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World
Summit for Social Development
Copenhagen, 6 - 12 March 1995
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Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social
Development:
I.
An Enabling Environment for Social Development
Basis for action and objectives
4. Social development is inseparable from the
cultural, ecological, economic, political and spiritual environment in which it
takes place. It cannot be pursued as a sectoral initiative. Social development
is also clearly linked to the development of peace, freedom, stability and
security, both nationally and internationally. To promote social development
requires an orientation of values, objectives and priorities towards the
well-being of all and the strengthening and promotion of conducive institutions
and policies. Human dignity, all human rights and fundamental freedoms,
equality, equity and social justice constitute the fundamental values of all
societies. The pursuit, promotion and protection of these values, among others,
provides the basic legitimacy of all institutions and all exercise of authority
and promotes an environment in which human beings are at the centre of concern
for sustainable development. They are entitled to a healthy and productive life
in harmony with nature.
5. The economies and societies of the world are
becoming increasingly interdependent. Trade and capital flows, migrations,
scientific and technological innovations, communications and cultural exchanges
are shaping the global community. The same global community is threatened by
environmental degradation, severe food crises, epidemics, all forms of racial
discrimination, xenophobia, various forms of intolerance, violence and
criminality and the risk of losing the richness of cultural diversity.
Governments increasingly recognize that their responses to changing
circumstances and their desires to achieve sustainable development and social
progress will require increased solidarity, expressed through appropriate
multilateral programmes and strengthened international cooperation. Such
cooperation is particularly crucial to ensure that countries in need of
assistance, such as those in Africa and the least developed countries, can
benefit from the process of globalization.
6. Economic activities, through which individuals
express their initiative and creativity and which enhance the wealth of
communities, are a fundamental basis for social progress. But social progress
will not be realized simply through the free interaction of market forces.
Public policies are necessary to correct market failures, to complement market
mechanisms, to maintain social stability and to create a national and
international economic environment that promotes sustainable growth on a global
scale. Such growth should promote equity and social justice, tolerance,
responsibility and involvement.
7. The ultimate goal of social development is to
improve and enhance the quality of life of all people. It requires democratic
institutions, respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms, increased
and equal economic opportunities, the rule of law, the promotion of respect for
cultural diversity and the rights of persons belonging to minorities, and an
active involvement of civil society. Empowerment and participation are essential
for democracy, harmony and social development. All members of society should
have the opportunity and be able to exercise the right and responsibility to
take an active part in the affairs of the community in which they live. Gender
equality and equity and the full participation of women in all economic, social
and political activities are essential. The obstacles that have limited the
access of women to decision-making, education, health-care services and
productive employment must be eliminated and an equitable partnership between
men and women established, involving men's full responsibility in family life.
It is necessary to change the prevailing social paradigm of gender to usher in a
new generation of women and men working together to create a more humane world
order.
8. Against this background, we will promote an
enabling environment based on a people-centred approach to sustainable
development, with the following features:
~ Broad-based participation and involvement of
civil society in the formulation and implementation of decisions determining the
functioning and well-being of our societies;
~ Broad-based patterns of sustained economic
growth and sustainable development and the integration of population issues into
economic and development strategies, which will speed up the pace of sustainable
development and poverty eradication and contribute to the achievement of
population objectives and an improved quality of life of the population;
~ Equitable and non-discriminatory distribution
of the benefits of growth among social groups and countries and expanded access
to productive resources for people living in poverty;
~ An interaction of market forces conducive to
efficiency and social development;
~ Public policies that seek to overcome socially
divisive disparities and that respect pluralism and diversity;
~ A supportive and stable political and legal
framework that promotes the mutually reinforcing relationship between democracy,
development and all human rights and fundamental freedoms;
~ Political and social processes that avoid
exclusion while respecting pluralism and diversity, including religious and
cultural diversity;
~ A strengthened role for the family in
accordance with the principles, goals and commitments of the Copenhagen
Declaration on Social Development and those of the International Conference on
Population and Development, as well as for community and civil society;
~ Expanded access to knowledge, technology,
education, health-care services and information;
~ Increased solidarity, partnership and
cooperation at all levels;
~ Public policies that empower people to enjoy
good health and productivity throughout their lives;
~ Protection and conservation of the natural
environment in the context of people-centred sustainable development.
Actions
A. A favourable national and international
economic environment [ Up
]
9. The promotion of mutually reinforcing,
broad-based, sustained economic growth and sustainable development on a global
scale, as well as growth in production, a non-discriminatory and multilateral
rule-based international trading system, employment and incomes, as a basis for
social development, requires the following actions:
(a) Promoting the establishment of an open,
equitable, cooperative and mutually beneficial international economic
environment;
(b) Implementing sound and stable macroeconomic
and sectoral policies that encourage broad-based, sustained 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;
(c) Promoting enterprise, productive investment
and expanded access to open and dynamic markets in the context of an open,
equitable, secure, non-discriminatory, predictable, transparent and multilateral
rule-based international trading system, and to technologies for all people,
particularly those living in poverty and the disadvantaged, as well as for the
least developed countries;
(d) Implementing fully and as scheduled the Final
Act of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations; 1/
(e) Refraining from any unilateral measure not in
accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations that
creates obstacles to trade relations among States, impedes the full realization
of social and economic development and hinders the well-being of the population
in the affected countries;
(f) Increasing food production, through the
sustainable development of the agricultural sector and improvement of market
opportunities, and improving access to food by low-income people in developing
countries, as a means of alleviating poverty, eliminating malnutrition and
raising their standards of living;
(g) Promoting the coordination of macroeconomic
policies at the national, subregional, regional and international levels in
order to promote an international financial system that is more conducive to
stable and sustained economic growth and sustainable development through, inter
alia, a higher degree of stability in financial markets, reducing the risk of
financial crisis, improving the stability of exchange rates, stabilizing and
striving for low real interest rates in the long run and reducing the
uncertainties of financial flows;
(h) Establishing, strengthening or
rehabilitating, inter alia, through capacity-building where necessary, national
and international structures, processes and resources available, to ensure
appropriate consideration and coordination of economic policy, with special
emphasis on social development;
(i) Promoting or strengthening capacity-building
in developing countries, particularly in Africa and the least developed
countries, to develop social activities;
(j) Ensuring that, in accordance with Agenda 21
2/ and the various consensus agreements, conventions and programmes of action
adopted within the framework of the follow-up to the outcome of the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development, broad-based, sustained
economic growth and sustainable development respects the need to protect the
environment and the interests of future generations;
(k) Ensuring that the special needs and
vulnerabilities of small island developing States are adequately addressed in
order to enable them to achieve sustained economic growth and sustainable
development with equity by implementing the Programme of Action for the
Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. 3/
10. To ensure that the benefits of global
economic growth are equitably distributed among countries, the following actions
are essential:
(a) Continuing efforts to alleviate the onerous
debt and debt-service burdens connected with the various types of debt of many
developing countries, on the basis of an equitable and durable approach and,
where appropriate, addressing the full stock of debt of the poorest and most
indebted developing countries as a matter of priority, reducing trade barriers
and promoting expanded access by all countries to markets, in the context of an
open, equitable, secure, non-discriminatory, predictable, transparent and
multilateral rule-based international trading system, as well as to productive
investment, technologies and know-how;
(b) Strengthening and improving technical and
financial assistance to developing countries to promote sustainable development
and overcome hindrances to their full and effective participation in the world
economy;
(c) Changing unsustainable consumption and
production patterns, taking into account that the major cause of the continued
deterioration of the global environment is the unsustainable pattern of
consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries, which is a
matter of grave concern, aggravating poverty and imbalances;
(d) Elaborating policies to enable developing
countries to take advantage of expanded international trading opportunities in
the context of the full implementation of the Final Act of the Uruguay Round of
multilateral trade negotiations; and assisting countries, particularly in
Africa, that are not currently in a position to benefit fully from the
liberalization of the world economy;
(e) Supporting the efforts of developing
countries, particularly those heavily dependent on commodity exports, to
diversify their economies.
