ˇˇ2000 World Social Summit: TEN BENCHMARK ISSUES
by SOCIAL WATCH

The special outlook which non-governmental and civil society organization generally have pro-poor, participatory methods, putting social needs in the driver's seat found strong expression at the 1995 Copenhagen summit and its follow up in 2000. Pre-conference expectations and post-conference analyses of results are presented here from Social Watch, an NGO network for monitoring how governments carry out their commitments expressed at the World Summit for Social Development and their commitments expressed at the World Summit for Social Development and the Beijing World Conference on Women.

UNDER THE AUSPICES OF SOCIAL WATCH hundreds of NGOs and civil society organizations from around the world have evaluated the implementation of the historic commitments made at the World Summit on Social Development (WSSD) in 1995. They concluded that the goals targeted are feasible, but regret to assess that efforts toward achieving them are still not enough. Promised assistance has not materialized, citizen participation is paltry, and globalization is not benefiting those who need it most.
An independent review by Social Watch shows that social indicators were progressing in over 60 countries before the financial crisis of 1998. At this pace, those countries would meet most of the WSSD goals by 2000. Yet in another 70 countries, progress is too slow to reach the goals in time. Thirteen countries are at the same level or worse off today than they were in 1990, and for almost 40 countries the data is insufficient for evaluation purposes.
The Copenhagen commitments are today more valid than ever. Further initiatives are required to implement them in the present international environment, where macroeconomic decisions taken by nonaccountable and nontransparent bodies, often without due participation of the affected governments themselves, have dramatic impacts on the prospects of achieving sustainable development. Ten major issues were defined by Social Watch in its "Geneva Benchmark" document issued in early 1999 and later submitted to the United Nations preparatory committees and to the Geneva Summit for consideration. This paper presents an assessment of the agreements reached by the Geneva Summit against the demands set out in the "benchmark" document.

GENEVA 2000: ELEMENTS FRO AN ASSESSMENT
The Geneva 2000 special session not only included in its agenda the topic of evaluating the implementation of the Social Summit 1995 resolutions, but it was also about agreeing on "further initiatives" to put them into practice. Since the evaluation section of the final document had been agreed previously by the Commission on Social Development, not much attention was paid to it during Geneva 2000.

A COMPARISON WITH THE NGO "BENCHMARK" DEMANDS
The most comprehensive document containing common NGO demands is the "Geneva Benchmark" document, endorsed by most of the Social Watch and Development Caucus NGOs. An evaluation of the results of Geneva 2000 should logically be compared with what our expectations and demands were. The following tries on summarize the results of that analysis. A detailed list of the demands and the corresponding sections of the Geneva General Assembly resolutions, prepared by the Social Watch secretariat, will be made available later.
The Benchmark document was organized in 10 points. The highlights for each point follow.

THE PROCESS
While a more careful and detailed reading of the Geneva document is still pending, preliminary analysis points to the conclusion that many of the NGO demands were met, except for those that frontally challenged the functioning tax, trade rules versus human rights and social development, debt, structural adjustment, lack of transparency of the Bretton Woods institutions) were intensively debensively debated by the diplomats, highlighted by the "Alternative Summit" and the people in the streets, and widely reported by the press covering UNGASS. This is, in itself, a major achievement, particularly if we remember that at the start of the Copenhagen+5 process the developed countries. Led by Japan and the US, made a major effort to restrict the debates to the three "original issues"; poverty, unemployment and social integration.
This pressure was partially successful in the case of the second section of the document (the review of the implementation), where not all of the commitments were reviewed in detail and where references to structural adjustment and other macroeconomic issues were omitted from the assessment of the implementation of the 10 commitments.
NGO lobbying made the difference that ensured that the section of "further initiatives" kept all the 10 commitments as the framework of analysis and, by dealing with them all, reaffirmed the role of the UN General Assembly as the place to debate macroeconomic issues, in spite of the attempt by developed countries to shift that debate to the forum where they prevail: Bretton Woods and the WTO or even institutions where the South is excluded all together, such as the OECD and the G8.
At the same time, the timely reaction of the NGOs against the "Bretton Woods for All" document was extremely effective in not letting it come out publicly without criticism. Finally, the very fact that all the key issues were in the agenda created the framework for the Alternative Summit to happen, brining together for the first time a wide range of network for the Alternative Summit to happen, brining together for the first time a wide range of networks and coalitions, in spite of their many differences in points of view, tactics and strategies.
The Social Watch NGOs played an important role in this process, and their high visibility during UNGASS is a recognition of their efforts. The lessons to be learned, the analysis of what could have been done better, and the definition of our future strategies should be the focus of the discussion that we are now starting, in preparation for the November assembly in Rome, where key strategies for the future are to be decided upon.
In the following sections of this paper, the NGO benchmarks are summarized on the left column, while the Conference outcomes are on the right. (Paragraph numbers of the final document are in parenthese.)

