E/CN.5/2005/6

UNITED NATIONS E/CN.5.2005/6

Distr.: GENERAL

1 December 2004

ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

Advance unedited version

COMMISSION FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Forty-third session

9-18 February 2005

Agenda item 3 (a) of the provisional agenda

Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development and

the twenty-fourth special session of the General Assembly:

Priority theme: Review of the further implementation of the World Summit for Social

Development and the outcome of the Twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly

Review of the further implementation of the World Summit for Social Development and the outcome of the Twenty-fourth special session of the General Assembly

Report of the Secretary-General

Summary
The present report is prepared in response to ECOSOC decision 2004/241 which adopted the agenda of the Commission for Social Development for its forty-third session, the priority theme of which is “Review of the further implementation of the World Summit for Social Development and the outcome of the Twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly”.
While the report reviews and analyzes the implementation of each of the ten commitments from the Copenhagen Declaration in the last decade, it does so in a broader and more comprehensive manner than following a strict commitment by commitment approach. The Report consists of four major chapters: (1) the comprehensive policy framework for people-centered development set forth by the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action; (2) the current prospects for an enabling environment for social development as envisaged by the Summit; (3) major trends in social development since Copenhagen with respect to poverty, employment, social integration, gender equality and education and health; (4) the way forward in terms of policy recommendations. In addition to these four chapters, an Annex is included, presenting a historical background on the international agenda on social development leading up to, and including, the Social Summit; the ten commitments from the Copenhagen Declaration in their original wording; and the significance of the five-year review of implementation after the Summit at the 24th Special Session of the General Assembly held in Geneva in 2000.

Contents

Page

Introduction 1

Purpose and mandate 1

Organizational structure of the Report 1

I. A COMPREHENSIVE POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL

DEVELOPMENT 3

A. The international social development regime

envisioned in Copenhagen 4

B. A policy framework centred on equity and equality 5

C. Social development and the Millennium Development Goals 7

II. AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT 9

A.  The political and institutional environment for social development

[Commitments 1 and 10] 9

Democratization, human rights and fundamental freedoms 9

The role of civil society and the State 10

International, regional and sub-regional cooperation 12

B. The economic environment for social development

[Commitments 1, 7, 8 and 9] 14

Market reforms, structural adjustment and social development 14

Asymmetric globalization 16

Financial resources for social development 20

Africa and the Least Developed Countries 23

C.  Conclusion 26

III. OBSERVED TRENDS IN THE THREE CORE ISSUES AND OTHER

COMMITMENTS ADDRESSED BY THE WORLD SOCIAL SUMMIT 28

A. Eradication of poverty [Commitment 2] 28

B.  Expansion of productive employment and reduction of

unemployment [Commitment 3] 33

Globalization 35

Competitive pressures 36

National policies 38

C.  Social integration [Commitment 4] 39

Inequalities 42

Participation 43

Migration 44

D.  Gender equality [Commitment 5] 44

E.  Universal access to education and primary health care [Commitment 6] 47

Education 47

Health 49

F. Conclusion 52

IV. THE WAY FORWARD: IMPLEMENTING PEOPLE-CENTERED

DEVELOPMENT 54

Strengthening the prospects of an enabling environment for

people-centered development 54

Intensifying integrated strategies and policies for poverty eradication 56

Guaranteeing the existence of employment opportunities for all 56

Fostering social integration and cohesion 56

Focus on Africa 56

Annex 58

I. The International Agenda on Social Development Leading to the Social Summit 58

II. The Ten Commitments of the World Social Summit of Copenhagen 1995 59

III.  World Summit for Social Development and beyond: achieving social development

for all in a globalizing world, the Five-Year Review at the 24th Special Session

of the General Assembly in 2000 61

E/CN.5/2005/6


Introduction

Purpose and mandate

  1. The forty-third session of the Commission for Social Development marks the tenth anniversary of the World Summit for Social Development. Therefore, it is altogether fitting and logical that the priority theme for this Commission is the “Review of the further implementation of the World Summit for Social Development and the outcome of the Twenty-fourth Special Session of the General Assembly.”
  2. Besides contributing to the Commission’s deliberations on the priority theme, the report has also been prepared to assist the Commission to respond to General Assembly resolution 58/130, which called upon the Commission to transmit to the General Assembly, through the Economic and Social Council, the substantive outcome of its review of the further implementation of the World Summit for Social Development and the outcome of the twenty-fourth special session of the General Assembly for its consideration in 2005.
  3. In the preparations for this review, an expert group meeting was convened by the Secretariat in June 2004 in New York in the framework of the International Forum for Social Development on the theme Equity, Inequalities and Interdependence. The results of this meeting have been incorporated in this report.

