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The Earth Negotiations Bulletin Reports on the World Summit for Social Development

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin published daily reports on the official negotiations from Copenhagen.

The Document

The final documents, both the Programme of Action and the Declaration, have been placed on-line at the UNDP gopher.

Other on-line resources

The Association for Progressive Communication (APC) was available and is now off-line. The site has news and events from the NGO Forum, including exclusive electronic publishing of "Terra Viva" - the 16 page, daily tabloid produced by Inter-Press Service (IPS) and ENDA (Environment and Development Action in the Third World) daily bulletin "Vivre Autrement" ("Live Differently") (in French only). Maybe it will come back on line again.

The United Nations Development Programme has established a WWW page on the Social Summit with pictures and all of the statements given in Plenary by governments, UN agencies and NGOs. The official document that outlined what was to happen from day to day is the annotated agenda, available in English.

The final document under negotiation was the draft programme of action and the draft declaration, A/CONF.166/L.1 and it is available in English, French and Spanish.

Take a look at the press releases prepared by the Department of Public Information (DPI) during the Social Summit.

Information on the Preparatory Process

In preparation for the Summit, the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Earth Negotiations Bulletin prepared a comprehensive collection of materials on the preparatory process for the Social Summit.

There have been three meetings of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit for Social Development and an intersessional meeting in November 1994. Information on each of these sessions is available below. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin has prepared summaries of each of these sessions:

The Third PrepCom

The Third and final session of the Preparatory Committee met from 16-27 January, 1995 at UN Headquarters in New York. Delegates made progress towards reaching agreement on the Programme of Action, the Declaration and the programme of work for the Summit itself. The basis for negotiations was the revised draft Progamme of Action and Declaration (A/CONF.166/PC/L.22), which is available in English, French and Spanish.

During the course of this two week meeting, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin published a series of daily issues:

In preparation for this meeting, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin has published a summary issue on the preparations for the World Summit for Social Development.

The United Nations Department of Public Information has published press releases from the Third PrepCom on the Summit preparations. The documentation for the meeting includes:

A/CONF.166/PC/24:Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters. This document contains the provisional agenda for the PrepCom, which includes the following items:

  • 1. Adoption of the agenda and other organizational matters;
  • 2. Accreditation of non-governmental organizations; 3. Status of the preparations for the World Summit for Social Development (Trust fund and public information programme);
  • 4. Outcome of the World Summit for Social Development: draft declaration and draft programme of action;
  • 5. Provisional agenda and organization of the WSSD; and
  • 6. Adoption of the report of the Preparatory Committee.

A/CONF.166/PC/25:The status of the preparations for the WSSD. This note by the Secretariat includes the status of the Trust Fund and the public information programme.

A/CONF.166/PC/26: Note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Symposium on Social Development.

A/CONF.166/PC/27: Seminar on the ethical and spiritual dimension of social progress. This meeting was held in Bled, Slovenia, 28-30 October 1994. The topics discussed included: an international code of ethics and the need for the Social Summit to be centered on the values of compassion and solidarity with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged.

A/CONF.166/PC/11/Add.2: Note by the Secretariat on accreditation of non- governmental organizations.

A/CONF.166/PC/L.22:Outcome of the World Summit for Social Development: draft declaration and draft programme of action. This document was prepared by the Secretariat following the intersessional informal consultations.The draft declaration contains the following sections: the Introduction; Current Social Situation and Reasons for Convening the Summit; Principles and Goals; and Commitments.

Photos from the intersessional negotiations

Don't miss our photo page, with candid shots from the negotiations and pictures of the WSSD Bureau.

The "Resumed" session of the PrepCom during the General Assembly - 24-28 October

The Preparatory Committe at its Second Session decided that it would hold an additional sesssion during the General Assembly in October 1994. The Second and Third Committees of the GA recessed during the week of 24-28 October so that the PrepCom could hold a series of meetings.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin has prepared a summary of this meeting.

The PrepCom requested the Chair to organize informal consultations on the draft declaration (A/CONF.166/PC/L.18) which is available in English, French and Spanish and to prepare a report for consideration. In addition the Committee requested the Secretariat to prepare an informal document based on discussions held on the draft programme of action at its Second Session. This Working Paper on a Draft Programme of Action (A/CONF.166/PC/CRP.3) is available in English, French and Spanish.

Other online infomation related to the Intersessional Meetings can be found on the UNDP gopher in the area maintained by the Department of Policy Coordination for Sustainable Development. Specific areas on the gopher include:

Background Information

The United Nations has prepared an information note on the World Summit for Social Development.

The first session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the World Summit for Social Development (WSSD) met in New York from 31 January - 11 February 1994. This session was the first of three meetings of the PrepCom to be held over the next year in preparation for the World Summit, scheduled for 6 12 March 1995 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The Summit will bring together Heads of State and Government from around the world to agree on a programme of action for alleviating and reducing poverty, expanding produc tive employment and enhancing social integration. The Social Summit preparatory process began with the approval of United Nations Resolution 47/92 . The UNDP gopher has the official United Nations Documentation for the First PrepCom (held from 31 January - 11 February 1994), including the report of the First PrepCom (A/49/94) .

The Second PrepCom took place in late August and early September 1994 in New York. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin has published daily issues and a summary issue from that meeting.

Information on the Second Prepcom

Official documentation for the Second Session of the PrepCom such as:

Both the EU and the G-77 provided preliminary comments on the Draft Programme of Action. NGOs have commented on L.13, including the influential Women's Caucus' suggested revisions to Sections I, II, III and IV. The UN Department of Public Information has provided the following press releases: