International Agreements on Poverty

Commitment 2 from the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development

UN Commission on Social Development
1996 Chapter I.C: Women and Poverty
        Chapter III: Strategies and Actions for eradication of poverty

Agenda 21, Rio 1992
Chapter 3: Combating Poverty

Earth Summit II, 1997
Earth Summit II
Chapter 3.A: Implementation of Agenda 21 in Areas Requiring Urgent Action. Integration of economic, social and environmental objectives

Chapter 3.B: Sectors + Issues, Par.62 (Women + Land+ Poverty)

Population Summit / ICPD, Cairo 1994
Chapter 3. Section B and Section C
(population, environment, growth, poverty, participation + women)

Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995
Chapter 1 IV A: Women and Poverty

Habitat II, Istanbul 1996
Chapter IV. C.3: Social development (eradication of poverty, creation of productive employment and social integration)

UN Commission on the Status of Women
1993 Chapter I.C: R 37/8: Women in Extreme Poverty
1996 Chapter I.C: Resolution 40/9: Objectives and Action in the Critical Area of Poverty



Commitment 2 from the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development
We commit ourselves to the goal of eradicating poverty in the world, through decisive national actions and international cooperation, as an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind.
To this end, at the national level, in partnership with all actors of civil society and in the context of a multidimensional and integrated approach, we will:
(a) Formulate or strengthen, as a matter of urgency, and preferably by the year 1996, the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, 9/ national policies and strategies geared to substantially reducing overall poverty in the shortest possible time, reducing inequalities and eradicating absolute poverty by a target date to be specified by each country in its national context;
(b) Focus our efforts and policies to address the root causes of poverty and to provide for the basic needs of all. These efforts should include the elimination of hunger and malnutrition; the provision of food security, education, employment and livelihood, primary health-care services including reproductive health care, safe drinking water and sanitation, and adequate shelter; and participation in social and cultural life. Special priority will be given to the needs and rights of women and children, who often bear the greatest burden of poverty, and to the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and persons;
(c) Ensure that people living in poverty have access to productive resources, including credit, land, education and training, technology, knowledge and information, as well as to public services, and participate in decision-making on a policy and regulatory environment that would enable them to benefit from expanding employment and economic opportunities;
(d) Develop and implement policies to ensure that all people have adequate economic and social protection during unemployment, ill health, maternity, child-rearing, widowhood, disability and old age;
(e) Ensure that national budgets and policies are oriented, as necessary, to meeting basic needs, reducing inequalities and targeting poverty, as a strategic objective;
(f) Seek to reduce inequalities, increase opportunities and access to resources and income, and remove any political, legal, economic and social factors and constraints that foster and sustain inequality.
At the international level, we will:
(g) Strive to ensure that the international community and international organizations, particularly the multilateral financial institutions, assist developing countries and all countries in need in their efforts to achieve our overall goal of eradicating poverty and ensuring basic social protection;
(h) Encourage all international donors and multilateral development banks to support policies and programmes for the attainment, in a sustained manner, of the specific efforts of the developing countries and all countries in need relating to people-centred sustainable development and to meeting basic needs for all; to assess their existing programmes in consultation with the concerned developing countries to ensure the achievement of the agreed programme objectives; and to seek to ensure that their own policies and programmes will advance the attainment of agreed development goals that focus on meeting basic needs for all and eradicating absolute poverty. Efforts should be made to ensure that participation by the people concerned is an integral part of such programmes;
(i) Focus attention on and support the special needs of countries and regions in which there are substantial concentrations of people living in poverty, in particular in South Asia, and which therefore face serious difficulties in achieving social and economic development.


UN Commission on Social Development, 1996
C. Matters brought to the attention of the Council 
3. The following resolution adopted by the Commission is brought to the attention of the Council: 
Resolution S-1996/1. Strategies and actions for the eradication of poverty * 
(* For the discussion, see chap. III below.) 
The Commission for Social Development, 
Recalling General Assembly resolution 50/161 of 22 December 1995 on the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development, 
Recalling also General Assembly resolution 49/110 of 19 December 1994 and other relevant resolutions of the Assembly related to international cooperation for the eradication of poverty in developing countries as well as Assembly resolution 50/107 of 20 December 1995 on the observance of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty and proclamation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, 
Recalling further Economic and Social Council resolution 1995/60 of 28 July 1995 and Council decision 1995/324 of 12 December 1995, both related to the special session of the Commission for Social Development in 1996, 
Recognizing that poverty is a global problem affecting all countries, in particular developing countries, and that the complexity of poverty requires the implementation and integration of policies and strategies as well as a wide range of measures and actions at the local, national, regional and international levels, 
Recalling that the primary responsibility for the formulation and implementation of the strategies, policies, programmes and actions required to eradicate poverty rests at the national level, 
Emphasizing the need, in support of national efforts to eradicate poverty and provide basic social protection and services, to fully implement the commitments undertaken by the international community at the World Summit for Social Development, and stressing the urgent need for stronger international cooperation and support to assist developing countries, particularly those in Africa, the least developed countries and small island and land-locked developing countries, 
Reaffirming that the role of the State and the commitment of Governments are fundamental in eradicating poverty and in improving living conditions, and that Governments should focus their efforts and policies on addressing the root causes of poverty and providing for the basic needs of all, 
Recognizing that economic growth is necessary for social development, but that active intervention is essential, inter alia, through promotion of equitable distribution of the benefits of economic growth and income, and through ensuring universal access to basic social services and greater access to resources, through equity and equality of opportunity for all, 
Recognizing that limited access, inter alia, to income, resources, education, health care, nutrition, shelter, sanitation and safe water, particularly in Africa and in the least developed countries, has caused an increase in many regions in overall poverty, particularly in the numbers of people living in absolute poverty, 
Recognizing also that since women constitute the majority of people living in poverty, mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes aimed at eradicating poverty and the empowerment of women will be critical factors in the eradication of poverty, 
Recognizing that children and young people are vulnerable victims of poverty as well as the major human resource for future development, 
Recognizing the linkages between poverty, social exclusion and employment policies and the need for new approaches to social safety nets, human resource development strategies and the concept of employment, 
Recognizing further that providing basic services to all, including universalization of basic education, access to education for all and the eradication of illiteracy, is essential to the eradication of poverty, 
Reaffirming that strengthening the family and empowering its members, in accordance with the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development 6/ are essential to the eradication of poverty, 
Recognizing further that the media have an important role to play in promoting awareness of the complex issues surrounding poverty, 
Stressing the necessity of promoting and implementing policies and strategies to create a supportive external economic environment, through, inter alia, cooperation in the formulation and implementation of macroeconomic policies, trade liberalization, mobilization and/or provision of new and additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and are mobilized in such a way as to maximize the availability of such resources for sustainable development, using all available funding sources and mechanisms, enhanced financial stability and ensuring developing countries increased access to global markets, productive investment and technologies, and appropriate knowledge, 
Considering that the international community at the highest political level has already reached a consensus and committed itself to the eradication of poverty in the major United Nations conferences and summits organized since 1990, 
Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on policy and programme considerations in the formulation of integrated strategies for poverty eradication, meeting the basic human needs of all and promotion of self-reliance and community-based initiatives, 7/ 
Noting the discussions that took place on this issue during the panel discussions and the discussion with representatives of inter-agency task forces on the follow-up to international conferences and summits, 
Recalling that the commitment to the goal of eradicating poverty in the world, through decisive national actions and international cooperation, is an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind, 
1. Reaffirms that all States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of people of the world; 
2. Stresses that action for the eradication of poverty should take into account the fact that poverty is both a complex and a multidimensional issue, which has significant influence on and is in turn influenced by equality between men and women as well as by the reinforcement of peace and the achievement of social and economic development; 
3. Stresses the long-term nature of poverty eradication strategies and the need for their continuous adaptation, and urges Governments to integrate goals and targets for combating poverty into overall economic and social policies and planning at the local, national and, where appropriate, subregional and regional levels; 
4. Urges Governments to integrate poverty eradication strategies into overall development policies that take into account a people-centred and equitable process in which the ultimate goal of economic and social policies must be to better the human condition, responding to the needs and maximizing the potential of all members of society; 
5. Reaffirms that democracy, transparent and accountable governance and administration in all sectors of society, as well as non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual respect for and valuing of diversity, and promotion of and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, are also essential for poverty eradication strategies; 
6. Emphasizes the crucial importance of reinforcing the means and capacities for people to participate in the formulation and implementation of social and economic policies and programmes through decentralization and open management of public institutions; 
7. Recognizes the central role that women play in the eradication of poverty, and stresses the need for their full and equal participation in the formulation and implementation of policies that take fully into account the gender perspective and that empower women to be full partners in development; 
8. Urges Governments to formulate policies and programmes that ensure access to basic social services for all children and young people, in particular those living in poverty; 
9. Emphasizes the need to implement sound and stable macroeconomic, micro-economic and sectoral policies that encourage broad-based economic growth and development that is sustainable and equitable, that generate jobs and that are geared towards eradicating poverty and reducing social and economic inequalities and exclusion; 
10. Reaffirms that human resources development is an essential part of poverty reduction strategies, which should also be based on strengthening the productive capacities of people living in poverty, inter alia, through the promotion of job training and job-creating activities and wider access to productive resources, as well as through programmes and policies directed towards the simulation of productive employment, labour-intensive development and improvements in productivity; 
11. Stresses the need to periodically monitor, assess and share information on the performance of poverty eradication plans, evaluate policies to combat poverty, and promote an understanding and awareness of poverty and its causes and consequences; 
12. Recognizes that the role of the State in poverty eradication strategies is fundamental, in particular through applying active social policies and creating an enabling environment, inter alia, for the development of the private sector, including small and medium-sized enterprises; 
13. Stresses the need for a partnership among countries with a view to addressing the issue of poverty eradication; 
14. Stresses that Governments, in partnership with civil society and all other development actors, including non-governmental organizations and people living in poverty and their organizations should cooperate to meet the basic human needs of all - inter alia, income, resources, education, health care, nutrition, shelter, sanitation and safe water - in particular of people living in poverty and vulnerable and disadvantaged groups; 
15. Also stresses the need for strategies to address not only inadequate income, but also other factors, such as lack of access to resources and basic social services, and social exclusion; 
16. Reaffirms that the satisfaction of basic human needs is an essential element of poverty reduction, these needs being closely interrelated and comprising nutrition, health, water and sanitation, education, employment, housing, and participation in cultural and social life; 
17. Emphasizes that strategies for the eradication of poverty at the national and international levels and the provision of basic human needs should be formulated and implemented with the human being at their core, regardless of any political, economic, social or cultural considerations; 
18. Stresses the need for Governments and relevant international institutions or organizations to examine how the rapid globalization of the world economy and the increased liberalization of trade is affecting the ability of States to design and implement effective strategies for eradicating poverty and to provide a stable legal framework that creates an enabling environment to achieve social development and to meet the basic human needs of all, in order to prevent greater inequality between different sectors of society; 
19. Recommends that States consider more operational ways of addressing social exclusion in the design of global strategies for eradicating poverty; 
20. Stresses the importance of reviewing periodically the administrative and institutional arrangements for the provision of basic social services in order to improve access to and the quality of those services; 
21. Urges Governments to promote and attain the goals of eradicating illiteracy, universal and equitable access to quality education, and the highest standard of physical and mental health, and to encourage international organizations, in particular the international financial institutions, to support these objectives and to integrate them into policy programmes and operations, as appropriate; 
22. Emphasizes that Governments might consider introducing, within a comprehensive framework geared to national needs and capacities, various ad hoc measures initiated at different times to deal with specific forms of poverty, progressively implemented and aimed at enhancing the capacity of people living in poverty to become economically and socially productive members of society; 
23. Emphasizes the fundamental importance of strengthening the abilities and opportunities of civil society and local communities to develop their own organizations, resources and activities, as well as ensuring an open dialogue between Governments and citizens or community groups; 
24. Also emphasizes the importance of institutional capacity-building in poverty eradication strategies; 
25. Further emphasizes that the adoption and implementation of measures to substantially alleviate the external debt of developing countries, in accordance with the commitments of the Copenhagen Declaration, in particular the external debt of African countries and the least developed countries, should contribute to the eradication of poverty; 
26. Stresses the importance of reducing excessive military expenditures and investments for arms production and acquisition, as appropriate and consistent with national security requirements, in order to increase resources for social and economic development; 
27. Reaffirms the urgent need for the international community to strive for the fulfilment of the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of the gross national product of developed countries for overall official development assistance as soon as possible, and increase the share of funding for social development programmes, commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to achieve the objectives and goals of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development; 
28. Calls upon the international community to seek to mobilize new and additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and mobilized in such a way as to maximize the availability of such resources and use all available funding sources and mechanisms, inter alia, multilateral, bilateral and private sources, including, as mutually agreed, on concessional and grant terms; 
29. Reaffirms the agreement on a mutual commitment between interested developed and developing country partners to allocate, on average, 20 per cent of official development assistance and 20 per cent of the national budget, respectively, to basic social programmes, and notes with interest the consensus reached at Oslo on 25 April 1996 on this matter; 
30. Calls upon all States and the international community to encourage and support local community development projects that foster the skill, self- reliance and self-confidence of people living in poverty and that facilitate their active participation in efforts to eradicate poverty; 
31. Stresses that international cooperation and assistance are essential for the full implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development and, to that end, the international community, and the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, should fulfil the commitments they have made pursuant to chapter V of the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, in support of national efforts of developing countries, particularly in Africa, the least developed countries, and small island and land-locked developing countries, towards the eradication of poverty; 
32. Stresses that countries that are undergoing fundamental political, economic and social transformations because they are in the process of consolidating peace and democracy require the support of the international community in their efforts to eradicate poverty; 
33. Also stresses that the reduction of poverty in countries with economies in transition requires the assistance of members of the international community in developing their social protection systems and social policies; 
34. Recalls that the United Nations system is to strengthen existing structures for coordination of actions relating to poverty eradication, including the establishment of a focal point for information exchange and the formulation and implementation of replicable pilot projects to eradicate poverty; 
35. Invites all relevant specialized agencies, funds, programmes and related organizations of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, to strengthen and adjust their activities, programmes and strategies, as appropriate, with a view to achieving the overall goal of eradicating poverty, meeting the basic human needs of all and promoting self- reliance and community-based initiatives, through, inter alia, financial and technical support to developing countries in their efforts to translate all measures, recommendations and commitments into operational and concrete programmes, projects and activities; 
36. Reaffirms that the international financial institutions should contribute to the mobilization of resources for the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development by further integrating social development goals into their policies, programmes and operations in support of national efforts of developing countries; 
37. Welcomes the decision of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme to launch the "Poverty Strategies Initiative" to support implementation at the national level of activities in follow-up of the World Summit for Social Development; 
38. Invites the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme to examine the options for continuing such initiatives during the period of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006), so as to help developing countries, in particular African countries and the least developed countries, in the elaboration of national plans or programmes to eradicate poverty, as well as in the formulation and implementation of replicable projects to eradicate poverty; 
39. Calls upon all States to contribute substantially to the Trust Fund for the Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, which includes in its activities those related to the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty; 
40. Requests the Secretary-General, in elaborating the report on action envisaged to be taken by the United Nations system in preparation for the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, to be submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session, to propose specific activities for each year of the Decade in order to facilitate the follow-up to and evaluation of such activities; 
41. Also requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the present resolution within the framework of his reporting to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session on the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development and on action taken in connection with the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty. 
4. The following decisions adopted by the Commission are brought to the attention of the Council: 
Decision S-1996/101. Proposals for the medium-term plan for the period 1998-2001 
The Commission for Social Development takes note of the note by the Secretary-General on proposals for the medium-term plan for the period 1998-2001. 8/ 
Decision S-1996/102. Chairman's summary of the panel discussions and the dialogue with chairpersons of inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences 
The Commission for Social Development decides to include the Chairman's summary of the panel discussions and the dialogue with chairpersons of inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences in the report on its special session. 9/ 

