DEVELOPMENT: UN’s Promises to the Poor Take Flight

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Jul 7 1999 (IPS) - A United Nations forum, which proposed a new alliance between the countries of the North and South, will oversee the implementation of poverty-fighting measures approved by previous international conferences.

The initiative of the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) refers to resolutions for eradicating poverty, empowering women and increasing employment which have yet to be enacted.

The ECOSOC wants someone to follow up on the promises that have been made, said the council’s president, Paolo Fulci, in a report on the organisation’s first sessions, which began this week in Geneva.

The ECOSOC discussions, which will continue throughout July, are focussed on the role of employment in the eradication of poverty and on the empowerment and advancement of women.

The leaders of the participating delegations also suggested that the UN system develop a policy framework and a set of actions to confront globalisation that are based on the outcomes of several different UN conferences.

The globalisation issue is not exclusive to government and international organisations, warned Fulci, who is Italy’s ambassador to the UN.

This issue is everyone’s business – governments, multilateral institutions, civil society and the poor people themselves. “We cannot go on simply expanding charity,” said Fulci, “we must empower them to help themselves.”

Regarding the private sector, Fulci gave the example of U.S. businessman Ted Turner, who sent Fulci a letter explaining the reasons behind his one billion dollar donation to the UN for financing poverty relief projects.

Turner’s letter included an appeal to other wealthy people to follow his example, said the ECOSOC president.

The ECOSOC meeting also proposed establishing a special joint taskforce between the UN and international financial institutions to ensure that financing earmarked for development follows coherent policies.

“How many times have I seen two, three or even four UN bodies working on exactly the same thing. It is time we stop this waste,” admonished Fulci.

Another proposal of the ECOSOC forum suggested calling for an international dialogue on employment and to renew the idea of “achieving full employment through free trade.”

The relationship between full employment and the opening of markets was established a half century ago with the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), predecessor to the current World Trade Organisation (WTO) and promoter of world economic liberalisation.

The GATT “did not give any follow-up to this wonderful idea,” stated Fulci on Wednesday at a press conference on the ECOSOC sessions.

Another suggestion arising from the ECOSOC meeting supported a call for a new round of multilateral talks – but conceived as a development round – so that countries of the South can find ways to balance trade after their negative experiences with the Uruguay Round.

The idea of convoking a new round will be debated in the U.S. city of Seattle, Washington from November 30 to December 3, during the WTO’s Third Ministerial Conference.

Another meeting initiative proposed creating a multilateral team to work on eradicating the worst forms of child labour.

At Monday’s opening session of the ECOSOC, Juan Somavia, head of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), proposed launching an international campaign to end the worst forms of work to which girls and boys are subjected.

“In a world lacking causes to defend, the fight against the worst forms of child labour is a cause around which everyone can rally,” said Somavia.

The ministerial report approved Wednesday by the ECOSOC recognises that productive employment plays a central role in the eradication of poverty.

The ministers stressed the importance of mainstreaming gender perspectives in all policies aimed at poverty eradication and the creation of employment, as “women constitute the majority of people living in poverty.”

ECOSOC asked industrialised nations to meet their commitment to designate 0.7 percent of their gross national product (GNP) for overall official development aid.

When that objective is reached, they should designate 0.15 to 0.20 percent of their GNP for the least developed countries, according to the council.