Facing the financial crisis while protecting social development
Since the WSSD, financial crisis ahs devastated entire regions of the planet, among them Southeast Asia, the economies in transition, and Latin America. The response to this crisis has been based largely on dogmatic economic recipes and the bailout of financial investments, despite near unanimous recognition that those policies have negative impacts on the vulnerable sectors of society, particularly women and children. Policies designed to address the financial crisis in development countries must include the Copenhagen postulates related to social development.

NGO benchmarks
Monitoring and control of international flows of capital, particularly of speculative capital, is essential. This should be done through agreed international mechanisms or national measures such as the proposed currency transaction tax (CTT) or "Tobin tax".
The UNGASS agenda should give top priority to reformulating international financial architecture, to democratic governance and accountability of the Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO, and to assessing the social impacts of the proposed Multilateral

Conference outcomes
The final document calls for "conducting a rigorous analysis of advantages. Disadvantages and other implications of proposals for developing new and innovative source of funding " (111)(e) bis. The Canadian proponents of a CTT study and the UN Secretariat interpret this as providing for such a study a major breakthrough. Debate on this involved strong NGO lobbying and wide media reporting.
The political declaration pledges "to find effective, equitable, development oriented and durable solutions to the"

Benchmarks (cont'd)
Agreement on Investment (MAI) Existing initiatives for reducing the debt of certain developing countries must be speeded up, expanded and substantially improved to meet the WSSD commitment to alleviate the debt burden. Debt reduction should be delinked from structural adjustment conditionalities.

Outcomes (cont'd)
External debt and debt-servicing burdens of developing countries (6bis), to "implement debt relief", including debt cancellation (5bis), to "reduce negative impacts of international financial turbulence" on development and even consider "a temporary debt standstill" (10) the first such UN declaration. Its calls for "developing, strengthening and enforcing regulatory frameworksˇ­ to reduce the potential " (10(b)) can be read as legitimizing control of capital flows. Action is mandated on debt problems of "low and middle income developing countries", including possible debt reduction (112) (b bis), going beyond the IPF focus only on Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC)

Participatory evaluation of the social impact of adjustment policies
At Copenhagen in 1995, the heads of state and government committed themselves to "review the impact of structural adjustment programmes on social development" and "to enlist the support and cooperation of the UN system, in particular the Bretton Woods institutions, in the design, social management and assessment of structural adjustment policies". Today, structural adjustment programmes are often "packages" with little economic and political viability, but with dramatic consequences. In many developing countries, administrative and fiscal reforms and the reform of the state have favoured corruption, weakened control, destroyed productive capacity, increased unemployment, degraded public social services and failed to improve state efficiency.
After the WSSD, the World Bank announced some policy changes and started joint evaluations with government and civil society in some countries (the Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative SAPRI). Based on these evaluations, the initial view of civil society representatives is that those policies have not so far been modified on the ground, and their impacts on various sectors and population groups have been grave. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is particularly slow in introducing changes in the agreed direction.
The social, political and institutional instability created in economies struggling for survival is not conducive to advancing goals of sustainable development, respect for human rights and equality. The enabling environment essential to fulfil the promises of global UN conferences has come under severe attack from a range of forces. Globalization and fiscal austerity policies have cut public spending and services without denting the debt burden of poor countries. Economic reform policies have led the state in rich and poor countries alike to withdraw from its role as primary provider of social services. This is of particular concern in the adjustment apckages IMF has initiated and supported in response to the global financial crisis.

NGO benchmarks
The Special Session should take note of the studies showing that many countries which did not apply standard adjustment recipes have achieved better levels of social development and a better position to deal with the financial crisis than those who did. The Special Session should again recommend participatory evaluations involving UN agencies, governments and civil society on the social impact of adjustment aiming to reformulate economic reform strategies. It should recommend that effective, gender sensitive measures be implemented to protect the livelihoods and human rights of persons living in poverty, particularly women.