Notes 
1/ Report of the World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 6-12 March 1995 (A/CONF.166/9), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II. 
2/ A/50/3, chap. II, para. 22. 
3/ E/CN.5/1996/2. 
4/ Report of the World Summit for Social Development ..., chap. I, resolution 1, annex I. 
5/ Ibid., annex II. 
6/ Report of the World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 6-12 March 1995 (A/CONF.166/9), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II. 
7/ E/CN.5/1996/3. 
8/ E/CN.5/1996/4 and Corr.1. 
9/ For the Chairman's summary, see para. 29 below. 

Chapter III. Substantive theme: Strategies and actions for the eradication of poverty
1. The Commission for Social Development considered item 4 of its agenda at its 3rd to 8th, 10th to 13th and 15th meetings, on 22 to 24, 29 to 31 May 1996. 
2. For its consideration of the item, the Commission had before it the following documents: 
(a) Report of the Secretary-General on policy and programme considerations in the formulation of integrated strategies for poverty eradication, meeting the basic human needs of all and promotion of self-reliance and community-based initiatives (E/CN.5/1996/3); 
(b) Statement by non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (E/CN.5/1996/NGO/1). 
3. At the 3rd meeting, on 22 May, the Officer-in-Charge for the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development made an introductory statement. 
4. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of Egypt, Norway, China, Austria, Peru, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ukraine, the Republic of Korea, Belarus, the Philippines and the United States of America. 
5. At the same meeting, the observers for Italy (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the European Union, as well as the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovakia), Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba made statements. 
6. At the 4th meeting, on 22 May, the Commission began the first of a series of panel discussions. The following experts addressed the Commission: Gerry Rodgers (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), Roberto Bissio (Uruguay), Valimohamed Jamal (Kenya), Louis Emmerij (Netherlands) and Pasuk Phongpaichit (Thailand). 
7. At the same meeting, the observer for the Organization of the Islamic Conference made a statement. 
8. At the 5th meeting, on 23 May, the Commission held its second panel discussion. The following experts addressed the Commission: Jan Vandemoortele (United Nations Children's Fund), Leonor Briones (Philippines), Kerstin Trone (United Nations Population Fund) and Yao Graham (Ghana). 
9. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representative of Argentina and the observer for India. 
10. At the 6th meeting, on 23 May, the Commission held its third panel discussion. The following experts addressed the Commission: Huguette Redegeld (France), Kasa Pangu (United Nations Children's Fund), Caroline Pezzullo (United States of America), Atila Roque (Brazil) and Else Oyen (Norway). 
11. At the same meeting, the representative of the Dominican Republic made a statement. 
12. Also at the same meeting, the observers for the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the International Council on Social Welfare, non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, category I, and the International Catholic Child Bureau, category II, made statements. 
13. At the 7th meeting, on 24 May, statements were made by the representatives of Chile, the Philippines, Venezuela, the Russian Federation, Ethiopia, Belarus, Gabon, Co^te d'Ivoire, Mongolia and the Sudan and the observers for Kazakstan, Algeria, South Africa, Indonesia and Pakistan. 
14. At the same meeting, the representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme made statements. 
15. Also at the same meeting, the observers for the American Association of Retired Persons and Franciscans International, non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, category I, and the Ambekdar Centre for Justice and Peace, a non-governmental organization accredited to the World Summit for Social Development, made statements. 
16. At the 8th meeting, on 24 May, the representatives of Bolivia and Ukraine made statements. 
17. At the same meeting, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights made a statement. 
18. At the 10th meeting, on 29 May, the Chairperson of the Working Group on Poverty Eradication made a statement. 
19. At the 11th meeting, on 29 May, the Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development made a statement. 
20. At the same meeting, the chairpersons of the inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences addressed the Commission: Katherine Hagen (Chairperson of the Task Force on Employment and Sustainable Livelihoods), Mark Malloch Brown (Chairperson of the Task Force on the Enabling Environment for Social and Economic Development), Colin Power (Chairperson of the Task Force on Basic Social Services for All), and Rosario Green (Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues). The Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme acted as Moderator. 
21. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of the Sudan, Chile, Argentina, the Netherlands, Ukraine and Benin and the observers for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Mexico, Jamaica and Canada. 
22. At the 12th meeting, on 30 May, the Chairperson of the Working Group on Poverty Eradication made a statement. 
Action taken by the Commission 
Strategies and actions for the eradication of poverty 
23. At the 13th meeting, on 30 May, Mr. Sten Arne Rosnes (Norway), in his capacity as Chairperson of the Working Group on Poverty Eradication introduced a draft resolution (E/CN.5/1996/L.4) entitled "Strategies and actions for the eradication of poverty", which read as follows: 
"The Commission for Social Development, 
"Recalling General Assembly resolution 50/161 of 22 December 1995 on the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development, 
"Recalling also General Assembly resolution 49/110 of 19 December 1994 and other relevant resolutions of the Assembly related to international cooperation for the eradication of poverty in developing countries as well as Assembly resolution 50/107 of 20 December 1995 on the observance of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty and proclamation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, 
"Recalling further Economic and Social Council resolution 1995/60 of 28 July 1995 and Council decision 1995/324 of 12 December 1995, both related to the special session of the Commission for Social Development in 1996, 
"Recognizing that broad-based and sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development is necessary to sustain social development and social justice, particularly as regards efforts to eradicate poverty, 
"Alt. 1: Recognizing also that poverty is a global problem affecting all countries, in particular developing countries, and that the complexity of poverty requires the implementation and integration of policies and strategies as well as a wide range of measures and actions at the local, national, regional and international levels, 
"Alt. 2: Recognizing also that poverty is a global problem affecting all countries and that the multidimensional nature of poverty requires a comprehensive and integrated approach to poverty eradication (in the national and international domains), 
"Recalling that (, while) the main responsibility for the formulation and implementation of the strategies, policies, programmes and actions required to (combat/eradicate) poverty rests primarily at the national level (, there is also an urgent need for stronger international cooperation and the support of international institutions to assist countries in their efforts to eradicate poverty and to provide basic social protection and services) (, they cannot be successfully achieved without the collective commitment and efforts of the international community), 
"Reaffirming that the role of the State and the commitment of Governments are of fundamental importance in combating poverty and in improving living conditions, and that Governments should focus their efforts and policies on addressing the root causes of poverty and providing for the basic needs of all, 
"Recognizing that over one billion people in the world today live under unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in developing countries, and particularly in rural areas of low-income Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the least developed countries, (and recognizing also that people living in absolute poverty, particularly women, are on the increase,) resulting in limited access, inter alia, to income, resources, education, health care, nutrition, shelter, sanitation and safe water (, and that in all developing countries, particularly in Africa and in the least developed countries, the same trends are observed in other regions), 
"Alt. 1: Recognizing also that mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes aimed at combating poverty and that empowerment of women will be critical factors in the eradication of poverty, since women constitute the majority of people living in poverty, 
"Alt. 2: Recognizing also that mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes aimed at eradicating poverty and that empowerment of women, who constitute the majority of people living in poverty, is crucial in the eradication of poverty, 
"Recognizing further that the eradication of illiteracy, the universalization of basic education and the access to education for all are essential in the eradication of poverty, 
"Alt. 1: Reaffirming that the strengthening of the family is essential to the eradication of poverty, 
"Alt. 2: Recognizing further that the (economic and political) empowerment of families and their individual members is an indispensable strategy in combating poverty, 
"Recognizing further that the media have an important role to play in promoting awareness of the complex issues surrounding poverty, 
"Stressing the necessity for promoting and implementing policies and strategies to create a supportive external economic environment, through, inter alia, cooperation in the formulation and implementation of macroeconomic policies, trade liberalization, mobilization and/or provision of new and additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and mobilized in such a way as to maximize the availability of such resources for sustainable development, using all available funding sources and mechanisms, enhanced financial stability and ensuring of increased access of developing countries to global markets, productive investment and technologies, and appropriate knowledge, 
"Considering that the international community at the highest political level has already reached a consensus and committed itself to the eradication of poverty in the major United Nations conferences and summits organized since 1990, 
"Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on policy and programme considerations in the formulation of integrated strategies for poverty eradication, meeting the basic human needs of all and promotion of self-reliance and community-based initiatives (E/CN.5/1996/3), 
"Noting the discussions that took place on this issue during the panel discussions and the discussion with representatives of inter- agency task forces on the follow-up to international conferences and summits, 
"Recalling that the commitment to the goal of eradicating poverty in the world, through decisive national actions and international cooperation, is an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind, 
"1. Reaffirms that all States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of people of the world; 
"2. Stresses that stronger political will, at the national and international levels, is a prerequisite of the eradication of poverty; 
"3. Recognizes that it is helpful to set achievable output-oriented targets for efforts to eradicate poverty in order to provide a common vision for all countries; 
"4. Stresses that (reducing/eradicating) poverty can be achieved (in each country only) on the basis of a (clear and lasting/strong) political will (of the State based on national consensus/at the national and international levels) and directed in particular towards promoting more equitable distribution of the benefits of growth and equal access to productive resources and social services; 
"5. Recognizes that the eradication of poverty is both a complex and a multidimensional issue, fundamental to promoting equality between men and women as well as to reinforcing peace and achieving social and economic development; 
"6. Alt. 1: Urges Governments to integrate goals and targets for combating poverty into overall economic and social policies and planning at the local, national and, where appropriate, subregional and regional levels; 
"6. Alt. 2: Urges Governments to integrate poverty eradication strategies into overall development policies within the context of a people-centred and equitable process in which the ultimate goal of economic and social policies must be to better the human condition, through responding to the needs and maximizing the potential of all members of society; 
"7. Reaffirms that democracy, transparent and accountable (Government/governance) and administration (in all sectors of society/at all levels), as well as non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual respect for and valuing of diversity, and (respect for and promotion of/promotion of and respect for) human rights and fundamental freedoms, are also imperative for poverty eradication strategies; 
"8. Emphasizes the crucial importance of reinforcing the means and capacities for people to participate in the formulation and implementation of social and economic policies and programmes through decentralization and open management of public institutions; 
"9. Recognizes the central role that women play in the eradication of poverty, and stresses the need for their full and equal participation in the formulation and implementation of policies that take fully into account the gender perspective and that empower women to be full partners in development; 
"10. Alt. 1: Emphasizes that strategies for poverty eradication shall consist, inter alia, of a combination of efforts to enhance human resources development, with a special focus on girls and women, and to create economic opportunities by appropriate macroeconomic and micro-economic policies, including facilitating of the access of people living in poverty to resources; 
"10. Alt. 2: Reaffirms that human resources development is an essential part of poverty reduction strategies, which should also be based on the strengthening of the productive capacities of the poor, inter alia, through the promotion of (demand-driven training for) job-creating activities and wider access to productive resources, as well as through the stimulation of productive employment, labour- intensive (programmes or policies) development and improvements in productivity; 
"11. Stresses the need to periodically monitor, assess and share information on the performance of poverty eradication plans, evaluate policies to combat poverty, and promote an understanding and awareness of poverty and its causes and consequences; 
"12. Recognizes that the role of the State in poverty eradication strategies is fundamental, in particular through applying active social policies and creating an enabling environment, inter alia, for the development of the private sector, including small and medium-sized enterprises; 
"13. Alt. 1: Stresses that Governments, in partnership with all other development actors, including people living in poverty and their organizations, should cooperate to meet the basic human needs of all, comprising, inter alia, income, resources, education, health care, nutrition, shelter, sanitation and safe water, in particular of people living in poverty and vulnerable and disadvantaged groups; 
"13. Alt. 2: Stresses that Government, in partnership with civil society, including non-governmental organizations, and with people living in poverty and their organizations, should cooperate to meet the basic needs of all, inter alia, and in particular, people living in poverty and vulnerable and disadvantaged groups; 
"14. Also stresses the need for strategies to address not only inadequate income, but also other factors, such as lack of access to resources and basic social services, and social exclusion; 
"15. Reaffirms that the satisfaction of basic human needs is an essential element of poverty reduction, these needs being closely interrelated and comprising nutrition, health, water and sanitation, education, employment, housing, and participation in cultural and social life; 
"16. Emphasizes that strategies for the eradication of poverty at the national and international levels and the provision of basic human needs should be formulated and implemented with the human being at their core, regardless of any political, economic, social or cultural considerations; 
"17. Recommends that the relationship between meeting the basic needs of all and creating a stable legal framework, on the one hand, and that between, inter alia, globalization and trade liberalization, on the other hand, be examined; 
"18. Stresses the long-term nature of poverty eradication strategies and the need for their continuous application; 
"19. Recommends that States consider more operational ways of integrating a social exclusion concept into the design of global strategies for eradicating poverty, notably through human rights, democracy, good governance and administration, a stable legal framework, participation in decision-making, non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual respect for and valuing of diversity, universal access to basic social services and adequate social protection; 
"20. Urges Governments to formulate and strengthen national strategies for the eradication of illiteracy and the universalization of basic education, and encourages international organizations, in particular the international financial institutions, to support these objectives in integrating them into policy programmes and operations as appropriate; 
"21. Emphasizes that Governments might consider introducing, within a comprehensive framework geared to national needs and capacities, various ad hoc measures initiated at different times to deal with specific forms of poverty, progressively implemented and aimed at enhancing the capacity of people living in poverty to become economically and socially productive members of society; 
"22. Stresses the need for a partnership between donor and recipient countries in which they commit themselves to addressing the issue of poverty eradication in a more cooperative manner; 
"23. Emphasizes the fundamental importance of strengthening the abilities and opportunities of civil society and local communities to develop their own organizations, resources and activities, as well as ensuring an open dialogue between Governments and citizens or community groups; 
"24. Also emphasizes the importance of (institutional) capacity- building in poverty eradication strategies; 
"25. Further emphasizes that the adoption and implementation of measures to substantially alleviate the external debt of developing countries, in particular African countries and the least developed countries, should contribute to the eradication of poverty; 
"26. Alt. 1: Calls upon the international community to fulfil the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for overall official development assistance as soon as possible, and increase the share of funding for social development programmes, as commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to achieve the objectives and goals of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development to eradicate poverty; 
"26. Alt. 2: Calls upon the international community to strive for the fulfilment of the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for overall official development assistance as soon as possible, and increase the share of funding for social development programmes, as commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to achieve the objectives and goals of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development; 
"27. Also calls upon the international community to mobilize new and additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and mobilized in such a way as to maximize the availability of such resources and use all available funding sources and mechanisms, inter alia, multilateral, bilateral and private sources, including (, as mutually agreed,) on concessional and grant terms; 
"28. Reaffirms the agreement on a mutual commitment between interested developed and developing country partners to allocate, on average, 20 per cent of official development assistance and 20 per cent of the national budget, respectively, to basic social programmes; 
"29. Calls upon all States and the international community to encourage and support local community development projects that foster the skill, self-reliance and self-confidence of people living in poverty and that facilitate their active participation in efforts to eradicate poverty; 
"30. Stresses that international cooperation and assistance are essential for the full implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development; 
"31. Also stresses that the reduction of poverty in countries with economies in transition requires the assistance of members of the international community in developing their social protection systems and social policies; 
"32. Recalls that the United Nations system shall strengthen existing structures for coordination of actions relating to poverty eradication, including the establishment of a focal point for information exchange and the formulation and implementation of replicable pilot projects to eradicate poverty; 
"33. Alt. 1: Invites all relevant specialized agencies, funds, programmes and related organizations of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, to strengthen and adjust their activities, programmes and strategies, as appropriate, with a view to achieving the overall goal of eradicating poverty, meeting the basic human needs of all and promoting self-reliance and community-based initiatives, through, inter alia, financial and technical support to developing countries in their efforts to translate all measures, recommendations and commitment into operational and concrete programmes, projects and activities; 
"33. Alt. 2: Stresses that the international community, and the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, should fulfil the commitments they have made pursuant to chapter V of the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, in support of national efforts of developing countries towards the eradication of poverty; 
"34. Reaffirms that the international financial institutions should contribute to the mobilization of resources for the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development by further integrating social development goals into their policies, programmes and operations (in support of national efforts of developing countries); 
"35. Invites the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme to consider so extending the duration of the eradication of poverty fund as to cover the period of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006), in order to help developing countries, in particular African countries and the least developed countries, in the elaboration of national plans or programmes to eradicate poverty as well as in the formulation and implementation of replicable projects to combat poverty; 
"36. Calls upon all States (, in particular donor countries,) to contribute substantially to the Trust Fund for the Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, which includes in its activities those related to the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty; 
"37. Requests the Secretary-General, in elaborating the report on action envisaged to be taken by the United Nations system in preparation for the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, to be submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session, to propose specific activities for each year of the Decade in order to facilitate the follow-up to and evaluation of such activities; 
"38. Also requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the present resolution within the framework of his report on action envisaged to be taken in preparation for the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, to be submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session, and to report thereon also to the Commission at its next session." 

