POVERTY Documents Agenda 21 Chapter 3: Combating Poverty Earth Summit II Chapter 3.B: Sectors + Issues, Par.62 (W+ Land+ Poverty) ICPD, Cairo 1994 Chapter 3 (B+ C): population, environment, growth, poverty, participation+women Copenhagen Social Development Summit, 1995 Chapter II: Eradication of Poverty Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995 Chapter 1 IV A: Women + Poverty HABITAT II, Istanbul 1996 Chapter IV. C.3: Social development: eradication of poverty, creation of productive employment and social integration UN Commission on the Status of Women 1993: I.C: R 37/8 (women in extreme poverty) 1996: Ch. I.C: Res 40/9 (objectives+action in critical area of poverty) UN Commission on Social Development 1996: Ch. I.C: Matters brought to Council (women+Poverty) Ch. III: Strategies and Actions for eradication of poverty NGO Documents for the Earth Summit, 1992 Non-Governmental Organization Alternative Treaties at the '92 Global Forum Treaty 18. Poverty Treaty: Preamble (women) Agenda 21 Chapter 3. Combating Poverty Programme Area Enabling the poor to achieve sustainable livelihoods Basis for action 3.1. 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. The eradication of poverty and hunger, greater equity in income distribution and human resource development remain major challenges everywhere. The struggle against poverty is the shared responsibility of all countries. 3.2. While managing resources sustainably, an environmental policy that focuses mainly on the conservation and protection of resources must take due account of those who depend on the resources for their livelihoods. Otherwise it could have an adverse impact both on poverty and on chances for long-term success in resource and environmental conservation. Equally, a development policy that focuses mainly on increasing the production of goods without addressing the sustainability of the resources on which production is based will sooner or later run into declining productivity, which could also have an adverse impact on poverty. A specific anti-poverty strategy is therefore one of the basic conditions for ensuring sustainable development. An effective strategy for tackling the problems of poverty, development and environment simultaneously should begin by focusing on resources, production and people and should cover demographic issues, enhanced health care and education, the rights of women, the role of youth and of indigenous people and local communities and a democratic participation process in association with improved governance. 3.3. Integral to such action is, together with international support, the promotion of economic growth in developing countries that is both sustained and sustainable and direct action in eradicating poverty by strengthening employment and income-generating programmes. Objectives 3.4. The long-term objective of enabling all people to achieve sustainable livelihoods should provide an integrating factor that allows policies to address issues of development, sustainable resource management and poverty eradication simultaneously. The objectives of this programme area are: (a) To provide all persons urgently with the opportunity to earn a sustainable livelihood; (b) To implement policies and strategies that promote adequate levels of funding and focus on integrated human development policies, including income generation, increased local control of resources, local institution-strengthening and capacity-building and greater involvement of non-governmental organizations and local levels of government as delivery mechanisms; (c) To develop for all poverty-stricken areas integrated strategies and programmes of sound and sustainable management of the environment, resource mobilization, poverty eradication and alleviation, employment and income generation; (d) To create a focus in national development plans and budgets on investment in human capital, with special policies and programmes directed at rural areas, the urban poor, women and children. Activities 3.5. Activities that will contribute to the integrated promotion of sustainable livelihoods and environmental protection cover a variety of sectoral interventions involving a range of actors, from local to global, and are essential at every level, especially the community and local levels. Enabling actions will be necessary at the national and international levels, taking full account of regional and subregional conditions to support a locally driven and country-specific approach. In general design, the programmes should: (a) Focus on the empowerment of local and community groups through the principle of delegating authority, accountability and resources to the most appropriate level to ensure that the programme will be geographically and ecologically specific; (b) Contain immediate measures to enable those groups to alleviate poverty and to develop sustainability; (c) Contain a long-term strategy aimed at establishing the best possible conditions for sustainable local, regional and national development that would eliminate poverty and reduce the inequalities between various population groups. It should assist the most disadvantaged groups - in particular, women, children and youth within those groups -and refugees. The groups will include poor smallholders, pastoralists, artisans, fishing communities, landless people, indigenous communities, migrants and the urban informal sector. 3.6. The focus here is on specific cross-cutting measures - in particular, in the areas of basic education, primary/maternal health care, and the advancement of women. (a) Empowering communities 3.7. Sustainable development must be achieved at every level of society. Peoples' organizations, women's groups and non-governmental organizations are important sources of innovation and action at the local level and have a strong interest and proven ability to promote sustainable livelihoods. Governments, in cooperation with appropriate international and non-governmental organizations, should support a community-driven approach to sustainability, which would include, inter alia: (a) Empowering women through full participation in decision-making; (b) Respecting the cultural integrity and the rights of indigenous people and their communities; (c) Promoting or establishing grass-roots mechanisms to allow for the sharing of experience and knowledge between communities; (d) Giving communities a large measure of participation in the sustainable management and protection of the local natural resources in order to enhance their productive capacity; (e) Establishing a network of community-based learning centres for capacity-building and sustainable development. (b) Management-related activities 3.8. Governments, with the assistance of and in cooperation with appropriate international, non-governmental and local community organizations, should establish measures that will directly or indirectly: (a) Generate remunerative employment and productive occupational opportunities compatible with country-specific factor endowments, on a scale sufficient to take care of prospective increases in the labour force and to cover backlogs; (b) With international support, where necessary, develop adequate infrastructure, marketing systems, technology systems, credit systems and the like and the human resources needed to support the above actions and to achieve a widening of options for resource-poor people. High priority should be given to basic education and professional training; (c) Provide substantial increases in economically efficient resource productivity and measures to ensure that the local population benefits in adequate measure from resource use; (d) Empower community organizations and people to enable them to achieve sustainable livelihoods; (e) Set up an effective primary health care and maternal health care system accessible to all; (f) Consider strengthening/developing legal frameworks for land management, access to land resources and land ownership - in particular, for women - and for the protection of tenants; (g) Rehabilitate degraded resources, to the extent practicable, and introduce policy measures to promote sustainable use of resources for basic human needs; (h) Establish new community-based mechanisms and strengthen existing mechanisms to enable communities to gain sustained access to resources needed by the poor to overcome their poverty; (i) Implement mechanisms for popular participation - particularly by poor people, especially women - in local community groups, to promote sustainable development; (j) Implement, as a matter of urgency, in accordance with country-specific conditions and legal systems, measures to ensure that women and men have the same right to decide freely and responsibly on the number and spacing of their children and have access to the information, education and means, as appropriate, to enable them to exercise this right in keeping with their freedom, dignity and personally held values, taking into account ethical and cultural considerations. Governments should take active steps to implement programmes to establish and strengthen preventive and curative health facilities, which include women-centred, women-managed, safe and effective reproductive health care and affordable, accessible services, as appropriate, for the responsible planning of family size, in keeping with freedom, dignity and personally held values, taking into account ethical and cultural considerations. Programmes should focus on providing comprehensive health care, including pre-natal care, education and information on health and responsible parenthood and should provide the opportunity for all women to breast-feed fully, at least during the first four months post-partum. Programmes should fully support women's productive and reproductive roles and well-being, with special attention to the need for providing equal and improved health care for all children and the need to reduce the risk of maternal and child mortality and sickness; (k) Adopt integrated policies aiming at sustainability in the management of urban centres; (l) Undertake activities aimed at the promotion of food security and, where appropriate, food self-sufficiency within the context of sustainable agriculture; (m) Support research on and integration of traditional methods of production that have been shown to be environmentally sustainable; (n) Actively seek to recognize and integrate informal-sector activities into the economy by removing regulations and hindrances that discriminate against activities in those sectors; (o) Consider making available lines of credit and other facilities for the informal sector and improved access to land for the landless poor so that they can acquire the means of production and reliable access to natural resources. In many instances special considerations for women are required. Strict feasibility appraisals are needed for borrowers to avoid debt crises; (p) Provide the poor with access to fresh water and sanitation; (q) Provide the poor with access to primary education. (c) Data, information and evaluation 3.9. Governments should improve the collection of information on target groups and target areas in order to facilitate the design of focused programmes and activities, consistent with the target-group needs and aspirations. Evaluation of such programmes should be gender-specific, since women are a particularly disadvantaged group. (d) International and regional cooperation and coordination 3.10. The United Nations system, through its relevant organs, organizations and bodies, in cooperation with Member States and with appropriate international and non-governmental organizations, should make poverty alleviation a major priority and should: (a) Assist Governments, when requested, in the formulation and implementation of national action programmes on poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Action-oriented activities of relevance to the above objectives, such as poverty eradication, projects and programmes supplemented where relevant by food aid, and support and special emphasis on employment and income generation, should be given particular attention in this regard; (b) Promote technical cooperation among developing countries for poverty eradication activities; (c) Strengthen existing structures in the United Nations system for coordination of action relating to poverty eradication, including the establishment of a focal point for information exchange and the formulation and implementation of replicable pilot projects to combat poverty; (d) In the follow-up of the implementation of Agenda 21, give high priority to the review of the progress made in eradicating poverty; (e) Examine the international economic framework, including resource flows and structural adjustment programmes, to ensure that social and environmental concerns are addressed, and in this connection, conduct a review of the policies of international organizations, bodies and agencies, including financial institutions, to ensure the continued provision of basic services to the poor and needy; (f) Promote international cooperation to address the root causes of poverty. The development process will not gather momentum if developing countries are weighted down by external indebtedness, if development finance is inadequate, if barriers restrict access to markets and if commodity prices and the terms of trade in developing countries remain depressed. Means of implementation (a) Financing and cost evaluation 3.11. The Conference secretariat has estimated the average total annual cost (1993-2000) of implementing the activities of this programme to be about $30 billion including about $15 billion from the international community on grant or concessional terms. These are indicative and order of magnitude estimates only and have not been reviewed by governments. This estimate overlaps estimates in other parts of Agenda 21. Actual costs and financial terms, including any that are non-concessional, will depend upon, inter alia, the specific strategies and programmes governments decide upon for implementation. (b) Capacity-building 3.12. National capacity-building for implementation of the above activities is crucial and should be given high priority. It is particularly important to focus capacity-building at the local community level in order to support a community-driven approach to sustainability and to establish and strengthen mechanisms to allow sharing of experience and knowledge between community groups at national and international levels. Requirements for such activities are considerable and are related to the various relevant sectors of Agenda 21 calling for requisite international, financial and technological support. Earth Summit II Chapter 3.B: Sectors + Issues Land and sustainable agriculture 62. Land degradation and soil loss threaten the livelihood of millions of people and future food security, with implications for water resources and the conservation of biodiversity. There is an urgent need to define ways to combat or reverse the worldwide accelerating trend of soil degradation, using an ecosystem approach, taking into account the needs of populations living in mountain ecosystems and recognizing the multiple functions of agriculture. The greatest challenge for humanity is to protect and sustainably manage the natural resource base on which food and fibre production depend, while feeding and housing a population that is still growing. The international community has recognized the need for an integrated approach to the protection and sustainable management of land and soil resources, as stated in decision III/11 of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, 34/ including identification of land degradation, which involves all interested parties at the local as well as the national level, including farmers, small-scale food producers, indigenous people(s), non-governmental organizations and, in particular, women, who have a vital role in rural communities. This should include action to ensure secure land tenure and access to land, credit and training, as well as the removal of obstacles that inhibit farmers, especially small-scale farmers and peasants, from investing in and improving their lands and farms. 63. It remains essential to continue efforts for the eradication of poverty through, inter alia, capacity-building to reinforce local food systems, improving food security and providing adequate nutrition for the more than 800 million undernourished people in the world, located mainly in developing countries. Governments should formulate policies that promote sustainable agriculture as well as productivity and profitability. Comprehensive rural policies are required to improve access to land, combat poverty, create employment and reduce rural emigration. In accordance with the commitments agreed to in the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action, adopted by the World Food Summit, 35/ sustainable food security for both the urban and the rural poor should be a policy priority, and developed countries and the international community should provide assistance to developing countries to this end. To meet these objectives, Governments should attach high priority to implementing the commitments of the Rome Declaration and Plan of Action, especially the call for a minimum target of halving the number of undernourished people in the world by the year 2015. Governments and international organizations are encouraged to implement the Global Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, adopted by the International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources held at Leipzig, Germany from 17 to 23 June 1996. At the sixth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, in 1998, the issues of sustainable agriculture and land use should be considered in relation to freshwater. The challenge for agricultural research is to increase yields on all farmlands while protecting and conserving the natural resource base. The international community and Governments must continue or increase investments in agricultural research because it can take years or decades to develop new lines of research and put research findings into sustainable practice on the land. Developing countries, particularly those with high population densities, will need international cooperation to gain access to the results of such research and to technology aimed at improving agricultural productivity in limited spaces. More generally, international cooperation continues to be needed to assist developing countries in many other aspects of basic requirements of agriculture. There is a need to support the continuation of the reform process in conformity with the Uruguay Round agreements, particularly article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture, and to fully implement the World Trade Organization Decision on Measures Concerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on Least-Developed and Net Food-Importing Developing Countries. ICPD, Population Summit, Cairo 1994 Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development Chapter 3 : Interrelationships between Population, Sustained Economic Growth and Sustainable Development A. Integrating population and development strategies B. Population, sustained economic growth and poverty C. Population and environment A. Integrating population and development strategies Basis for action 3.1. The everyday activities of all human beings, communities and countries are interrelated with population change, patterns and levels of use of natural resources, the state of the environment, and the pace and quality of economic and social development. 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 of poverty with the above- mentioned consequences for demographic parameters. The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development and Agenda 21, adopted by the international community at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, call for patterns of development that reflect the new understanding of these and other intersectoral linkages. Recognizing the longer term realities and implications of current actions, the development challenge is to meet the needs of present generations and improve their quality of life without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. 3.2. Despite recent declines in birth rates in many countries, further large increases in population size are inevitable. Owing to the youthful age structure, for numerous countries the coming decades will bring substantial population increases in absolute numbers. Population movements within and between countries, including the very rapid growth of cities and the unbalanced regional distribution of population, will continue and increase in the future. 3.3. Sustainable development implies, inter alia, long-term sustainability in production and consumption relating to all economic activities, including industry, energy, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, transport, tourism and infrastructure, in order to optimize ecologically sound resource use and minimize waste. Macroeconomic and sectoral policies have, however, rarely given due attention to population considerations. Explicitly integrating population into economic and development strategies will both speed up the pace of sustainable development and poverty alleviation and contribute to the achievement of population objectives and an improved quality of life of the population. Objectives 3.4. The objectives are to fully integrate population concerns into: (a) Development strategies, planning, decision-making and resource allocation at all levels and in all regions, with the goal of meeting the needs, and improving the quality of life, of present and future generations; (b) All aspects of development planning in order to promote social justice and to eradicate poverty through sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development. Actions 3.5. At the international, regional, national and local levels, population issues should be integrated into the formulation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all policies and programmes relating to sustainable development. Development strategies must realistically reflect the short-, medium- and long-term implications of, and consequences for, population dynamics as well as patterns of production and consumption. 3.6. Governments, international agencies, non-governmental organizations and other concerned parties should undertake timely and periodic reviews of their development strategies, with the aim of assessing progress towards integrating population into development and environment programmes that take into account patterns of production and consumption and seek to bring about population trends consistent with the achievement of sustainable development and the improvement of the quality of life. 3.7. Governments should establish the requisite internal institutional mechanisms and enabling environment, at all levels of society, to ensure that population factors are appropriately addressed within the decision-making and administrative processes of all relevant government agencies responsible for economic, environmental and social policies and programmes. 3.8. Political commitment to integrated population and development strategies should be strengthened by public education and information programmes and by increased resource allocation through cooperation among Governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector, and by improvement of the knowledge base through research and national and local capacity-building. 3.9. To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, Governments should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote appropriate demographic policies. Developed countries should take the lead in achieving sustainable consumption patterns and effective waste management. B. Population, sustained economic growth and poverty Basis for action 3.10. Population policies should take into account, as appropriate, development strategies agreed upon in multilateral forums, in particular the International Development Strategy for the Fourth United Nations Development Decade, 16/ the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the 1990s, 17/ the outcomes of the eighth session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and of the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations, Agenda 21 and the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s. 18/ 3.11. Gains recorded in recent years in such indicators as life expectancy and national product, while significant and encouraging, do not, unfortunately, fully reflect the realities of life of hundreds of millions of men, women, adolescents and children. Despite decades of development efforts, both the gap between rich and poor nations and the inequalities within nations have widened. Serious economic, social, gender and other inequities persist and hamper efforts to improve the quality of life for hundreds of millions of people. The number of people living in poverty stands at approximately 1 billion and continues to mount. 