11. Within the framework of support to developing
countries, giving priority to the needs of Africa and the least developed
countries, the following actions are necessary at the national and international
levels, as appropriate:
(a) Implementing effective policies and
development strategies that establish a more favourable climate for social
development, trade and investments, giving priority to human resource
development and promoting the further development of democratic institutions;
(b) Supporting African countries and least
developed countries in their efforts to create an enabling environment that
attracts foreign and domestic direct investment, encourages savings, induces the
return of flight capital and promotes the full participation of the private
sector, including non-governmental organizations, in the growth and development
process;
(c) Supporting economic reforms to improve the
functioning of commodity markets and commodity diversification efforts through
appropriate mechanisms, bilateral and multilateral financing and technical
cooperation, including South-South cooperation, as well as through trade and
partnership;
(d) Continuing to support the commodity
diversification efforts of Africa and the least developed countries, inter alia,
by providing technical and financial assistance for the preparatory phase of
their commodity diversification projects and programmes;
(e) Finding effective, development-oriented and
durable solutions to external debt problems, through the immediate
implementation of the terms of debt forgiveness agreed upon in the Paris Club in
December 1994, which encompass debt reduction, including cancellation or other
debt relief measures; inviting the international financial institutions to
examine innovative approaches to assist low-income countries with a high
proportion of multilateral debt with a view to alleviating their debt burden;
developing techniques of debt conversion applied to social development
programmes and projects in conformity with Summit priorities. These actions
should take into account the mid-term review of the United Nations New Agenda
for the Development of Africa in the 1990s 4/ and the Programme of Action for
the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s 5/ and should be implemented as soon
as possible;
(f) Supporting the development of strategies
adopted by these countries and working in partnership to ensure the
implementation of measures for their development;
(g) Taking appropriate actions, consistent with
the Final Act of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, 1/ in
particular the decision on measures in favour of the least developed countries
and the decision on measures concerning the possible negative effects of the
reform programme on the least developed countries and the net food importing
developing countries, in order to give these countries special attention, with a
view to enhancing their participation in the multilateral trading system and to
mitigating any adverse effects of the implementation of the Uruguay Round, while
stressing the need to support the African countries so that they can benefit
fully from the results of the Uruguay Round;
(h) Increasing official development assistance,
both in total and for social programmes, and improving its impact, consistent
with countries' economic circumstances and capabilities to assist, and
consistent with commitments in international agreements, and striving to attain
the agreed upon target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for official
development assistance and 0.15 per cent to the least developed countries, as
soon as possible.
12. Making economic growth and the interaction of
market forces more conducive to social development requires the following
actions:
(a) Implementing measures to open market
opportunities for all, especially people living in poverty and the
disadvantaged, and to encourage individuals and communities to take economic
initiatives, innovate and invest in activities that contribute to social
development while promoting broad-based sustained economic growth and
sustainable development;
(b) Improving, broadening and regulating, to the
extent necessary, the functioning of markets to promote sustained economic
growth and sustainable development, stability and long-term investment, fair
competition and ethical conduct; adopting and implementing policies to promote
equitable distribution of the benefits of growth and protect crucial social
services, inter alia, through complementing market mechanisms and mitigating any
negative impacts posed by market forces; and implementing complementary policies
to foster social development, while dismantling, consistent with the provisions
of the Final Act of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations,
protectionist measures, and to integrate social and economic development;
(c) Establishing an open market policy that
reduces barriers to entry, promotes transparency of markets through, inter alia,
better access to information and widens the choices available to consumers;
(d) Promoting greater access to technology and
technical assistance, as well as corresponding know-how, especially for
micro-enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises in all countries,
particularly in developing countries;
(e) Encouraging transnational and national
corporations to operate in a framework of respect for the environment while
complying with national laws and legislation, and in accordance with
international agreements and conventions, and with proper consideration for the
social and cultural impact of their activities;
(f) Adopting and implementing long-term
strategies to ensure substantial, well-directed public and private investment in
the construction and renewal of basic infrastructure, which will benefit people
living in poverty and generate employment;
(g) Ensuring substantial public and private
investment in human resource development and in capacity-building in health and
education, as well as in empowerment and participation, especially for people
living in poverty or suffering from social exclusion;
(h) Supporting and paying special attention to
the development of small-scale and micro-enterprises, particularly in rural
areas, as well as subsistence economies, to secure their safe interaction with
larger economies;
(i) Supporting the economic activities of
indigenous people, improving their conditions and development, and securing
their safe interaction with larger economies;
(j) Supporting institutions, programmes and
systems to disseminate practical information to promote social progress.