In introducing the draft resolution, the Chairperson of the Working Group orally revised it. 
24. At the 15th meeting, on 31 May, the Chairperson of the Working Group further orally revised the draft resolution. 
25. The meeting was suspended. When the meeting resumed, the Chairperson of the Working Group informed the Commission of the revisions to the draft resolution agreed upon during informal consultations. 
26. The Commission then adopted the draft resolution, as further orally revised (see chap. I, sect. C, Commission resolution S-1996/1). 
Chairman's summary of the panel discussions and the dialogue with chairpersons of inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences 
27. At the 15th meeting, on 31 May, statements were made by the representatives of the Sudan, Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran and China and the observer for Jamaica. 
28. At the same meeting, the Commission agreed that the following text would be included in the report of the Commission: 
"The Commission held three panel meetings with invited experts (22 and 23 May 1996) and a dialogue with the chairpersons of the ACC inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences (29 May 1996), on issues related to agenda item 4 (Strategies and actions for the eradication of poverty). 
"The principal elements emerging from the discussions were summarized by the Chairman of the Commission. This text was presented to the members of the Commission and the Chairman received comments from various delegations that were accommodated in the summary. However, the text was not negotiated nor was it adopted by the Commission." 
29. At the same meeting, the Commission decided to include the Chairperson's summary of the panel discussions and the dialogue with the chairpersons of inter-agency task forces in the report of the Commission (see chap. I, sect. C, Commission decision S-1996/102). The summary reads as follows: 
"STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS FOR THE ERADICATION OF POVERTY: CHAIRMAN'S SUMMARY OF THE PANEL DISCUSSIONS AND THE DIALOGUE WITH CHAIRPERSONS OF INTER-AGENCY TASK FORCES ON FOLLOW-UP TO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES 
"A. Summary of the panel discussions 
"1. An essential characteristic of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Summit for Social Development is its recognition of the interrelated nature of three core issues of social development: eradication of poverty, enhancement of productive employment and promotion of social integration. The historic commitment to eradicate poverty represents a moral, political and economic imperative for the international community to act, at all levels, to strengthen policies, programmes and institutions to fight poverty. 
"1. The international enabling environment 