Organizational structure of the Report

  1. While the report covers the implementation of each of the ten commitments from the Copenhagen Declaration, it does so in a broader and more comprehensive manner rather than following a strict commitment by commitment approach. The report contains four chapters. Chapter one describes the comprehensive policy framework for social development set forth by the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. It presents social development as an international regime; analyzes the policy framework with respect to the values, principles and goals of equity and equality; and analyzes the Millennium Development Goals from a social development viewpoint.
  2. Chapter two examines the enabling environment for social development. It analyzes both the political and institutional environment and the economic environment prevailing at the international, regional and national level. Chapter three presents major trends in social development since Copenhagen with respect to poverty, employment, social integration, gender equality and education and health, and examines factors that have influenced these trends. Chapter four looks at the way forward. It proposes an agenda for social development that deepens the people-centered approach advanced by the Social Summit. Specific policy recommendations are made with respect to governance issues central to an enabling environment for social development, to the three core issues of poverty eradication, employment and social integration, and a special focus for Africa.
  3. In addition to these four chapters, an Annex is included for reference. Part one of the Annex presents a brief historical background on the international agenda on social development leading up to, and including, the Social Summit; part two presents the ten commitments from the Copenhagen Declaration in their original wording; and part three briefly outlines the significance of the five-year review of implementation after the Summit at the 24th Special Session of the General Assembly held in Geneva in 2000.


Chapter I

A COMPREHENSIVE POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

7.  Ten years ago, world leaders came together in Copenhagen for the first ever United Nations World Summit for Social Development, a meeting which raised hopes and expectations and made actual commitments for the improvement of the human condition. Today, while these hopes and expectations are perhaps not dashed, they are certainly diminished as a number of trends are negatively affecting social development, notably socioeconomic deprivation and inequality among individuals, social groups, entire communities, countries and even some continents. In addition, threats to civil liberties derived from security interests are on the rise.

8.  The fact remains, today as in the mid-1990s, that no human being should be condemned to endure a brief or miserable life only because of his/her class, country, religious affiliation, ethnic background and gender. Overcoming these biases requires a normative and policy approach that puts human beings at the center of development, one that considers economic growth as a means and not as an end in itself, an approach whose ultimate goal is to increase, protect and attain the opportunities for improving the quality of life of current and future generations.

9.  Subscribing to the notion that human beings are at the center development requires a multi-faceted approach to development. It should be socially sustainable in the reduction of poverty and inequality and in promoting social justice. It should be culturally sustainable in the conservation of values, practices and symbols of identity that determine social cohesion and national identity through time. It should be politically sustainable by deepening democracy, transparency and accountability, thereby guaranteeing access and participation of all sectors of society to public decision-making. And, finally, it should be environmentally sustainable in the access and use of natural resources and in the preservation of biodiversity. This multi-faceted approach implies that the economic objectives of growth should be subordinated to the criteria of human dignity and of improvement in the quality of peoples’ lives. Unfortunately, all too often the reverse tends to be the case.

