Daily report for 7 February 1994

SOCIAL INTEGRATION

ALGERIA: speaking on behalf of the G77 and China, emphasizedthe link between poverty, social development and socialintegration.

PERU: stated that there must be dialogue aimed at a singleapproach, and tolerance among various ethnic and social groups.

SWITZERLAND: said that people with special needs must benamed, including: youth, disabled, and elderly. He stressed theneed for education for tolerance, compassion and peace.

GREECE: on behalf of the EU, said that policies shouldguarantee human rights such as justice, health and human dignity.Social integration involves collective preventive measures such aseducation, adequate information and incentives to work.

CHILE: said that nondiscrimination, equality before the law,with access to the law for everyone and shared values to eliminatediscrimination must be included in social integration.

AFGHANISTAN: supported the G77 and noted the specialsituation of the LDCs.

THE HOLY SEE: stressed universal and equal access toeducation for women and the poor, and use of the family as adeliverer of social services.

INDONESIA: supported Peru on ethical issues of integration,particularly those of tolerance. Family education ultimatelytransforms societal values. He emphasized full protection of therights of the child.

BRAZIL: vigorously supported the position of the Holy Seeregarding universal access to education.

INDIA: stressed human development as a key to socialintegration.

URUGUAY: said that justice must be accessible to allmarginalized groups.

TURKEY: said the empowerment of women, as mentioned inWorking Paper 1, should become the conceptual framework for socialintegration. Equality of opportunity must be accompanied byeffective access.

AUSTRALIA: said social integration is based on diversity andnondiscrimination. Factors are: democracy, participation and goodgovernance; the role of civil society; equality of opportunities;gender equity and use of gender-inclusive language; and enablingpolicies ensuring information accessibility to all who want it.

VENEZUELA: supported the access to justice systems and therole of ethics. She stressed the role of the family, includingsingle households, in the transfer of values.

US: stressed the need to empower women by addressing theirhealth issues.

ECUADOR: stressed the need to establish bodies promotingsolidarity and values. The role of the media is important.

CANADA: stressed the need to develop measures providingincentives for minority groups and to establish new governancesystems to decentralize governments and increase popularparticipation.

CHINA: said that the provision of equal social services andeducation should be considered.

MEXICO: requested that criteria be developed for identifyingthe marginalized groups and the priority action. Resources forsocial integration and training for migrants and refugees should beassured.

DENMARK: said that the African common position containsimportant basic conditions such as: a strong, honest andindependent judiciary; strengthened legislative organs of states;institutional accountability; an effective and free press; people'sparticipation through NGOs; and strategies that favor a bottom-upapproach.

REPUBLIC OF KOREA: stressed the need for communities aseffective mechanisms for social integration; encouraged the role ofvolunteers and the role of the family.

AUSTRIA: stressed the need to include long-term employmentin social integration.

COTE D'IVOIRE: emphasized the education of women and girlsas well as women's access to decision-making, credit and property.

TUNISIA: underscored the family's role in socialintegration; the right to justice and legal assistance for all; andspecial training of teachers to ensure care for vulnerable groups.

CROATIA: said resources for reconstruction and assistancefor war victims was needed.

GERMANY: noted that there exist programmes addressing someof the issues and that governments should start by ratifying them.

GUINEA: stated that the excluded sectors should beidentified with proper mechanisms for them. A democraticdevelopment system is needed.

PAKISTAN: stressed equity and social justice at national andinternational levels as well as at inter- and intra-generationallevels.

NETHERLANDS: said social integration is a question of norms,ethics and values.

ZIMBABWE: emphasized the family's role in socialintegration, as well as peace education, including the respect ofhuman rights.

SLOVENIA: said social integration is an ethical issue. Itshould address elimination or reduction of extreme poverty; developincentives targeting the economic situation of women; and addressaccess to human rights instruments.

POVERTY

GREECE: on behalf of the EU, said that governments mustdevelop macro-economic strategies at both the national andinternational levels to open markets and facilitate debt relief.The EU has decided that debt relief will be one of its mainpriorities in development aid. The other priority areas include:the provision of basic services such as education, water, healthcare, housing; improving the employment of the poor; encouragingself-help activities for the urban and rural poor; fundamentaldemocratic rights; social protection of the poor; maintenance ofself-help systems; full integration of women in the fight againstpoverty; and protection of fragile ecosystems.

URUGUAY: said that the needs of the lowest income groupsmust be identified to ensure that the benefits of social policyreach them.

SWITZERLAND: called for addressing problems of: access toland; access to credit; deprivation of political legal rights andthe consequences of structural adjustment.