"(a) Macro strategies 
"2. There may be any number of micro-level strategies to fight poverty, but in the absence of effective macroeconomic policies they are unlikely to be effective. Sectoral policies and programmes aiming to eradicate poverty may be offset or undermined by fiscal or monetary policies which can lead to greater poverty. Increasingly, the arena for implementing effective macroeconomic policy is global, requiring attention and action by major global organizations such as the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and multinational corporations. 
"(b) Relieving the burden of debt and structural adjustment 
"3. These fundamental questions of policy remain to be resolved satisfactorily. Debt-servicing continues to require enormous resources in many developing countries, resources which could be utilized for the implementation and operationalization of social programmes (the choice of directing resources remains a governmental prerogative). 
"4. Structural adjustment policies, particularly in Africa, have often been based on false assumptions about the nature of the problems many countries face. The cause of African economic stagnation was thought to be 'urban bias' in the labour market and in the provision of social services, at the expense of farmers and exporters of commodities. Structural adjustment policies aiming at devaluation and promotion of commodity exports was expected to unleash the potential of these countries for economic growth. However, faced with declining commodity prices, as well as increased competition from other countries all following the same export-oriented strategies, many countries have found that liberalized trade regimes have not led to increased growth but to deindustrialization and an impoverished urban working class. 
"5. Structural adjustment policies have generally ignored the distinct differences among countries and sought to impose standard solutions to diverse problems. A lack of sensitivity to the particular needs and circumstances of individual countries may threaten their future development potential. 
"(c) Provision of resources 
"6. Increased resources are essential for the full and effective implementation in many countries of strategies to eradicate poverty. Even with the best intentions, without sufficient resources it is often difficult for many Governments to implement the strategies and proposals which already exist. 
"7. Resources are both financial and in-kind. Additional financial resources obtained through established means - including increased and dependable official development assistance (ODA), better mobilization of domestic resources and greater foreign direct investment - are called for. Efforts should be made to reduce or delink conditionalities. Further discussion and consideration should also be given to raising resources from untried means, including international taxation. In-kind resources are the non-financial contributions of communities to their own development. Particularly where financial resources are scarce, they will remain an essential element of poverty eradication strategies. 
"(d) Globalization and trade liberalization 
"8. Rapid globalization of the world economy and increased liberalization of trade have affected the abilities of many Governments to design and implement effective strategies for national development and poverty eradication. Greater attention should be given in international institutions and intergovernmental forums to the potentially serious consequences of these developments. 
"9. To ensure that the wider opening of national economies through globalization does not lead to greater inequality, it is essential that Governments guarantee the rights of all sectors of societies and promote equal access to resources. 
"2. The relationship between economic growth and social development 
"10. Economic growth is essential for social development, particularly when social development is defined mainly in physical terms - such as provision of basic social services. Yet even when economic growth is strong, social development does not automatically follow. It is also not necessary for Governments to wait for economic growth to improve conditions for people living in poverty. Nevertheless, it is evident that many policies and programmes for social development remain based on the concept that the benefits of growth will 'trickle down' to the poor. More active intervention by a partnership of Government, civil society, multilateral institutions and donors is required. 
"11. To ensure that growth is translated into development is not easy; there is no single policy prescription. The complexity and magnitude of the issues involved and the need to shape responses to the needs of individuals and countries rules out the possibility of a standard blueprint. Yet experience from countries which have made advances in reducing poverty indicates that strong and sustained political commitment to policies which promote distribution and investment in human resources through the provision of basic social services, combined with effective service delivery mechanisms and mobilization of all the actors involved are fundamental to eradicating poverty. 
"3. The question of growth and distribution 
"12. While economic growth is essential to promote employment and eradicate poverty, it is not, in itself, a guarantee of better standards of living. Experience indicates that increased economic growth can lead to greater income inequality, resulting in large numbers of people remaining in poverty even as average per capita GDP figures soar. The persistence of poverty in spite of economic growth raises significant questions as to why particular groups fail to benefit from development. 
"13. An increasing income gap also has potentially severe social and political implications. It is essential to ensure that the distribution of the benefits of high economic growth is equitable. 
"14. To a certain extent, the fact that much recent economic growth has led to rising inequalities in some countries can be attributed to the speed with which that growth has taken place. Opening economies to globalization may enhance inequality, as many people are incapable of adjusting quickly to new and changing conditions. It is to be hoped that with prolonged economic growth inequalities will diminish, but Governments may also need to intervene to encourage some degree of redistribution. 
"4. The creation of productive employment 
"(a) Employment-intensive development 
"15. Continued and enhanced economic growth remains a priority for all countries, but current patterns of development should be revised to encourage growth which is more labour-intensive and job-creating. Labour markets have changed markedly in many countries. Governments cannot leave the responsibility for job creation to the private sector alone, but have a function to stimulate appropriate labour-intensive growth through effective policies. 
"(b) Improving the productivity of labour 
"16. There remains a massive problem for workers whose employment is not productive enough to lift them out of poverty: the persistence of the 'working poor', in spite of their best efforts and the long hours they put in, is a major component of poverty in nearly all countries. Policies and programmes should be implemented to enable workers to become more efficient, thus raising their productivity and, eventually, their incomes. 
"17. The provision of education and training, designed to impart practical skills and knowledge and revised regularly to take into account changing labour markets and national development needs, is essential and should be a prime concern of Governments. 
"18. While employment is considered essential to poverty eradication, recognition also must be given to situations in which people cannot find employment, are physically or emotionally incapable of maintaining employment, or are unable to earn sufficient income to sustain themselves. In such instances it is important for Government to maintain a basic minimum standard of living. 
"5. The potential of the informal sector 
"19. The informal sector and small and medium-sized enterprises have the potential to provide jobs and income for people living in poverty; often these jobs, precarious though they may be, are the only means available to the poor to earn some income. Yet because of their low productivity, jobs in the informal sector rarely provide workers with sufficient income or protection to enable them to lift themselves out of poverty. Some people view the informal sector as a trap for poor workers, consigning them to jobs with low productivity, unsafe conditions and little protection. 
"20. This raises the question of whether government policy should seek to encourage the informal sector and small and medium-sized enterprises to grow, thus promoting their integration into the formal economy, or whether it should encourage them to remain small and informal. In general, Governments are encouraged to support the further development of the informal sector, through such means as improving access to credit, while also adopting measures designed to raise productivity levels, thus leading to increased incomes and greater stability and protection for workers. 
"21. In rural areas emphasis should be given to the non-farm sector as a means to absorb surplus labour. 
"6. Who are the poor? The problem of perception and presentation 
"22. Policies aiming to eradicate poverty must take into consideration the various aspects of the problem, and must recognize and overcome the stereotypes and prejudices which often accompany public discussion of the issue. They must consider the perception that people living in poverty have of themselves. The media have an important role in creating and maintaining images of the poor and the causes of their condition, and they should be encouraged to provide balanced and thoughtful analyses of the complex issues surrounding poverty. Yet the media often merely reflect the sentiments of society at large, and cannot be expected to take the place of sensible and sensitive policy-making for poverty eradication. 
"23. Reference was made to the need for a better understanding of the causes of poverty - political, economic, social and personal. Various explanations currently being advanced were mentioned during the discussion, particularly the following: structural and institutional factors rooted in societies; specific barriers that groups have to confront and overcome, such as lack of access to education or resources; for individuals, lack of community or family support and a host of personal problems that lead to social dependence. None of these were considered as adequate explanations of poverty, taken singly. All of them had to be addressed together with the creation of a national and international enabling environment if strategies to eradicate poverty were to be successful. 
"24. Strategies for poverty eradication should recognize the varied experiences of different countries and their identification of the poor. Several aspects can be determined which identify or refer to people living in poverty: although much attention is given to the problems of the urban poor, in many countries the poor most often live in rural or isolated areas; they often have large families and low life expectancy; they survive without benefit of many basic services; they evidence a low level of participation in economic and political life; they often lack the basic means for productive employment; and they generally lack a sense of security in their lives. Policies to eradicate poverty must address these aspects of poverty, must seek to strengthen the determination of people living in poverty to improve their conditions and must assist them with planning and advice. 
"7. Basic human needs and basic social services 
"25. The Social Summit did not distinguish between the concepts of basic human needs and basic social services. For practical purposes, basic social services are often defined to include basic education, primary health care, nutrition, family planning and low-cost access to clean water and sanitation. The definition of basic human needs is broader in scope and extends to essential aspects of life, including employment, shelter and personal freedom. Discussion focused on the provision of basic social services as an effective and cost-efficient way to reduce poverty and a fundamental contribution to the satisfaction of basic human needs. Quality basic education for all was singled out as being of critical importance to economic and social progress and the eradication of poverty. Experience has shown the vital role of basic education in the transformation of societies and the expansion of opportunities for the disadvantaged and those living in poverty. 
"26. The provision of basic social services is a complicated undertaking, particularly across widespread territory and in isolated areas. It requires a dedicated and long-term commitment from Governments to identify and reach the people most in need and to overcome the tendency for programmes to be usurped by those with more power, connections or information. In many places it also requires a sustained commitment from non-governmental organizations, networks, communities and families, all of which are often called upon to provide resources, labour, management skills, time and enthusiasm. 
"27. Although the importance of providing basic social services is widely recognized, assurance of their financing has not been achieved. Sources of increased resources include increased government allocations, greater mobilization of community resources, debt relief or debt swaps, additional bilateral and multilateral aid, foreign borrowing, private investment and privatization of services, special taxes and greater use of cost-recovery. 
"28. The 'Oslo Consensus on 20/20', developed at a recent meeting in that city, calls on developing countries to initiate dialogues with their development partners aimed at identifying methods to expand and fund access to basic social services. In the future, consultative group and round-table meetings will include a session on the implementation of 20/20 and the financing of basic social services. Recently, at the high-level meeting of the OECD Development Assistance Committee in Paris, a series of time-bound commitments was approved aiming to reduce poverty and meet targets for the provision of basic social services. The report of that meeting, entitled 'Shaping the 21st Century', was made available to the Commission for Social Development. 
"29. Each of the sources of resources listed provides opportunities and each has drawbacks, and the provision of basic social services under actual conditions will likely continue to rely on various combinations of all of them. No single option or combination of options can be predetermined. Governments have the responsibility to determine their own particular needs and develop their own solutions in partnership with the organizations of civil society, donors and multilateral institutions. 
"8. The role of civil society 
"30. As expressed in the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, Governments have recognized the potential of non-governmental organizations and other actors of civil society to reach people living in poverty, and they are increasingly willing to enter into partnerships to promote policies and programmes for poverty eradication, including employment creation and provision of basic social services. These partnerships should be supported and encouraged. 
"31. Organizations of civil society have been praised for being flexible, responsive, representative and open to wide participation; many function at the grass-roots level and provide vital opportunities for two-way communication with local communities. Many also provide the best, if not the only, means for people living in poverty to express their needs and concerns. It is, however, important to avoid making general assumptions about the nature of these organizations. Given the wide array of organizations and the diversity of their goals, operating methods and accomplishments, it would be an oversimplification to make all-inclusive conclusions about the role of the organizations of civil society. Nevertheless, the importance of involving a variety of organizations of civil society in efforts to eradicate poverty and the beneficial results of many of their efforts is frequently demonstrated and has been reflected throughout this summary. 