  1. In reviewing the further implementation of the World Summit for Social Development and the outcome of the 24th special session of the General Assembly, the stark reality emerges that the establishment of an enabling environment for social development in line with the vision set forth at the Summit, including the availability of financial resources, remains a formidable challenge. Thus, the review projects an overall mixed record with some positive developments, but also with many hopes and expectations left unfulfilled. Still, the Summit succeeded in raising awareness and emphasizing the importance of addressing social development issues and implementing social development policies, culminating in the inclusion of several social development objectives in the Millennium Development Goals. On an aggregate basis there has been progress, as measured by statistical indicators, in some areas of social development, including reduction of extreme poverty and greater overall access to primary education. Nonetheless, this progress has been less than expected and has often been uneven between regions, and even more so across countries. In particular, in Sub-Saharan Africa, there has been little – if any – improvement, and some indicators have even regressed, meaning that the Summit’s commitment to accelerate development in Africa has been left wanting.
  2. Furthermore, situations of inequality have remained pervasive, causing considerable obstacles to attacking the structural causes of poverty as well as direct negative impacts for disadvantaged and vulnerable sectors and for specific groups such as youth, older persons, people with disabilities, indigenous peoples, migrants and displaced persons.
  3. Equally disquieting is that the all-encompassing approach to development as advanced by the Summit has been lost or severely weakened in the international policy-making arena. While poverty has taken its rightful place of prominence, the comprehensive socioeconomic understanding of poverty promoted by the Summit stands in contrast to the narrower concept and measurement currently used. In addition, the other two core themes of the Summit namely full employment and social integration have been by and large left aside if not ignored.

A.  The international social development regime envisioned in Copenhagen

  1. The concept of social development forged at Copenhagen was one of the most inclusive and far-reaching of attempts to fully capture the meaning of development. It includes all dimensions required by society to improve the quality of life of its individual members while simultaneously fostering social justice, cohesion and integration, promoting productive employment and empowering the social groups that make up its citizenship.
  2. Of course the concept and the struggle for social development is not of recent vintage but goes back several centuries continuously enlarging the prospects for equity and equality in human relations. Thus, Copenhagen was neither the starting point nor the final destination of social development. What was unique to the Summit was the political will mustered by all governments to give an integral treatment to the social challenges of development, which until then had often been dealt with in a piece-meal and sectoral fashion, as if social development was just the end result of actions taken in education, health, social protection, and so forth. Even if the understanding that social development was much more than the aggregate result of social policies was not new, it was the Summit which enshrined this framework in international relations and multilateral decisions.
  3. Consequently, the outcomes of the Social Summit represent a set of norms and explicit commitments which are characteristic of an international social development regime to guide national, regional and internationally agreed policies, rights and obligations. The breadth of the meaning of social development is evident throughout the Copenhagen Declaration. The commitment of heads of State and Government attest to this breadth, especially when they advocate “a political, economic, ethical and spiritual vision for social development that is based on human dignity, human rights, equality, respect, peace, democracy, mutual responsibility and cooperation, and full respect for the various religious and ethical values and cultural backgrounds of people.”[1] Heads of State and Government further stated their commitment to strengthening these values and ideals by pledging to assign “the highest priority in national, regional and international policies and actions to the promotion of social progress, justice and the betterment of the human condition, based on full participation by all.”[2]
  4. The Summit, notably through its three core issues –poverty, employment and social integration– deals with social development in a comprehensive manner, treating it as both an objective and a process involving all sectors and actors of society. In terms of objectives, social development refers to the well-being of the person and to the harmonious functioning of society. It includes improvements in individual and family well-being through the enjoyment of human rights, the provision of economic opportunities, the reduction of poverty, and access to social protection and social services. It also includes the building and maintenance of social relations, structures and institutions through which individuals and groups constitute a viable society. The pursuit of these objectives naturally requires economic means.
  5. As a process, social development implies the continuous promotion of a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income, assets, services and power in order to achieve greater equality and equity in society. It entails also the active involvement of governments, international and regional organizations, as well as a broad cross-section of civil society, including the private sector, to promote greater inclusion and participation in building more democratic and equitable societies.
  6. The Summit clearly affirmed that in both economic and social terms, the most productive policies and investments were “those that empower people to maximize their capacities, resources and opportunities”.[3] It is no longer simply a case of postulating ways and means to incorporate social dimensions into economic development. This one-sided approach had actually hampered the prospects for improving the quality of life throughout the world. After Copenhagen, the traditional dependency of the “social” on the “economic” has been inverted, and the focus of the debate is now increasingly on the several economic dimensions of social development, be they trade, finance, technology and many others. The significance of these economic dimensions for society rest not on their intrinsic economic merits, but rather on how they best promote productive activities to satisfy human, social needs.

B.  A policy framework centred on equity and equality