DENMARK: said that it was important to attack the roots ofpoverty, and not just the symptoms. This involves addressing theproblems of land reform and illiteracy. He said that it is notpossible to fight poverty without eradicating illiteracy.

EL SALVADOR: noted that the different degrees of povertythroughout the developing world must be addressed. She alsoreferred to the social consequences of war and structuraladjustment policies, which appear to increase poverty. Shesuggested that economic adjustment should ensure social adjustmentpolicies as well.

AUSTRALIA: suggested addressing: land reform; education;provision of basic health services and access to family planning;availability of housing; fair access to income-earningopportunities, especially access to credit; issues of family andchildren, especially the feminization of poverty; and the centralimportance of setting of targets with indicators to measureprogress.

ALGERIA: on behalf of the G-77 and China, said that theobjective of the WSSD should be poverty elimination rather thanpoverty alleviation.

SWEDEN: said that integrating women into the mainstream isno longer adequate. What is needed is a transformation of themainstream.

INDIA: called for eradication of poverty by the end of thecentury. More reference should be made to measures involving thepoor and a development strategy for reaching the goal of povertyeradication. The elements of such a strategy would involve: foodsecurity systems; labor intensive industries; strengthening ruralagriculturalization; and minimum living standards.

BRAZIL: reinforced the importance of education in combattingpoverty. He agreed with Denmark in calling for attention to theroots of poverty and not just the symptoms.

PHILIPPINES: said that poverty eradication depends oneducation and training, as well as land reform and the eliminationof external debt. There can be no true agenda for peace unlesspoverty is eradicated.

TURKEY: said the special situation of developing countries,and the feminization of poverty, as well as the difficult situationof the elderly poor, and the provision of affordable housing mustbe mentioned.

CHILE: called for better integration between UN agencies toensure the integration of social and economic policies. He alsoreferred to the problem of the feminization of poverty and urgedfor concrete measures such as the Women's Bank and specificinitiatives for child care.

THE HOLY SEE: said that governments must find appropriateethics for economic and social transition. Existing safety nets andUN economic measures are inadequate. The misuse of funds must beaddressed.

COTE D'IVOIRE: suggested the following points to beaddressed: alleviation of poverty requires food security and accessto land for rural populations as well as access to health andhousing; small enterprises should be encouraged with access tocredit; primary health services and education should be availableto rural and urban marginalized groups; an enabling economicenvironment must be provided with financial and developmentinstitutions increasing support to countries offering expandedemployment, and debt forgiveness.

CANADA: emphasized the key factors that could provide aframework for action: political will; legislative and policydirection to achieve WSSD objectives; institutional capacity toimplement WSSD policies at all levels; and practicalcapacity-building measures.

US: said that it is the responsibility of nationalgovernments to develop economic and social strategies to: enableindividual access to education, and solve land tenure and titleissues, as well as gender problems. Strategies to eliminate povertymust identify policy and programmes to foster self-sufficiency andindependence.

INDONESIA: said that governments must provide the properinfrastructures to enable the poor to improve their ownsocio-economic conditions.

AUSTRIA: proposed that every State should endeavor toimprove the social situation of the poorest of the poor and toreport periodically to ECOSOC on national activities.

NORWAY: said that poverty must be fought through wealthcreation and redistribution. This includes access to land andcredit. To fight poverty, society must also strengthen investmentin people, especially women, their health, education, and access tocredit and land. The 1 billion people now living in poverty is aresult of the lack of political will among Northern governments toredress this problem.

MALAYSIA: proposed that interest-free loans should beprovided for the hard-core poor.

PAKISTAN: affirmed the G-77 position that the aim of theWSSD should be poverty eradication and not just alleviation.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR TODAY

PLENARY: This morning the Plenary will meet informally toconsider the question of productive employment. Somava hasencouraged delegates to suggest practical ideas and concreteproposals for action. This afternoon, the Plenary will begindiscussion on the political vision for the WSSD.

LECTURE: Tim Wirth of the US State Department will speaktoday at 11:00 am in the Trusteeship Council Chamber on "Women,Population and Development: Toward Consensus".

NGO MEETINGS: Tony Hill of NGLS will give a briefing on theupcoming UN Review of ECOSOC accreditation for NGOs today at 2:00pm in Conference Room C. The NGO/UN/ Delegate Dialogue is scheduledfor 6:00 pm in Conference Room 6 and should include Amb. Somava,Under- Secretary-General Nitin Desai and John Langemore ofAustralia.