Development Dossier



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Maria Rosa Renzi


Fundación internacional para el Desafió Económico Global

Del Hospital del Retiro, Dos cuadras al lago

Managua, Nicaragua

Tel/Fax: +505-2/668 711

Coalition of People of Faith
I bring greetings today to the People of the United Nations and to you who have been given the privilege of serving them in government and civil society. I speak on behalf of a coalition of people of faith that includes
‑‑ Caritas Internationalis

‑‑ CIDSE


‑‑ The European Justice and Peace Commissions

‑‑ The International Social Justice Secretariat of the Society of Jesus

‑‑ and the Religious Task Force on the World Summit for Social Development
Together we represent one of the largest global networks of organizations and communities standing with the 1.3 billion people in absolute poverty and the hundreds of millions more in extreme poverty ‑‑ providing essential services and working for development, empowerment and policy change. These are the women, men and children who pay in their daily lives the costs of

poverty, of diminishing access to sustainable livelihoods and of the disintegration of our societies ‑‑ in wealthy nations as well as in poor ones.


As we have listened these last many months:
* we have heard you as official representatives of our governments commit yourselves to reduce poverty substantially and to eradicate absolute poverty.
* We have heard you commit yourselves never again to allow debt burdens, structural adjustment programs or other national economic strategies erode the social programs needed to meet the basic needs of those who live in poverty and to enable them to participate fully in society.
* We have heard you say you will ensure access to the means of production for those who live in poverty so that they may take control of their own destinies.
We acknowledge these commitments and we make a commitment to you in return:
* We are ready to share with you The vast experience gathered through decades of committed service. We are available to work with you in achieving these goals and will, together with the people living in poverty, participate in shaping, implementing and evaluating your programs

and policies.


* And in addition, together with the people trapped in poverty and marginalized in every nation, we will monitor carefully whether you are keeping your Copenhagen commitments to us ‑‑ and how you might keep them more effectively. We commit ourselves to join our voices with theirs

to speak the truth to you.


‑‑ in next year's General Assembly review of your efforts to eradicate poverty [POA 95, a]


‑‑ at the Fourth UN World Conference on Women in Beijing and the UN Conference on Human Settlements in Istanbul
‑‑ at your special Assembly meeting in the year 2000 to evaluate follow‑up to this Summit [POA 95, b]
‑‑ and at the time of your local and national elections.
We encourage you to take with the utmost seriousness your responsibility as governments to regulate markets, making them truly transparent and accountable to all the people. We urge you especially to "enable people living in poverty and disadvantage, especially women, to participate fully and productively in the economy and society." [Declaration, Commitment 1, e]
This regulation is essential! There is a natural dynamic in inadequately regulated market systems that excludes those who are poor and vulnerable. That dynamic must not be allowed to prevail.
Working together, we must confront and correct the serious failures of the contemporary global system of markets. As currently managed, this system enriches the few. It refuses to acknowledge or account the social and ecological costs of its policies. And it relies upon a community infrastructure created by vast, unmeasured amounts of unpaid work, done primarily by women‑work that is in reality a great and hidden subsidy extracted from the poor for the benefit of those who profit most in the current economy. As people deeply committed to the goals of this Summit, we are disappointed with the lack of structural analysis and creative vision in the Declaration and Programme of Action.
* The goal of Social Development is not merely to give all people the opportunity to become consumers and producers. It is also, more importantly, about advancing in wisdom, love, cultural depth and variety, political skill and integrity, global vision, and openness to the transcendent. These elements, and many more like them, must guide our planning and our evaluation of social development.
* Indeed, as the Programme of Action acknowledges, unsustainable patterns of production and consumption are more often considered signs of "success" in life today than the maldevelopment that they are. The eradication of absolute poverty and the alleviation of extreme poverty ‑‑ if we are serious about them ‑‑ will require the eradication of hyper‑consumption and the alleviation of overconsumption. And peaceful social integration will require serious redistribution of the world's resources as a matter of basic justice.
* It is clear from our experience around the world that the true engine of authentic Social Development is not simply economic growth or free markets; it is the broad social organization

and participation by people in society. This full participation frees massive resources of human

creativity, giving birth to a variety of development strategies and structures that display the true riches of cultural diversity.
*We are saddened too at the refusal to face the immense role that both trans‑national corporations and trans‑national financial speculation play in creating poverty, eliminating jobs and preventing the adequate availability of sustainable livelihoods, and contributing to the

disintegration of our communities. Until we have the political will to create a regulatory framework for trans‑national capital which will ensure that it serves the common good of all citizens of the earth, the commitments made here in Copenhagen will have negligible chance of

success.
* Attention to the plight of millions of refugees, displaced persons and involuntary migrants has been grossly inadequate. They consistently face social, political, economic, cultural and religious intolerance and abuse, both in their home countries and in the places where they seek asylum.
* Indeed, racism, discrimination and xenophobia, which afflict minorities everywhere, corrode the human spirit and destroy our communities. We must be more outspoken, more courageous in eradicating them wherever they exist.
* Finally, we must ask you in all honesty ‑‑ when will you face the urgency of cutting military spending and ending the vast global trade in arms which fuel conflict and bring death and misery to millions every year?
Despite these disappointments, however, we are encouraged by the modest steps taken here in Copenhagen. We want to express our profound gratitude to Ambassador Juan Somavia whose spiritual vision, sense of global solidarity and persevering courage have brought us all to this moment. We urge you ‑‑ and we promise to work with you ‑‑ to achieve a breakthrough to the global vision essential to the new global era that has opened. We all must break beyond the narrow mentality that would make national sovereignty absolute, blinding us to the new and heavy responsibilities of this global era.
As people of faith, we believe that national sovereignty comes from the ultimate sovereignty of God who is Mother and Father to us all. National sovereignty is and always must be subordinate to the sovereignty of God's one human family.
It is even more urgent today than when the United Nations was formed 50 years ago that we proclaim ‑‑ not merely in words, but through our joint actions ‑‑ that We must and we can work together to create a world free of poverty, with sustainable livelihoods for each woman, man and child, where we live together peacefully in all our rich diversity, governed by the broad principles of social justice, committed in solidarity to the international common good.
James E. Hug, S.J.

Center for Concern

3700 13 Street NE, Washington DC 20017, USA

Tel:+1-202/635 2757; Fax:+1-202/ 832 9494



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