3.12. All countries, more especially developing countries where almost all of the future growth of the world population will occur, and countries with economies in transition, face increasing difficulties in improving the quality of life of their people in a sustainable manner. Many developing countries and countries with economies in transition face major development obstacles, among which are those related to the persistence of trade imbalances, the slow-down in the world economy, the persistence of the debt-servicing problem, and the need for technologies and external assistance. The achievement of sustainable development and poverty eradication should be supported by macroeconomic policies designed to provide an appropriate international economic environment, as well as by good governance, effective national policies and efficient national institutions. 3.13. Widespread poverty remains the major challenge to development efforts. Poverty is often accompanied by unemployment, malnutrition, illiteracy, low status of women, exposure to environmental risks and limited access to social and health services, including reproductive health services which, in turn, include family planning. All these factors contribute to high levels of fertility, morbidity and mortality, as well as to low economic productivity. Poverty is also closely related to inappropriate spatial distribution of population, to unsustainable use and inequitable distribution of such natural resources as land and water, and to serious environmental degradation. 3.14. Efforts to slow down population growth, to reduce poverty, to achieve economic progress, to improve environmental protection, and to reduce unsustainable consumption and production patterns are mutually reinforcing. Slower population growth has in many countries bought more time to adjust to future population increases. This has increased those countries' ability to attack poverty, protect and repair the environment, and build the base for future sustainable development. Even the difference of a single decade in the transition to stabilization levels of fertility can have a considerable positive impact on quality of life. 3.15. Sustained economic growth within the context of sustainable development is essential to eradicate poverty. Eradication of poverty will contribute to slowing population growth and to achieving early population stabilization. Investments in fields important to the eradication of poverty, such as basic education, sanitation, drinking water, housing, adequate food supply and infrastructure for rapidly growing populations, continue to strain already weak economies and limit development options. The unusually high number of young people, a consequence of high fertility rates, requires that productive jobs be created for a continually growing labour force under conditions of already widespread unemployment. The numbers of elderly requiring public support will also increase rapidly in the future. Sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development will be necessary to accommodate those pressures. Objective 3.16. The objective is to raise the quality of life for all people through appropriate population and development policies and programmes aimed at achieving poverty eradication, sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development and sustainable patterns of consumption and production, human resource development and the guarantee of all human rights, including the right to development as a universal and inalienable right and an integral part of fundamental human rights. Particular attention is to be given to the socio- economic improvement of poor women in developed and developing countries. As women are generally the poorest of the poor and at the same time key actors in the development process, eliminating social, cultural, political and economic discrimination against women is a prerequisite of eradicating poverty, promoting sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development, ensuring quality family planning and reproductive health services, and achieving balance between population and available resources and sustainable patterns of consumption and production. Actions 3.17. Investment in human resource development, in accordance with national policy, must be given priority in population and development strategies and budgets, at all levels, with programmes specifically directed at increased access to information, education, skill development, employment opportunities, both formal and informal, and high-quality general and reproductive health services, including family planning and sexual health care, through the promotion of sustained economic growth within the context of sustainable development in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. 3.18. Existing inequities and barriers to women in the workforce should be eliminated and women's participation in all policy-making and implementation, as well as their access to productive resources, and ownership of land, and their right to inherit property should be promoted and strengthened. Governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector should invest in, promote, monitor and evaluate the education and skill development of women and girls and the legal and economic rights of women, and in all aspects of reproductive health, including family planning and sexual health, in order to enable them to effectively contribute to and benefit from economic growth and sustainable development. 3.19. High priority should be given by Governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to meeting the needs, and increasing the opportunities for information, education, jobs, skill development and relevant reproductive health services, of all underserved members of society. 19/ 3.20. Measures should be taken to strengthen food, nutrition and agricultural policies and programmes, and fair trade relations, with special attention to the creation and strengthening of food security at all levels. 3.21. Job creation in the industrial, agricultural and service sectors should be facilitated by Governments and the private sector through the establishment of more favourable climates for expanded trade and investment on an environmentally sound basis, greater investment in human resource development and the development of democratic institutions and good governance. Special efforts should be made to create productive jobs through policies promoting efficient and, where required, labour-intensive industries, and transfer of modern technologies. 3.22. The international community should continue to promote a supportive economic environment, particularly for developing countries and countries with economies in transition in their attempt to eradicate poverty and achieve sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development. In the context of the relevant international agreements and commitments, efforts should be made to support those countries, in particular the developing countries, by promoting an open, equitable, secure, non-discriminatory and predictable international trading system; by promoting foreign direct investment; by reducing the debt burden; by providing new and additional financial resources from all available funding sources and mechanisms, including multilateral, bilateral and private sources, including on concessional and grant terms according to sound and equitable criteria and indicators; by providing access to technologies; and by ensuring that structural adjustment programmes are so designed and implemented as to be responsive to social and environmental concerns. C. Population and environment Basis for action 3.23. At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the international community agreed on objectives and actions aimed at integrating environment and development which were included in Agenda 21, other Conference outcomes and other international environmental agreements. Agenda 21 has been conceived as a response to the major environment and development challenges, including the economic and social dimensions of sustainable development, such as poverty, consumption, demographic dynamics, human health and human settlement, and to a broad range of environmental and natural resource concerns. Agenda 21 leaves to the International Conference on Population and Development further consideration of the interrelationships between population and the environment. 3.24. Meeting the basic human needs of growing populations is dependent on a healthy environment. These human dimensions need to be given attention in developing comprehensive policies for sustainable development in the context of population growth. 3.25. Demographic factors, combined with poverty and lack of access to resources in some areas, and excessive consumption and wasteful production patterns in others, cause or exacerbate problems of environmental degradation and resource depletion and thus inhibit sustainable development. 3.26. Pressure on the environment may result from rapid population growth, distribution and migration, especially in ecologically vulnerable ecosystems. Urbanization and policies that do not recognize the need for rural development also create environmental problems. 3.27. Implementation of effective population policies in the context of sustainable development, including reproductive health and family-planning programmes, require new forms of participation by various actors at all levels in the policy-making process. Objectives 3.28. Consistent with Agenda 21, the objectives are: (a) To ensure that population, environmental and poverty eradication factors are integrated in sustainable development policies, plans and programmes; (b) To reduce both unsustainable consumption and production patterns as well as negative impacts of demographic factors on the environment in order to meet the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Actions 3.29. Governments at the appropriate level, with the support of the international community and regional and subregional organizations, should formulate and implement population policies and programmes to support the objectives and actions agreed upon in Agenda 21, other Conference outcomes and other international environmental agreements, taking into account the common but differentiated responsibilities reflected in those agreements. Consistent with the framework and priorities set forth in Agenda 21, the following actions, inter alia, are recommended to help achieve population and environment integration: (a) Integrate demographic factors into environment impact assessments and other planning and decision-making processes aimed at achieving sustainable development; (b) Take measures aimed at the eradication of poverty, with special attention to income-generation and employment strategies directed at the rural poor and those living within or on the edge of fragile ecosystems; (c) Utilize demographic data to promote sustainable resource management, especially of ecologically fragile systems; (d) Modify unsustainable consumption and production patterns through economic, legislative and administrative measures, as appropriate, aimed at fostering sustainable resource use and preventing environmental degradation; (e) Implement policies to address the ecological implications of inevitable future increases in population numbers and changes in concentration and distribution, particularly in ecologically vulnerable areas and urban agglomerations. 3.30. Measures should be taken to enhance the full participation of all relevant groups, especially women, at all levels of population and environmental decision-making to achieve sustainable management of natural resources. 3.31. Research should be undertaken on the linkages among population, consumption and production, the environment and natural resources, and human health as a guide to effective sustainable development policies. 3.32. Governments, non-governmental organizations and the private sector should promote public awareness and understanding for the implementation of the above- mentioned actions. The World Summit on Social Development, Copenhagen 1995 Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development Chapter II : Eradication of Poverty Basis for action and objectives 18. Over 1 billion people in the world today live under unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in developing countries, and particularly in rural areas of low-income Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the least developed countries. 19. Poverty has various manifestations, including lack of income and productive resources sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments; and social discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterized by a lack of participation in decision-making and in civil, social and cultural life. It occurs in all countries: as mass poverty in many developing countries, pockets of poverty amid wealth in developed countries, loss of livelihoods as a result of economic recession, sudden poverty as a result of disaster or conflict, the poverty of low-wage workers, and the utter destitution of people who fall outside family support systems, social institutions and safety nets. Women bear a disproportionate burden of poverty, and children growing up in poverty are often permanently disadvantaged. Older people, people with disabilities, indigenous people, refugees and internally displaced persons are also particularly vulnerable to poverty. Furthermore, poverty in its various forms represents a barrier to communication and access to services, as well as a major health risk, and people living in poverty are particularly vulnerable to the consequences of disasters and conflicts. Absolute poverty is a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to social services. 20. There is general agreement that persistent widespread poverty, as well as serious social and gender inequities, have significant influences on and are in turn influenced by demographic parameters, such as population growth, structure and distribution. There is also general agreement that unsustainable consumption and production patterns are contributing to the unsustainable use of natural resources and environmental degradation, as well as to the reinforcement of social inequities and poverty, with the above-mentioned consequences for demographic parameters. 21. Urban poverty is rapidly increasing in pace with overall urbanization. It is a growing phenomenon in all countries and regions, and often poses special problems, such as overcrowding, contaminated water and bad sanitation, unsafe shelter, crime and additional social problems. An increasing number of low-income urban households are female-maintained. 22. Among people living in poverty, gender disparities are marked, especially in the increase in female-maintained households. With increasing population, the numbers of youth living in poverty will increase significantly. Therefore, specific measures are needed to address the juvenilization and feminization of poverty. 23. Poverty has various causes, including structural ones. Poverty is a complex multidimensional problem with origins in both the national and international domains. No uniform solution can be found for global application. Rather, country-specific programmes to tackle poverty and international efforts supporting national efforts, as well as the parallel process of creating a supportive international environment, are crucial for a solution to this problem. Poverty is inseparably linked to lack of control over resources, including land, skills, knowledge, capital and social connections. Without those resources, people are easily neglected by policy makers and have limited access to institutions, markets, employment and public services. The eradication of poverty cannot be accomplished through anti-poverty programmes alone but will require democratic participation and changes in economic structures in order to ensure access for all to resources, opportunities and public services, to undertake policies geared to more equitable distribution of wealth and income, to provide social protection for those who cannot support themselves, and to assist people confronted by unforeseen catastrophe, whether individual or collective, natural, social or technological. 24. The eradication of poverty requires universal access to economic opportunities that will promote sustainable livelihood and basic social services, as well as special efforts to facilitate access to opportunities and services for the disadvantaged. People living in poverty and vulnerable groups must be empowered through organization and participation in all aspects of political, economic and social life, in particular in the planning and implementation of policies that affect them, thus enabling them to become genuine partners in development. 25. There is therefore an urgent need for: ~ National strategies to reduce overall poverty substantially, including measures to remove the structural barriers that prevent people from escaping poverty, with specific time-bound commitments to eradicate absolute poverty by a target date to be specified by each country in its national context; ~ Stronger international cooperation and the support of international institutions to assist countries in their efforts to eradicate poverty and to provide basic social protection and services; ~ Development of methods to measure all forms of poverty, especially absolute poverty, and to assess and monitor the circumstances of those at risk, within the national context; ~ Regular national reviews of economic policies and national budgets to orient them towards eradicating poverty and reducing inequalities; ~ Expanded opportunities to enable people living in poverty to enhance their overall capacities and improve their economic and social conditions, while managing resources sustainably; ~ Human resource development and improved infrastructural facilities; ~ Comprehensive provision for the basic needs of all; ~ Policies ensuring that all people have adequate economic and social protection during unemployment, ill health, maternity, disability and old age; ~ Policies that strengthen the family and contribute to its stability in accordance with the principles, goals and commitments contained in the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and in the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development; 11/ ~ Mobilization of both the public and the private sectors, more developed areas, educational and academic institutions and non-governmental organizations to assist poverty-stricken areas. Actions A. Formulation of integrated strategies 26. Governments should give greater focus to public efforts to eradicate absolute poverty and to reduce overall poverty substantially by: (a) Promoting sustained economic growth, in the context of sustainable development, and social progress, requiring that growth be broadly based, offering equal opportunities to all people. All countries should recognize their common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed countries acknowledge the responsibility they bear in the international pursuit of sustainable development, and should continue to improve their efforts to promote sustained economic growth and to narrow imbalances in a manner that can benefit all countries, particularly the developing countries; (b) Formulating or strengthening, preferably by 1996, and implementing national poverty eradication plans to address the structural causes of poverty, encompassing action on the local, national, subregional, regional and international levels. These plans should establish, within each national context, strategies and affordable time-bound goals and targets for the substantial reduction of overall poverty and the eradication of absolute poverty. In the context of national plans, particular attention should be given to employment creation as a means of eradicating poverty, giving appropriate consideration to health and education, assigning a higher priority to basic social services, generating household income, and promoting access to productive assets and economic opportunities; (c) Identifying the livelihood systems, survival strategies and self-help organizations of people living in poverty and working with such organizations to develop programmes for combating poverty that build on their efforts, ensuring the full participation of the people concerned and responding to their actual needs; (d) Elaborating, at the national level, the measurements, criteria and indicators for determining the extent and distribution of absolute poverty. Each country should develop a precise definition and assessment of absolute poverty, preferably by 1996, the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty; 12/ (e) Establishing policies, objectives and measurable targets to enhance and broaden women's economic opportunities and their access to productive resources, particularly women who have no source of income; (f) Promoting effective enjoyment by all people of civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, and access to existing social protection and public services, in particular through encouraging the ratification and ensuring the full implementation of relevant human rights instruments, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 13/ and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; 13/ (g) Eliminating the injustice and obstacles that women are faced with, and encouraging and strengthening the participation of women in taking decisions and in implementing them, as well as their access to productive resources and land ownership and their right to inherit goods; (h) Encouraging and supporting local community development projects that foster the skill, self-reliance and self-confidence of people living in poverty and that facilitate their active participation in efforts to eradicate poverty. 27. Governments are urged to integrate goals and targets for combating poverty into overall economic and social policies and planning at the local, national and, where appropriate, regional levels by: (a) Analysing policies and programmes, including those relating to macroeconomic stability, structural adjustment programmes, taxation, investments, employment, markets and all relevant sectors of the economy, with respect to their impact on poverty and inequality, assessing their impact on family well-being and conditions, as well as their gender implications, and adjusting them, as appropriate, to promote a more equitable distribution of productive assets, wealth, opportunities, income and services; (b) Redesigning public investment policies that relate to infrastructure development, the management of natural resources and human resource development to benefit people living in poverty and to promote their compatibility with the long-term improvement of livelihoods; (c) Ensuring that development policies benefit low-income communities and rural and agricultural development; (d) Selecting, wherever possible, development schemes that do not displace local populations, and designing an appropriate policy and legal framework to compensate the displaced for their losses, to help them to re-establish their livelihoods and to promote their recovery from social and cultural disruption; (e) Designing and implementing environmental protection and resource management measures that take into account the needs of people living in poverty and vulnerable groups in accordance with Agenda 21 and the various consensus agreements, conventions and programmes of action adopted in the framework of the follow-up to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development; (f) Establishing and strengthening, as appropriate, mechanisms for the coordination of efforts to combat poverty, in collaboration with civil society, including the private sector, and developing integrated intersectoral and intra-governmental responses for such purposes. 