UN Human Rights Treaties

UNITED NATIONS
A
General Assembly
Distr.
GENERAL
A/48/476
6 October 1993
ORIGINAL: ENGLISH
Forty-eighth session
Agenda item 109
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE
WORLD SOCIAL SITUATION AND TO YOUTH, AGEING, DISABLED
PERSONS AND THE FAMILY
World Summit for Social Development
Note by the Secretary-General
The Secretary-General has the honour to transmit to the General Assembly
the attached report, prepared by the regional commissions, pursuant to
paragraph 14 of its resolution 47/92 of 16 December 1992, in which the Assembly
requested the regional commissions to include in their programme of work for
1993 the question of the World Summit for Social Development, with particular
emphasis on the social situation in their respective regions, and to formulate
proposals thereon and prepare an integrated report to be submitted to the
Assembly at its forty-eighth session.
93-54326 (E) 141093 /...
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ANNEX
Report of the regional commissions
CONTENTS
Paragraphs Page
I. INTRODUCTION ......................................... 1 - 4 4
II. ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE ....................... 5 - 15 4
A. Social development in the Commission’s overall
work programme in the past few years ............. 5 - 9 4
B. Activities undertaken in 1993 .................... 10 - 13 5
C. Activities planned for 1994 ...................... 14 - 15 6
III. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE
PACIFIC .............................................. 16 - 28 7
A. Social development in the Commission’s overall
work programme in the past few years ............. 16 - 19 7
B. Activities undertaken in 1993 .................... 20 - 24 8
C. Activities planned for 1994 ...................... 25 - 28 9
IV. ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN ............................................ 29 - 40 10
A. Social development in the Commission’s overall
work programme in the past few years ............. 29 - 33 10
B. Activities undertaken in 1993 .................... 34 - 37 11
C. Activities planned for 1994 ...................... 38 - 40 11
V. ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA ....................... 41 - 52 12
A. Social development in the Commission’s overall
work programme in the past few years ............. 41 - 45 12
B. Activities undertaken in 1993 .................... 46 - 50 13
C. Activities planned for 1994 ...................... 51 - 52 13
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CONTENTS (continued)
Paragraphs Page
VI. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR WESTERN ASIA ...... 53 - 61 14
A. Social development in the Commission’s overall
work programme in the past few years ............. 53 - 57 14
B. Activities undertaken in 1993 .................... 58 - 59 15
C. Activities planned for 1994 ...................... 60 - 61 16
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I. INTRODUCTION
1. In paragraph 14 of its resolution 47/92 of 16 December 1992, the General
Assembly requested the regional commissions to include in their programme of
work for 1993 preparations for the World Summit for Social Development, with
particular emphasis on the social situation in their respective regions,
including proposals, and to prepare an integrated report to be submitted to the
Assembly at its forty-eighth session.
2. In compliance with that resolution, the regional commissions have started
their preparations for this important global event, which will focus on social
development as an area that lends itself to implementation of national action,
cooperation in the formulation of regional positions and coordination in the
adoption of a global plan of action, taking into consideration the social and
economic disparities at the intra-regional and interregional levels.
3. The objectives of strengthening the mutually reinforcing relationship
between economic progress and human development and of achieving economic growth
and efficiency with social justice and equity are common to all nations.
Eradicating poverty, promoting productive employment and realizing social
integration - the interrelated themes of the World Summit for Social
Development - are the basis for integrated action for social development that
allows economic growth without sacrificing social equity.
4. The World Summit for Social Development is an event in which all nations of
the world will reaffirm their commitment to achieving sustainable development
and decreasing the margin of disparities among nations and regions and among
people. It is within this context that the regional commissions have undertaken
preparation for the Summit in their respective regions. In compliance with
resolution 47/92, the unified report highlights their activities in terms of,
first, social development in the Commission’s overall work programme in the past
few years; second, activities undertaken in 1993; and third, planned activities
for 1994.
II. ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE
A. Social development in the Commission’s overall work programme
in the past few years
5. After the momentous changes in Central and Eastern Europe over the past few
years, the Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) now comprises 53 member
countries with enormous diversity in geographical location, size and magnitude
of their economies and population, and the level of political stability. Mainly
as a result of the ongoing transformation in this part of Europe, the ECE region
ceased to be an élite group of moderately to highly industrialized countries
with well developed, yet different welfare policies and programmes, and no major
social problems.
