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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:
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
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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 [ Up
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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
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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 [ Up
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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) Developing complementary mechanisms that
integrate governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental efforts,
including the establishment of national volunteer corps to support United
Nations activities in the areas of humanitarian emergency assistance, as well as
mechanisms to promote a smooth transition from relief to rehabilitation,
reconstruction and development, in accordance with General Assembly resolutions
46/182 and 49/139 B;
(d) Developing and strengthening emergency food
reserves as a means to prevent acute food shortages and stabilize prices, with
facilities for food storage, transportation and distribution during emergencies,
making full use of traditional and market mechanisms;
(e) In disaster-prone areas and in cooperation
with community-based organizations, developing drought and flood mitigation
agronomic practices and resource conservation and infrastructure-building
programmes, using food-for-work, where appropriate, and incorporating
traditional disaster-response practices that can be rapidly expanded into
emergency employment and rebuilding programmes in disaster situations;
(f) Establishing the necessary planning and
logistical mechanisms to enable quick and effective response in disaster
situations to provide food, psychological and social care, medicines, medical
supplies and other relief to victims, especially women and children, and
ensuring that the relief is effectively targeted to those who need it; and
channelling and organizing disaster assistance so as to regenerate the local
economy and support resource protection and development efforts;
(g) Mobilizing and coordinating regional and
international assistance, including assistance from the United Nations system,
and from non-governmental organizations, to support the actions of Governments
and communities confronting disaster situations;
(h) Reducing vulnerability to natural disasters
through the development of early warning systems.
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