28. People living in poverty and their organizations should be empowered by: (a) Involving them fully in the setting of targets and in the design, implementation, monitoring and assessment of national strategies and programmes for poverty eradication and community-based development, and ensuring that such programmes reflect their priorities; (b) Integrating gender concerns in the planning and implementation of policies and programmes for the empowerment of women; (c) Ensuring that policies and programmes affecting people living in poverty respect their dignity and culture and make full use of their knowledge, skills and resourcefulness; (d) Strengthening education at all levels and ensuring the access to education of people living in poverty, in particular their access to primary education and other basic education opportunities; (e) Encouraging and assisting people living in poverty to organize so that their representatives can participate in economic and social policy-making and work more effectively with governmental, non-governmental and other relevant institutions to obtain the services and opportunities they need; (f) Placing special emphasis on capacity-building and community-based management; (g) Educating people about their rights, the political system and the availability of programmes. 29. There is a need to periodically monitor, assess and share information on the performance of poverty eradication plans, evaluate policies to combat poverty, and promote an understanding and awareness of poverty and its causes and consequences. This could be done, by Governments, inter alia, through: (a) Developing, updating and disseminating specific and agreed gender- disaggregated indicators of poverty and vulnerability, including income, wealth, nutrition, physical and mental health, education, literacy, family conditions, unemployment, social exclusion and isolation, homelessness, landlessness and other factors, as well as indicators of the national and international causes underlying poverty; for this purpose, gathering comprehensive and comparable data, disaggregated by ethnicity, gender, disability, family status, language groupings, regions and economic and social sectors; (b) Monitoring and assessing the achievement of goals and targets agreed to in international forums in the area of social development; evaluating, quantitatively and qualitatively, changes in poverty levels, the persistence of poverty, and vulnerability to poverty, particularly concerning household income levels and access to resources and services; and assessing the effectiveness of poverty eradication strategies, based on the priorities and perceptions of households living in poverty and low-income communities; (c) Strengthening international data collection and statistical systems to support countries in monitoring social development goals, and encouraging the expansion of international databases to incorporate socially beneficial activities that are not included in available data, such as women's unremunerated work and contributions to society, the informal economy and sustainable livelihoods; (d) Mobilizing public awareness, in particular through educational institutions, non-governmental organizations and the media, to enable society to prioritize the struggle against poverty, while focusing attention on progress or failure in the pursuit of defined goals and targets; (e) Mobilizing the resources of universities and research institutions to improve the understanding of the causes of poverty and their solutions, as well as the impact of structural adjustment measures on people living in poverty and the effectiveness of anti-poverty strategies and programmes, strengthening the capacity for social science research in developing countries and integrating, as appropriate, the results of research into decision-making processes; (f) Facilitating and promoting the exchange of knowledge and experience, especially among developing countries, through, inter alia, subregional and regional organizations. 30. Members of the international community should, bilaterally or through multilateral organizations, foster an enabling environment for poverty eradication by: (a) Coordinating policies and programmes to support the measures being taken in the developing countries, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries, to eradicate poverty, provide remunerative work and strengthen social integration in order to meet basic social development goals and targets; (b) Promoting international cooperation to assist developing countries, at their request, in their efforts, in particular at the community level, towards achieving gender equality and the empowerment of women; (c) Strengthening the capacities of developing countries to monitor the progress of national poverty eradication plans and to assess the impact of national and international policies and programmes on people living in poverty and address their negative impacts; (d) Strengthening the capacity of countries with economies in transition to develop their social protection systems and social policies for, inter alia, the reduction of poverty; (e) Addressing the special needs of small island developing States with respect to eradicating poverty and meeting poverty eradication goals and targets, within the context of social development programmes that reflect their national priorities; (f) Addressing the problems faced by the land-locked developing countries in eradicating poverty and supporting their efforts aimed at social development; (g) Supporting societies disrupted by conflict in their efforts to rebuild their social protection systems and eradicate poverty. B. Improved access to productive resources and infrastructure 31. The opportunities for income generation, diversification of activities and increase of productivity in low-income and poor communities should be enhanced by: (a) Improving the availability and accessibility of transportation, communication, power and energy services at the local or community level, in particular for isolated, remote and marginalized communities; (b) Ensuring that investments in infrastructure support sustainable development at the local or community levels; (c) Emphasizing the need for developing countries that are heavily dependent on primary commodities to continue to promote a domestic policy and an institutional environment that encourage diversification and enhance competitiveness; (d) Supporting the importance of commodity diversification as a means to increase the export revenues of developing countries and to improve their competitiveness in the face of the persistent instability in the price of some primary commodities and the general deterioration in the terms of trade; (e) Promoting, including by micro-enterprises, rural non-farm production and service activities, such as agro-processing, sales and services of agricultural equipment and inputs, irrigation, credit services and other income-generating activities through, inter alia, supportive laws and administrative measures, credit policies, and technical and administrative training; (f) Strengthening and improving financial and technical assistance for community-based development and self-help programmes, and strengthening cooperation among Governments, community organizations, cooperatives, formal and informal banking institutions, private enterprises and international agencies, with the aim of mobilizing local savings, promoting the creation of local financial networks, and increasing the availability of credit and market information to small entrepreneurs, small farmers and other low-income self-employed workers, with particular efforts to ensure the availability of such services to women; (g) Strengthening organizations of small farmers, landless tenants and labourers, other small producers, fisherfolk, community-based and workers' cooperatives, especially those run by women, in order to, inter alia, improve market access and increase productivity, provide inputs and technical advice, promote cooperation in production and marketing operations, and strengthen participation in the planning and implementation of rural development; (h) Promoting national and international assistance in providing economically viable alternatives for social groups, especially farmers involved in the cultivation and processing of crops used for the illegal drug trade; (i) Improving the competitiveness of natural products with environmental advantages and strengthening the impact that this could have on promoting sustainable consumption and production patterns, and strengthening and improving financial and technical assistance to the developing countries for research and development of such products; (j) Promoting comprehensive rural development, including by land reform, land improvement and economic diversification; (k) Improving economic opportunities for rural women through the elimination of legal, social, cultural and practical obstacles to women's participation in economic activities and ensuring that women have equal access to productive resources. 32. Rural poverty should be addressed by: (a) Expanding and improving land ownership through such measures as land reform and improving the security of land tenure, and ensuring the equal rights of women and men in this respect, developing new agricultural land, promoting fair land rents, making land transfers more efficient and fair, and adjudicating land disputes; (b) Promoting fair wages and improving the conditions of agricultural labour, and increasing the access of small farmers to water, credit, extension services and appropriate technology, including for women, persons with disabilities and vulnerable groups on the basis of equality; (c) Strengthening measures and actions designed to improve the social, economic and living conditions in rural areas and thereby discouraging rural exodus; (d) Promoting opportunities for small farmers and other agricultural, forestry and fishery workers on terms that respect sustainable development; (e) Improving access to markets and market information in order to enable small producers to obtain better prices for their products and pay better prices for the materials they need; (f) Protecting, within the national context, the traditional rights to land and other resources of pastoralists, fishery workers and nomadic and indigenous people, and strengthening land management in the areas of pastoral or nomadic activity, building on traditional communal practices, controlling encroachment by others, and developing improved systems of range management and access to water, markets, credit, animal production, veterinary services, health including health services, education and information; (g) Promoting education, research and development on farming systems and smallholder cultivation and animal husbandry techniques, particularly in environmentally fragile areas, building on local and traditional practices of sustainable agriculture and taking particular advantage of women's knowledge; (h) Strengthening agricultural training and extension services to promote a more effective use of existing technologies and indigenous knowledge systems and to disseminate new technologies in order to reach both men and women farmers and other agricultural workers, including through the hiring of more women as extension workers; (i) Promoting infrastructural and institutional investment in small-scale farming in resource-poor regions so that small-scale farmers can fully explore market opportunities, within the context of liberalization. 33. Access to credit by small rural or urban producers, landless farmers and other people with low or no income should be substantially improved, with special attention to the needs of women and disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, by: (a) Reviewing national legal, regulatory and institutional frameworks that restrict the access of people living in poverty, especially women, to credit on reasonable terms; (b) Promoting realistic targets for access to affordable credit, where appropriate; (c) Providing incentives for improving access to and strengthening the capacities of the organized credit system to deliver credit and related services to people living in poverty and vulnerable groups; (d) Expanding financial networks, building on existing community networks, promoting attractive opportunities for savings and ensuring equitable access to credit at the local level. 34. Urban poverty should further be addressed by: (a) Promoting and strengthening micro-enterprises, new small businesses, cooperative enterprises, and expanded market and other employment opportunities and, where appropriate, facilitating the transition from the informal to the formal sector; (b) Promoting sustainable livelihoods for people living in urban poverty through the provision or expansion of access to training, education and other employment assistance services, in particular for women, youth, the unemployed and the underemployed; (c) Promoting public and private investments to improve for the deprived the overall human environment and infrastructure, in particular housing, water and sanitation, and public transportation; (d) Ensuring that strategies for shelter give special attention to women and children, bearing in mind the perspectives of women in the development of such strategies; (e) Promoting social and other essential services, including, where necessary, assistance for people to move to areas that offer better employment opportunities, housing, education, health and other social services; (f) Ensuring safety through effective criminal justice administration and protective measures that are responsive to the needs and concerns of the community; (g) Strengthening the role and expanding the means of municipal authorities, non-governmental organizations, universities and other educational institutions, businesses and community organizations, enabling them to be more actively involved in urban planning, policy development and implementation; (h) Ensuring that special measures are taken to protect the displaced, the homeless, street children, unaccompanied minors and children in special and difficult circumstances, orphans, adolescents and single mothers, people with disabilities, and older persons, and to ensure that they are integrated into their communities. C. Meeting the basic human needs of all 35. Governments, in partnership with all other development actors, in particular with people living in poverty and their organizations, should cooperate to meet the basic human needs of all, including people living in poverty and vulnerable groups, by: (a) Ensuring universal access to basic social services, with particular efforts to facilitate access by people living in poverty and vulnerable groups; (b) Creating public awareness that the satisfaction of basic human needs is an essential element of poverty reduction; these needs are closely interrelated and comprise nutrition, health, water and sanitation, education, employment, housing and participation in cultural and social life; (c) Ensuring full and equal access to social services, especially education, legal services and health-care services for women of all ages and children, recognizing the rights, duties and responsibilities of parents and other persons legally responsible for children, consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child; (d) Ensuring that due priority is given and adequate resources made available, at the national, regional and international levels, to combat the threat to individual and public health posed by the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS globally and by the re-emergence of major diseases, such as tuberculosis, malaria, onchocerciasis (river blindness) and diarrhoeal diseases, in particular cholera; (e) Taking particular actions to enhance the productive capacities of indigenous people, ensuring their full and equal access to social services and their participation in the elaboration and implementation of policies that affect their development, with full respect for their cultures, languages, traditions and forms of social organizations, as well as their own initiatives; (f) Providing appropriate social services to enable vulnerable people and people living in poverty to improve their lives, to exercise their rights and to participate fully in all social, economic and political activities and to contribute to social and economic development; (g) Recognizing that improving people's health is inseparably linked to a sound environment; (h) Ensuring physical access to all basic social services for persons who are older, disabled or home-bound; (i) Ensuring that people living in poverty have full and equal access to justice, including knowledge of their rights and, as appropriate, through the provision of free legal assistance. The legal system should be made more sensitive and responsive to the needs and special circumstances of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in order to ensure a strong and independent administration of justice; (j) Promoting full restorative services, in particular for those who require institutional care or are home-bound, and a comprehensive array of community-based, long-term care services for those facing loss of independence. 36. Governments should implement the commitments that have been made to meet the basic needs of all, with assistance from the international community consistent with chapter V of the present Programme of Action, including, inter alia, the following: (a) By the year 2000, universal access to basic education and completion of primary education by at least 80 per cent of primary school-age children; closing the gender gap in primary and secondary school education by the year 2005; universal primary education in all countries before the year 2015; (b) By the year 2000, life expectancy of not less than 60 years in any country; (c) By the year 2000, reduction of mortality rates of infants and children under five years of age by one third of the 1990 level, or 50 to 70 per 1,000 live births, whichever is less; by the year 2015, achievement of an infant mortality rate below 35 per 1,000 live births and an under-five mortality rate below 45 per 1,000; (d) By the year 2000, a reduction in maternal mortality by one half of the 1990 level; by the year 2015, a further reduction by one half; (e) Achieving food security by ensuring a safe and nutritionally adequate food supply, at both the national and international levels, a reasonable degree of stability in the supply of food, as well as physical, social and economic access to enough food for all, while reaffirming that food should not be used as a tool for political pressure; (f) By the year 2000, a reduction of severe and moderate malnutrition among children under five years of age by half of the 1990 level; (g) By the year 2000, attainment by all peoples of the world of a level of health that will permit them to lead a socially and economically productive life, and to this end, ensuring primary health care for all; (h) Making accessible through the primary health-care system reproductive health to all individuals of appropriate ages as soon as possible and no later than the year 2015, in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, and taking into account the reservations and declarations made at that Conference, especially those concerning the need for parental guidance and parental responsibility; (i) Strengthening efforts and increasing commitments with the aim, by the year 2000, of reducing malaria mortality and morbidity by at least 20 per cent compared to 1995 levels in at least 75 per cent of affected countries, as well as reducing social and economic losses due to malaria in the developing countries, especially in Africa, where the overwhelming majority of both cases and deaths occur; (j) By the year 2000, eradicating, eliminating or controlling major diseases constituting global health problems, in accordance with paragraph 6.12 of Agenda 21; 2/ (k) Reducing the adult illiteracy rate - the appropriate age group to be determined in each country - to at least half its 1990 level, with an emphasis on female literacy; achieving universal access to quality education, with particular priority being given to primary and technical education and job training, combating illiteracy, and eliminating gender disparities in access to, retention in and support for education; (l) Providing, on a sustainable basis, access to safe drinking water in sufficient quantities, and proper sanitation for all; (m) Improving the availability of affordable and adequate shelter for all, in accordance with the Global Strategy for Shelter to the Year 2000; 14/ (n) Monitoring the implementation of those commitments at the highest appropriate level and considering the possibility of expediting their implementation through the dissemination of sufficient and accurate statistical data and appropriate indicators. 37. Access to social services for people living in poverty and vulnerable groups should be improved through: (a) Facilitating access and improving the quality of education for people living in poverty by establishing schools in unserved areas, providing social services, such as meals and health care, as incentives for families in poverty to keep children in school, and improving the quality of schools in low-income communities; (b) Expanding and improving opportunities for continuing education and training by means of public and private initiatives and non-formal education in order to improve opportunities for people living in poverty, including people with disabilities, and in order to develop the skills and knowledge that they need to better their conditions and livelihoods; (c) Expanding and improving preschool education, both formal and non-formal, including through new learning technologies, radio and television, to overcome some of the disadvantages faced by young children growing up in poverty; (d) Ensuring that people living in poverty and low-income communities have access to quality health care that provides primary health-care services, consistent with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development, free of charge or at affordable rates; (e) Promoting cooperation among government agencies, health-care workers, non-governmental organizations, women's organizations and other institutions of civil society in order to develop a comprehensive national strategy for improving reproductive health care and child health-care services and ensuring that people living in poverty have full access to those services, including, inter alia, education and services on family planning, safe motherhood and prenatal and postnatal care, and the benefits of breast-feeding, consistent with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development; (f) Encouraging health-care workers to work in low-income communities and rural areas, and providing outreach services to make health care available to otherwise unserved areas, recognizing that investing in a primary health-care system that ensures prevention, treatment and rehabilitation for all individuals is an effective means of promoting social and economic development as well as broad participation in society. D. Enhanced social protection and reduced vulnerability 38. Social protection systems should be based on legislation and, as appropriate, strengthened and expanded, as necessary, in order to protect from poverty people who cannot find work; people who cannot work due to sickness, disability, old age or maternity, or to their caring for children and sick or older relatives; families that have lost a breadwinner through death or marital breakup; and people who have lost their livelihoods due to natural disasters or civil violence, wars or forced displacement. Due attention should be given to people affected by the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) pandemic. Actions to this end should include: (a) Strengthening and expanding programmes targeted to those in need, programmes providing universal basic protection, and social security insurance programmes, with the choice of programmes depending on national financial and administrative capacities; (b) Developing, where necessary, a strategy for a gradual expansion of social protection programmes that provide social security for all, according to a schedule and terms and conditions related to national contexts; (c) Ensuring that social safety nets associated with economic restructuring are considered as complementary strategies to overall poverty reduction and an increase in productive employment. Short term by nature, safety nets must protect people living in poverty and enable them to find productive employment; (d) Designing social protection and support programmes to help people become self-sufficient as fully and quickly as possible, to assist and protect families, to reintegrate people excluded from economic activity and to prevent the social isolation or stigmatization of those who need protection; (e) Exploring a variety of means for raising revenues to strengthen social protection programmes, and promoting efforts by the private sector and voluntary associations to provide social protection and support; (f) Promoting the innovative efforts of self-help organizations, professional associations and other organizations of civil society in this sphere; (g) Expanding and strengthening social protection programmes to protect working people, including the self-employed and their families, from the risk of falling into poverty, by extending coverage to as many as possible, providing benefits quickly and ensuring that entitlements continue when workers change jobs; (h) Ensuring, through appropriate regulation, that contributory social protection plans are efficient and transparent so that the contributions of workers, employers and the State and the accumulation of resources can be monitored by the participants; (i) Ensuring an adequate social safety net under structural adjustment programmes; (j) Ensuring that social protection and social support programmes meet the needs of women, and especially that they take into account women's multiple roles and concerns, in particular the reintegration of women into formal work after periods of absence, support for older women, and the promotion of acceptance of women's multiple roles and responsibilities. 