"9. The need for institution-building at all levels 
"32. At the international level, the United Nations and particularly the Economic and Social Council and its functional commissions, are clearly primary forums for discussion of the issues surrounding poverty and strategies for its eradication. Whether existing institutions can and should be revitalized and reshaped to enable them to promote and support new approaches to economic and social development is an issue which is currently being addressed, both in the Commission for Social Development and throughout the system. The question of whether new institutions should be developed has not been addressed. 
"33. Nationally, the design of policies for economic and social inclusion which will promote new approaches to development and to poverty eradication will also require a degree of rethinking about the institutions currently charged with these responsibilities. Questions were raised about the ability of existing ministries and national bureaucracies to implement the emerging international consensus on new approaches to development. New partnerships of Government and civil society will clearly be required, and this should be seen as a positive development. A part of the effort to eradicate poverty must include an analysis of the institutions which will be charged with the implementation of strategies. 
"34. Local communities must be able to help themselves; the vulnerable groups need to be defended against the process of exclusion, which may gain strength as economic growth accelerates. Therefore, it is essential that local networks, organizations and community groups be strengthened - with funding, with training and with increased self-confidence - to enable them to defend and support their members. 
"10. The need to guarantee rights and protections
"35. A major factor influencing the ability of individuals and groups to raise themselves from poverty is their enjoyment of rights to resources - land, forests, fisheries - which they can utilize and manage to ensure sufficient incomes. Sometimes, social groups which have contributed significantly to national economic development are not able to enjoy the benefits of that development because they are excluded from ownership of or access to resources. 
"11. The need for continuous information and monitoring 
"36. Policies to eradicate poverty should strive to be comprehensive but focus on key issues. As economic growth continues social conditions change rapidly. For policies to be effective, it is essential that they be continuously reviewed and revised as necessary to address changing situations and needs. This will require that policy makers have access to continuous and up-to-date information about conditions and about the impact of current policies. 
"37. Information gathering and policy monitoring are, however, not ends in themselves: it is necessary that information be properly and sufficiently acted upon so that effective policies remain so and ineffective policies are changed. The organizations of civil society will also be instrumental in providing information and in monitoring policy performance. 
"12. The issue of social change and its impact on economic growth 
"38. Many societies have witnessed profound social change, most noticeably in terms of gender relations and in family structures, which are both cause and effect of economic growth and developments. 
"39. Social change, in particular with regard to women or to vulnerable social groups, actually refers to changes in attitudes about their roles in and their contributions to the societies in which they live. These changes in attitudes should lead to their empowerment and greater participation in economic and social life, which should improve their positions enormously. It can be expected that such change would lead to greater and faster economic growth, by freeing pent-up potential and skills which now go unutilized. It also requires change based on the political will to promote inclusion and the rights of all members of society. 
"40. The particular role of the family as a source of support should be recognized and supported by policies and programmes, while taking into account the evolution which traditional notions of the family have undergone in most places. 
"13. Obstacles to eradicating poverty 
"41. Many of the traditional theories and concepts of development, and the policies they have engendered, have been based on an ethic of materialism, exclusion and domination, rather than a sense of solidarity among all people, and have resulted in situations whereby participation by the poor is not facilitated and their views, experiences and contributions are not valued. It was perceived that, within many societies, a certain level of poverty may be considered desirable, as a source of cheap labour and to maintain a passive political constituency. Any strategy to eradicate poverty must first make a careful and honest assessment of which groups or institutions within society may actually benefit from poverty and how, so that likely resistance to anti-poverty efforts may be taken into account. 
"42. Many previous anti-poverty strategies have been organized in a paternalistic, top-down fashion which failed to take into account the needs, concerns and considerations of people living in poverty. Tremendous resources have been squandered in such efforts. Experience indicates that government interventions which fail to devolve decision- making to the local community tend to be far less successful than those which promote decentralization of responsibility. 
"43. There has also been a failure on the part of some Governments and donors to recognize the complexity of the condition of poverty. Often, poverty has been considered to be a single phenomenon with similar causes and effects everywhere, and assumptions have been made that all people living in poverty have essentially identical needs and aspirations. These false assumptions lead to simplistic, universal solutions which fail completely to take individual considerations into account and which are therefore often inappropriate, leading to failure, wasted resources and frustration. 
"44. It is important to recognize the tendency for the non-poor to usurp control over anti-poverty projects and to hijack their benefits, as well as the counter-strategies developed by the non-poor to perpetuate their economic and social advantages. Further research should be undertaken on the strategies of the non-poor and their impact on the ability of people living in poverty to improve their condition. 
"14. Establishing partnerships with people living in poverty 
"45. The eradication of poverty will require the establishment of partnerships between people living in poverty and the rest of society. Partnerships must be based on respect and solidarity, as well as on a recognition of the rights and responsibilities of both the poor and the non-poor. 
"46. Partnership must also be built on a new way of thinking about the poor: they may be 'cash poor' but rich in vision, tradition and initiative. Strategies to eradicate poverty must be imbued with an awareness of the skills, expertise and knowledge of people living in poverty, must acknowledge and respect diversity, must provide the information and access to services and resources that will enable people living in poverty to raise their standard of living, and must base their prescriptions on the solutions that the poor themselves develop. 
"47. Successful partnerships rest on ensuring access to fundamental services; protecting and empowering families; investing in human resources; allowing time for trusting relationships to develop; sharing knowledge between the poor and the non-poor; training individuals and institutions working with the poor; assessing progress, with the participation of the poor. 
"48. Particularly in cities and other areas of steady in-migration, where traditional patterns of solidarity have often broken down, it is important to support emerging forms of solidarity, including religious, women's or youth groups. 
"49. To encourage self-reliance requires a long-term effort to reach out to communities of people living in poverty. It requires efforts to encourage them to develop their own organizations based on common needs, interests or goals and should take into account a series of different phases of enablement, including consciousness-raising, mobilization, participation, organization, capacity-building and allowing local control of space and resources. 
"B. Summary of the dialogue with the chairpersons of inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences * 
(* Task Force on Basic Social Services for All, chaired by the United Nations Population Fund and represented by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; Task Force on Employment and Sustainable Livelihoods, chaired by the International Labour Organization; Task Force on the Enabling Environment for Social and Economic Development, chaired by the World Bank; and Inter-Agency Committee on Women, chaired by the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues. The dialogue was moderated by the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme.) 
"50. The dialogue focused on the link between intergovernmental policy processes and actions taken to implement in an integrated and coordinated fashion commitments adopted at recent United Nations conferences in the social and economic sectors. 
"51. The dialogue can be summarized in terms of five issue clusters. 
"15. Development - as an inclusive process 
"52. A major focus in the work of the various inter-agency mechanisms is how to ensure that development is a process which is inclusive of all, sustainable and equitable. At present many countries, groups and individuals have been left behind in the emerging global economy. While the market-oriented approach was generally recognized as being capable of bringing greater dynamism and efficiency, it did not ensure broad-based development and fulfilment of basic human needs for all. Positive policies of the State at different levels were therefore essential. Special attention is being directed to effective incorporation of gender concerns in implementation of recent conference goals and commitments. Measures are also being tested and evaluated to ensure that relief and rehabilitation efforts in post-conflict situations can progress smoothly, are mutually reinforcing and ensure a smooth transition to renewed development and social progress. 
"16. More effective and efficient system-wide follow-up 
"53. It was noted that the inter-agency mechanisms have yielded a number of improvements in terms of specific time-bound and demand-driven responses to country-level needs that further the implementation of recent conference goals and commitments. This has served (a) as a driving force for a better division of system-wide efforts, as evidenced by the subject-matter focus of the three task forces; (b) as an enabling mechanism for integrated country-level action; and (c) as a vehicle for critical new input on complex development issues, as evidenced by the Secretary-General's Africa regional-level initiative on agreed development objectives and the United Nations system-wide approach to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. 
"54. Reform efforts were bringing about changes in organization of work and outreach among specialized constituencies both among the United Nations system and the Bretton Woods institutions. Both had instituted measures to consult with civil society on issues and trends and had established new public-private sector partnerships to promote sustained and equitable development. 
"55. Among obstacles in the way of a satisfactory system-wide response to conference follow-up, a lack of financial resources for the necessary level of development cooperation was cited. Resource shortfalls had affected progress in implementing the 'Education for All' commitments adopted at the Jomtien Conference. Second, was a need for a United Nations system organizational framework at all levels as well as an appropriate institutional framework for cooperation with the bilateral donor community. Third, was a need to strengthen the process of genuine country 'ownership' of development cooperation activities among programme countries. 
"17. Initiatives in system-wide coordination 
"56. The decision of ACC to establish the three task forces and the Inter-Agency Committee on Women was based on a concern to reduce duplication of efforts and to focus on priority objectives of recent conferences. The task force experience is to be appropriately incorporated in the programmes of work of participating United Nations organizations, including specialized agencies. 
"57. Lessons emerging from the coordination initiatives to date include the importance of an agreed division of labour among concerned members of the system to achieve efficiencies in the design and delivery of development cooperation, of promoting cooperation with all concerned development partners, including civil society, to further demand-driven development cooperation, and of formulating country-level frameworks, such as the country strategy note, to further country ownership of development cooperation activities. 
"58. System-wide coordination initiatives have resulted in the identification of gender and of the family as important cross-cutting concerns in poverty eradication measures. In addition, the view was expressed that the exploitation of children and child labour represented another issue for system-wide action since it involved basic education, health, labour standards and rights, and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods among men and women. 
"18. Initiatives in institutional development 
"59. Effective poverty eradication will require strengthened institutional arrangements. These include both the market as a mechanism to mobilize and allocate resources and the involvement of representative and participatory organizations of civil society. 
"60. Recent experience also suggests the importance of effective and transparent governance in sustained and equitable development and an effective public service. Greater importance needed to be given to restoring the role and effectiveness of public services at all levels. Governance was considered at the resumed fiftieth session of the General Assembly in the context of public administration and development as well; and the role of the State in development will be the subject of the World Development Report, 1997. 
"19. Resources management initiatives 
"61. Conference follow-up involved issues of new and improved output measures as well as improved data and information for development reporting, of new and alternative resources for social investments, particularly in the light of debt-service levels in many countries, and of building national capacities for sustained development. 
"62. Improved data for evaluating progress is being considered by the three task forces with a view to greater consistency in the respective indicators of progress achieved. In terms of output indicators, income inequality and gender-based distributional and demographic measures were stressed, and also infant mortality. 
"63. The need to identify new and additional resources for social investments had led to a number of initiatives in mobilizing private sector flows as well as community-based resources among selected programme countries. Specific reference was made to recent relief and rehabilitation activities in post-conflict countries. The World Bank also cited its current study in cooperation with the non-governmental community on structural adjustment measures and the social objectives. 
"64. National capacities and institutional capabilities represent a third development resource dimension. National capacities will necessarily influence the nature and pace of country 'ownership' of development cooperation activities. Effective and participatory institutions will influence the nature and role of civil society in development decision-making as well as in the sharing of the benefits of development." 


