Development Dossier
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- Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development
PREFACEThe landmark World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) was many things to different groups and actors. In terms of NGO-UN relations, it was a turning point. NGOs are increasingly involved in United Nations conferences and their follow-up. What was new in the WSSD process and its follow-up was the major role NGOs are expected to play in the implementation of the WSSD Programme of Action, in partnership with governments and international organizations. No one questions that at the national level, the main responsibility for the implementation of the policies, actions and measures in the Programme of Action rests with the governments. Yet NGOs are expected to be key actors in implementing government policies, identifying new issues, advocating specific causes or groups, and pressuring public authorities to design or implement policies. At the international level, NGOs are also expected to have an advocacy role and to add their collective weight to increase public awareness of the objectives and commitments agreed upon in Copenhagen. Intergovernmental bodies are giving due recognition to the unique contributions NGOs can make in the social development field. As a sign of the changing times, the Economic and Social Council recently agreed to open the debates of the Commission for Social Development “to experts and the main actors of civil society so as to enhance the exchange of information and experience, knowledge and understanding of social development.” The United Nations is coordinating its follow-up to the WSSD at both the headquarters and the country levels. As it moves ahead with this coordinated response to the Programme of Action, the Organization is recognizing that, to achieve the best result, it should work with NGOs in a coordinated way as well. Therefore, although each United Nations entity has traditionally had its own approach to NGOs, at the highest managerial levels of the United Nations, the system is now developing a common strategy for working with NGOs. These are some of the specific indications that with the WSSD, a new chapter in NGO-UN relations has been ushered in. Other conferences will naturally make their own distinctive mark on the NGO-UN relationship as well. Whatever challenges are faced and bridges crossed, however, it is evident that NGOs and the United Nations have learned to listen to each other, a vital condition to working together for a better world. An extremely busy two-way channel of communication between NGOs and the United Nations now exists, in which this book is a most welcome contribution. Nitin Desai Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable DevelopmentINTRODUCTION “Our challenge is to establish a people‑centered 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... these goals cannot be achieved by states alone... all actors of civil society need to positively contribute their own share of efforts and resources in order to reduce inequalities among people... 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 civil responsibilities.” Declaration, World Summit for Social Development (Copenhagen, March 1995) These words capture the tone of the World Summit for Social Development—a meeting where concrete commitments were adopted by more heads of state than any other in history, yet one driven by the peoples of the United Nations. The Summit marked a watershed: the culmination of decades of solid organizing by individuals and groups from within civil society dedicated to issues of environment, development, human rights, gender equity, and population, among many others. In effect, the conference process of the United Nations has simply become one of the vehicles used by NGOs for organizing, for getting their urgent message across—across borders to one another, and across to their governments. NGOs have and must continue to insist upon making their voices heard. NGOs are the ones who have struggled in the barrios and isolated hamlets where absolute poverty still erodes the security of people. They have carried the banner of rights and justice high, even at the risk of personal safety. They have written and researched to forge new economic paradigms and to draft new laws. With these, they have confronted the theory that the expansion of unbridled market logic and economic growth are the sole measure of human progress, the belief that women, the elderly, disabled, or indigenous peoples are any less entitled to the full expression of their development than others in society. They have sought to address the immediate needs of refugees and migrant laborers, and have worked to change the systemic roots of inequity and discrimination. In multiple ways, they have challenged prevailing ideas and policies. Indeed, it is their intimate knowledge of the balance between people, environment, culture and tradition, innovation and change that has helped us to arrive at a clearer understanding of the security of people in a continually evolving world. It is their insistence on the permanence of values—on personal integrity and collective solidarity, on honesty, transparency, and compassion—that has enabled us to take stock of our words and our actions. The summit marked a point of departure—the initiation of a global dialogue on empowerment, on how to adjust the ‘mix’ of state, market, and society and with it, our priorities, to ensure that people are empowered in the process of development. Indeed, the aim has been to make the visions of the NGOs integral to the drafting of an agenda for progress on social development by the United Nations into the next century. I heartily support the publication and dissemination of this book, worldwide, as an effort to make sure that their words stand as part of the official record. Their speeches herein offer but a glimpse of the many ideas NGOs put forward in the context of formal debate and corridor discussion over the course of more than a year. The members of non‑governmental organizations who played such a major role in shaping the summit’s results, who were there from the beginning when the proposal to hold the summit appeared far‑fetched and unrealistic, deserve special credit. I particularly value the moment in which, at the end of the work of the Main Committee in Copenhagen (responsible for the outstanding negotiations), I gave the floor to those organizations which everyone knew had in fact been co‑producers of the final documents throughout the three meetings of the Preparatory Committee. My hat goes off to them. Engaging civil society throughout the last decades in the heretofore closed world of diplomatic negotiation is a United Nations achievement of which we can all be proud; changing the content of future debate and the course of action is our outstanding challenge. The official summit declaration and programme of action offer valuable insights on concrete ways to strengthen an enabling environment in which poverty can ultimately be eradicated, employment secured, and social integration fostered in the fullest sense, with the full participation of civil society. But the work of the summit would be incomplete without the Copenhagen Alternative Declaration. I hope I do not see the day when the forces of civil society and people’s organizations rest fully contented with the official negotiated documents of a UN conference. Their function is to go beyond, to push beyond. To show changes that are necessary and possible, which prevailing mindsets have not yet accepted. In doing so, they must honestly acknowledge the advances and the breakthroughs in government action and be credible in terms of their proposals. The interaction between the agenda‑setting function of the United Nations and the mobilization capacity of civil society is at the root of the most important changes of consciousness we have witnessed in the last decades regarding human rights, environment, population, women’s rights, and indigenous people, among other issues. This must continue, and should increase in the future. I urge NGOs to embrace the spirit of Copenhagen—the urgency of our call to move beyond cynicism and distrust and to embrace hope. I encourage their efforts and remain with them in spirit. Ambassador Juan Somavía of Chile Chairman of the WSSD Directory: images images -> Pelan pentaksiran kursus images -> Military callsign list as of dec 2010 images -> For Date: 02/01/2013 Friday Call Number Time Call Reason Action 13-768 0008 motor vehicle stop warning Issued images -> New embedded S images -> Creating Buy-In – Building Relationships images -> Deadline: Saturday, March 12th, 2016 images -> News items from Raising Our Voices images -> Last year four of the best Afrikaans Christian singers joined forces to tour Down Under with the production ‘Manne wat Glo’ images -> World-renowned vocal ensemble sweet honey in the rock images -> Peoples Voice Café History Download 0.58 Mb. Share with your friends:
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