39. Particular efforts should be made to protect children and youth by: (a) Promoting family stability and supporting families in providing mutual support, including in their role as nurturers and educators of children; (b) Promoting social support, including good quality child care and working conditions that allow both parents to reconcile parenthood with working life; (c) Supporting and involving family organizations and networks in community activities; (d) Taking the necessary legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect and promote the rights of the child, with particular attention to the girl child; (e) Improving the situation and protecting the rights of children in especially difficult circumstances, including children in areas of armed conflict, children who lack adequate family support, urban street children, abandoned children, children with disabilities, children addicted to narcotic drugs, children affected by war or natural and man-made disasters, unaccompanied minor refugee children, working children, and children who are economically and sexually exploited or abused, including the victims of the sale and trafficking of children; ensuring that they have access to food, shelter, education and health care and are protected from abuse and violence, as well as provided with the necessary social and psychological assistance for their healthy reintegration into society and for family reunification consistent with the Convention on the Rights of the Child; and substituting education for child work; (f) Developing and strengthening programmes targeted at youth living in poverty in order to enhance their economic, educational, social and cultural opportunities, to promote constructive social relations among them and to provide them with connections outside their communities to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty; (g) Addressing the special needs of indigenous children and their families, particularly those living in poor areas, enabling them to benefit adequately from economic and social development programmes, with full respect for their cultures, languages and traditions; (h) Improving the condition of the single parent in society and ensuring that single-parent families and female-headed or female-maintained households receive the social support they need, including support for adequate housing and child care. 40. Particular efforts should be made to protect older persons, including those with disabilities, by: (a) Strengthening family support systems; (b) Improving the situation of older persons, in particular in cases where they lack adequate family support, including rural older persons, working older persons, those affected by armed conflicts and natural or man-made disasters, and those who are exploited, physically or psychologically neglected, or abused; (c) Ensuring that older persons are able to meet their basic human needs through access to social services and social security, that those in need are assisted, and that older persons are protected from abuse and violence and are treated as a resource and not a burden; (d) Providing assistance to grandparents who have been required to assume responsibility for children, particularly of parents who are affected by serious diseases, including AIDS or leprosy, or others who are unable to care for their dependants; (e) Creating a financial environment that encourages people to save for their old age; (f) Strengthening measures and mechanisms to ensure that retired workers do not fall into poverty, taking into account their contribution to the development of their countries; (g) Encouraging and supporting cross-generational participation in policy and programme development and in decision-making bodies at all levels. 41. People and communities should be protected from impoverishment and long-term displacement and exclusion resulting from disasters through the following actions at the national and international levels, as appropriate: (a) Designing effective mechanisms to reduce the impact and to mitigate the effects of natural disasters, such as droughts, earthquakes, cyclones and floods; (b) Developing long-term strategies and contingency plans for the effective mitigation of natural disasters and for famine, including early warning, assessment, information dissemination and management, as well as rapid response strategies, that ensure the quick evolution of relief activities into rehabilitation and development; (c) 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. The Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995 Chapter 1. Resolution 1. Annex II - The Beijing Platform for Action IV. Strategic Objectives and Actions A. Women and poverty 47. More than 1 billion people in the world today, the great majority of whom are women, live in unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in the developing countries. Poverty has various causes, including structural ones. Poverty is a complex, multidimensional problem, with origins in both the national and international domains. The globalization of the world's economy and the deepening interdependence among nations present challenges and opportunities for sustained economic growth and development, as well as risks and uncertainties for the future of the world economy. The uncertain global economic climate has been accompanied by economic restructuring as well as, in a certain number of countries, persistent, unmanageable levels of external debt and structural adjustment programmes. In addition, all types of conflict, displacement of people and environmental degradation have undermined the capacity of Governments to meet the basic needs of their populations. Transformations in the world economy are profoundly changing the parameters of social development in all countries. One significant trend has been the increased poverty of women, the extent of which varies from region to region. The gender disparities in economic power-sharing are also an important contributing factor to the poverty of women. Migration and consequent changes in family structures have placed additional burdens on women, especially those who provide for several dependants. Macroeconomic policies need rethinking and reformulation to address such trends. These policies focus almost exclusively on the formal sector. They also tend to impede the initiatives of women and fail to consider the differential impact on women and men. The application of gender analysis to a wide range of policies and programmes is therefore critical to poverty reduction strategies. In order to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development, women and men must participate fully and equally in the formulation of macroeconomic and social policies and strategies for the eradication of poverty. 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 women to resources, opportunities and public services. Poverty has various manifestations, including lack of income and productive resources sufficient to ensure a sustainable livelihood; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increasing morbidity and mortality from illness; homelessness and inadequate housing; unsafe environments; and social discrimination and exclusion. It is also characterized by 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 and as pockets of poverty amidst wealth in developed countries. Poverty may be caused by an economic recession that results in loss of livelihood or by disaster or conflict. There is also the poverty of low-wage workers and the utter destitution of people who fall outside family support systems, social institutions and safety nets. 48. In the past decade the number of women living in poverty has increased disproportionately to the number of men, particularly in the developing countries. The feminization of poverty has also recently become a significant problem in the countries with economies in transition as a short-term consequence of the process of political, economic and social transformation. In addition to economic factors, the rigidity of socially ascribed gender roles and women's limited access to power, education, training and productive resources as well as other emerging factors that may lead to insecurity for families are also responsible. The failure to adequately mainstream a gender perspective in all economic analysis and planning and to address the structural causes of poverty is also a contributing factor. 49. Women contribute to the economy and to combating poverty through both remunerated and unremunerated work at home, in the community and in the workplace. The empowerment of women is a critical factor in the eradication of poverty. 50. While poverty affects households as a whole, because of the gender division of labour and responsibilities for household welfare, women bear a disproportionate burden, attempting to manage household consumption and production under conditions of increasing scarcity. Poverty is particularly acute for women living in rural households. 51. Women's poverty is directly related to the absence of economic opportunities and autonomy, lack of access to economic resources, including credit, land ownership and inheritance, lack of access to education and support services and their minimal participation in the decision-making process. Poverty can also force women into situations in which they are vulnerable to sexual exploitation. 52. In too many countries, social welfare systems do not take sufficient account of the specific conditions of women living in poverty, and there is a tendency to scale back the services provided by such systems. The risk of falling into poverty is greater for women than for men, particularly in old age, where social security systems are based on the principle of continuous remunerated employment. In some cases, women do not fulfil this requirement because of interruptions in their work, due to the unbalanced distribution of remunerated and unremunerated work. Moreover, older women also face greater obstacles to labour-market re-entry. 53. In many developed countries, where the level of general education and professional training of women and men are similar and where systems of protection against discrimination are available, in some sectors the economic transformations of the past decade have strongly increased either the unemployment of women or the precarious nature of their employment. The proportion of women among the poor has consequently increased. In countries with a high level of school enrolment of girls, those who leave the educational system the earliest, without any qualification, are among the most vulnerable in the labour market. 54. In countries with economies in transition and in other countries undergoing fundamental political, economic and social transformations, these transformations have often led to a reduction in women's income or to women being deprived of income. 55. Particularly in developing countries, the productive capacity of women should be increased through access to capital, resources, credit, land, technology, information, technical assistance and training so as to raise their income and improve nutrition, education, health care and status within the household. The release of women's productive potential is pivotal to breaking the cycle of poverty so that women can share fully in the benefits of development and in the products of their own labour. 56. Sustainable development and economic growth that is both sustained and sustainable are possible only through improving the economic, social, political, legal and cultural status of women. Equitable social development that recognizes empowering the poor, particularly women, to utilize environmental resources sustainably is a necessary foundation for sustainable development. 57. The success of policies and measures aimed at supporting or strengthening the promotion of gender equality and the improvement of the status of women should be based on the integration of the gender perspective in general policies relating to all spheres of society as well as the implementation of positive measures with adequate institutional and financial support at all levels. Strategic objective A.1. Review, adopt and maintain macroeconomic policies and development strategies that address the needs and efforts of women in poverty Actions to be taken 58. By Governments: (a) Review and modify, with the full and equal participation of women, macroeconomic and social policies with a view to achieving the objectives of the Platform for Action; (b) Analyse, from a gender perspective, policies and programmes - including those related to macroeconomic stability, structural adjustment, external debt problems, taxation, investments, employment, markets and all relevant sectors of the economy - with respect to their impact on poverty, on inequality and particularly on women; assess their impact on family well-being and conditions and adjust them, as appropriate, to promote more equitable distribution of productive assets, wealth, opportunities, income and services; (c) Pursue and implement sound and stable macroeconomic and sectoral policies that are designed and monitored with the full and equal participation of women, encourage broad-based sustained economic growth, address the structural causes of poverty and are geared towards eradicating poverty and reducing gender-based inequality within the overall framework of achieving people-centred sustainable development; (d) Restructure and target the allocation of public expenditures to promote women's economic opportunities and equal access to productive resources and to address the basic social, educational and health needs of women, particularly those living in poverty; (e) Develop agricultural and fishing sectors, where and as necessary, in order to ensure, as appropriate, household and national food security and food self-sufficiency, by allocating the necessary financial, technical and human resources; (f) Develop policies and programmes to promote equitable distribution of food within the household; (g) Provide adequate safety nets and strengthen State-based and community-based support systems, as an integral part of social policy, in order to enable women living in poverty to withstand adverse economic environments and preserve their livelihood, assets and revenues in times of crisis; (h) Generate economic policies that have a positive impact on the employment and income of women workers in both the formal and informal sectors and adopt specific measures to address women's unemployment, in particular their long-term unemployment; (i) Formulate and implement, when necessary, specific economic, social, agricultural and related policies in support of female-headed households; (j) Develop and implement anti-poverty programmes, including employment schemes, that improve access to food for women living in poverty, including through the use of appropriate pricing and distribution mechanisms; (k) Ensure the full realization of the human rights of all women migrants, including women migrant workers, and their protection against violence and exploitation; introduce measures for the empowerment of documented women migrants, including women migrant workers; facilitate the productive employment of documented migrant women through greater recognition of their skills, foreign education and credentials, and facilitate their full integration into the labour force; (l) Introduce measures to integrate or reintegrate women living in poverty and socially marginalized women into productive employment and the economic mainstream; ensure that internally displaced women have full access to economic opportunities and that the qualifications and skills of immigrant and refugee women are recognized; (m) Enable women to obtain affordable housing and access to land by, among other things, removing all obstacles to access, with special emphasis on meeting the needs of women, especially those living in poverty and female heads of household; (n) Formulate and implement policies and programmes that enhance the access of women agricultural and fisheries producers (including subsistence farmers and producers, especially in rural areas) to financial, technical, extension and marketing services; provide access to and control of land, appropriate infrastructure and technology in order to increase women's incomes and promote household food security, especially in rural areas and, where appropriate, encourage the development of producer-owned, market- based cooperatives; (o) Create social security systems wherever they do not exist, or review them with a view to placing individual women and men on an equal footing, at every stage of their lives; (p) Ensure access to free or low-cost legal services, including legal literacy, especially designed to reach women living in poverty; (q) Take particular measures to promote and strengthen policies and programmes for indigenous women with their full participation and respect for their cultural diversity, so that they have opportunities and the possibility of choice in the development process in order to eradicate the poverty that affects them. 59. By multilateral financial and development institutions, including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and regional development institutions, and through bilateral development cooperation: (a) In accordance with the commitments made at the World Summit for Social Development, seek to mobilize new and additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and mobilized in a way that maximizes the availability of such resources and uses all available funding sources and mechanisms with a view to contributing towards the goal of poverty eradication and targeting women living in poverty; (b) Strengthen analytical capacity in order to more systematically strengthen gender perspectives and integrate them into the design and implementation of lending programmes, including structural adjustment and economic recovery programmes; (c) Find effective development-oriented and durable solutions to external debt problems in order to help them to finance programmes and projects targeted at development, including the advancement of women, inter alia, through the immediate implementation of the terms of debt forgiveness agreed upon in the Paris Club in December 1994, which encompassed debt reduction, including cancellation or other debt relief measures and develop techniques of debt conversion applied to social development programmes and projects in conformity with the priorities of the Platform for Action; (d) Invite the international financial institutions to examine innovative approaches to assisting low-income countries with a high proportion of multilateral debt, with a view to alleviating their debt burden; (e) Ensure that structural adjustment programmes are designed to minimize their negative effects on vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and communities and to assure their positive effects on such groups and communities by preventing their marginalization in economic and social activities and devising measures to ensure that they gain access to and control over economic resources and economic and social activities; take actions to reduce inequality and economic disparity; (f) Review the impact of structural adjustment programmes on social development by means of gender-sensitive social impact assessments and other relevant methods, in order to develop policies to reduce their negative effects and improve their positive impact, ensuring that women do not bear a disproportionate burden of transition costs; complement adjustment lending with enhanced, targeted social development lending; (g) Create an enabling environment that allows women to build and maintain sustainable livelihoods. 60. By national and international non-governmental organizations and women's groups: (a) Mobilize all parties involved in the development process, including academic institutions, non-governmental organizations and grass- roots and women's groups, to improve the effectiveness of anti-poverty programmes directed towards the poorest and most disadvantaged groups of women, such as rural and indigenous women, female heads of household, young women and older women, refugees and migrant women and women with disabilities, recognizing that social development is primarily the responsibility of Governments; (b) Engage in lobbying and establish monitoring mechanisms, as appropriate, and other relevant activities to ensure implementation of the recommendations on poverty eradication outlined in the Platform for Action and aimed at ensuring accountability and transparency from the State and private sectors; (c) Include in their activities women with diverse needs and recognize that youth organizations are increasingly becoming effective partners in development programmes; (d) In cooperation with the government and private sectors, participate in the development of a comprehensive national strategy for improving health, education and social services so that girls and women of all ages living in poverty have full access to such services; seek funding to secure access to services with a gender perspective and to extend those services in order to reach the rural and remote areas that are not covered by government institutions; (e) In cooperation with Governments, employers, other social partners and relevant parties, contribute to the development of education and training and retraining policies to ensure that women can acquire a wide range of skills to meet new demands; (f) Mobilize to protect women's right to full and equal access to economic resources, including the right to inheritance and to ownership of land and other property, credit, natural resources and appropriate technologies. Strategic objective A.2. Revise laws and administrative practices to ensure women's equal rights and access to economic resources Actions to be taken 61. By Governments: (a) Ensure access to free or low-cost legal services, including legal literacy, especially designed to reach women living in poverty; (b) Undertake legislative and administrative reforms to give women full and equal access to economic resources, including the right to inheritance and to ownership of land and other property, credit, natural resources and appropriate technologies; (c) Consider ratification of Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) as part of their efforts to promote and protect the rights of indigenous people. Strategic objective A.3. Provide women with access to savings and credit mechanisms and institutions Actions to be taken 62. By Governments: (a) Enhance the access of disadvantaged women, including women entrepreneurs, in rural, remote and urban areas to financial services through strengthening links between the formal banks and intermediary lending organizations, including legislative support, training for women and institutional strengthening for intermediary institutions with a view to mobilizing capital for those institutions and increasing the availability of credit; (b) Encourage links between financial institutions and non-governmental organizations and support innovative lending practices, including those that integrate credit with women's services and training and provide credit facilities to rural women. 