The World Summit on Social Development, Copenhagen 1995
Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development
Chapter II : Eradication of Poverty 
Basis for action and objectives 
18. Over 1 billion people in the world today live under unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in developing countries, and particularly in rural areas of low-income Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the least developed countries. 
19. Poverty has various manifestations, including lack of income and productive resources sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments; and social discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterized by a lack of participation in decision-making and in civil, social and cultural life. It occurs in all countries: as mass poverty in many developing countries, pockets of poverty amid wealth in developed countries, loss of livelihoods as a result of economic recession, sudden poverty as a result of disaster or conflict, the poverty of low-wage workers, and the utter destitution of people who fall outside family support systems, social institutions and safety nets. Women bear a disproportionate burden of poverty, and children growing up in poverty are often permanently disadvantaged. Older people, people with disabilities, indigenous people, refugees and internally displaced persons are also particularly vulnerable to poverty. Furthermore, poverty in its various forms represents a barrier to communication and access to services, as well as a major health risk, and people living in poverty are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of disasters and conflicts. Absolute poverty is a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to social services. 
20. There is general agreement that persistent widespread poverty, as well as serious social and gender inequities, have significant influences on and are in turn influenced by demographic parameters, such as population growth, structure and distribution. There is also general agreement that unsustainable consumption and production patterns are contributing to the unsustainable use of natural resources and environmental degradation, as well as to the reinforcement of social inequities and poverty, with the above-mentioned consequences for demographic parameters. 
21. Urban poverty is rapidly increasing in pace with overall urbanization. It is a growing phenomenon in all countries and regions, and often poses special problems, such as overcrowding, contaminated water and bad sanitation, unsafe shelter, crime and additional social problems. An increasing number of low-income urban households are female-maintained. 
22. Among people living in poverty, gender disparities are marked, especially in the increase in female-maintained households. With increasing population, the numbers of youth living in poverty will increase significantly. Therefore, specific measures are needed to address the juvenilization and feminization of poverty. 
23. Poverty has various causes, including structural ones. Poverty is a complex multidimensional problem with origins in both the national and international domains. No uniform solution can be found for global application. Rather, country-specific programmes to tackle poverty and international efforts supporting national efforts, as well as the parallel process of creating a supportive international environment, are crucial for a solution to this problem. Poverty is inseparably linked to lack of control over resources, including land, skills, knowledge, capital and social connections. Without those resources, people are easily neglected by policy makers and have limited access to institutions, markets, employment and public services. The eradication of poverty cannot be accomplished through anti-poverty programmes alone but will require democratic participation and changes in economic structures in order to ensure access for all to resources, opportunities and public services, to undertake policies geared to more equitable distribution of wealth and income, to provide social protection for those who cannot support themselves, and to assist people confronted by unforeseen catastrophe, whether individual or collective, natural, social or technological. 
24. The eradication of poverty requires universal access to economic opportunities that will promote sustainable livelihood and basic social services, as well as special efforts to facilitate access to opportunities and services for the disadvantaged. People living in poverty and vulnerable groups must be empowered through organization and participation in all aspects of political, economic and social life, in particular in the planning and implementation of policies that affect them, thus enabling them to become genuine partners in development. 
25. There is therefore an urgent need for: 
~ National strategies to reduce overall poverty substantially, including measures to remove the structural barriers that prevent people from escaping poverty, with specific time-bound commitments to eradicate absolute poverty by a target date to be specified by each country in its national context; 
~ Stronger international cooperation and the support of international institutions to assist countries in their efforts to eradicate poverty and to provide basic social protection and services; 
~ Development of methods to measure all forms of poverty, especially absolute poverty, and to assess and monitor the circumstances of those at risk, within the national context; 
~ Regular national reviews of economic policies and national budgets to orient them towards eradicating poverty and reducing inequalities; 
~ Expanded opportunities to enable people living in poverty to enhance their overall capacities and improve their economic and social conditions, while managing resources sustainably; 
~ Human resource development and improved infrastructural facilities; 
~ Comprehensive provision for the basic needs of all; 
~ Policies ensuring that all people have adequate economic and social protection during unemployment, ill health, maternity, disability and old age; 
~ Policies that strengthen the family and contribute to its stability in accordance with the principles, goals and commitments contained in the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development; 11/ 
~ Mobilization of both the public and the private sectors, more developed areas, educational and academic institutions and non-governmental organizations to assist poverty-stricken areas. 
Actions 
A. Formulation of integrated strategies 
26. Governments should give greater focus to public efforts to eradicate absolute poverty and to reduce overall poverty substantially by: 
(a) Promoting sustained economic growth, in the context of sustainable development, and social progress, requiring that growth be broadly based, offering equal opportunities to all people. All countries should recognize their common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed countries acknowledge the responsibility they bear in the international pursuit of sustainable development, and should continue to improve their efforts to promote sustained economic growth and to narrow imbalances in a manner that can benefit all countries, particularly the developing countries; 
(b) Formulating or strengthening, preferably by 1996, and implementing national poverty eradication plans to address the structural causes of poverty, encompassing action on the local, national, subregional, regional and international levels. These plans should establish, within each national context, strategies and affordable time-bound goals and targets for the substantial reduction of overall poverty and the eradication of absolute poverty. In the context of national plans, particular attention should be given to employment creation as a means of eradicating poverty, giving appropriate consideration to health and education, assigning a higher priority to basic social services, generating household income, and promoting access to productive assets and economic opportunities; 
(c) Identifying the livelihood systems, survival strategies and self-help organizations of people living in poverty and working with such organizations to develop programmes for combating poverty that build on their efforts, ensuring the full participation of the people concerned and responding to their actual needs; 
(d) Elaborating, at the national level, the measurements, criteria and indicators for determining the extent and distribution of absolute poverty. Each country should develop a precise definition and assessment of absolute poverty, preferably by 1996, the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty; 12/ 
(e) Establishing policies, objectives and measurable targets to enhance and broaden women's economic opportunities and their access to productive resources, particularly women who have no source of income; 
(f) Promoting effective enjoyment by all people of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, and access to existing social protection and public services, in particular through encouraging the ratification and ensuring the full implementation of relevant human rights instruments, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 13/ and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; 13/ 
(g) Eliminating the injustice and obstacles that women are faced with, and encouraging and strengthening the participation of women in taking decisions and in implementing them, as well as their access to productive resources and land ownership and their right to inherit goods; 
(h) Encouraging and supporting local community development projects that foster the skill, self-reliance and self-confidence of people living in poverty and that facilitate their active participation in efforts to eradicate poverty. 
27. Governments are urged to integrate goals and targets for combating poverty into overall economic and social policies and planning at the local, national and, where appropriate, regional levels by: 
(a) Analysing policies and programmes, including those relating to macroeconomic stability, structural adjustment programmes, taxation, investments, employment, markets and all relevant sectors of the economy, with respect to their impact on poverty and inequality, assessing their impact on family well-being and conditions, as well as their gender implications, and adjusting them, as appropriate, to promote a more equitable distribution of productive assets, wealth, opportunities, income and services; 
(b) Redesigning public investment policies that relate to infrastructure development, the management of natural resources and human resource development to benefit people living in poverty and to promote their compatibility with the long-term improvement of livelihoods; 
(c) Ensuring that development policies benefit low-income communities and rural and agricultural development; 
(d) Selecting, wherever possible, development schemes that do not displace local populations, and designing an appropriate policy and legal framework to compensate the displaced for their losses, to help them to re-establish their livelihoods and to promote their recovery from social and cultural disruption; 
(e) Designing and implementing environmental protection and resource management measures that take into account the needs of people living in poverty and vulnerable groups in accordance with Agenda 21 and the various consensus agreements, conventions and programmes of action adopted in the framework of the follow-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development; 
(f) Establishing and strengthening, as appropriate, mechanisms for the coordination of efforts to combat poverty, in collaboration with civil society, including the private sector, and developing integrated intersectoral and intra-governmental responses for such purposes. 
28. People living in poverty and their organizations should be empowered by: 
(a) Involving them fully in the setting of targets and in the design, implementation, monitoring and assessment of national strategies and programmes for poverty eradication and community-based development, and ensuring that such programmes reflect their priorities; 
(b) Integrating gender concerns in the planning and implementation of policies and programmes for the empowerment of women; 
(c) Ensuring that policies and programmes affecting people living in poverty respect their dignity and culture and make full use of their knowledge, skills and resourcefulness; 
(d) Strengthening education at all levels and ensuring the access to education of people living in poverty, in particular their access to primary education and other basic education opportunities; 
(e) Encouraging and assisting people living in poverty to organize so that their representatives can participate in economic and social policy-making and work more effectively with governmental, non-governmental and other relevant institutions to obtain the services and opportunities they need; 
(f) Placing special emphasis on capacity-building and community-based management; 
(g) Educating people about their rights, the political system and the availability of programmes. 
29. There is a need to periodically monitor, assess and share information on the performance of poverty eradication plans, evaluate policies to combat poverty, and promote an understanding and awareness of poverty and its causes and consequences. This could be done, by Governments, inter alia, through: 
(a) Developing, updating and disseminating specific and agreed gender- disaggregated indicators of poverty and vulnerability, including income, wealth, nutrition, physical and mental health, education, literacy, family conditions, unemployment, social exclusion and isolation, homelessness, landlessness and other factors, as well as indicators of the national and international causes underlying poverty; for this purpose, gathering comprehensive and comparable data, disaggregated by ethnicity, gender, disability, family status, language groupings, regions and economic and social sectors; 
