programmes that were agreed upon internationally in Copenhagen requires concerted action by all international groups and commitment to the performance of their respective roles by all partners — whether Governments, international or intergovernmental organizations, non- governmental organizations or multilateral international financial institutions — if we are to ensure the implementation of the strategies and programme of action of social development in all regions of the world. We should like to affirm that Governments have the principal responsibility for the elaboration of policies and programmes of action in each State. Yet, international cooperation is indispensable since it effectively contributes to supporting Governments in performing their principal role and enabling them to implement the programmes of action in a manner that would maximize the mobilization of the potential and resources of each society in that respect. The process of follow-up and implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development requires also the performance of their full roles by all subsidiary bodies of the United Nations. In that regard, we should like to reaffirm the focal role of the Commission for Social Development, which is the preparatory and consultative body of the Economic and Social Council, in relation to those social issues that are of common interest to the United Nations, membership in line with in the frames of reference and the mandate of the Commission as a subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council. The process of comprehensive follow-up, to be addressed, in the framework of the multi-year programme, by the Commission for Social Development and the Economic and Social Council, will begin with the consideration of the urgent priority subject of combating poverty, especially that this will coincide with the International Year to Combat Poverty in 1996. It is agreed Let us continue our international cooperation on the basis of what has been agreed already, namely, the integration and interdependence of both the economic and social aspects of the development process. Here we should be sincere and face the issue squarely and candidly. The factors that create poverty cannot be separated from one another. Neither can we speak of promoting social harmony in any society without dealing with the economic factors that cause social dislocation or social disintegration or with any other factors of disequilibrium in any society. Consequently, we should focus our joint international efforts on the implementation of development programmes that would assist developing countries to achieve the sort of economic growth that could generate a social climate favourable to the realization of social integration and conducive to the creation of job opportunities and, thereby, to dealing with the problem of unemployment which now threatens social peace in most of the countries of the world. In conclusion, I should like to state that Egypt has initiated the adoption of a national programme within the framework of the implementation of follow-up of the outcome of the Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development — namely, the Egyptian national programme to combat poverty in 1996. At present, all Egyptian State organs and agencies, in cooperation with local authorities and private non-governmental organizations, institutions in the country are all active in the implementation of this ambitious programme. We hope that this Egyptian national programme to combat poverty will attract the necessary support and financing by all partners, especially the United Nations bodies and international financial institutions. We look forward to the consultations and discussions that will be conducted in the context of the special session of the Commission for Social Development early in 1996 as an opportunity to work with all partners to achieve positive results in the interest of the international community in all regions of the world, so that we may Programme of Work

Before adjourning the meeting I should like to announce that on Tuesday, 12 December, in the morning, the General Assembly will resume consideration of sub-items (a) and (b) of agenda item 20, entitled “Strengthening of the coordination of humanitarian and disaster relief assistance of the United Nations, including special economic assistance”, to take action on various draft proposals. Also on Tuesday, 12 December, in the morning, the Assembly will resume consideration of agenda item 29 on the Commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, to take up the report of the Preparatory Committee for the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations, which will be available on Monday morning as document A/50/48/Rev.1.