63. By commercial banks, specialized financial institutions and the private sector in examining their policies: (a) Use credit and savings methodologies that are effective in reaching women in poverty and innovative in reducing transaction costs and redefining risk; (b) Open special windows for lending to women, including young women, who lack access to traditional sources of collateral; (c) Simplify banking practices, for example by reducing the minimum deposit and other requirements for opening bank accounts; (d) Ensure the participation and joint ownership, where possible, of women clients in the decision-making of institutions providing credit and financial services. 64. By multilateral and bilateral development cooperation organizations: Support, through the provision of capital and/or resources, financial institutions that serve low-income, small-scale and micro-scale women entrepreneurs and producers, in both the formal and informal sectors. 65. By Governments and multilateral financial institutions, as appropriate: Support institutions that meet performance standards in reaching large numbers of low-income women and men through capitalization, refinancing and institutional development support in forms that foster self-sufficiency. 66. By international organizations: Increase funding for programmes and projects designed to promote sustainable and productive entrepreneurial activities for income- generation among disadvantaged women and women living in poverty. Strategic objective A.4. Develop gender-based methodologies and conduct research to address the feminization of poverty Actions to be taken 67. By Governments, intergovernmental organizations, academic and research institutions and the private sector: (a) Develop conceptual and practical methodologies for incorporating gender perspectives into all aspects of economic policy-making, including structural adjustment planning and programmes; (b) Apply these methodologies in conducting gender-impact analyses of all policies and programmes, including structural adjustment programmes, and disseminate the research findings. 68. By national and international statistical organizations: (a) Collect gender and age-disaggregated data on poverty and all aspects of economic activity and develop qualitative and quantitative statistical indicators to facilitate the assessment of economic performance from a gender perspective; (b) Devise suitable statistical means to recognize and make visible the full extent of the work of women and all their contributions to the national economy, including their contribution in the unremunerated and domestic sectors, and examine the relationship of women's unremunerated work to the incidence of and their vulnerability to poverty HABITAT II, Istanbul 1996 IV Global Plan of Action C. Sustainable human settlements development in an urbanizing world 3. Social development: eradication of poverty, creation of productive employment and social integration 115. Promoting equitable, socially viable and stable human settlements is inextricably linked to eradicating poverty. The concerns of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty and the International Decade for the Eradication of Poverty are shared by the international community, which also acknowledges the feminization of poverty. Poverty has various manifestations, including homelessness and inadequate housing. The eradication of poverty requires, inter alia, sound macroeconomic policies aimed at creating employment opportunities, equal and universal access to economic opportunities (and special efforts to facilitate such access for the disadvantaged); education and training that will promote sustainable livelihoods through freely chosen productive employment and work; and basic social services, including health facilities. However, there are no universal solutions that can be fairly applied. People living in poverty must be empowered through freely chosen participation in all aspects of political, economic and social life. Other key elements of a poverty eradication strategy include policies geared to reducing inequalities, increasing opportunities, improving and providing, as appropriate, access to resources, employment and income; promoting rural development and measures to improve economic, social and environmental conditions in rural areas; providing social protection for those who cannot support themselves; recognizing the needs and skills of women; developing human resources; improving infrastructure, including communication facilities, and making it more accessible; and promoting domestic policies for meeting the basic needs of all. Actions 116. To promote equal access to and fair and equitable provision of services in human settlements, Governments at the appropriate level, including local authorities, should: (a) Formulate and implement human settlements development policies that ensure equal access to and maintenance of basic services, including those related to the provision of food security; education; employment and livelihood; basic health care services; safe drinking water and sanitation; adequate shelter; and access to open and green spaces, giving priority to the needs and rights of women and children, who often bear the greatest burden of poverty; (b) Where appropriate, redirect public resources to encourage community-based management of services and infrastructure and promote the participation of the private sector and local residents, including people living in poverty, women, people with disabilities, indigenous people and members of disadvantaged groups, in the identification of public service needs, spatial planning and the design, provision and maintenance of urban infrastructure and open and green spaces. 117. To promote social integration, Governments at the appropriate levels, including local authorities, recognizing the importance of volunteer contributions and in close cooperation with non-governmental organizations, community-based organizations, the cooperative sector and public and private foundations, should: (a) Prohibit discriminatory, exclusionary practices related to shelter, employment and access to social and cultural facilities; (b) Offer opportunities and physical space to encourage positive interaction among culturally diverse groups; (c) Involve marginalized and/or disadvantaged groups and individuals in the planning, decision-making, monitoring and assessment related to human settlements development; (d) Encourage, in cooperation with relevant interested parties, including parents with respect to their children's education, the development of school curricula, education programmes and community-based centres aimed at developing understanding and cooperation among members of diverse cultures. 118. Urban and rural poverty and unemployment represent severe constraints for human settlements development. In order to combat poverty, Governments at the appropriate levels, including local authorities, in partnership with all relevant interested parties, including workers' and employers' organizations, should: (a) Stimulate productive employment opportunities that generate income sufficient to achieve an adequate standard of living for all people, while ensuring equal employment opportunities and wage rates for women and encouraging the location of employment opportunities near and in the home, particularly for women living in poverty and people with disabilities; (b) Pursue the goal of ensuring quality jobs, and safeguard the basic rights and interests of workers and, to this end, freely promote respect for relevant conventions of the International Labour Organization, including those on the prohibition of forced and child labour, freedom of association, the right to organize and bargain collectively, and the principle of non-discrimination; (c) Improve policies that reduce environmental health hazards, and provide the informal sector and all workers with accessible information on how to enhance occupational safety and reduce health risks; (d) Promote, where appropriate, cost-effective and labour-intensive investments and methods to provide, rehabilitate and maintain settlement infrastructure and services; (e) Promote contracting and procurement that, as appropriate, facilitate the involvement of the local private sector, including small businesses and contractors, and, when appropriate, the informal sector and the community sector in the provision of basic public goods and services; (f) Ensure that people living in poverty have access to productive resources, including credit, land, education and training, technology, knowledge and information, as well as to public services, and that they have the opportunity to participate in decision-making in a policy and regulatory environment that would enable them to benefit from employment and economic opportunities; (g) Promote access to credit and innovative banking alternatives with flexible guarantees and collateral requirements for women and people living in poverty, including those who work in the informal sector, family enterprises and small-scale enterprises; (h) Promote community-based cooperative banking and responsible corporate reinvestment in local communities; (i) Promote and strengthen productive enterprises, including micro-enterprises and small-scale private and cooperative sector enterprises and expand market and other employment and training opportunities for women, men and youth, including people with disabilities and, where appropriate, strengthen the linkages between the informal and formal sectors; (j) Promote, where appropriate, timely access of the unemployed, particularly persons living in poverty, to education and vocational training; (k) Link independent small businesses through flexible manufacturing networks; (l) Establish and strengthen programmes designed to improve project management skills for community-based and non-governmental organizations, including youth organizations, at the community and local levels, including needs assessment, project setting and design, financial management, project implementation and impact assessment, monitoring and evaluation; (m) Encourage the establishment of community-based organizations, private voluntary organizations and other non-governmental organizations that contribute to efforts to eradicate poverty; (n) Explore the creation of quasi-public support structures that encourage interrelated community-based enterprises by providing assistance with development, marketing and distribution of community-manufactured products; (o) Promote public awareness of job opportunities through the mass media. 119. In order to promote gender-sensitive planning and management of human settlements, Governments at the appropriate levels, including local authorities, in collaboration with women's groups and other interested parties, should: (a) Adopt, where appropriate, by-laws, standards and norms and develop planning guidelines that take into consideration the needs and situations of women and men and girls and boys in relation to human settlements planning, development and decision-making, and in the provision of and access to basic services, including public transportation, health and educational facilities; (b) Consider in the planning process the fact that women are often involved in the informal sector and use their homes for business or market activities; (c) Promote representative structures, while ensuring women's full and equal participation; (d) Develop policy guidelines and programmes that encourage and actively pursue the involvement of women's groups in all aspects of community development related to environmental infrastructure and the provision of basic urban services, and encourage women's own cooperatives, as well as their membership in other cooperatives; (e) Promote changes in attitudes, structures, policies, laws and other practices relating to gender in order to eliminate all obstacles to human dignity and equality in family and society and promote full and equal participation of women and men, including persons with disabilities, in social, economic and political life, including in the formulation, implementation and follow-up of public policies and programmes; (f) Foster economic policies that have a positive impact on the employment and income of women workers in both the formal and informal sectors and adopt specific measures to address women's unemployment, in particular their long-term unemployment; (g) Eliminate legal and customary barriers, where they exist, to women's equal access to and control of land and finance; (h) Promote equal access to all levels of education for girls and women; (i) Establish programmes that address the absolute poverty found among rural women, focusing on their need for adequate shelter and employment; (j) Generate and disseminate gender disaggregated data, while ensuring that such statistics are collected, compiled, analysed and presented by age and sex; set up monitoring mechanisms in government structures; and integrate the results into mainstream policies for sustainable human settlements development; (k) Enhance community awareness of issues facing women living in poverty, the homeless, migrants, refugees, other displaced women in need of international protection, and internally displaced women, especially those issues related to physical and sexual abuse, and design appropriate community responses; (l) Ensure equal access to housing, land and public services in the urban and rural areas in line with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. 120. In order to develop the full potential of young people and prepare them to take a responsible role in the development of human settlements, Governments at the appropriate levels, including local authorities, in partnership with the private sector, non-governmental youth organizations and other non-governmental organizations as well as community-based organizations, should: (a) Integrate youth concerns into all relevant national, subnational and local policies, strategies, programmes and projects; (b) Enable youth by supporting and valuing their ability to play an active and creative role in building sustainable communities; (c) Provide equal access to basic education, paying special attention to people living in poverty and to youth living in rural areas and addressing constraints created by distance, lack of educational facilities and social or economic barriers; (d) Take special action to reduce the drop-out rate at all levels of education through increased relevance and quality education, and to facilitate the access of school leavers to a sustainable livelihood; (e) Utilizing both formal and non-formal educational and training activities and programmes, promote - in partnership with youth - employment programmes and vocational skills development that enhance youth's capacity to participate fully in the social, economic and political processes of human settlements; (f) Eliminate the sexual and economic exploitation of young women and children, improving their quality of life and increasing their contribution to sustainable human settlements development; (g) Encourage awareness-raising campaigns and other actions developed and implemented by youth that are aimed at promoting the appreciation by youth of their historical, natural, religious, spiritual and cultural heritage and at increasing their consciousness of environmental values and the environmental implications of their production, consumption, behavioural and ethical choices, especially those related to adequate shelter for all and sustainable human settlements development. 121. In order to promote disability-sensitive planning and management of human settlements, Governments at the appropriate levels, including local authorities, should: (a) Promote the adoption of laws, by-laws, standards and norms and develop planning guidelines and programmes that take into consideration the specific needs of persons with disabilities, including the chronically ill, in all planning, development and decision-making in relation to human settlements; (b) Encourage the adoption of laws and policies ensuring persons with disabilities full access to all new public buildings and facilities, public housing and public transport systems; and also encourage access to existing public buildings and facilities, housing and transport, wherever feasible, especially by taking advantage of renovation; (c) Promote representative structures, while ensuring the full and equal participation of persons with disabilities; (d) Eliminate communication barriers to reduce the social and physical isolation faced by persons with disabilities by measures such as the production and dissemination of information, especially public information, in appropriate formats; (e) Promote equal access to all levels of education and skills development for persons with disabilities; (f) Prepare and disseminate disaggregated data presented by age, sex and work status, set up monitoring mechanisms in government structures and integrate the results into mainstream policies for sustainable human settlements development; (g) Recognize that people with disabilities can provide expertise in their own housing and community requirements, that they should be decision makers with regard to housing appropriate for them and that they should be included as designers and implementers of such housing; (h) Enhance community awareness of health-care issues facing persons with disabilities and design appropriate community responses; (i) Provide persons with disabilities affordable and quality health care; (j) Develop policies and guidelines and provide services that enable persons with disabilities to be housed in community-based settings; (k) Develop and implement programmes that enable people with disabilities to have an equal opportunity to realize an income sufficient to attain an adequate standard of living; (l) Consider in the planning process the fact that persons with disabilities often use their homes for business or market activities; (m) Promote sports, recreational and cultural activities for persons with disabilities. 122. In order to promote the continuing progress of indigenous people and to ensure their full participation in the development of the rural and urban areas in which they live, with full respect for their cultures, languages, traditions, education, social organizations and settlement patterns, Governments and leaders of indigenous communities, within the national context, should: (a) Take particular actions to enhance their productive capacities, ensuring their full and equal access to social and economic services and their participation in the elaboration and implementation of policies that affect their development; (b) Support the economic activities of indigenous people in order to improve their conditions and development and to secure their safe interaction with larger economies; (c) Integrate indigenous women, their perspectives and knowledge, on an equal basis with men, in decision-making regarding human settlements, including sustainable resource management and the development of policies and programmes for sustainable development, including, in particular, those designed to address and prevent environmental degradation of land; (d) Address the particular needs of indigenous children and their families, especially those living in poverty, thereby enabling them to benefit fully from economic and social development programmes. 123. To prevent, reduce and eliminate violence and crime, Governments at the appropriate levels, including local authorities, in partnership with all interested parties, should: (a) Design, create and maintain liveable human settlements that encourage the use of public spaces as centres of community life so that they do not become places for criminal activity; (b) Promote awareness and provide education in an effort to mitigate crime and violence and strengthen society; (c) Promote crime prevention through social development by finding ways to help communities deal with underlying factors that undermine community safety and result in crime by addressing such critical problems as poverty, inequality, family stress, unemployment, absence of educational and vocational opportunities, and lack of health care, including mental health services; (d) Encourage youth and children, in particular street children, to become interested parties in their own future and in their community's future through education, recreation, and job training and counselling that can attract private-sector investment and support from non-profit organizations; (e) Enhance women's safety in communities through the promotion of a gender perspective in crime prevention policies and programmes by increasing in those responsible for implementing those policies the knowledge and understanding of the causes, consequences and mechanisms of violence against women; (f) Establish programmes designed to improve the skills of local leadership in group facilitation, conflict resolution and intervention; (g) As appropriate, promote personal security and reduce fear by improving police services, making them more accountable to the communities they serve, and by encouraging and facilitating, whenever appropriate, the formation of lawful community-based crime prevention measures and systems; (h) Provide accessible, affordable, impartial, prompt and humane local systems of justice by, inter alia, facilitating and strengthening, where appropriate, existing traditional institutions and procedures for the resolution of disputes and conflicts; (i) Encourage the establishment of programmes and projects based on voluntary participation, especially of children, youth and older persons, to prevent violence, including violence in the home, and crime; (j) Take concerted and urgent action to dismantle international and national sex trafficking networks. 