Development Dossier
Jacques-Yves Cousteau The Cousteau Society
Download 0.58 Mb.
|
Jacques-Yves CousteauThe Cousteau Society7 Rue de l'Amiral d'Estaing, F-75016 Paris, FranceTel:+33-1/53 67 77 77; Fax:+33-1/53 67 77 71 The Development Caucus The Quality Benchmark for the Social Summit was conceived during the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee in August 1994.It grew from the fear of NGOs in the Women's and Development Caucuses that the Social Summit would not be addressing the economic and political environment necessary to allow social development, nor the ways in which the implementation of the Declaration and Programme of Action could be ensured. Following the appeal by the NGOs the Draft Declaration was expanded to include an enabling economic and political environment, structural adjustment programmes, and implementation with specific attention given to women and Africa. The Quality Benchmark has served since that time as an instrument for measuring progress made in the Summit's preparations. It was also used as a tool for generating debate at the national level, engaging domestic groups in the substance of the Summit. More than 1,000 organisations have endorsed the document and used it in their national campaigns for the Social Summit. Now is the time to measure to what extent the Heads of State will sign a document that meets the standards set by the Quality Benchmark. This is, therefore, the assessment of the Declaration and Programme of Action against the criteria developed by non-governmental organisations that have been engaged in the Summit's preparations. The Declaration and Programme of Action encourages the ratification and avoidance of reservations and acknowledges the importance of the Declaration of the Right to Development, although interpreted as for individual and not collective rights; the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of the Discrimination of Women; the Rights of the Child; the relevant international instruments on migrant workers; the Convention to Combat Desertification; the Declaration on Friendly Relations between States and the ILO Conventions. No actions are included to further strengthen the Human Rights framework in relation to social development beyond the Vienna Declaration on Human Rights. The Declaration and Programme of Action states that Structural adjustment programmes agreed should include social development goals and protect people living in poverty and vulnerable segments of society from budget reductions on social programmes and expenditure, while increasing the quality and effectiveness of those expenditures. It is also agreed that the impact of structural adjustment programmes on social development must be reviewed, including by means of gender sensitive assessments. A very first step is taken to create closer connections between the International Financial Institutions and the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations with the request for consideration of joint meetings of ECOSOC, the Development Committee of the World Bank and the IMF. In order to increase coordination of the implementation of the Summit's programme joint meetings are proposed between the Secretary General and the Heads of the IMF, the World Bank, ILO, and other UN agencies. While the role of the WTO and its activities is not considered, the document recognises the required support and cooperation of regional and international organisations, the United Nations system ‑ which includes the Bretton Woods institutions ‑ in the implementation of the Social Summit programme. The creation of instruments to make the International Financial Institutions accountable is optional to interested countries. The Summit's final documents re‑affirm that poverty is aggravated by unsustainable patterns of consumption and production causing a continued deterioration of the global environment. It should be ensured that in accordance with Agenda 21 and other agreements sustained economic growth and sustainable development respects the need to protect the environment and the interests of future generations. In the document the full implementation of the Final Act of the Uruguay Round is emphasised. It is agreed that assistance, and not compensation, should be given to low income countries, particularly in Africa, which are not currently in a position to benefit from the implementation of the Final Act. It is recognized that small and micro enterprises must be supported, particularly in rural areas, as well as subsistence economies, to secure their safe interaction with larger economies. No mechanisms have been established to examine the implications of the new trade regime or the operations of the World Trade Organisation through UN expert bodies or independent reviews. The impact of the patenting of life forms on social development is not mentioned. However coordination between the United Nations, the Bretton Woods Institutions and the World Trade Organisation is promoted through reports to and meetings in coordination with ECOSOC. The right to food is recognised as well as the need to support the domestic efforts of Africa and the least developed countries to increase food security. However, if protectionism is to be avoided as the document outlines it remains unclear as to how these sectors can be protected. The Declaration and Programme of Action promotes dynamic, open free markets, while recognising the importance to intervene in markets to the extent necessary in order to harmonize economic and social development. It also recognized that public polices are necessary to correct market failures and promote social progress and stability. The call for the code of conduct for transnational corporations is not included; they are requested to apply policies conducive to social policies. No new initiatives are proposed on debt. However, it appears as an important element of the Social Summit agreements. These do not go beyond previous agreements reached in the Paris Club, G7 and the General Assembly of the UN. The need to find solutions to multilateral debts is explicitly recognised. The focus is on low income highly indebted countries whereas the problems of middle income countries are not properly addressed. It is agreed to develop techniques of debt conversion applied to social development programmes in conformity with Summit priorities. The target date of 2000 for achieving 0.7% of GDP for development assistance is not included and no specific time frame has been presented in the documents for reaching this internationally agreed standard. However, the Summit does call for new and additional resources with reservations of the United States. The inclusion of the 20:20 compact is the only qualitative criterion in the documents. However, it is optional to interested countries, the priority social areas are not defined and the measurement is to be done on the basis of an average of total ODA expenditure. The documents states that the negative effects of excessive military expenditures, trade in arms, especially those that are particularly injurious or have discriminatory effects, and an excessive investment for arms production and aquisition should be recognised and addressed. Throughout the document the involvement of civil society is encouraged. The Summit encourages the creation and development of community organisations and no profit, non- governmental organisations and the establishment of legislative frameworks, institutional arrangements and consultative mechanisms for involving these organizations in the design, implementation and evaluation of social development strategies and programmes. Other sectors such as business enterprises, trade unions, farmers representative organisations and academic and educational institutions are encouraged to contribute to the implementation of the Programme of Action. The importance of women in social development and the need for gender specific approaches are recognised throughout the document, both in legal and policy terms. The inequality of power relations between men and women and the unequal access to resources and employment is addressed. First steps are taken to initiate the measurements of un‑remunerative labour in economic indicators. The importance of cultural diversity is acknowledged as are the traditional rights to land ‑ but not territories ‑ and other resources of indigenous people. The documents call for the formulation and strengthening of the protection of the human rights of migrants. It also calls of the creation of the appropriate legal and political environment to address the root causes of movements of refugees, to allow their voluntary return in safety and dignity, also of internally displaced persons and enhance humanitarian and financial assistance to refugees. The documents also recognise the need to avoid the displacement of people in development programmes. The Declaration and Programme of Action encompass a comprehensive set of parameters to define poverty which can be used as a basis for the development of indicators to measure the eradication of poverty. The Summit agrees to strengthen the United Nations system's capacity for gathering and analyzing information and developing indicators for social development taking into account the work carried out by different countries, in particular developing countries. The document includes that within the ECOSOC Coordination Segment of 1995 a common framework should be developed for the implementation of the outcome of UN conferences in the economic and social fields with consideration to the role of Bretton Woods Institutions, as well as the regional Commissions and Banks. The document calls for an integrated implementation, follow up and assessment of the outcome of the Summit together with the results of other conferences. The General Assembly should review the effectiveness of the steps taken to implement the outcome of the Summit with regard to poverty eradication in the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty in 1996 and should hold a special session in the year 200 for an overall review. ECOSOC has been given the task to oversee system‑wide coordination in the implementation and monitoring of the Summit outcome. 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:
|