Conference outcomes
The final document sought "improved efficacy of structural adjustment programmes and fulfillment of social development goals" (105bis); "participatory mechanisms" for assessing "the social impact of structural adjustment programmes and reform packages", aimed at "mitigating their negative impact and developing policies to improve their positive impact on social development goals." Such assessments might involve the UN system, including Bretton Woods institutions, regional development banks and organization of civil society (106). Structural adjustment programmes should take account of gender issues (107bis). NGOs lobbied to add participatory assessments in the text and keep the reference to "negative impacsts" of structural adjustment.

The commitment to eradicate poverty
Governments committed themselves at WSSD to set target dates for the eradication of poverty. However, at present very few countries have set national targets. Other shortcomings include:
Information on poverty levels and current national plans is frequently outdated and insufficient, which makes evaluation of advances and setbacks very difficult.
The absolute number of poor people has increased, and in many countries the relative number of poor people has also increased.
The feminization of poverty continues;
For many developing countries, recessive economic policies and the lack of an "enabling economic environment" will result in an increase of poverty, even in economies that previously succeeded in reducing the number of poor people, as in Southeast Asia.

NGO benchmarks
The Special Session should call for an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to prepare a Convention to Eradicate Poverty, recognizing four basic premises about poverty:
Poverty is in itself a violation of the social, economic and cultural human rights of the affected populations, as defined by the Commission on Social Development;
People living in poverty are more prone to be victims of violations of their civil and political rights;
Poverty results from a complex interaction of domestic and international causes;
The persistence of poverty in a world that has the resources to provide for the basic needs of all is a threat to international peace and security.
Conference outcomes
The final document agreed on a less precise formulation of the 2015 goals. It falls short of starting a process towards a convention, though such might result from the "global campaign to eradicate poverty" it recommends (128). Countries are urged to "place poverty eradication at the centre of economic and social development, and build consensus with all relevant actors at all levels on policies and strategies to reduce the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by one half by the year 2015." (24). It calls on countries that have not yet done so to incorporate targets for combating poverty in their national development strategies (27). Included are recommendations for "ensuring a gender equality perspective at all levels," for "measures to counteract the feminization of poverty," and for promoting participatory poverty and social impact assessments, which include sex, age, relevant socioeconomic categories, and definition of "the extent and localization of poverty and the groups most severely affected, in order to design anti poverty strategies" (27bis)(n) and (o)

Benchmarks (cont'd)
The Special Session should urge each country to define specific goals of reducing poverty to at least half the values of 1993 by the year 2015, according to national standards, with a reduction of no less than one third by 2010. We urge that all countries, with participation by civil society, produce annual national reports on poverty, prepare current plans, and evaluate the results.

Gender equality and equity
The Copenhagen, Cairo and Beijing conference agreements stress the need to achieve equality and equity between men and women and protect and promote women's human rights. So far, over 100 countries have informed the UN Secretariat about their national action plans, but advances are slow and erratic. Many studies have detected a growing "feminization of poverty", particularly in developing countries. Structural adjustment and economic globalization do not affect men and women equally and, in many cases, have intrinsic discriminatory effects on women:
The shift in credit decision making from conventional banks to stock exchanges means big corporations having easier and cheaper access to credit, and discriminates against small, medium and family businesses where women tend to have more decision powere.
Unemployment affects women more than men, reducing their employment opportunities and increasing domestic violence related partly to high male unemployment rates.
Labour market and other economic and sociocultural discrimination against women and girls continues.
The growing burden of poverty on women and girls places increasing pressure on them to earn incomes in dangerous occupations where they are vulnerable to trafficking, violence and abuse of human rights, including their sexual and reproductive rights.
Women and girls bear most of the burden of reduced social expenditures which increase gender inequalities in access to services and require women to compensate with additional unpaid work in caring for the vulnerable.

NGO benchmarks
The Special Session should call on governments and United Nations agencies to further advance studies aimed at recognizing the unpaid work of women in the national accounts and to include the gender dimension in the evaluation of the social impact of structural adjustment. At the same time, the Special Session should recommend that international bodies adopt and strengthen gender policies in their programmes and institutional management. Targets should be established to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education no later than 2010. The special Session should call on governments to ensure that the agreements reached at the Cairo and Beijing conferences are fully implemented.