124. To protect vulnerable and disadvantaged people, Governments at the appropriate levels, in partnership with all interested parties, should work together to: (a) Adopt integrated, transparent and gender-sensitive environmental, social and economic policies and programmes for distressed areas and areas characterized by social exclusion; (b) Facilitate the participation of local organizations, including elder councils, women's groups, people's movements, youth groups, children's groups and organizations of people with disabilities and other organizations based in the community, in the decision-making processes concerning social welfare programmes; (c) Promote and establish operational partnerships with social welfare and community development initiatives; (d) Improve the planning and design of human settlements so as to respond specifically to the needs of vulnerable and disadvantaged people, especially people with disabilities. UN Commission on the Status of Women, 1993 1993: Resolution 37/8. Women in extreme poverty* The Commission on the Status of Women, Recalling the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 39/ and the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women 1/ for the period up to the year 2000, Recalling also Economic and Social Council resolution 1990/15 of 24 May 1990, Deeply concerned about the continued worsening of the economic situation in many developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, the deterioration of the external economic environment, the significant decline in living conditions and the continued increase of widespread poverty in a large number of those countries, Welcoming with satisfaction General Assembly resolution 47/92 of 16 December 1992, in which the Assembly decided to convene a World Summit for Social Development in Denmark early in 1995, Convinced that the eradication of poverty constitutes one of the main challenges for Governments, the international community and people themselves and that the situation of continuous and growing deprivation impedes the full enjoyment of fundamental human rights and hinders the achievement of sustainable development of society as a whole, Convinced of the essential role of international cooperation for development in efforts at all levels aimed at eradicating poverty, Convinced that poverty affects women more deeply and disproportionately than men, thus making indispensable the formulation of socio-economic policies from a gender perspective, Noting with concern that rural women, who are the backbone of the rural economy, are most vulnerable to situations of extreme poverty, Expressing deep concern over the fact that single-parent households headed by women represent a considerable proportion of households living in extreme poverty in numerous societies, Conscious that the circumstances imposed upon women living in extreme poverty constitute one of the fundamental means by which poverty is transmitted from one generation to another, Recognizing in that regard the responsibility of Governments and their citizens in efforts aimed at eradicating poverty, Aware that the eradication of poverty demands a vigorous and sustained response at all levels and that, in order to be effective, national efforts should be complemented by international cooperation, 1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General entitled "Women in extreme poverty: integration of women's concerns in national development planning" (E/CN.6/1993/3), in particular the conclusions and recommendations contained therein; 2. Urges Governments, international organizations, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations to continue to examine more closely the structural causes of poverty and ways and means of overcoming it and to evaluate from a gender perspective the effects of current socio-economic policies; 3. Recommends that in formulating strategies to eradicate poverty, Member States take into account the specific requirements of women living in poverty, in both rural and urban areas, in order to enable them to fully exercise their social, economic, cultural, civil and political rights, as well as to maximize their resources and to increase their productivity; 4. Calls upon Governments to adopt or strengthen measures to facilitate women's access to education, training, health, family planning, productive resources and income-generating employment and to ensure their full participation in the decision-making process; 5. Requests Governments to strengthen the effectiveness of national machinery for the advancement of women, in order to guarantee the inclusion of a gender perspective in the mainstream of socio-economic policies at the national level, giving particular attention to women living in extreme poverty; 6. Appeals to Governments to share national experiences, at the regional and international levels, relating to their efforts to deal with extreme poverty, in particular the effects of those efforts on women; 7. Appeals to the Governments of developing countries to strengthen collaborative technical assistance and to exchange practical experiences in poverty eradication programmes by establishing a network of focal points; 8. Requests Member States and international, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to allocate or reallocate national resources through appropriate channels with a view to assisting women living in poverty to be active agents as well as direct beneficiaries of poverty eradication programmes; 9. Calls upon multilateral institutions and donor countries to provide assistance to developing countries to improve the availability and reliability of statistics and baseline data on the situation of women in extreme poverty; 10. Encourages multilateral institutions, bilateral mechanisms and donor countries to provide technical and financial cooperation to developing countries, in particular the least developed countries, in order to complement and strengthen national efforts, taking into account that such assistance, while continuing to address emergency situations, should also be directed to medium- and long-term self-sustaining programmes. * For the discussion, see chap. IV. 1996 Ch. I.C: Resolution 40/9. Implementation of strategic objectives and action in the critical area of concern: poverty The Commission on the Status of Women, Recalling General Assembly resolution 50/203 of 22 December 1995 on the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women, Recalling also General Assembly resolution 49/110 of 19 December 1994 and other relevant resolutions of the Assembly related to international cooperation for the eradication of poverty in developing countries, Recalling further Assembly resolution 50/107 of 20 December 1995 on the observance of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty and proclamation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, Reaffirming the importance of the outcome of the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing from 4 to 15 September 1995, as well as all the United Nations major conferences and summits organized since 1990, in particular the World Summit for Social Development held in Copenhagen in March 1995, Recognizing that the eradication of poverty will require the implementation and integration of strategies at the national and international levels in all the critical areas of concern in the Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women, 50/ 48/ Official Records of the General Assembly, Fiftieth Session, Supplement No. 48 (A/50/38), chap. I, sect. B. 49/ For the text of the draft decision, see chap. I, sect. B, draft decision I. 50/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995 (A/CONF.177/20 and Add.1), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes II. Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on poverty 51/ in the follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and of the discussion that took place on this issue during the fortieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women, Reaffirming General Assembly resolutions 50/173 of 22 December 1995 on the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education, 1995-2004, and 49/184 of 23 December 1994, in which the Assembly expressed the conviction that each woman, man and child, to realize their full human potential, must be made aware of all their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development, Recognizing that mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes aimed at combating poverty is crucial, as women constitute the majority of people living in poverty, Recognizing also that the full implementation of the human rights of women and of the girl child, as an inalienable, integral and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms, is essential for the advancement of women, Recognizing further that the commitment of Governments is of fundamental importance in combating poverty and in improving living conditions for women and men, Recognizing that national and international efforts to eradicate poverty require full and equal participation of women in the formulation and implementation of policies that take fully into account the gender perspective and that empower women to be full partners in development, Emphasizing that empowering women is a critical factor in the eradication of poverty, since women constitute the majority of people living in poverty and contribute to the economy and to the combating of poverty through both their unremunerated and remunerated work at home, in the community, and in the workplace, Recognizing that poverty is a global problem affecting all countries and that the complexity of poverty, including the feminization of poverty, requires a wide range of measures and actions, at the national and the regional level, giving particular priority to the situation of women living in poverty and recognizing the need to improve their access to income, education, health care and other resources, Recognizing also that more women than men live in absolute poverty and that the imbalance is on the increase, resulting in the limited access of women to income, resources, education, health care, nutrition, shelter and safe water in all developing countries, particularly in Africa and in the least developed countries, Recognizing further that a large number of women in countries with economies in transition are also affected by poverty, Bearing in mind that the increasing number of women living in poverty in developing countries, both in rural and in urban areas, requires action by the international community in support of actions and measures at the national and regional levels towards the eradication of poverty within the framework of the Beijing Declaration 52/ and Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women, 51/ E/CN.6/1996/CRP.3. 52/ Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995 (A/CONF.177/20 and Add.1), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II. Stressing the necessity of promoting and implementing policies to create a supportive external economic environment, through, inter alia, cooperation in the formulation and implementation of macroeconomic policies, trade liberalization, mobilization and/or the provision of new and additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and mobilized in a way that maximizes the availability of such resources for sustainable development, using all available funding sources and mechanisms, enhanced financial stability and ensuring increased access of developing countries to global markets, productive investment and technologies, and appropriate knowledge, 1. Recognizes the central role that women play in the eradication of poverty, and stresses the need for their full and equal participation in the formulation and implementation of policies that take fully into account the gender perspective and that empower women to be full partners in development; 2. Stresses that the empowerment and autonomy of women and the improvement of women's social, economic and political status are essential for the eradication of poverty and that the full and equal participation of women in decision-making at all levels is an integral part of the process; 3. Recognizes that the eradication of poverty is both a complex and a multidimensional issue, and fundamental to promoting equality between men and women as well as to reinforcing peace and achieving sustainable development; 4. Reaffirms that the promotion and protection of, and respect for, the human rights and fundamental freedoms of women, including the right to development, which are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated, should be mainstreamed into all policies and programmes aimed at the eradication of poverty, and reaffirms as well the need to take measures to ensure that every person is entitled to participate in, to contribute to and to enjoy economic, social, cultural and political development; 5. Stresses that mainstreaming the gender perspective implies examining the ways in which women and men are affected by poverty, the different assets they possess to address the question and their respective contributions and potentials; 6. Also stresses that both mainstreaming and other positive actions should be regarded as complementary strategies aimed at enabling the full release of women's and men's development potential and at eradicating poverty; 7. Urges all Governments to fulfil their commitments in the Platform for Action to develop, preferably by the end of 1996, national implementation strategies or plans of actions that should also focus on the reduction of overall poverty and on the eradication of absolute poverty, with targets, benchmarks for monitoring and proposals for allocation or reallocation of resources for implementation, including resources for undertaking gender impact analysis; where necessary the support of the international community could be enlisted, including resources; 8. Urges all Governments, the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, and civil society, to implement the Platform for Action in its entirety; 9. Emphasizes that, in addition to the commitments and recommendations regarding the eradication of poverty outlined in the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development 53/ and in the Platform for Action adopted by the Fourth World Conference on Women, specific measures in the Platform for Action should be undertaken to address the feminization of poverty and to mainstream a gender perspective in all policies and programmes for the eradication of poverty, including, inter alia, measures to: (a) Develop and implement education, training and retraining policies for women and girls; (b) Undertake legislative and administrative reforms to give women full and equal access to economic resources, including the right to inheritance and to ownership of land and other property, credit, natural resources and appropriate technologies; (c) Promote the participation of women at all levels of decision-making; (d) Develop national strategies for promoting employment and self- employment, including entrepreneurial and organizational skills, in order to generate income for women; (e) Adopt policies to ensure that all women have adequate economic and social protection during unemployment, ill health, maternity, child-bearing, widowhood, disability and old age and that women, men and society share responsibilities for child and other dependant care; (f) Restructure and target the allocation of public expenditures to promote women's economic opportunities and equal access to productive resources and to address the basic social, educational and health needs of women, including access to safe water, particularly of those living in poverty; (g) Develop gender-based methodologies and conduct research for use in designing more effective policies to recognize and value the full contribution of women to the economy through both their unremunerated and renumerated work and to address the feminization of poverty, in particular the relationship between unremunerated work and women's vulnerability to poverty; (h) Develop gender-based methodologies and conduct research to address the contribution of women to the economy, the feminization of poverty, and the economic and social impact of debt and structural adjustment programmes in all developing countries, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries; (i) Analyse, from a gender perspective, macroeconomic and microeconomic policies, and the allocation of public expenditures, which should be designed and implemented with the full and equal participation of women so as to avoid negative impacts on women living in poverty; 53/ Report of the World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 6- 12 March 1995 (A/CONF.166/9), chap. I, resolution 1, annex II. (j) Reduce excessive military expenditures and investments for arms production and acquisition, as is appropriate and consistent with national security requirements, in order to increase resources for social and economic development; 10. Calls for the implementation of the outcome of all other major United Nations conferences and summits related to the eradication of poverty; 11. Calls upon States to undertake all commitments of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development, 54/ taking into account commitments 2 and 5 and the linkages between them, in their efforts to eradicate poverty, and also calls upon all relevant actors to implement promptly the actions and measures for the eradication of poverty, as contained in the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development; 55/ 12. Stresses the need to fully integrate a gender perspective into the work of all thematic task forces relating to the eradication of poverty established by the Administrative Committee on Coordination, as well as the importance of establishing the proposed inter-agency committee on the follow- up to the Fourth World Conference on Women; 13. Recommends that a United Nations system-wide effort be undertaken to review existing indicators, strengthen gender impact analysis of the design and implementation of economic reform programmes, develop complementary, qualitative assessments, and standardize measures and promote their implementation, and stresses that this effort will necessitate effective coordination; 14. Also recommends that the secretariats of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, incorporate a coherent method of including both the mainstreaming of the gender perspective and specific gender programmes to achieve equality between women and men in the operational activities, staffing and decision-making spheres of the system; 15. Stresses that the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, should play a central role in enhancing financial and technical support and assistance for developing countries, particularly African countries and least developed countries, in their efforts to achieve the objectives of the eradication of poverty and the full integration of a gender perspective into all policies and programmes, as set forth in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, particularly the goal of the eradication of poverty; 16. Recognizes that the implementation of the Platform for Action in the countries with economies in transition will also require continued international cooperation and assistance, in support of national efforts; 17. Stresses the importance of using all available funding sources and mechanisms with a view to contributing towards the goal of poverty eradication and targeting of women living in poverty; 18. Calls upon States committed to the initiative of allocation of 20 per cent of official development assistance and 20 per cent of the national budget to basic social programmes to fully integrate a gender perspective into its implementation, as called for in paragraph 16 of General Assembly resolution 50/203; 54/ Ibid., annex I. 55/ Ibid., annex II, chap. II. 19. Invites all countries, the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, relevant international organizations, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, and all other sectors to contribute to the implementation of programmes aimed at eradicating poverty; 20. Stresses the need for a coherent and coordinated approach among all partners in development in the implementation of national poverty eradication plans or programmes that fully take into account the gender perspective; 21. Also stresses the need for gender-sensitive training, with the assistance of United Nations organizations, of those responsible for the formulation and implementation of development policies and programmes; 22. Further stresses the important role of non-governmental organizations as actors involved at the grass-roots level in the policy dialogue designed to reach women through poverty eradication programmes and calls for further efforts to identify ways by which those non-governmental organizations could contribute to the implementation of such programmes; 23. Recommends that the Economic and Social Council, when examining the "Coordination of the activities of the United Nations system for the eradication of poverty" as the theme for the coordination segment of the substantive session of 1996 of the Council, ensure that the relevant organs of the United Nations system take fully into account the gender perspective in their activities for the eradication of poverty, and, likewise, requests that the Council recommend to the General Assembly that the gender dimension of poverty be incorporated into all activities and documentation related to the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty; 24. Stresses the need to fully integrate a gender perspective into the coordinated follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits and recommends that the Economic and Social Council examine, on a regular basis, the extent to which gender factors have been taken into account in the recommendations of all the concerned functional commissions; 25. Requests the Secretary-General to keep in mind the multidimensional nature of poverty in the implementation and review of reports on all other critical areas of concern, taking into consideration the many links between the eradication of poverty and those other critical areas of concern; 26. Also requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the present resolution within the framework of his report on action envisaged to be taken in preparation for the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty. UN Commission on Social Development, 1996 C. Matters brought to the attention of the Council 3. The following resolution adopted by the Commission is brought to the attention of the Council: Resolution S-1996/1. Strategies and actions for the eradication of poverty * (* For the discussion, see chap. III below.) The Commission for Social Development, Recalling General Assembly resolution 50/161 of 22 December 1995 on the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development, Recalling also General Assembly resolution 49/110 of 19 December 1994 and other relevant resolutions of the Assembly related to international cooperation for the eradication of poverty in developing countries as well as Assembly resolution 50/107 of 20 December 1995 on the observance of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty and proclamation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, Recalling further Economic and Social Council resolution 1995/60 of 28 July 1995 and Council decision 1995/324 of 12 December 1995, both related to the special session of the Commission for Social Development in 1996, Recognizing that poverty is a global problem affecting all countries, in particular developing countries, and that the complexity of poverty requires the implementation and integration of policies and strategies as well as a wide range of measures and actions at the local, national, regional and international levels, Recalling that the primary responsibility for the formulation and implementation of the strategies, policies, programmes and actions required to eradicate poverty rests at the national level, Emphasizing the need, in support of national efforts to eradicate poverty and provide basic social protection and services, to fully implement the commitments undertaken by the international community at the World Summit for Social Development, and stressing the urgent need for stronger international cooperation and support to assist developing countries, particularly those in Africa, the least developed countries and small island and land-locked developing countries, Reaffirming that the role of the State and the commitment of Governments are fundamental in eradicating poverty and in improving living conditions, and that Governments should focus their efforts and policies on addressing the root causes of poverty and providing for the basic needs of all, Recognizing that economic growth is necessary for social development, but that active intervention is essential, inter alia, through promotion of equitable distribution of the benefits of economic growth and income, and through ensuring universal access to basic social services and greater access to resources, through equity and equality of opportunity for all, Recognizing that limited access, inter alia, to income, resources, education, health care, nutrition, shelter, sanitation and safe water, particularly in Africa and in the least developed countries, has caused an increase in many regions in overall poverty, particularly in the numbers of people living in absolute poverty, Recognizing also that since women constitute the majority of people living in poverty, mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes aimed at eradicating poverty and the empowerment of women will be critical factors in the eradication of poverty, Recognizing that children and young people are vulnerable victims of poverty as well as the major human resource for future development, Recognizing the linkages between poverty, social exclusion and employment policies and the need for new approaches to social safety nets, human resource development strategies and the concept of employment, Recognizing further that providing basic services to all, including universalization of basic education, access to education for all and the eradication of illiteracy, is essential to the eradication of poverty, Reaffirming that strengthening the family and empowering its members, in accordance with the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development 6/ are essential to the eradication of poverty, Recognizing further that the media have an important role to play in promoting awareness of the complex issues surrounding poverty, Stressing the necessity of promoting and implementing policies and strategies to create a supportive external economic environment, through, inter alia, cooperation in the formulation and implementation of macroeconomic policies, trade liberalization, mobilization and/or provision of new and additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and are mobilized in such a way as to maximize the availability of such resources for sustainable development, using all available funding sources and mechanisms, enhanced