6. Recent developments, in both market and transition economies, indicate a
number of worrisome tendencies. In the countries whose economies are in
transition these include continuing declines in economic activities, growing
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unemployment, falling real incomes and growing labour-related relative poverty,
and the multiplication of a variety of social problems, which in the new
democracies in Central and Eastern Europe greatly contribute to social tensions.
In the market economies, the recent trends suggest continued economic stagnation
or weak recovery of economic activities, unprecedented levels of unemployment
and major strains on the welfare systems, which bring to the forefront
compounding social problems.
7. The Commission’s mandate was and remains restricted to economic
developments and issues in this now highly heterogenous region, to the exclusion
of related social trends and problems. Recent work of the Commission,
therefore, has been focused on macroeconomic developments in major sectors, such
as industry, transport and trade, with a particular emphasis on issues arising
from the political, economic and institutional transformations under way in
transition countries. However, as the multifaceted activities of the Commission
focusing on the various development issues could not be carried out in isolation
from social trends, which are tightly interwoven with economic trends, in recent
years the ECE secretariat has been active in developing a knowledge base in a
variety of social areas, primarily in population, housing, environment, and
statistics.
8. The secretariat has been engaged in studies on socio-economic determinants
and consequences of selected highly relevant demographic trends, such as the
continuing unprecedentedly low fertility, growing diversity of family forms and
rising family instability, progressive population ageing and growing
international migration. These trends, the salience of which cannot be
overemphasized, are having an increasing impact on the economic and social
make-up of the societies in this region that requires continuing adaptation of
public policies. These studies are being carried out in collaboration with the
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and member countries, especially
transition countries.
9. The work recently conducted in the field of social and demographic
statistics focused on the preparation of the regional recommendations for the
1990 round of population and housing censuses for countries in the ECE region,
the publication of a special volume on demographic and economic consequences and
implications of changing population age structures, the production of annual
matrices on the flows of international migrants among ECE countries and between
ECE countries and other regions, and the development, in collaboration with the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) of a
framework for cultural statistics.
B. Activities undertaken in 1993
10. The Commission, in collaboration with the UNFPA and the Council of Europe,
convened the European Population Conference (23-26 March 1993, Geneva). This
intergovernmental meeting reviewed population trends and population-related
policies in the context of social and economic trends in the ECE region and
adopted a far-reaching set of recommendations, including those on future
international cooperation in the population field. The Conference was a
regional contribution to the preparation of the International Conference on
Population and Development, to be held in 1994. Preparations are under way for
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convening a high-level regional preparatory meeting for the Fourth World
Conference on Women.
11. The Commission collaborated with the secretariat for the International Year
of the Family in convening the Preparatory Meeting for the International Year of
the Family for Europe and North America (26-30 April 1993, Valletta, Malta).
The Commission was also represented at and actively contributed to the
proceedings of the Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Social
Affairs (28 June-2 July 1993, Bratislava, Slovakia).
12. Long-term unemployment in market economies and the impact of the
restructuring and privatization process on the employment situation in the
transition economies were considered by the Senior Economic Advisers to ECE
Governments at their twenty-ninth session, held in June 1993. With regard to
Western Europe, the Senior Advisers stressed that the persistence for too long
of high levels of unemployment - that is, between 10 and 20 per cent - runs the
risk of encouraging dangerous political movements and forms of protest and of
increasing protectionist forces to the detriment of all. In the transition
economies the problem is considered even more serious. If unemployment, which
has already reached very high levels, continues to spread on a large scale,
together with its usual accompaniment of social discrimination and growing
inequality, the result could well be the rejection of the market system together
with democracy itself. For the present levels of unemployment to be
substantially reduced in all ECE countries, measures such as job sharing,
reforms in unemployment insurance systems, retraining, support for small and
medium-sized enterprises, etc., are essential but, in the view of the Senior
Economic Advisers, unlikely to suffice. Given the importance of the challenges
posed by high levels of unemployment and their implication for social and
political stability in the ECE region, the Senior Economic Advisers decided to
revert to this question in their future sessions on the basis of specific
proposals to be formulated by their Bureau early in 1994.
13. Within the programme of work of the Conference of European Statisticians,
major 1993 outputs include the publication of a regional set of recommendations
on current housing and building statistics for countries in the region, and the
organization of intergovernmental meetings in the field of fertility and family
surveys, housing statistics, cultural statistics (with Eurostat), labour
statistics (with the International Labour Organisation (ILO)) and a workshop on
the results of technical assistance in statistics to countries in transition are
some of the key activities on which work has been focused in 1993.
C. Activities planned for 1994
14. In 1994, the ECE secretariat will launch, in collaboration with UNFPA and
possibly the Council of Europe, research and workshops on social policies
accommodating and influencing population trends in member countries. The
objective is to evaluate successes and failures of population-related social
policies in market and transition economies and examine how those policies can
better serve the purpose of modifying and accommodating undesirable population
trends (e.g., excessive population ageing and uncontrolled international
migration). This will be one of the Commission’s contributions to the
preparations for the International Conference on Population and Development.
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15. Within the programme of work of the Conference of European Statisticians,
it is planned to initiate the development of a new set of regional
recommendations for the population and housing censuses to be conducted by
member countries in or around the year 2000, and there are plans to organize
intergovernmental educational statistics (jointly with UNESCO) and demographic
publication of a handbook on international migration statistics, a handbook on
statistics on women and men, and materials on informal sectors of the economy.
III. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
A. Social development in the Commission’s overall work
programme in the past few years
16. Activities of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(ESCAP) in pursuance of General Assembly resolution 47/92 fall under two closely
related areas of concern: (a) implementation of the Social Development Strategy
for the ESCAP Region Towards the Year 2000 and Beyond (see Commission resolution
48/5) and (b) mobilization and support of regional, subregional and national
initiatives for poverty alleviation through economic growth and social
development.
17. Despite substantial economic progress made by many countries in the ESCAP
region, particularly in East and South-East Asia, a wide gap remains between
social development and economic progress. Recognizing the need to narrow this
gap as well as to integrate social concerns into development policies, plans and
programmes, the Commission in 1992 adopted the Social Development Strategy for
the ESCAP Region Towards 2000 and Beyond. The Strategy aims at raising the
quality of both the economic and social life of the people through the
eradication of absolute poverty, realization of distributive equity and
enhancement of popular participation.
18. The regional Strategy complements earlier efforts by Governments of the
ESCAP region to give increased attention to the social aspects of development,
particularly to issues relating to the needs and potential of the poor, and
reflects a shift in the thrust of social development policy from a sectoral to
an increasingly integrated, multi-sectoral approach. Those earlier efforts
included frequent calls for greater emphasis on social aspects in rural
development programmes and on quality-of-life issues as an aspect of human
resources development, as embodied in the Jakarta Plan of Action on Human
Resources Development (see Commission resolution 274 (XLIV)). The Strategy is
also supportive of various activities to implement regional instruments and
initiatives dealing with specific social issues or specific social groups such
as the Bali Declaration on Population and Sustainable Development (see
E/CONF.84/PC/14, annex II) and the Regional Strategy on Environmentally Sound
and Sustainable Development (see Commission resolution 47/7).
19. In addition to its ongoing activities in support of national programmes of
action for social development, ESCAP has embarked on a comprehensive
restructuring of its work programme from a sectoral to a thematic,
multidisciplinary approach, starting in the 1994-1995 biennium, with "poverty
alleviation through economic growth and social development" as one of its three
thematic subprogrammes (see Commission resolution 48/2, annex V). The poverty
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alleviation subprogramme will apply a holistic approach in dealing with the
following major subject areas: growth strategies and structural reforms; human
resources development; women in development; social policy, social services and
social security; population issues, including rural-urban migration; agriculture
and rural development; and human settlements and urbanization. Activities in
these areas will be undertaken in a concerted manner with a view to improving
opportunities for all sections of society to share fully in the development
process, with special emphasis on the problems of disadvantaged and vulnerable
population groups. To ensure the effective implementation of national policies
and programmes directed at poverty alleviation, cooperation among government
agencies, non-governmental organizations and the private sector will be
promoted.
B. Activities undertaken in 1993
20. An Expert Group Meeting on the Implementation of the Social Development
Strategy was held at Bangkok from 8 to 11 December 1992 to advise ESCAP on the
modalities for the effective implementation of the Strategy. One of its
principal recommendations was to integrate ESCAP’s activities in support of the
implementation of the Strategy with those in preparation for the World Summit
for Social Development in 1995.
21. The Commission, assuming its lead role in coordinating the regional support
activities of United Nations bodies and specialized agencies in the
implementation of the Strategy, established in 1992 an Inter-agency Task Force
on the Implementation of the Strategy to promote intersectoral participation and
ensure effective coordination of the regional activities of all concerned United
Nations bodies and specialized agencies in the implementation of the Strategy.
The first session of the Task Force was held at Bangkok on 14 December 1992.