Conference outcomes
Not all points were covered, and targets were included, but with different dates. The final document calls for implementing the results of the Beijing+5 session. Support should go to national efforts to close the gender gap in primary and secondary education by 2005 and ensure "free compulsory and universal primary education for both girls and boys by 2015" (71). International, regional and national efforts were recommended to develop and use "gender related analysis and statistics", including by helping national statistical offices desegregate data by sex and age, formulate gender-sensitive indicators for monitoring and assessing impact, and make regular strategic surveys (72). Governments should fully implement Copenhagen and Beijing agreements with time bound targets, measurable goals and evaluation methods, including "gender impact assessments," and "full participation of women for measuring and analyzing progress" (72). Gender issues should be "taken into account in the formulation and implementation of structural adjustment programmes"(107)

Equity and universal access to basic health care and education
The Copenhagen agreement committed governments to achieving universal and equitable access to education and health, but it is still far from being attained in most African and other least developed countries (some are sliding backwards). Adult illiteracy continues to be a problem in most developing countries. Goals of extending access and improving quality in health services, including universal access to reproductive health services, are not being met. Child mortality has grown in Balkan and other eastern European countries, Latin America and Africa. The goal of universal access to reproductive health services is far from being fulfilled.
In the 1990s, governments stated implementing reforms designed by the World Bank and other donors aimed at improving the cost effectiveness of public health systems and introducing market principles of efficiency and viability. This new reality competes against human rights and social justice goals envisioned at UN conferences, especially at Cairo. Market reforms imposed on top of economic crises have dealt public health services a body blow in countries undergoing difficult economic transition. Cost-recovery measures such as user fees and other privatization trends have sharply reduced access to health services by the poor, and women in particular.

NGO benchmarks
1) Health: The Special Session should urge governments ensure that selective use of user fees, social marketing, cost sharing and other forms of cost recovery do not impede access to services and are accompanied by adequate social safety net measures. It should call for an increase in official development assistance for basic health care, health education, and major diseases such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and others WHO identifies as having major impact on health and highest morbidity and mortality rates. It should recommend providing prompt and necessary resources to deal with the severe impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on vulnerable populations, women and young people in particular.

Conference outcomes
The final document calls for access to health care for all. "Make basic health sevices available to all members of society and, where appropriate, explore the possibility of promoting nonprofit community based health insurance programmes among possible methods to support the Government to promote accessible primary health care for all." (74) It also addresses the threat posed by various infectious diseases. "Take all appropriate measures to ensure that infectious and parasitic diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy and schistosomiasis, neither continue to take their devastating toll nor impede economic and social progress; and strengthen national and international efforts to combat these diseases, inter alia, through capacity building in the developing countries with their cooperation (75).

Benchmarks (cont'd)
2) Education: The Special Session should initiate efforts towards a Global Action plan for Education, consistent with the resolutions of the 1990 Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand, which targeted 2015 for achieving universal access to primary education in all countries. Education programmes should promote local cultures and languages, respecting and protecting those of indigenous peoples.
3) Cairo Programme of Action: The Special Session should call on governments and agencies to ensure that the Cairo targets are fulfilled. Goals should also be set to:
reduce infant and under 5 mortality by two thirds of 1990 values by 2015 (and by no less than one half by 2010);
universalize access to health, safe water and sanitation by 2015.

Outcomes (cont'd)
The final document stresses equal educational opportunities for girls and boys. "Increased efforts are needed to provide equal access to education, health, and social services and to ensure women's and girls rights to education and the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and well being throughout the life cycle, as well as adequate, affordable and universally accessible health care and services, including sexual and reproductive health, particularly in the face of the HIV/AIDS pandemic; they are also necessary with regard to the growing proportion of older women."(73)
The final document responds to these and related concerns, calling on governments to "Ensure that the reduction of maternal morbidity and mortality is a health sector priority, and that women have ready access to essential obstetric care, well equipped and adequately staffed maternal health care services, skilled attendants at delivery, emergency obstetric care, effective referral and transport to higher levels of care when necessary, post-partum care and family planning in order to, inter alia, promote safe motherhood, and give priority attention to measures to prevent, detect and treat breast, cervical and ovarian cancer and osteoporosis, and sex ually transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS." (73)

Promoting the development of Africa and least developed countries
The Social Summit committed countries to accelerate the economic, social and human development of Africa and the least developed countries. But most African and relatively least developed countries have made little progress, and many are worse off than in 1995. The poorest countries owe an estimated US$371 billion in external debt, and also face acute levels of human and environmental distress. Policy reforms that curtail public expenditure have deepened poverty and inequity in developing countries.