financial stability and ensuring developing countries increased access to global markets, productive investment and technologies, and appropriate knowledge, Considering that the international community at the highest political level has already reached a consensus and committed itself to the eradication of poverty in the major United Nations conferences and summits organized since 1990, Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on policy and programme considerations in the formulation of integrated strategies for poverty eradication, meeting the basic human needs of all and promotion of self-reliance and community-based initiatives, 7/ Noting the discussions that took place on this issue during the panel discussions and the discussion with representatives of inter-agency task forces on the follow-up to international conferences and summits, Recalling that the commitment to the goal of eradicating poverty in the world, through decisive national actions and international cooperation, is an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind, 1. Reaffirms that all States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of people of the world; 2. Stresses that action for the eradication of poverty should take into account the fact that poverty is both a complex and a multidimensional issue, which has significant influence on and is in turn influenced by equality between men and women as well as by the reinforcement of peace and the achievement of social and economic development; 3. Stresses the long-term nature of poverty eradication strategies and the need for their continuous adaptation, and urges Governments to integrate goals and targets for combating poverty into overall economic and social policies and planning at the local, national and, where appropriate, subregional and regional levels; 4. Urges Governments to integrate poverty eradication strategies into overall development policies that take into account a people-centred and equitable process in which the ultimate goal of economic and social policies must be to better the human condition, responding to the needs and maximizing the potential of all members of society; 5. Reaffirms that democracy, transparent and accountable governance and administration in all sectors of society, as well as non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual respect for and valuing of diversity, and promotion of and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, are also essential for poverty eradication strategies; 6. Emphasizes the crucial importance of reinforcing the means and capacities for people to participate in the formulation and implementation of social and economic policies and programmes through decentralization and open management of public institutions; 7. Recognizes the central role that women play in the eradication of poverty, and stresses the need for their full and equal participation in the formulation and implementation of policies that take fully into account the gender perspective and that empower women to be full partners in development; 8. Urges Governments to formulate policies and programmes that ensure access to basic social services for all children and young people, in particular those living in poverty; 9. Emphasizes the need to implement sound and stable macroeconomic, micro-economic and sectoral policies that encourage broad-based economic growth and development that is sustainable and equitable, that generate jobs and that are geared towards eradicating poverty and reducing social and economic inequalities and exclusion; 10. Reaffirms that human resources development is an essential part of poverty reduction strategies, which should also be based on strengthening the productive capacities of people living in poverty, inter alia, through the promotion of job training and job-creating activities and wider access to productive resources, as well as through programmes and policies directed towards the simulation of productive employment, labour-intensive development and improvements in productivity; 11. Stresses the need to periodically monitor, assess and share information on the performance of poverty eradication plans, evaluate policies to combat poverty, and promote an understanding and awareness of poverty and its causes and consequences; 12. Recognizes that the role of the State in poverty eradication strategies is fundamental, in particular through applying active social policies and creating an enabling environment, inter alia, for the development of the private sector, including small and medium-sized enterprises; 13. Stresses the need for a partnership among countries with a view to addressing the issue of poverty eradication; 14. Stresses that Governments, in partnership with civil society and all other development actors, including non-governmental organizations and people living in poverty and their organizations should cooperate to meet the basic human needs of all - inter alia, income, resources, education, health care, nutrition, shelter, sanitation and safe water - in particular of people living in poverty and vulnerable and disadvantaged groups; 15. Also stresses the need for strategies to address not only inadequate income, but also other factors, such as lack of access to resources and basic social services, and social exclusion; 16. Reaffirms that the satisfaction of basic human needs is an essential element of poverty reduction, these needs being closely interrelated and comprising nutrition, health, water and sanitation, education, employment, housing, and participation in cultural and social life; 17. Emphasizes that strategies for the eradication of poverty at the national and international levels and the provision of basic human needs should be formulated and implemented with the human being at their core, regardless of any political, economic, social or cultural considerations; 18. Stresses the need for Governments and relevant international institutions or organizations to examine how the rapid globalization of the world economy and the increased liberalization of trade is affecting the ability of States to design and implement effective strategies for eradicating poverty and to provide a stable legal framework that creates an enabling environment to achieve social development and to meet the basic human needs of all, in order to prevent greater inequality between different sectors of society; 19. Recommends that States consider more operational ways of addressing social exclusion in the design of global strategies for eradicating poverty; 20. Stresses the importance of reviewing periodically the administrative and institutional arrangements for the provision of basic social services in order to improve access to and the quality of those services; 21. Urges Governments to promote and attain the goals of eradicating illiteracy, universal and equitable access to quality education, and the highest standard of physical and mental health, and to encourage international organizations, in particular the international financial institutions, to support these objectives and to integrate them into policy programmes and operations, as appropriate; 22. Emphasizes that Governments might consider introducing, within a comprehensive framework geared to national needs and capacities, various ad hoc measures initiated at different times to deal with specific forms of poverty, progressively implemented and aimed at enhancing the capacity of people living in poverty to become economically and socially productive members of society; 23. Emphasizes the fundamental importance of strengthening the abilities and opportunities of civil society and local communities to develop their own organizations, resources and activities, as well as ensuring an open dialogue between Governments and citizens or community groups; 24. Also emphasizes the importance of institutional capacity-building in poverty eradication strategies; 25. Further emphasizes that the adoption and implementation of measures to substantially alleviate the external debt of developing countries, in accordance with the commitments of the Copenhagen Declaration, in particular the external debt of African countries and the least developed countries, should contribute to the eradication of poverty; 26. Stresses the importance of reducing excessive military expenditures and investments for arms production and acquisition, as appropriate and consistent with national security requirements, in order to increase resources for social and economic development; 27. Reaffirms the urgent need for the international community to strive for the fulfilment of the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of the gross national product of developed countries for overall official development assistance as soon as possible, and increase the share of funding for social development programmes, commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to achieve the objectives and goals of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development; 28. Calls upon the international community to seek to mobilize new and additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and mobilized in such a way as to maximize the availability of such resources and use all available funding sources and mechanisms, inter alia, multilateral, bilateral and private sources, including, as mutually agreed, on concessional and grant terms; 29. Reaffirms the agreement on a mutual commitment between interested developed and developing country partners to allocate, on average, 20 per cent of official development assistance and 20 per cent of the national budget, respectively, to basic social programmes, and notes with interest the consensus reached at Oslo on 25 April 1996 on this matter; 30. Calls upon all States and the international community to encourage and support local community development projects that foster the skill, self- reliance and self-confidence of people living in poverty and that facilitate their active participation in efforts to eradicate poverty; 31. Stresses that international cooperation and assistance are essential for the full implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development and, to that end, the international community, and the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, should fulfil the commitments they have made pursuant to chapter V of the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, in support of national efforts of developing countries, particularly in Africa, the least developed countries, and small island and land-locked developing countries, towards the eradication of poverty; 32. Stresses that countries that are undergoing fundamental political, economic and social transformations because they are in the process of consolidating peace and democracy require the support of the international community in their efforts to eradicate poverty; 33. Also stresses that the reduction of poverty in countries with economies in transition requires the assistance of members of the international community in developing their social protection systems and social policies; 34. Recalls that the United Nations system is to strengthen existing structures for coordination of actions relating to poverty eradication, including the establishment of a focal point for information exchange and the formulation and implementation of replicable pilot projects to eradicate poverty; 35. Invites all relevant specialized agencies, funds, programmes and related organizations of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, to strengthen and adjust their activities, programmes and strategies, as appropriate, with a view to achieving the overall goal of eradicating poverty, meeting the basic human needs of all and promoting self- reliance and community-based initiatives, through, inter alia, financial and technical support to developing countries in their efforts to translate all measures, recommendations and commitments into operational and concrete programmes, projects and activities; 36. Reaffirms that the international financial institutions should contribute to the mobilization of resources for the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development by further integrating social development goals into their policies, programmes and operations in support of national efforts of developing countries; 37. Welcomes the decision of the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme to launch the "Poverty Strategies Initiative" to support implementation at the national level of activities in follow-up of the World Summit for Social Development; 38. Invites the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme to examine the options for continuing such initiatives during the period of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006), so as to help developing countries, in particular African countries and the least developed countries, in the elaboration of national plans or programmes to eradicate poverty, as well as in the formulation and implementation of replicable projects to eradicate poverty; 39. Calls upon all States to contribute substantially to the Trust Fund for the Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, which includes in its activities those related to the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty; 40. Requests the Secretary-General, in elaborating the report on action envisaged to be taken by the United Nations system in preparation for the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, to be submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session, to propose specific activities for each year of the Decade in order to facilitate the follow-up to and evaluation of such activities; 41. Also requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the present resolution within the framework of his reporting to the General Assembly at its fifty-second session on the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development and on action taken in connection with the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty. 4. The following decisions adopted by the Commission are brought to the attention of the Council: Decision S-1996/101. Proposals for the medium-term plan for the period 1998-2001 The Commission for Social Development takes note of the note by the Secretary-General on proposals for the medium-term plan for the period 1998-2001. 8/ Decision S-1996/102. Chairman's summary of the panel discussions and the dialogue with chairpersons of inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences The Commission for Social Development decides to include the Chairman's summary of the panel discussions and the dialogue with chairpersons of inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences in the report on its special session. 9/ Notes 1/ Report of the World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 6-12 March 1995 (A/CONF.166/9), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II. 2/ A/50/3, chap. II, para. 22. 3/ E/CN.5/1996/2. 4/ Report of the World Summit for Social Development ..., chap. I, resolution 1, annex I. 5/ Ibid., annex II. 6/ Report of the World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 6-12 March 1995 (A/CONF.166/9), chap. I, resolution 1, annexes I and II. 7/ E/CN.5/1996/3. 8/ E/CN.5/1996/4 and Corr.1. 9/ For the Chairman's summary, see para. 29 below. Chapter III. Substantive theme: Strategies and actions for the eradication of poverty 1. The Commission for Social Development considered item 4 of its agenda at its 3rd to 8th, 10th to 13th and 15th meetings, on 22 to 24, 29 to 31 May 1996. 2. For its consideration of the item, the Commission had before it the following documents: (a) Report of the Secretary-General on policy and programme considerations in the formulation of integrated strategies for poverty eradication, meeting the basic human needs of all and promotion of self-reliance and community-based initiatives (E/CN.5/1996/3); (b) Statement by non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council (E/CN.5/1996/NGO/1). 3. At the 3rd meeting, on 22 May, the Officer-in-Charge for the Division for Social Policy and Development of the Department for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development made an introductory statement. 4. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of Egypt, Norway, China, Austria, Peru, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ukraine, the Republic of Korea, Belarus, the Philippines and the United States of America. 5. At the same meeting, the observers for Italy (on behalf of the States Members of the United Nations that are members of the European Union, as well as the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Romania and Slovakia), Haiti, Jamaica and Cuba made statements. 6. At the 4th meeting, on 22 May, the Commission began the first of a series of panel discussions. The following experts addressed the Commission: Gerry Rodgers (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), Roberto Bissio (Uruguay), Valimohamed Jamal (Kenya), Louis Emmerij (Netherlands) and Pasuk Phongpaichit (Thailand). 7. At the same meeting, the observer for the Organization of the Islamic Conference made a statement. 8. At the 5th meeting, on 23 May, the Commission held its second panel discussion. The following experts addressed the Commission: Jan Vandemoortele (United Nations Children's Fund), Leonor Briones (Philippines), Kerstin Trone (United Nations Population Fund) and Yao Graham (Ghana). 9. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representative of Argentina and the observer for India. 10. At the 6th meeting, on 23 May, the Commission held its third panel discussion. The following experts addressed the Commission: Huguette Redegeld (France), Kasa Pangu (United Nations Children's Fund), Caroline Pezzullo (United States of America), Atila Roque (Brazil) and Else Oyen (Norway). 11. At the same meeting, the representative of the Dominican Republic made a statement. 12. Also at the same meeting, the observers for the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the International Council on Social Welfare, non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, category I, and the International Catholic Child Bureau, category II, made statements. 13. At the 7th meeting, on 24 May, statements were made by the representatives of Chile, the Philippines, Venezuela, the Russian Federation, Ethiopia, Belarus, Gabon, Co^te d'Ivoire, Mongolia and the Sudan and the observers for Kazakstan, Algeria, South Africa, Indonesia and Pakistan. 14. At the same meeting, the representatives of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Development Programme made statements. 15. Also at the same meeting, the observers for the American Association of Retired Persons and Franciscans International, non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, category I, and the Ambekdar Centre for Justice and Peace, a non-governmental organization accredited to the World Summit for Social Development, made statements. 16. At the 8th meeting, on 24 May, the representatives of Bolivia and Ukraine made statements. 17. At the same meeting, the representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights made a statement. 18. At the 10th meeting, on 29 May, the Chairperson of the Working Group on Poverty Eradication made a statement. 19. At the 11th meeting, on 29 May, the Under-Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Sustainable Development made a statement. 20. At the same meeting, the chairpersons of the inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences addressed the Commission: Katherine Hagen (Chairperson of the Task Force on Employment and Sustainable Livelihoods), Mark Malloch Brown (Chairperson of the Task Force on the Enabling Environment for Social and Economic Development), Colin Power (Chairperson of the Task Force on Basic Social Services for All), and Rosario Green (Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Women and Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues). The Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme acted as Moderator. 21. At the same meeting, statements were made by the representatives of the Sudan, Chile, Argentina, the Netherlands, Ukraine and Benin and the observers for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Mexico, Jamaica and Canada. 22. At the 12th meeting, on 30 May, the Chairperson of the Working Group on Poverty Eradication made a statement. Action taken by the Commission Strategies and actions for the eradication of poverty 23. At the 13th meeting, on 30 May, Mr. Sten Arne Rosnes (Norway), in his capacity as Chairperson of the Working Group on Poverty Eradication introduced a draft resolution (E/CN.5/1996/L.4) entitled "Strategies and actions for the eradication of poverty", which read as follows: "The Commission for Social Development, "Recalling General Assembly resolution 50/161 of 22 December 1995 on the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development, "Recalling also General Assembly resolution 49/110 of 19 December 1994 and other relevant resolutions of the Assembly related to international cooperation for the eradication of poverty in developing countries as well as Assembly resolution 50/107 of 20 December 1995 on the observance of the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty and proclamation of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, "Recalling further Economic and Social Council resolution 1995/60 of 28 July 1995 and Council decision 1995/324 of 12 December 1995, both related to the special session of the Commission for Social Development in 1996, "Recognizing that broad-based and sustained economic growth in the context of sustainable development is necessary to sustain social development and social justice, particularly as regards efforts to eradicate poverty, "Alt. 1: Recognizing also that poverty is a global problem affecting all countries, in particular developing countries, and that the complexity of poverty requires the implementation and integration of policies and strategies as well as a wide range of measures and actions at the local, national, regional and international levels, "Alt. 2: Recognizing also that poverty is a global problem affecting all countries and that the multidimensional nature of poverty requires a comprehensive and integrated approach to poverty eradication (in the national and international domains), "Recalling that (, while) the main responsibility for the formulation and implementation of the strategies, policies, programmes and actions required to (combat/eradicate) poverty rests primarily at the national level (, there is also an urgent need for stronger international cooperation and the support of international institutions to assist countries in their efforts to eradicate poverty and to provide basic social protection and services) (, they cannot be successfully achieved without the collective commitment and efforts of the international community), "Reaffirming that the role of the State and the commitment of Governments are of fundamental importance in combating poverty and in improving living conditions, and that Governments should focus their efforts and policies on addressing the root causes of poverty and providing for the basic needs of all, "Recognizing that over one billion people in the world today live under unacceptable conditions of poverty, mostly in developing countries, and particularly in rural areas of low-income Asia and the Pacific, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the least developed countries, (and recognizing also that people living in absolute poverty, particularly women, are on the increase,) resulting in limited access, inter alia, to income, resources, education, health care, nutrition, shelter, sanitation and safe water (, and that in all developing countries, particularly in Africa and in the least developed countries, the same trends are observed in other regions), "Alt. 1: Recognizing also that mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes aimed at combating poverty and that empowerment of women will be critical factors in the eradication of poverty, since women constitute the majority of people living in poverty, "Alt. 2: Recognizing also that mainstreaming a gender perspective into all policies and programmes aimed at eradicating poverty and that empowerment of women, who constitute the majority of people living in poverty, is crucial in the eradication of poverty, "Recognizing further that the eradication of illiteracy, the universalization of basic education and the access to education for all are essential in