(b) Monitoring and assessing the achievement of goals and targets agreed to in international forums in the area of social development; evaluating, quantitatively and qualitatively, changes in poverty levels, the persistence of poverty, and vulnerability to poverty, particularly concerning household income levels and access to resources and services; and assessing the effectiveness of poverty eradication strategies, based on the priorities and perceptions of households living in poverty and low-income communities; 
(c) Strengthening international data collection and statistical systems to support countries in monitoring social development goals, and encouraging the expansion of international databases to incorporate socially beneficial activities that are not included in available data, such as women's unremunerated work and contributions to society, the informal economy and sustainable livelihoods; 
(d) Mobilizing public awareness, in particular through educational institutions, non-governmental organizations and the media, to enable society to prioritize the struggle against poverty, while focusing attention on progress or failure in the pursuit of defined goals and targets; 
(e) Mobilizing the resources of universities and research institutions to improve the understanding of the causes of poverty and their solutions, as well as the impact of structural adjustment measures on people living in poverty and the effectiveness of anti-poverty strategies and programmes, strengthening the capacity for social science research in developing countries and integrating, as appropriate, the results of research into decision-making processes; 
(f) Facilitating and promoting the exchange of knowledge and experience, especially among developing countries, through, inter alia, subregional and regional organizations. 
30. Members of the international community should, bilaterally or through multilateral organizations, foster an enabling environment for poverty eradication by: 
(a) Coordinating policies and programmes to support the measures being taken in the developing countries, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries, to eradicate poverty, provide remunerative work and strengthen social integration in order to meet basic social development goals and targets; 
(b) Promoting international cooperation to assist developing countries, at their request, in their efforts, in particular at the community level, towards achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women; 
(c) Strengthening the capacities of developing countries to monitor the progress of national poverty eradication plans and to assess the impact of national and international policies and programmes on people living in poverty and address their negative impacts; 
(d) Strengthening the capacity of countries with economies in transition to develop their social protection systems and social policies for, inter alia, the reduction of poverty; 
(e) Addressing the special needs of small island developing States with respect to eradicating poverty and meeting poverty eradication goals and targets, within the context of social development programmes that reflect their national priorities; 
(f) Addressing the problems faced by the land-locked developing countries in eradicating poverty and supporting their efforts aimed at social development; 
(g) Supporting societies disrupted by conflict in their efforts to rebuild their social protection systems and eradicate poverty. 
B. Improved access to productive resources and infrastructure 
31. The opportunities for income generation, diversification of activities and increase of productivity in low-income and poor communities should be enhanced by: 
(a) Improving the availability and accessibility of transportation, communication, power and energy services at the local or community level, in particular for isolated, remote and marginalized communities; 
(b) Ensuring that investments in infrastructure support sustainable development at the local or community levels; 
(c) Emphasizing the need for developing countries that are heavily dependent on primary commodities to continue to promote a domestic policy and an institutional environment that encourage diversification and enhance competitiveness; 
(d) Supporting the importance of commodity diversification as a means to increase the export revenues of developing countries and to improve their competitiveness in the face of the persistent instability in the price of some primary commodities and the general deterioration in the terms of trade; 
(e) Promoting, including by micro-enterprises, rural non-farm production and service activities, such as agro-processing, sales and services of agricultural equipment and inputs, irrigation, credit services and other income-generating activities through, inter alia, supportive laws and administrative measures, credit policies, and technical and administrative training; 
(f) Strengthening and improving financial and technical assistance for community-based development and self-help programmes, and strengthening cooperation among Governments, community organizations, cooperatives, formal and informal banking institutions, private enterprises and international agencies, with the aim of mobilizing local savings, promoting the creation of local financial networks, and increasing the availability of credit and market information to small entrepreneurs, small farmers and other low-income self-employed workers, with particular efforts to ensure the availability of such services to women; 
(g) Strengthening organizations of small farmers, landless tenants and labourers, other small producers, fisherfolk, community-based and workers' cooperatives, especially those run by women, in order to, inter alia, improve market access and increase productivity, provide inputs and technical advice, promote cooperation in production and marketing operations, and strengthen participation in the planning and implementation of rural development; 
(h) Promoting national and international assistance in providing economically viable alternatives for social groups, especially farmers involved in the cultivation and processing of crops used for the illegal drug trade; 
(i) Improving the competitiveness of natural products with environmental advantages and strengthening the impact that this could have on promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns, and strengthening and improving financial and technical assistance to the developing countries for research and development of such products; 
(j) Promoting comprehensive rural development, including by land reform, land improvement and economic diversification; 
(k) Improving economic opportunities for rural women through the elimination of legal, social, cultural and practical obstacles to women's participation in economic activities and ensuring that women have equal access to productive resources. 
32. Rural poverty should be addressed by: 
(a) Expanding and improving land ownership through such measures as land reform and improving the security of land tenure, and ensuring the equal rights of women and men in this respect, developing new agricultural land, promoting fair land rents, making land transfers more efficient and fair, and adjudicating land disputes; 
(b) Promoting fair wages and improving the conditions of agricultural labour, and increasing the access of small farmers to water, credit, extension services and appropriate technology, including for women, persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups on the basis of equality; 
(c) Strengthening measures and actions designed to improve the social, economic and living conditions in rural areas and thereby discouraging rural exodus; 
(d) Promoting opportunities for small farmers and other agricultural, forestry and fishery workers on terms that respect sustainable development; 
(e) Improving access to markets and market information in order to enable small producers to obtain better prices for their products and pay better prices for the materials they need; 
(f) Protecting, within the national context, the traditional rights to land and other resources of pastoralists, fishery workers and nomadic and indigenous people, and strengthening land management in the areas of pastoral or nomadic activity, building on traditional communal practices, controlling encroachment by others, and developing improved systems of range management and access to water, markets, credit, animal production, veterinary services, health including health services, education and information; 
(g) Promoting education, research and development on farming systems and smallholder cultivation and animal husbandry techniques, particularly in environmentally fragile areas, building on local and traditional practices of sustainable agriculture and taking particular advantage of women's knowledge; 
(h) Strengthening agricultural training and extension services to promote a more effective use of existing technologies and indigenous knowledge systems and to disseminate new technologies in order to reach both men and women farmers and other agricultural workers, including through the hiring of more women as extension workers; 
(i) Promoting infrastructural and institutional investment in small-scale farming in resource-poor regions so that small-scale farmers can fully explore market opportunities, within the context of liberalization. 
33. Access to credit by small rural or urban producers, landless farmers and other people with low or no income should be substantially improved, with special attention to the needs of women and disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, by: 
(a) Reviewing national legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks that restrict the access of people living in poverty, especially women, to credit on reasonable terms; 
(b) Promoting realistic targets for access to affordable credit, where appropriate; 
(c) Providing incentives for improving access to and strengthening the capacities of the organized credit system to deliver credit and related services to people living in poverty and vulnerable groups; 
(d) Expanding financial networks, building on existing community networks, promoting attractive opportunities for savings and ensuring equitable access to credit at the local level. 
34. Urban poverty should further be addressed by: 
(a) Promoting and strengthening micro-enterprises, new small businesses, cooperative enterprises, and expanded market and other employment opportunities and, where appropriate, facilitating the transition from the informal to the formal sector; 
(b) Promoting sustainable livelihoods for people living in urban poverty through the provision or expansion of access to training, education and other employment assistance services, in particular for women, youth, the unemployed and the underemployed; 
(c) Promoting public and private investments to improve for the deprived the overall human environment and infrastructure, in particular housing, water and sanitation, and public transportation; 
(d) Ensuring that strategies for shelter give special attention to women and children, bearing in mind the perspectives of women in the development of such strategies; 
(e) Promoting social and other essential services, including, where necessary, assistance for people to move to areas that offer better employment opportunities, housing, education, health and other social services; 
(f) Ensuring safety through effective criminal justice administration and protective measures that are responsive to the needs and concerns of the community; 
(g) Strengthening the role and expanding the means of municipal authorities, non-governmental organizations, universities and other educational institutions, businesses and community organizations, enabling them to be more actively involved in urban planning, policy development and implementation; 
(h) Ensuring that special measures are taken to protect the displaced, the homeless, street children, unaccompanied minors and children in special and difficult circumstances, orphans, adolescents and single mothers, people with disabilities, and older persons, and to ensure that they are integrated into their communities. 
C. Meeting the basic human needs of all 
35. Governments, in partnership with all other development actors, in particular with people living in poverty and their organizations, should cooperate to meet the basic human needs of all, including people living in poverty and vulnerable groups, by: 
(a) Ensuring universal access to basic social services, with particular efforts to facilitate access by people living in poverty and vulnerable groups; 
(b) Creating public awareness that the satisfaction of basic human needs is an essential element of poverty reduction; these needs are closely interrelated and comprise nutrition, health, water and sanitation, education, employment, housing and participation in cultural and social life; 
(c) Ensuring full and equal access to social services, especially education, legal services and health-care services for women of all ages and children, recognizing the rights, duties and responsibilities of parents and other persons legally responsible for children, consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child; 
(d) Ensuring that due priority is given and adequate resources made available, at the national, regional and international levels, to combat the threat to individual and public health posed by the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS globally and by the re-emergence of major diseases, such as tuberculosis, malaria, onchocerciasis (river blindness) and diarrhoeal diseases, in particular cholera; 
(e) Taking particular actions to enhance the productive capacities of indigenous people, ensuring their full and equal access to social services and their participation in the elaboration and implementation of policies that affect their development, with full respect for their cultures, languages, traditions and forms of social organizations, as well as their own initiatives; 
(f) Providing appropriate social services to enable vulnerable people and people living in poverty to improve their lives, to exercise their rights and to participate fully in all social, economic and political activities and to contribute to social and economic development; 
(g) Recognizing that improving people's health is inseparably linked to a sound environment; 
(h) Ensuring physical access to all basic social services for persons who are older, disabled or home-bound; 