13. Ensuring that fiscal systems and other public
policies are geared towards poverty eradication and that they do not generate
socially divisive disparities calls for:
(a) Enacting rules and regulations and creating a
moral and ethical climate that prevents all forms of corruption and exploitation
of individuals, families and groups;
(b) Promoting fair competition and ethical
responsibility in business activities, and enhancing cooperation and interaction
among Governments, the private sector and civil society;
(c) Ensuring that fiscal and monetary policies
promote savings and long-term investment in productive activities in accordance
with national priorities and policies;
(d) Considering measures to address inequities
arising from accumulation of wealth through, inter alia, the use of appropriate
taxation at the national level, and to reduce inefficiencies and improve
stability in financial markets in accordance with national priorities and
policies;
(e) Re-examining the distribution of subsidies,
inter alia, between industry and agriculture, urban and rural areas, and private
and public consumption, to ensure that subsidy systems benefit people living in
poverty, especially the vulnerable, and reduce disparities;
(f) Promoting international agreements that
address effectively issues of double taxation, as well as cross-border tax
evasion, in accordance with the priorities and policies of the States concerned,
while improving the efficiency and fairness of tax collection;
(g) Assisting developing countries, upon their
request, to establish efficient and fair tax systems by strengthening the
administrative capacity for tax assessment and collection and tax evader
prosecution, and to support a more progressive tax system;
(h) Assisting countries with economies in
transition to establish fair and effective systems of taxation on a solid legal
basis, contributing to the socio-economic reforms under way in those countries.
B. A favourable national and international
political and legal environment
[ Up ]
14. To ensure that the political framework
supports the objectives of social development, the following actions are
essential:
(a) Ensuring that governmental institutions and
agencies responsible for the planning and implementation of social policies have
the status, resources and information necessary to give high priority to social
development in policy-making;
(b) Ensuring the rule of law and democracy and
the existence of rules and processes to create transparency and accountability
for all public and private institutions and to prevent and combat all forms of
corruption, sustained through education and the development of attitudes and
values promoting responsibility, solidarity and a strengthened civil society;
(c) Eliminating all forms of discrimination,
while developing and encouraging educational programmes and media campaigns to
that end;
(d) Encouraging decentralization of public
institutions and services to a level that, compatible with the overall
responsibilities, priorities and objectives of Governments, responds properly to
local needs and facilitates local participation;
(e) Establishing conditions for the social
partners to organize and function with guaranteed freedom of expression and
association and the right to engage in collective bargaining and to promote
mutual interests, taking due account of national laws and regulations;
(f) Establishing similar conditions for
professional organizations and organizations of independent workers;
(g) Promoting political and social processes
inclusive of all members of society and respectful of political pluralism and
cultural diversity;
(h) Strengthening the capacities and
opportunities of all people, especially those who are disadvantaged or
vulnerable, to enhance their own economic and social development, to establish
and maintain organizations representing their interests and to be involved in
the planning and implementation of government policies and programmes by which
they will be directly affected;
(i) Ensuring full involvement and participation
of women at all levels in the decision-making and implementation process and in
the economic and political mechanisms through which policies are formulated and
implemented;
(j) Removing all legal impediments to the
ownership of all means of production and property by men and women;
(k) Taking measures, in cooperation with the
international community, as appropriate, in accordance with the Charter of the
United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 6/ other
international instruments and relevant United Nations resolutions, to create the
appropriate political and legal environment to address the root cause of
movements of refugees, to allow their voluntary return in safety and dignity.
Measures should also be taken at the national level, with international
cooperation, as appropriate, in accordance with the Charter of the United
Nations, to create conditions for internally displaced persons to voluntarily
return to their places of origin.