22. An Expert Group Meeting on National Poverty Concepts and Measurement was
organized by ESCAP and held in September 1993. A series of studies on poverty
concepts, approaches to the measurement of poverty, and characteristics of the
poverty situation in the ESCAP region were prepared for that Meeting. The
recommendations of the Meeting were transmitted to the Committee on Poverty
Alleviation through Economic Growth and Social Development, at its first
session, held at Bangkok from 20 to 24 September 1993. To guide the discussions
of the Committee at its first session, the secretariat prepared a series of
papers on the regional poverty situation, national approaches to poverty
alleviation, international initiatives to alleviate poverty in the region and
three other documents focusing on the promotion of people’s participation in
poverty alleviation through community-based approaches, target group-oriented
programmes and non-governmental organizations. The Committee discussed further
regional preparations for the World Summit, including an Asian and Pacific
Ministerial Conference in Preparation for the World Summit for Social
Development, to be held at Manila in October 1994. In addition to the
continuation of activities supportive of Governments in implementation of the
Social Development Strategy, the Commission in 1993 embarked on the
implementation of an Agenda for Action for the Asian and Pacific Decade for
Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, which had been adopted at the Meeting to Launch the
Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, held at Beijing in December 1992.
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23. The Commission also organized an Asian and Pacific Symposium of NGOs on
Women in Development, to be held at Manila in November 1993, to provide inputs
to a regional plan of action to advance the status of women in Asia and the
Pacific, for consideration at the Second Asian and Pacific Ministerial
Conference on Women and Development, to be held at Jakarta in June 1994.
24. The Commission organized a Ministerial Conference on Urbanization in Asia
and the Pacific, which will be held at Bangkok on 1 and 2 November. Urban
poverty and the urban environment were among the major issues discussed at the
Conference. The second session of the Inter-agency Task Force on the
Implementation of the Social Development Strategy was held in December 1993.
Among other matters, that session discussed regional support of preparations for
the World Summit for Social Development.
C. Activities planned for 1994
25. The Commission will convene an Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference in
Preparation for the World Summit for Social Development. The Government of the
Philippines has invited ESCAP to hold the Conference at Manila in October 1994.
The member Governments will discuss at that regional conference various issues
relating to the three themes (social integration, alleviation of poverty and
expansion of productive employment) of the Summit. It is envisaged that the
Conference will formulate certain proposals for development cooperation in these
areas, for further consideration at the Summit.
26. Research on substantive issues to be considered at the Ministerial
Conference will be undertaken in early 1994. The findings of that research will
be examined at an expert group meeting to be convened in mid-1994. The expert
group will draft a series of recommendations, including a set of proposals for
regional development cooperation, for consideration of the Ministerial
Conference.
27. ESCAP has initiated action to establish a forum of non-governmental
organizations concerned with social development issues in the region to promote
their active and constructive participation and ensure their effective
coordination in the implementation of the Social Development Strategy. A
regional symposium on the role of non-governmental organizations in
implementation of the Social Development Strategy will be held at Bangkok in
August 1994. It is envisaged that the recommendations emanating from that
symposium will be transmitted to the member Governments at the Ministerial
Conference to be held at Manila in October 1994.
28. The Second Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference on Women and
Development will be held at Jakarta from 7 to 14 June 1994. As a preparatory
meeting for the Fourth World Conference on Women, it will be devoted primarily
to a review and appraisal of the regional implementation of the Nairobi
Forward-looking Strategies and the formulation of a regional plan of action to
advance the status of women. That regional conference will also be linked with
regional preparations for the World Summit for Social Development.
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IV. ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
A. Social development in the Commission’s overall work
programme in the past few years
29. The concept of social development expressed in the report of the
Secretary-General to the Economic and Social Council (E/1993/77) is entirely
consistent with the proposal of the Economic Commission for Latin America and
the Caribbean (ECLAC) for recovering economic growth in the region while
simultaneously reaching higher levels of social equity.
30. This effort has crystallized in the proposal on "changing production
patterns with social equity", which has been endorsed by the region’s
Governments and augmented in a number of subsequent documents. 1/ These
documents postulate the mutually supportive interactions between growth and
equity: social equity cannot be achieved in the absence of solid, sustained
growth, but growth requires a reasonable degree of socio-political stability,
which entails, in turn, the fulfilment of certain requirements in the area of
equity.
