UN proclaims 1996 as Poverty Eradication Year: progress on 'Agenda for Development.' (includes related article on outline of program for September 5-13, 1994International Conference on Population)

The year 1996 was proclaimed the Year for the Eradication of Poverty by the General Assembly on 21 December. That text was among 52 resolutions and 18 decisions adopted by the General Assembly on the recommendation of its Second Committee (Economic and Financial).

Issues considered ranged from the environment to the international economy, from population and human settlements to international humanitarian assistance.

The Assembly welcomed the intended completion of the Secretary-General's proposed Agenda for Development" this year. It also decided to convene in Japan in 1994 a World Conference on Natural Disaster Reduction.

The concept of development had to be rethought, Nitin Desai, Under- Secretary-general for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development, told the Second Committee on 8 October.

The world today is not the same as 30 years ago, when the concept of development was originally framed, he said. The urge to rethink development had grown from the gap between promise and results, as well as from interdependence, the globalization of production, the impact of regional integration and the effects of global communication. A development policy had to give priority to health and education, as well as such areas as the protection of the environment.

Furthermore, the Secretary-general reported (A/48/689) in a note on 29 November, traditional approaches to development had failed to transform poor countries and countries in postconflict situations". The assumption of conditions of peace, on which development strategies had traditionally been built, was in stark contrast with the actual situation prevailing in a growing number of countries in Africa and elsewhere.

An Agenda for Development" would complement his june 1992 An Agenda for Peace", by addressing the "deeper foundations of global peace and security in the economic, social and environmental spheres", the Secretary-general said. An open, working Agenda should launch a "new process of dialogue where all States can contribute to the determination of their common future".

Many Member States had referred to peace and development as the major twin themes of international cooperation". An "Agenda for Development" could redress what is seen as a risk of marginalization of the UN system in the economic and social sphere.

However, the complexity of issues to be addressed in an Agenda for Development" required a longer timeframe for elaboration than envisaged by the Assembly when it first considered the proposal in 1992, the note stated.

Convinced of the need to elaborate a framework to promote international consensus in the field of development, the Assembly decided (resolution 481166) to hold special plenary meetings at a high level in 1994 to consider ways of giving political impetus to an

Agenda for Development", which also could be a possible topic for the highlevel segment of the Economic and Social Council in 1994.

Poverty Eradication Year

In proclaiming the Year for the Eradication of Poverty under resolution 48/183, the Assembly recognized that the eradication of poverty, especially in developing countries, had become a priority development objective for the 1990s in order to promote sustainable development.

The positive impact of a favourable international economic environment in combating poverty was stressed, in particular in the area of trade. UN assistance in observing the Year should be provided with a view to creating a greater awareness that the eradication of poverty is fundamental to reinforcing peace and achieving sustainable development".

In a related text (48/184), the Assembly stressed the importance of domestic policies in eradicating poverty through food security, health, education, housing and population programmes.

National strategies and programmes should involve more active participation of targeted communities, as well as the most vulnerable groups.

Recognizing the trends towards regional cooperation and the globalization of economic issues, the Assembly reaffirmed (48/165) the central role of the UN in strengthening "constructive dialogue and partnership" to promote further international economic cooperation for development.

Economies in transition

Reaffirming the need for the full integration of the countries with economies in transition into the world economy, in particular through improved market access for their exports of goods and services, the Assembly requested (48/181) the Secretary-general to strengthen the UN Secretariat's ability to conduct analytical activities and provide policy advice and technical assistance to the countries with economies in transition.

In a report, "The impact of the recent evolution of the economies in transition on the world economy" (A/48/331), the Secretary-general stated there was little doubt that changes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union would, in the long term, have a positive impact on the growth of the world economy.

There was, however, a feeling that the focus of some major industrialized countries and financial institutions had shifted away from developing countries, and "improvement in international economic cooperation would seem to call for a more judicious distribution of international attention to the various emerging and old, yet unsolved, issues in the world economy

The Assembly also requested (48/180) the Secretary-general to strengthen entrepreneurship and implement privatization programmes, de-monopolization and administrative de-regulation.

National and international development cooperation should be intensified (48/179) towards endogenous capacity-building in science and technology in the developing countries.

Debt, trade

By a vote of 164 to 1 (United States), the Assembly, noting that some debtor developing countries had concluded agreements on commercial bank debt-service reduction, called for (48/182) the conclusion of similar agreements with other interested developing countries.

The international community should explore ways to cancel or reduce debt further, and consider innovative measures", such as debt-for-equity, debt-for-nature and debt-fordevelopment swaps.

The Assembly urged (48/172) all Member States to give high priority and full support to technical cooperation among developing countries, especially in the fields of science and technology, transfer of technology, capacity-building, education and technical training and know-how.

It decided (48/187) to continue to explore the issue of the financing of development and its potential funding sources, in close consultation and cooperation with the World Bank, the international Monetary Fund and the UN Conference on Trade and Development.

The Assembly asked (48/171) that a high-level intergovernmental meeting conduct in 1995 a mid-term global review on the implementation of the 1990 Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990S.

The Assembly recognized (48/55) that trade liberalization by all countries, in particular the developed countries, was an "important tool for increasing economic efficiency and improving resource allocation, economic growth, sustainable development and employment in all countries".

It also recognized (48/167) that conditions did "not currently exist" to reach full agreement on all outstanding issues in the draft code of conduct on the transfer of technology.

The Secretary-general was asked (48/169) to convene in 1995 another meeting on developing transit systems in land-locked and transit developing countries.

By a vote of 116 to 32, with 16 abstentions, the Assembly called (48/168) for effective measures to eliminate the use by some developed countries of unilateral economic coercive measures not authorized by the UN against developing countries.

Member States and relevant organizations were urged (48/176) to contribute and participate actively in the preparations for the UN Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II), to be held in Turkey from 3 to 14 June 1996.

All Governments should strengthen (48/178) integrated national shelter strategies based on the 1988 Global Strategy for Shelter for the Year 2000, as well as principles of social, economic and environmental sustainability.

UN bodies should increase (48/205) their support for national and regional actions and targets for human resources development.

Texts were adopted on assistance to Central America, Palestinians, and States affected by the embargo on Yugoslavia, as well as assistance to individual States.

Restructuring

In a resolution (48/162) adopted by the Assembly without reference to a Main Committee, it requested the Secretary-general to implement further measures for restructuring and revitalization of the UN in the economic, social and related fields starting in 1994.

Those reforms will affect the division of labour between the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, the work of the Second Committee, and UN humanitarian, disaster relief and economic assistance.

In another text (48/60), the Assembly decided that an ad hoc panel of distinguished, expert and experienced persons - to be known as the "United Nations Panel on Opportunity and Participation" - should be appointed to conduct a comprehensive study on opportunity and participation for the economic and social advancement of all peoples with particular reference to the economies of developing countries.