15. It is essential for social development that
all human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development as
an integral part of fundamental human rights, be promoted and protected through
the following actions:
(a) Encouraging ratification of existing
international human rights conventions that have not been ratified; and
implementing the provisions of conventions and covenants that have been
ratified;
(b) Reaffirming and promoting all human rights
and fundamental freedoms, which are universal, indivisible, interdependent and
interrelated, including the right to development, and striving to ensure that
they are respected, protected and observed through appropriate legislation,
dissemination of information, education and training and the provision of
effective mechanisms and remedies for enforcement, inter alia, through the
establishment or strengthening of national institutions responsible for
monitoring and enforcement;
(c) Taking measures to ensure that every human
person and all peoples are entitled to participate, to contribute to and to
enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development; encouraging all
human persons to take responsibility for development, individually and
collectively; and recognizing that States have the primary responsibility for
the creation of national and international conditions favourable for the
realization of the right to development, taking into account the relevant
provisions of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action;
(d) Promoting the realization of the right to
development through strengthening democracy, development and respect for human
rights and fundamental freedoms and through effective development policies at
the national level, as well as equitable economic relations and a favourable
economic environment at the international level, since sustained action is
indispensable for fostering a more rapid development of developing countries;
(e) Removing obstacles to the realization of the
right of peoples to self-determination, in particular of peoples living under
colonial or other forms of alien domination or foreign occupation, which
adversely affect their social and economic development;
(f) Promoting and protecting the human rights of
women and removing all obstacles to full equality and equity between women and
men in political, civil, economic, social and cultural life;
(g) Giving special attention to promoting and
protecting the rights of the child, with particular attention to the rights of
the girl child, by, inter alia, encouraging the ratification and implementation
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Plan of Action for
Implementing the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development
of Children in the 1990s adopted at the World Summit for Children; 7/
(h) Providing all people, in particular the
vulnerable and disadvantaged in society, with the benefit of an independent,
fair and effective system of justice, and ensuring access by all to competent
sources of advice about legal rights and obligations;
(i) Taking effective measures to bring to an end
all de jure and de facto discrimination against persons with disabilities;
(j) Strengthening the ability of civil society
and the community to participate actively in the planning, decision-making and
implementation of social development programmes, by education and access to
resources;
(k) Promoting and protecting the rights of
individuals in order to prevent and eliminate situations of domestic
discrimination and violence.
16. An open political and economic system
requires access by all to knowledge, education and information by:
(a) Strengthening the educational system at all
levels, as well as other means of acquiring skills and knowledge, and ensuring
universal access to basic education and lifelong educational opportunities,
while removing economic and socio-cultural barriers to the exercise of the right
to education;
(b) Raising public awareness and promoting
gender-sensitivity education to eliminate all obstacles to full gender equality
and equity;
(c) Enabling and encouraging access by all to a
wide range of information and opinion on matters of general interest through the
mass media and other means;
(d) Encouraging education systems and, to the
extent consistent with freedom of expression, communication media to raise
people's understanding and awareness of all aspects of social integration,
including gender sensitivity, non-violence, tolerance and solidarity and respect
for the diversity of cultures and interests, and to discourage the exhibition of
pornography and the gratuitous depiction of explicit violence and cruelty in the
media;
(e) Improving the reliability, validity, utility
and public availability of statistical and other information on social
development and gender issues, including the effective use of
gender-disaggregated statistics collected at the national, regional and
international levels, including through support to academic and research
institutions.
17. International support for national efforts to
promote a favourable political and legal environment must be in conformity with
the Charter of the United Nations and principles of international law and
consistent with the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning
Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter
of the United Nations. 8/ Support calls for the following actions:
(a) Making use, as appropriate, of the capacity
of the United Nations and other relevant international, regional and subregional
organizations to prevent and resolve armed conflicts and promote social progress
and better standards of life in larger freedom;
(b) Coordinating policies, actions and legal
instruments and/or measures to combat terrorism, all forms of extremist
violence, illicit arms trafficking, organized crime and illicit drug problems,
money laundering and related crimes, trafficking in women, adolescents,
children, migrants, and human organs, and other activities contrary to human
rights and human dignity;
(c) States cooperating with one another in
ensuring development and eliminating obstacles to development. The international
community should promote effective international cooperation, supporting the
efforts of developing countries, for the full realization of the right to
development and the elimination of obstacles to development, through, inter
alia, the implementation of the provisions of the Declaration on the Right to
Development 9/ as reaffirmed by the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action.
10/ Lasting progress towards the implementation of the right to development
requires effective development policies at the national level, as well as
equitable economic relations and a favourable economic environment at the
international level. The right to development should be fulfilled so as to
equitably meet the social development and environmental needs of present and
future generations;
(d) Ensuring that human persons are at the centre
of social development and that this is fully reflected in the programmes and
activities of subregional, regional and international organizations;
(e) Reinforcing the capacity of relevant
national, regional and international organizations, within their mandates, to
promote the implementation of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and the
elimination of all forms of discrimination;
(f) Elaborating policies, within the mandates and
functions of the various international institutions, that will support the
objectives of social development and contribute to institutional development
through capacity-building and other forms of cooperation;
(g) Strengthening the capacities of Governments,
the private sector and civil society, especially in Africa and the least
developed countries, to enable them to meet their specific and global
responsibilities;
(h) Reinforcing the capacities of
Governments, the private sector and civil society in the countries with
economies in transition, with a view to helping them in the process of
transforming their economies from centrally planned to market-oriented ones.
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