NGO benchmarks
We urge that these countries be considered exceptions in debates about finances and trade, and that unilateral privileges and preferential treatment be granted them. Without energetic and efficient action to cancel or reduce these countries debts by creditor countries and the multilateral financial institutions. African and least developed countries will be condemned to stagnation and "social recession".

Conference outcomes
The final document falls short on these points without completely ignoring environment for the "integration of Africa and the LDCs into the global economy" and "their participation in the multilateral trading system." It foresees providing debt relief that "can lead to a sustainable solution to their debt burden;" improving market access for their exports, including "tariff and quota free treatment for essentially all products originating in least developed countries on as broad and liberal a basis as possible;" and helping them "take full advantage of the multilateral trading regime" on a bilateral basis, and multilaterally through WTO, ITC, UNCTAD and other regional subregional economic organizations. (87)

Increase of resources for development
At Copenhagen, governments committed to augmenting resources for social development by increasing development aid to 0.7 per cent of GPD, increasing aid for basic social services (BSS), and making support for BSS a greater percentage of total public expenditure. Yet, Official Development Assistance (ODA) is today at its lowest level historically, in both absolute and relative terms, and the world's richest countries (members of G7) are the most delinquent, despite OECD countries commitment to WSSD goals in their "Shaping the 21st Century" document (May 1996), and despite the easy availability of massive resources for war.

NGO benchmarks
It is necessary to restate the agreed goals and set deadlines for achievement no later than 2010. We also urge the implementation of the Hanoi Conference referring to the 20/20 commitment and the quality of aid. The Special Session should recommend that, if reductions of public expenditure are agreed as part of adjustment strategies, social expenditure should not be adversely affected.

Conference outcomes
The final document reaffirms these targets from previous conferences, but does not set dates for achievement by developed countries. It calls for fulfilling the 0.7 per cent ODA target "as soon as possible" and encourages "donor and recipient countries, based on mutual agreement and commitment, to fully implement the 20/20 initiative to ensure universal access to basic social services." (112)

Full employment and sustainable livelihoods
At Copenhagen, full employment was set as a basic priority for policymaking, yet job creation has been insufficient. In many developing countries, the dismantling of the state and the priority given to economic sectors that are not labour-intensive have resulted in a growing loss of jobs, with no alternative mechanisms for income creation. In countries where employment is the major source of "social protection", loss of jobs has wider consequences than just the economic ones: it generates "pockets" of social disintegration that are fast in appearing and difficult to eliminate. The recessive scenario that most developing countries now face in the wake of financial crisis is a scenario of growing unemployment.

NGO BENCHMARKS
The goals of creating dignified jobs and combating unemployment must be agreed upon, with well defined deadlines and actions, and macroeconomic policies must be modified to accommodate these goals.

Conference outcomes
The Special Session agreed, without setting deadlines, that countries would "reassess, as appropriate, their macroeconomic policies with the aims of greater employment generation and reduction in the poverty level, while striving for and maintaining low inflation rates" (34)

Targets and reviews
The establishment of precise goals and deadlines was one of the most positive out comes of the Copenhagen Summit. It helped generate political will and monitoring mechanisms that are essential to fulfilling the goals. Since many of these goals had the year 2000 as their horizon, the Special Session was to set new target dates.
The availability of specific (including gender specific) social development indicators is inadequate. Because desegregation along ethnic lines is lacking, it is impossible to assess the damage caused to indigenous peoples by structural adjustment.

NGO benchmarks

The Special Session must agree on new goals for all countries not just developing ones with deadlines not later than 2015 and with intermediate deadlines (2005 and 2010) so that progress can be assessed. It should recommend measures to guarantee the gathering and publication of gender and ethnic indicators and to stimulate national reporting on progress towards them. It should encourage governments to clearly identify the institutional mechanisms to review, with the participation of civil society, the implementation of the Copenhagen commitments. A new General Assembly Special Session to review the WSSD commitments and the further initiatives agreed upon in Geneva should be convened in the year 2005.

Conference outcomes
The reaffirmation of the Copenhagen goals and commitments and the need to improve statistical work are addressed in many parts of the Geneva Declaration. But the possibility of a new Social Summit, high level meeting or other mechanism for a midterm review between 2000 and 2015 was delayed for later consideration.

Trade and investment: the international enabling environment
Since international trade and investments are key components of an enabling economic environment for social development, the Special Session should verify that the WTO has not complied with the request made in Copenhagen to survey the social impacts of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations, and instead entrust the survey to UNCTAD.