31. A basic feature of the Commission’s approach is that it moves away from the
tendency to emphasize trade-offs between the objectives of growth and equity,
opting instead to point out the areas in which they complement each other. 2/
Growth with equity can only be generated if the two objectives are targeted by
both economic and social policy. This involves, on the one hand, adopting
economic policies which promote social equity as well as growth and, on the
other, taking into account the effects of social policy on production and
efficiency as well as equity.
32. Environmentally sustainable growth with social equity in a democratic
context is not only desirable but also achievable, although the means of
pursuing it can vary significantly from one country to another depending on the
magnitude, extent and characteristics of prevailing poverty. In general, the
Commission’s proposals revolve around three broad policy areas that further the
goal of social equity: achieving increases in productive employment, investment
in human capital and transfers.
33. This integrated approach to development has characterized the various
activities carried out by ECLAC, often in cooperation with other United Nations
bodies, including the Third Regional Conference on Poverty in Latin America and
the Caribbean, held in collaboration with the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) (Santiago, 23-25 November 1992); the Latin American and
Caribbean Regional Conference on Population and Development (Mexico City,
29 April-4 May 1993) (see E/CONF.84/PC/17); and the Latin American and Caribbean
Regional Meeting Preparatory to the International Year of the Family (Cartagena,
Colombia, 9-14 August 1993). ECLAC has also acted as focal point for the joint
activities of various United Nations agencies in the region and the Latin
American Economic System (SELA) in the area of social policies, and cooperates
with the Organization of American States (OAS) in the Joint Programme on Social
Policies for Latin America.
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B. Activities undertaken in 1993
34. The Commission has supported the Government of Brazil in substantive
preparations on the topic of social development for the Third Ibero-American
Summit of Heads of State and Government, held at Salvador da Bahía on 15 and
16 July (see A/48/291-S/26242); and assisted the Government of Chile in
preparing a document on the World Summit for Social Development, to be presented
at the Rio Group Presidential Summit on 15 and 16 October at Santiago. It will
also present a document and participate in the Mexican Conference on Social
Development and Poverty, to be held at Oaxaca from 8 to 11 November, and it took
part in the forty-sixth annual conference of the Department of Public
Information of the Secretariat and the Executive Committee of Non-Governmental
Organizations associated with that Department, on the theme "Social development:
a new definition for security", held at New York from 8 to 10 September.
35. The Commission has prepared a note by the secretariat for presentation at
its twenty-fifth session, to be held at Cartagena, Colombia, from 20 to
27 April 1994, which contains an analysis of the substantive aspects of the
World Summit for Social Development from the Latin American and Caribbean
perspective and a set of proposals related to international and regional
cooperation on this subject.
36. This note, which closely follows the format of the Secretary-General’s
report to the Economic and Social Council (E/1993/77), first discusses the
global and regional context surrounding the main problems related to social
development, and then explains the integrated approach, which simultaneously
addresses the complementary objectives of changing production patterns and
enhancing social equity. Next, it specifically discusses the three core issues
to be considered at the Summit - social integration, alleviation and reduction
of poverty, and expansion of productive employment - and concludes with a
chapter on proposals for international cooperation.
37. This last chapter emphasizes the need for the Summit to produce a shared
awareness of the integrated approach to development that characterizes various
aspects of international cooperation, including, inter alia, a platform of
globally recognized minimum social conditions for laying more equitable
foundations for trade and international competition, agreements regarding
transboundary movements of workers and migrants, the exchange of experiences
with public policies concerning the core issues of the Summit, and international
monitoring of the objectives agreed upon.
C. Activities planned for 1994
38. The Commission has placed the topic of the preparation and convening of the
Summit on the agenda of its twenty-fifth session, during which its member
Governments will discuss the proposals contained in the aforementioned note.
39. Also in 1994, the Fourth Regional Conference on Poverty will be held in
Mexico, and the sixth session of the Regional Conference on the Integration of
Women into the Economic and Social Development of Latin America and the
Caribbean will be held at Buenos Aires, Argentina, in September 1994. These
conferences will naturally be linked to preparations for the Summit.
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40. The Commission will carefully consider the decisions reached at the first
session of the Preparatory Committee, for the Summit, to be held from 31 January
to 11 February 1994, and will study the possibility of holding seminars more
specifically focused on the topics of social integration and productive
employment in the context of an integrated approach to development.
V. ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
A. Social development in the Commission’s overall work programme
in the past few years
41. Over the years, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has been giving
high priority to social development issues and activities, with consistent
emphasis on the need to deal with these issues and to formulate social
development policies and strategies within the framework of an integrated
approach to development as well as the need to place social and human
development concerns at the core of the development process. This priority and
emphasis have been reflected in the conceptual and analytical framework; policy
recommendations; training activities; policy workshops, conferences and
meetings; and advisory services of ECA.
42. While social and human development issues cut across the work of ECA, the
following programmes and subprogrammes focus primarily on these areas: human
resources development; social development; advancement of women; population;
environment and development; agriculture and rural development; and social
policies planning and research.
43. The human-centred approach of ECA to development has, in particular, found
expression in major policy documents of the Commission such as the Lagos Plan of
Action; the African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes
for Socio-Economic Recovery and Transformation (A/44/315, annex); the African
Charter for Popular Participation in Development; the Khartoum Declaration:
Towards a Human-focused Approach to Socio-economic Recovery and Development in
Africa (A/43/430, annex I); Kilimanjaro Programme of Action for African
Population and Self-Reliant Development (E/CONF.76/6, annex V); Arusha
Forward-Looking Strategy for the Advancement of Women; Abuja Declaration on
Participatory Development - the Role of Women in the 1990s; the African Charter
for Social Action; Regional Framework for Human Resources Development and
Utilization in Africa; etc.
44. Social and human development concerns are also discussed regularly not only
at the meetings of the ECA Conference of Ministers but also at the specialized
standing conferences such as the Conference of Ministers Responsible for Human
Resources Planning, Development and Utilization; the Conference of African
Ministers of Social Affairs; the Ministerial Follow-up Committee of Ten; and the
African Regional Coordinating Committee for the Integration of Women in
Development (ARCC).
45. At its last meeting, the Conference of Ministers decided to merge the
Conference of Ministers Responsible for Human Resources Planning, Development
and Utilization and the Conference of African Ministers of Social Affairs into a
new Conference of Ministers Responsible for Human Development. This decision
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should provide an opportunity for greater coherence in the decision-making,
monitoring and evaluation processes as related to social and human development.
B. Activities undertaken in 1993
46. To galvanize support for the Summit among its member States and to ensure
timely and coordinated preparations for the Summit, the secretariat included an
item on the Summit in the agenda of the twenty-eighth session of the
Commission/nineteenth meeting of the Conference of Ministers and also prepared a
note for the meeting entitled "Preparation for the World Summit for Social
Development 1995".
47. The note apprised the ministerial meeting of General Assembly resolution
47/92, provided an analysis of the issues which the Summit should focus on from
an African perspective, and made recommendations on how African countries should
prepare for and participate in the Summit.
48. Guided by the proposals of this note, the Conference of Ministers
transmitted to the Economic and Social Council at its substantive session of
1993 a text that the Council subsequently adopted as resolution 1993/64,
entitled "Preparations for the World Summit for Social Development".
49. A number of conferences, workshops and meetings have been organized by ECA
in 1993 in the field of social development. Many of them have dealt with the
priority areas of the Summit, namely, poverty alleviation, generation of
productive employment and social integration. These have included the Symposium
"From Conflict to Concord: Regional Cooperation in the Horn of Africa" during 8
to 12 July 1993 (supported by the United States Institute of Peace); the Meeting
of the Ministerial Follow-up Committee of Ten of the Conference of Ministers
Responsible for Human Resources Development, Planning and Utilization
(April 1993); and the inaugural meeting of the Federation of African Women
Entrepreneurs (1-3 June 1993). A Regional Conference on Women, Peace and
Development will be held at Kampala from 22 to 26 November 1993.
50. A number of regional strategies in the field of social development have
been adopted by the ECA Conference of Ministers in 1993, including the Strategic
Objectives for Africa’s Socio-economic Development in the 1990s, "Human
Development Agenda for Africa in the 1990s, and Dakar/Ngor Declaration on
Population, Family and Sustainable Development (see E/CONF.84/PC/13, annex).
C. Planned activities for 1994
51. The major event in 1994 in relation to the Summit will be the organization
of the first meeting of the ECA Conference of Ministers Responsible for Human
Development, which will serve as the African regional preparatory meeting for
the Summit.
52. A number of other activities - conferences, workshops training programmes -
will be organized and technical publications will be issued in 1994 in the field
of social development, including the organization of the Fifth Regional
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Conference on Women, in Preparation for the World Conference, which will be held
at Dakar in November 1994.