(i) Ensuring that people living in poverty have full and equal access to justice, including knowledge of their rights and, as appropriate, through the provision of free legal assistance. The legal system should be made more sensitive and responsive to the needs and special circumstances of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in order to ensure a strong and independent administration of justice; 
(j) Promoting full restorative services, in particular for those who require institutional care or are home-bound, and a comprehensive array of community-based, long-term care services for those facing loss of independence. 
36. Governments should implement the commitments that have been made to meet the basic needs of all, with assistance from the international community consistent with chapter V of the present Programme of Action, including, inter alia, the following: 
(a) By the year 2000, universal access to basic education and completion of primary education by at least 80 per cent of primary school-age children; closing the gender gap in primary and secondary school education by the year 2005; universal primary education in all countries before the year 2015; 
(b) By the year 2000, life expectancy of not less than 60 years in any country; 
(c) By the year 2000, reduction of mortality rates of infants and children under five years of age by one third of the 1990 level, or 50 to 70 per 1,000 live births, whichever is less; by the year 2015, achievement of an infant mortality rate below 35 per 1,000 live births and an under-five mortality rate below 45 per 1,000; 
(d) By the year 2000, a reduction in maternal mortality by one half of the 1990 level; by the year 2015, a further reduction by one half; 
(e) Achieving food security by ensuring a safe and nutritionally adequate food supply, at both the national and international levels, a reasonable degree of stability in the supply of food, as well as physical, social and economic access to enough food for all, while reaffirming that food should not be used as a tool for political pressure; 
(f) By the year 2000, a reduction of severe and moderate malnutrition among children under five years of age by half of the 1990 level; 
(g) By the year 2000, attainment by all peoples of the world of a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life, and to this end, ensuring primary health care for all; 
(h) Making accessible through the primary health-care system reproductive health to all individuals of appropriate ages as soon as possible and no later than the year 2015, in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, and taking into account the reservations and declarations made at that Conference, especially those concerning the need for parental guidance and parental responsibility; 
(i) Strengthening efforts and increasing commitments with the aim, by the year 2000, of reducing malaria mortality and morbidity by at least 20 per cent compared to 1995 levels in at least 75 per cent of affected countries, as well as reducing social and economic losses due to malaria in the developing countries, especially in Africa, where the overwhelming majority of both cases and deaths occur; 
(j) By the year 2000, eradicating, eliminating or controlling major diseases constituting global health problems, in accordance with paragraph 6.12 of Agenda 21; 2/ 
(k) Reducing the adult illiteracy rate - the appropriate age group to be determined in each country - to at least half its 1990 level, with an emphasis on female literacy; achieving universal access to quality education, with particular priority being given to primary and technical education and job training, combating illiteracy, and eliminating gender disparities in access to, retention in and support for education; 
(l) Providing, on a sustainable basis, access to safe drinking water in sufficient quantities, and proper sanitation for all; 
(m) Improving the availability of affordable and adequate shelter for all, in accordance with the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000; 14/ 
(n) Monitoring the implementation of those commitments at the highest appropriate level and considering the possibility of expediting their implementation through the dissemination of sufficient and accurate statistical data and appropriate indicators. 
37. Access to social services for people living in poverty and vulnerable groups should be improved through: 
(a) Facilitating access and improving the quality of education for people living in poverty by establishing schools in unserved areas, providing social services, such as meals and health care, as incentives for families in poverty to keep children in school, and improving the quality of schools in low-income communities; 
(b) Expanding and improving opportunities for continuing education and training by means of public and private initiatives and non-formal education in order to improve opportunities for people living in poverty, including people with disabilities, and in order to develop the skills and knowledge that they need to better their conditions and livelihoods; 
(c) Expanding and improving preschool education, both formal and non-formal, including through new learning technologies, radio and television, to overcome some of the disadvantages faced by young children growing up in poverty; 
(d) Ensuring that people living in poverty and low-income communities have access to quality health care that provides primary health-care services, consistent with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, free of charge or at affordable rates; 
(e) Promoting cooperation among government agencies, health-care workers, non-governmental organizations, women's organizations and other institutions of civil society in order to develop a comprehensive national strategy for improving reproductive health care and child health-care services and ensuring that people living in poverty have full access to those services, including, inter alia, education and services on family planning, safe motherhood and prenatal and postnatal care, and the benefits of breast-feeding, consistent with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development; 
(f) Encouraging health-care workers to work in low-income communities and rural areas, and providing outreach services to make health care available to otherwise unserved areas, recognizing that investing in a primary health-care system that ensures prevention, treatment and rehabilitation for all individuals is an effective means of promoting social and economic development as well as broad participation in society. 
D. Enhanced social protection and reduced vulnerability 
38. Social protection systems should be based on legislation and, as appropriate, strengthened and expanded, as necessary, in order to protect from poverty people who cannot find work; people who cannot work due to sickness, disability, old age or maternity, or to their caring for children and sick or older relatives; families that have lost a breadwinner through death or marital breakup; and people who have lost their livelihoods due to natural disasters or civil violence, wars or forced displacement. Due attention should be given to people affected by the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) pandemic. Actions to this end should include: 
(a) Strengthening and expanding programmes targeted to those in need, programmes providing universal basic protection, and social security insurance programmes, with the choice of programmes depending on national financial and administrative capacities; 
(b) Developing, where necessary, a strategy for a gradual expansion of social protection programmes that provide social security for all, according to a schedule and terms and conditions related to national contexts; 
(c) Ensuring that social safety nets associated with economic restructuring are considered as complementary strategies to overall poverty reduction and an increase in productive employment. Short term by nature, safety nets must protect people living in poverty and enable them to find productive employment; 
(d) Designing social protection and support programmes to help people become self-sufficient as fully and quickly as possible, to assist and protect families, to reintegrate people excluded from economic activity and to prevent the social isolation or stigmatization of those who need protection; 
(e) Exploring a variety of means for raising revenues to strengthen social protection programmes, and promoting efforts by the private sector and voluntary associations to provide social protection and support; 
(f) Promoting the innovative efforts of self-help organizations, professional associations and other organizations of civil society in this sphere; 
(g) Expanding and strengthening social protection programmes to protect working people, including the self-employed and their families, from the risk of falling into poverty, by extending coverage to as many as possible, providing benefits quickly and ensuring that entitlements continue when workers change jobs; 
(h) Ensuring, through appropriate regulation, that contributory social protection plans are efficient and transparent so that the contributions of workers, employers and the State and the accumulation of resources can be monitored by the participants; 
(i) Ensuring an adequate social safety net under structural adjustment programmes; 
(j) Ensuring that social protection and social support programmes meet the needs of women, and especially that they take into account women's multiple roles and concerns, in particular the reintegration of women into formal work after periods of absence, support for older women, and the promotion of acceptance of women's multiple roles and responsibilities. 
39. Particular efforts should be made to protect children and youth by: 
(a) Promoting family stability and supporting families in providing mutual support, including in their role as nurturers and educators of children; 
(b) Promoting social support, including good quality child care and working conditions that allow both parents to reconcile parenthood with working life; 
(c) Supporting and involving family organizations and networks in community activities; 
(d) Taking the necessary legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect and promote the rights of the child, with particular attention to the girl child; 
(e) Improving the situation and protecting the rights of children in especially difficult circumstances, including children in areas of armed conflict, children who lack adequate family support, urban street children, abandoned children, children with disabilities, children addicted to narcotic drugs, children affected by war or natural and man-made disasters, unaccompanied minor refugee children, working children, and children who are economically and sexually exploited or abused, including the victims of the sale and trafficking of children; ensuring that they have access to food, shelter, education and health care and are protected from abuse and violence, as well as provided with the necessary social and psychological assistance for their healthy reintegration into society and for family reunification consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and substituting education for child work; 
(f) Developing and strengthening programmes targeted at youth living in poverty in order to enhance their economic, educational, social and cultural opportunities, to promote constructive social relations among them and to provide them with connections outside their communities to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty; 
(g) Addressing the special needs of indigenous children and their families, particularly those living in poor areas, enabling them to benefit adequately from economic and social development programmes, with full respect for their cultures, languages and traditions; 
(h) Improving the condition of the single parent in society and ensuring that single-parent families and female-headed or female-maintained households receive the social support they need, including support for adequate housing and child care. 
40. Particular efforts should be made to protect older persons, including those with disabilities, by: 
(a) Strengthening family support systems; 
(b) Improving the situation of older persons, in particular in cases where they lack adequate family support, including rural older persons, working older persons, those affected by armed conflicts and natural or man-made disasters, and those who are exploited, physically or psychologically neglected, or abused; 
(c) Ensuring that older persons are able to meet their basic human needs through access to social services and social security, that those in need are assisted, and that older persons are protected from abuse and violence and are treated as a resource and not a burden; 
(d) Providing assistance to grandparents who have been required to assume responsibility for children, particularly of parents who are affected by serious diseases, including AIDS or leprosy, or others who are unable to care for their dependants; 
(e) Creating a financial environment that encourages people to save for their old age; 
(f) Strengthening measures and mechanisms to ensure that retired workers do not fall into poverty, taking into account their contribution to the development of their countries; 
(g) Encouraging and supporting cross-generational participation in policy and programme development and in decision-making bodies at all levels. 
41. People and communities should be protected from impoverishment and long-term displacement and exclusion resulting from disasters through the following actions at the national and international levels, as appropriate: 
(a) Designing effective mechanisms to reduce the impact and to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, such as droughts, earthquakes, cyclones and floods; 
(b) Developing long-term strategies and contingency plans for the effective mitigation of natural disasters and for famine, including early warning, assessment, information dissemination and management, as well as rapid response strategies, that ensure the quick evolution of relief activities into rehabilitation and development; 
(c) Dev