UGO benchmarks
The Special Session should strengthen the work of such UN bodies as ILO, WHO, UNICEF, UNIFEM and the Human Rights Commission in promoting human rights and the specific rights of workers, women and children, setting standards and improving enforcement mechanisms. It should discourage trends to empower trade and financial organizations to impose conditionalities on developing countries through social clauses.

Countries should work to ensure that international direct investments have a positive social impact, require specific social performance targets form foreign investors, and define and implement policies for establishing joint ventures, promoting income distribution in favour of underprivileged areas or social groups, and protecting small business from unfair competition by big foreign corporations.
The Special Session should take note of the resolution of the Human Rights Commission subcommittee on the incompartibility between human rights obligations, particularly economic, social and cultural rights and WSSD commitments on the one hand, and the proposals for a Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) on the other hand. It should urge governments to hear those commitments in mind at the time when they instruct their negotiators in trade forums.
It is also recommended that no new "Millennium" round of trade negotiations be initiated until the social impacts of the Uruguay Round many of whose measures favouring developing countries have not even begun to be implemented have been analysed and acted upon.
Conference outcomes
Debate on the social impact of the WTO trade rules centered on a draft introduced by South Africa, saying that human rights and health considerations should prevail over trade related Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) for transnational pharmaceutical corporations, so as to make possible affordable access to essential medicines. The final version does not challenge WTO rules, but recognizes "the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health" and to "access to essential medicines at affordable prices." It notes that IPRs contribute to drug research, development and distribution of drugs and should also "contribute to the mutual advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge" and to "social and economic welfare." It left Member States free "to protect and advance access to lifesaving, essential medicines", consistent with national laws and international agreements (80), and to "analyze the consequences" of agreements in relation to "health needs of people living in poverty" (82).
The "no new round" demand was settled in Seattle last December by the opposition of many Southern governments and people on the streets. The final documents are highly critical of globalization, but no criticism of the WTO was included because the US, Japan and the European Union were opposed. Dissatisfaction of many Southern governments led to dropping mention of the Secretary General's "Global Compact" between the UN and transnational corporations (launched in July).
The document introduced the concept of corporate social responsibility, noting that" corporations must abide by national legislation" and should contribute to "social development goals" which interrelate with economic growth. To this end, countries should provide a "just and stable policy framework" to stimulate private sector initiatives and enhance "partnerships with business, trade unions and civil society", in support of the Copenhagen goals (16).
OPPORTUNITIES, DAMAGES AND COSTS
Some critical commentary concerning globalization, trade, debt, structural adjustment and technological issues is given in the final document of the UN General Assembly Special Session on the actions taken and needs arising since the 1995 World Summit on Social Development.
"Since the Summit, globalization has presented new challenges for the fulfillment of the commitments made and the realization of the goals of the Summit. Globalization and interdependence have provided many beneficial opportunities, but have also involved potential damage and costs. If anything, these forces have accelerated and often strained the capacity of Governments and the international community to manage them for the benefits of all."
"Economic growth has been impressive in some places and disappointing in others. Current patterns of globalization have contributed so a sense of insecurity, as some countries, particularly developing countries, have been marginalized from the global economy. The growing interdependence of nationals, which has caused economic shocks to be transmitted across national borders, as well as increased inequality, highlights weaknesses in current international and national institutional arrangements and economic and social policies, and reinforces the importance of strengthening them through appropriate reforms. There is wide recognition of the need for collective action to anticipate and offset the negative social and economic consequences of globalization and to maximize its benefits for all members of society, including those with special needs.
"For most developing countries, the terms of international trade have worsened and inflows of concessional financial resources have declined. The high debt burden has weakened many Governments capacity to service their increasing external debt and eroded resources available for social development. Inappropriate design of structural adjustment programes has weakened the management capacity of public institutions as well as the ability of Governments to respond to the social development needs of the weak and vulnerable in society and to provide adequate social services."
"Globalization and continuing rapid technological advances offer unprecedented opportunities for social and economic development. At the same time, they continue to present serious challenges, including widespread financial crises, insecurity, poverty, exclusion and inequality within and among societies. Considerable obstacles to further integration and full participation in the global economy remain for developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, as well as for some countries with economies in transition. Unless the benefits of social and economic development are extended to all countries, a growing number of people in all countries and even entire regions will remain marginalized from the global economy."
"