VI. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMISSION FOR WESTERN ASIA
A. Social development in the Commission’s overall work programme
in the past few years
53. Paragraph 1 of the Secretary-General’s report to the Economic and Social
Council (E/1993/77) describes the world in transition in general, but the same
words can best describe the region of the Economic and Social Commission for
Western Asia (ESCWA) where there is "a sense of great opportunity and hope that
a new world can be built - a world of peace and stability, where the goal of
social progress and better standards of living in larger freedom can be realized
through genuine international cooperation" (E/1993/77, para. 1). The ESCWA
proposal for the Agenda for Development stressed the importance of stability and
peace in the region whose human and material resources would then be freed to
achieve economic growth accompanied by social equity.
54. The ESCWA region is in a state of rapid political, economical and social
transition, in which its people are striving to assert their identity, to
rebuild their internal structures and to redefine their external relations so as
to safeguard the region from internal instability and external threats.
Internally, the region is experiencing a process of democratization which
allowed the emergence of different expressions of extremism, as the social and
political responses to the rapid socio-cultural changes and the deteriorating
economic conditions. Externally, the region is striving to meet the challenge
of ending the 50-year old Arab-Israeli conflict, establishing regional peace and
realizing the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination.
It is a region still holding its breath with pending hope for the future
generations to live in peace and prosperity.
55. The region has been for decades the stage for many wars and armed
conflicts, internal and external. Besides the four Arab-Israeli wars, the
region is presently confronted by the result of the Iraq-Iran War, the Gulf
Crisis and War and internal strife in some countries of the region, such as the
conflict in Lebanon. The people of the region live in a continuous state of
crises, which is aggravated by structural imbalances, including income
disparities between countries, between urban and rural areas, and among the
people, unequitable distribution of energy resources at the regional level,
inadequate energy supply, water shortages, desertification and lack of food
security, and external indebtedness in some countries of the region. In the
social area, the people have been suffering from inequitable distribution of
benefits and services, illiteracy, unemployment, and increasing poverty.
56. During the past few years, ESCWA, through its Social Development Division,
has focused on the concerns of the marginalized groups in the society, mainly
women and youth, who are most affected by the transitional period through which
the region is moving. Attention has also been given to the issue of disability,
which has become an important concern in the region as a result of wars and
armed conflicts. Owing to the differences among countries of the region in
terms of human and material resources, issues of population movement, especially
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migration in the region, were also of prime concern. Policy statements were
adopted by ESCWA member countries to meet the urgent needs of these targeted
groups of the population.
57. In formulating the programme of work for the biennium 1994-1995, the four
subprogrammes comprising the Social Development Division (Human settlements,
Population, Social development and welfare and Women and development) adopted
the themes of eradication of poverty, expansion of productive employment and
realization of social integration as the focal issues for an inter-disciplinary
approach. The significance of this approach lies in the recognition that to
achieve stability and prosperity for all in the region, development must address
people as actors and beneficiaries. It thus requires the marriage between
economic growth and social equity within an integrated socio-economic framework
for policies and programmes that meet the needs of the present generation and
safeguard the rights to resources of the future generations. It also takes into
consideration the importance of building on work already undertaken and learning
from its findings and conclusions to enhance the futuristic perspective on
social development. Furthermore, it is to be noted that within the context of
the recent development in the peace settlements in the region, the programme of
work of ESCWA in general, and social development in particular, will give
increasing attention to the needs for social development of the Palestinian
people.
B. Activities undertaken in 1993
58. In response to the recent events in the region, studies were undertaken to
identify the impact of the crisis on the social situation of the region, assess
population movements associated with the Gulf Crisis, especially the impact of
the war on return migration, and investigate the reintegration of women
returnees and their families in the societies of origin. Studies were also
undertaken to review national policies and programmes for drug abuse, to assess
the situation of marginalized youth and to identify the extent of drug abuse by
youth. The assessment of the housing situation was also directly linked to
population movements for economic reasons and as a result of crisis. In
addition, the Proceedings of the Symposium on Low-cost Housing in the Arab
Region, held in Sana’a, Yemen, from 24 to 28 October 1992, were published. A
study on neighbourhood and community cohesiveness in urban life assesses the
relationship between the physical setting and the degree of community awareness
and integration of low-income groups of the population in sites and services
projects. Under the Development planning subprogramme, the conceptual framework
for the measurement of poverty from an economic perspective complements the
study on the social situation in the region, which specifically emphasizes the
conceptual definition of poverty from a social development perspective.
59. The Arab Population Conference, organized by UNFPA, the League of Arab
States and ESCWA, and held at Amman, Jordan, from 4 to 8 April 1993, adopted the
Second Amman Declaration on Population and Development (E/CONF.84/PC/16, annex),
which took into consideration the demographic and social challenges that meet
the region. An Expert Group Meeting on Unemployment, held at Amman from 26 to
29 July 1993, examined this constraint that has serious social implications. An
Expert Group Meeting on Human Development, to be convened in cooperation with
the League of Arab States and UNDP, will be held at Cairo from 6 to
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9 December 1993 and will launch a concerted effort in this area. An Expert
Group Meeting on the Cultural Context of the Arab City was held at Amman from 6
to 9 June 1993 to study the impact of the transitional phase on the Arab city.
C. Activities planned for 1994
60. In formulating its work programme and implementing the interdisciplinary
approach, ESCWA focused on the preparation for the World Summit on Social
Development. The regional social development agenda, which will be formulated
in 1995, will be based on the cumulative findings of the studies undertaken
during the biennia 1992-1993 and 1994-1995 and the recommendations of the ESCWA
member countries. The data for these studies will be derived from the database
on social statistics prepared by the Statistics Division, which works closely
with the Social Development Division. A unified study on the social aspects of
poverty will consist of chapters examining the issue of poverty intersectorally,
namely, the demographic and socio-economic responses to poverty; emergencies,
crises and poverty: extent and measures for poverty alleviation; impact of
emergency situations and crises in the region on Arab women: the feminization
of poverty; unemployment and poverty; and underemployment in the public sector.
These publications, in addition to the documents prepared for the Expert Group
Meeting on the Arab Family (February 1994), will complement the study produced
by the Division for Sustainable Economic Development on policies and measures to
reduce income disparities and alleviate poverty in selected ESCWA countries.
The assessment of the situation of women between 1985-1994, within the framework
of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies, and the impact of emergency
situations and crises on youth will provide an additional input into the
preparations for the World Summit for Social Development. Assessment of
experiences and prospects of community development in the ESCWA region will
provide regional perspective on the responses of ESCWA member countries to the
issue of rural poverty and internal migration. Studies on the technological and
social aspects of upgrading and revitalizing settlements, the housing crisis in
the ESCWA region and the development of indigenous capabilities for construction
will provide the human settlements perspective on poverty. In addition, the
textual database on policies and programmes in the area of population, social
development and women, supported by the database on social statistics, will be
established to provide a basis for the assessment of the Governments’ responses
to the eradication of poverty, productive employment and social integration. A
technical cooperation project on community development in selected ESCWA
countries will provide the rural perspective on issues of poverty and
unemployment.
61. The findings and conclusions of all these intersectoral studies will be
augmented by dialogue with ESCWA member countries individually through ESCWA
technical assistance support to member countries in the preparation of their
national papers and national platforms within the context of the preparations
for the Fourth World Conference on Women and the World Summit for Social
Development or collectively through the Regional Preparatory Meeting for the
Fourth World Conference on Women (November 1994) and the Regional Preparatory
Meeting for the World Summit for Social Development (December 1994). The
cumulative result of these research and technical assistance efforts will form
the basis for the formulation of the regional social development agenda.
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Notes
1/ See ECLAC, Changing Production Patterns with Social Equity: The Prime
Task of Latin American and Caribbean Development in the 1990s (LC/G.1601-P),
Santiago, Chile, March 1990, United Nations publication, Sales No. E.90.II.G.6;
Sustainable Development: Changing Production Patterns, Social Equity and the
Environment (LC/G.1648/Rev.2-P), Santiago, Chile, May 1991, United Nations
publication, Sales No. E.91.II.G.5; Social Equity and Changing Production
Patterns: An Integrated Approach (LC/G.1701/Rev.1-P), Santiago, Chile, 1992,
United Nations publication, Sales No. E.92.II.G.5; ECLAC/UNESCO Regional Office
for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean, Education and Knowledge:
Basic Pillars of Changing Production Patterns with Social Equity
(LC/G.1702/Rev.1-P), Santiago, Chile, 1992, United Nations publication, Sales
No. E.92.II.G.6; and ECLAC/CELADE, Population, Social Equity and Changing
Production Patterns (LC/G.1758/Rev.1-P); LC/DEM/G.131/Rev.1-Series E, No. 37),
Santiago, Chile, 1993, United Nations publication, Sales No. E.93.II.G.8.
2/ See especially ECLAC, Social Equity and ..., op. cit., pp. 15-44.
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