the eradication of poverty, "Alt. 1: Reaffirming that the strengthening of the family is essential to the eradication of poverty, "Alt. 2: Recognizing further that the (economic and political) empowerment of families and their individual members is an indispensable strategy in combating poverty, "Recognizing further that the media have an important role to play in promoting awareness of the complex issues surrounding poverty, "Stressing the necessity for promoting and implementing policies and strategies to create a supportive external economic environment, through, inter alia, cooperation in the formulation and implementation of macroeconomic policies, trade liberalization, mobilization and/or provision of new and additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and mobilized in such a way as to maximize the availability of such resources for sustainable development, using all available funding sources and mechanisms, enhanced financial stability and ensuring of increased access of developing countries to global markets, productive investment and technologies, and appropriate knowledge, "Considering that the international community at the highest political level has already reached a consensus and committed itself to the eradication of poverty in the major United Nations conferences and summits organized since 1990, "Having considered the report of the Secretary-General on policy and programme considerations in the formulation of integrated strategies for poverty eradication, meeting the basic human needs of all and promotion of self-reliance and community-based initiatives (E/CN.5/1996/3), "Noting the discussions that took place on this issue during the panel discussions and the discussion with representatives of inter- agency task forces on the follow-up to international conferences and summits, "Recalling that the commitment to the goal of eradicating poverty in the world, through decisive national actions and international cooperation, is an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind, "1. Reaffirms that all States and all people shall cooperate in the essential task of eradicating poverty as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development, in order to decrease the disparities in standards of living and better meet the needs of the majority of people of the world; "2. Stresses that stronger political will, at the national and international levels, is a prerequisite of the eradication of poverty; "3. Recognizes that it is helpful to set achievable output-oriented targets for efforts to eradicate poverty in order to provide a common vision for all countries; "4. Stresses that (reducing/eradicating) poverty can be achieved (in each country only) on the basis of a (clear and lasting/strong) political will (of the State based on national consensus/at the national and international levels) and directed in particular towards promoting more equitable distribution of the benefits of growth and equal access to productive resources and social services; "5. Recognizes that the eradication of poverty is both a complex and a multidimensional issue, fundamental to promoting equality between men and women as well as to reinforcing peace and achieving social and economic development; "6. Alt. 1: Urges Governments to integrate goals and targets for combating poverty into overall economic and social policies and planning at the local, national and, where appropriate, subregional and regional levels; "6. Alt. 2: Urges Governments to integrate poverty eradication strategies into overall development policies within the context of a people-centred and equitable process in which the ultimate goal of economic and social policies must be to better the human condition, through responding to the needs and maximizing the potential of all members of society; "7. Reaffirms that democracy, transparent and accountable (Government/governance) and administration (in all sectors of society/at all levels), as well as non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual respect for and valuing of diversity, and (respect for and promotion of/promotion of and respect for) human rights and fundamental freedoms, are also imperative for poverty eradication strategies; "8. Emphasizes the crucial importance of reinforcing the means and capacities for people to participate in the formulation and implementation of social and economic policies and programmes through decentralization and open management of public institutions; "9. Recognizes the central role that women play in the eradication of poverty, and stresses the need for their full and equal participation in the formulation and implementation of policies that take fully into account the gender perspective and that empower women to be full partners in development; "10. Alt. 1: Emphasizes that strategies for poverty eradication shall consist, inter alia, of a combination of efforts to enhance human resources development, with a special focus on girls and women, and to create economic opportunities by appropriate macroeconomic and micro-economic policies, including facilitating of the access of people living in poverty to resources; "10. Alt. 2: Reaffirms that human resources development is an essential part of poverty reduction strategies, which should also be based on the strengthening of the productive capacities of the poor, inter alia, through the promotion of (demand-driven training for) job-creating activities and wider access to productive resources, as well as through the stimulation of productive employment, labour- intensive (programmes or policies) development and improvements in productivity; "11. Stresses the need to periodically monitor, assess and share information on the performance of poverty eradication plans, evaluate policies to combat poverty, and promote an understanding and awareness of poverty and its causes and consequences; "12. Recognizes that the role of the State in poverty eradication strategies is fundamental, in particular through applying active social policies and creating an enabling environment, inter alia, for the development of the private sector, including small and medium-sized enterprises; "13. Alt. 1: Stresses that Governments, in partnership with all other development actors, including people living in poverty and their organizations, should cooperate to meet the basic human needs of all, comprising, inter alia, income, resources, education, health care, nutrition, shelter, sanitation and safe water, in particular of people living in poverty and vulnerable and disadvantaged groups; "13. Alt. 2: Stresses that Government, in partnership with civil society, including non-governmental organizations, and with people living in poverty and their organizations, should cooperate to meet the basic needs of all, inter alia, and in particular, people living in poverty and vulnerable and disadvantaged groups; "14. Also stresses the need for strategies to address not only inadequate income, but also other factors, such as lack of access to resources and basic social services, and social exclusion; "15. Reaffirms that the satisfaction of basic human needs is an essential element of poverty reduction, these needs being closely interrelated and comprising nutrition, health, water and sanitation, education, employment, housing, and participation in cultural and social life; "16. Emphasizes that strategies for the eradication of poverty at the national and international levels and the provision of basic human needs should be formulated and implemented with the human being at their core, regardless of any political, economic, social or cultural considerations; "17. Recommends that the relationship between meeting the basic needs of all and creating a stable legal framework, on the one hand, and that between, inter alia, globalization and trade liberalization, on the other hand, be examined; "18. Stresses the long-term nature of poverty eradication strategies and the need for their continuous application; "19. Recommends that States consider more operational ways of integrating a social exclusion concept into the design of global strategies for eradicating poverty, notably through human rights, democracy, good governance and administration, a stable legal framework, participation in decision-making, non-discrimination, tolerance and mutual respect for and valuing of diversity, universal access to basic social services and adequate social protection; "20. Urges Governments to formulate and strengthen national strategies for the eradication of illiteracy and the universalization of basic education, and encourages international organizations, in particular the international financial institutions, to support these objectives in integrating them into policy programmes and operations as appropriate; "21. Emphasizes that Governments might consider introducing, within a comprehensive framework geared to national needs and capacities, various ad hoc measures initiated at different times to deal with specific forms of poverty, progressively implemented and aimed at enhancing the capacity of people living in poverty to become economically and socially productive members of society; "22. Stresses the need for a partnership between donor and recipient countries in which they commit themselves to addressing the issue of poverty eradication in a more cooperative manner; "23. Emphasizes the fundamental importance of strengthening the abilities and opportunities of civil society and local communities to develop their own organizations, resources and activities, as well as ensuring an open dialogue between Governments and citizens or community groups; "24. Also emphasizes the importance of (institutional) capacity- building in poverty eradication strategies; "25. Further emphasizes that the adoption and implementation of measures to substantially alleviate the external debt of developing countries, in particular African countries and the least developed countries, should contribute to the eradication of poverty; "26. Alt. 1: Calls upon the international community to fulfil the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for overall official development assistance as soon as possible, and increase the share of funding for social development programmes, as commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to achieve the objectives and goals of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development to eradicate poverty; "26. Alt. 2: Calls upon the international community to strive for the fulfilment of the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of gross national product for overall official development assistance as soon as possible, and increase the share of funding for social development programmes, as commensurate with the scope and scale of activities required to achieve the objectives and goals of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development; "27. Also calls upon the international community to mobilize new and additional financial resources that are both adequate and predictable and mobilized in such a way as to maximize the availability of such resources and use all available funding sources and mechanisms, inter alia, multilateral, bilateral and private sources, including (, as mutually agreed,) on concessional and grant terms; "28. Reaffirms the agreement on a mutual commitment between interested developed and developing country partners to allocate, on average, 20 per cent of official development assistance and 20 per cent of the national budget, respectively, to basic social programmes; "29. Calls upon all States and the international community to encourage and support local community development projects that foster the skill, self-reliance and self-confidence of people living in poverty and that facilitate their active participation in efforts to eradicate poverty; "30. Stresses that international cooperation and assistance are essential for the full implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development; "31. Also stresses that the reduction of poverty in countries with economies in transition requires the assistance of members of the international community in developing their social protection systems and social policies; "32. Recalls that the United Nations system shall strengthen existing structures for coordination of actions relating to poverty eradication, including the establishment of a focal point for information exchange and the formulation and implementation of replicable pilot projects to eradicate poverty; "33. Alt. 1: Invites all relevant specialized agencies, funds, programmes and related organizations of the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, to strengthen and adjust their activities, programmes and strategies, as appropriate, with a view to achieving the overall goal of eradicating poverty, meeting the basic human needs of all and promoting self-reliance and community-based initiatives, through, inter alia, financial and technical support to developing countries in their efforts to translate all measures, recommendations and commitment into operational and concrete programmes, projects and activities; "33. Alt. 2: Stresses that the international community, and the United Nations system, including the Bretton Woods institutions, should fulfil the commitments they have made pursuant to chapter V of the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development, in support of national efforts of developing countries towards the eradication of poverty; "34. Reaffirms that the international financial institutions should contribute to the mobilization of resources for the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development by further integrating social development goals into their policies, programmes and operations (in support of national efforts of developing countries); "35. Invites the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme to consider so extending the duration of the eradication of poverty fund as to cover the period of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (1997-2006), in order to help developing countries, in particular African countries and the least developed countries, in the elaboration of national plans or programmes to eradicate poverty as well as in the formulation and implementation of replicable projects to combat poverty; "36. Calls upon all States (, in particular donor countries,) to contribute substantially to the Trust Fund for the Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, which includes in its activities those related to the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty; "37. Requests the Secretary-General, in elaborating the report on action envisaged to be taken by the United Nations system in preparation for the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, to be submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session, to propose specific activities for each year of the Decade in order to facilitate the follow-up to and evaluation of such activities; "38. Also requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of the present resolution within the framework of his report on action envisaged to be taken in preparation for the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, to be submitted to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session, and to report thereon also to the Commission at its next session." In introducing the draft resolution, the Chairperson of the Working Group orally revised it. 24. At the 15th meeting, on 31 May, the Chairperson of the Working Group further orally revised the draft resolution. 25. The meeting was suspended. When the meeting resumed, the Chairperson of the Working Group informed the Commission of the revisions to the draft resolution agreed upon during informal consultations. 26. The Commission then adopted the draft resolution, as further orally revised (see chap. I, sect. C, Commission resolution S-1996/1). Chairman's summary of the panel discussions and the dialogue with chairpersons of inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences 27. At the 15th meeting, on 31 May, statements were made by the representatives of the Sudan, Egypt, the Islamic Republic of Iran and China and the observer for Jamaica. 28. At the same meeting, the Commission agreed that the following text would be included in the report of the Commission: "The Commission held three panel meetings with invited experts (22 and 23 May 1996) and a dialogue with the chairpersons of the ACC inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences (29 May 1996), on issues related to agenda item 4 (Strategies and actions for the eradication of poverty). "The principal elements emerging from the discussions were summarized by the Chairman of the Commission. This text was presented to the members of the Commission and the Chairman received comments from various delegations that were accommodated in the summary. However, the text was not negotiated nor was it adopted by the Commission." 29. At the same meeting, the Commission decided to include the Chairperson's summary of the panel discussions and the dialogue with the chairpersons of inter-agency task forces in the report of the Commission (see chap. I, sect. C, Commission decision S-1996/102). The summary reads as follows: "STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS FOR THE ERADICATION OF POVERTY: CHAIRMAN'S SUMMARY OF THE PANEL DISCUSSIONS AND THE DIALOGUE WITH CHAIRPERSONS OF INTER-AGENCY TASK FORCES ON FOLLOW-UP TO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES "A. Summary of the panel discussions "1. An essential characteristic of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Summit for Social Development is its recognition of the interrelated nature of three core issues of social development: eradication of poverty, enhancement of productive employment and promotion of social integration. The historic commitment to eradicate poverty represents a moral, political and economic imperative for the international community to act, at all levels, to strengthen policies, programmes and institutions to fight poverty. "1. The international enabling environment "(a) Macro strategies "2. There may be any number of micro-level strategies to fight poverty, but in the absence of effective macroeconomic policies they are unlikely to be effective. Sectoral policies and programmes aiming to eradicate poverty may be offset or undermined by fiscal or monetary policies which can lead to greater poverty. Increasingly, the arena for implementing effective macroeconomic policy is global, requiring attention and action by major global organizations such as the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and multinational corporations. "(b) Relieving the burden of debt and structural adjustment "3. These fundamental questions of policy remain to be resolved satisfactorily. Debt-servicing continues to require enormous resources in many developing countries, resources which could be utilized for the implementation and operationalization of social programmes (the choice of directing resources remains a governmental prerogative). "4. Structural adjustment policies, particularly in Africa, have often been based on false assumptions about the nature of the problems many countries face. The cause of African economic stagnation was thought to be 'urban bias' in the labour market and in the provision of social services, at the expense of farmers and exporters of commodities. Structural adjustment policies aiming at devaluation and promotion of commodity exports was expected to unleash the potential of these countries for economic growth. However, faced with declining commodity prices, as well as increased competition from other countries all following the same export-oriented strategies, many countries have found that liberalized trade regimes have not led to increased growth but to deindustrialization and an impoverished urban working class. "5. Structural adjustment policies have generally ignored the distinct differences among countries and sought to impose standard solutions to diverse problems. A lack of sensitivity to the particular needs and circumstances of individual countries may threaten their future development potential. "(c) Provision of resources "6. Increased resources are essential for the full and effective implementation in many countries of strategies to eradicate poverty. Even with the best intentions, without sufficient resources it is often difficult for many Governments to implement the strategies and proposals which already exist. "7. Resources are both financial and in-kind. Additional financial resources obtained through established means - including increased and dependable official development assistance (ODA), better mobilization of domestic resources and greater foreign direct investment - are called for. Efforts should be made to reduce or delink conditionalities. Further discussion and consideration should also be given to raising resources from untried means, including international taxation. In-kind resources are the non-financial contributions of communities to their own development. Particularly where financial resources are scarce, they will remain an essential element of poverty eradication strategies. "(d) Globalization and trade liberalization "8. Rapid globalization of the world economy and increased liberalization of trade have affected the abilities of many Governments to design and implement effective strategies for national development and poverty eradication. Greater attention should be given in international institutions and intergovernmental forums to the potentially serious consequences of these developments. "9. To ensure that the wider opening of national economies through globalization does not lead to greater inequality, it is essential that Governments guarantee the rights of all sectors of societies and promote equal access to resources. "2. The relationship between economic growth and social development "10. Economic growth is essential for social development, particularly when social development is defined mainly in physical terms - such as provision of basic social services. Yet even when economic growth is strong, social development does not automatically follow. It is also not necessary for Governments to wait for economic growth to improve conditions for people living in poverty. Nevertheless, it is evident that many policies and programmes for social development remain based on the concept that the benefits of growth will 'trickle down' to the poor. More active intervention by a partnership of Government, civil society, multilateral institutions and donors is required. "11. To ensure that growth is translated into development is not easy; there is no single policy prescription. The complexity and magnitude of the issues involved and the need to shape responses to the needs of individuals and countries rules out the possibility of a standard blueprint. Yet experience from countries which have made advances in reducing poverty indicates that strong and sustained political commitment to policies which promote distribution and investment in human resources through the provision of basic social services, combined with effective service delivery mechanisms and mobilization of all the actors involved are fundamental to eradicating poverty. "3. The question of growth and distribution "12. While economic growth is essential to promote employment and eradicate poverty, it is not, in itself, a guarantee of better standards of living. Experience indicates that increased economic growth can lead to greater income inequality, resulting in large numbers of people remaining in poverty even as average per capita GDP figures soar. The persistence of poverty in spite of economic growth raises significant questions as to why particular groups fail to benefit from development. "13. An increasing income gap also has potentially severe social and political implications. It is essential to ensure that the distribution of the benefits of high economic growth is equitable. "14. To a certain extent, the fact that much recent economic growth has led to rising inequalities in some countries can be attributed to the speed with which that growth has taken place. Opening economies to globalization may enhance inequality, as many people are incapable of adjusting quickly to new and changing conditions. It is to be hoped that with prolonged economic growth inequalities will diminish, but Governments may also need to intervene to encourage some degree of redistribution. "4. The creation of productive employment "(a) Employment-intensive development "15. Continued and enhanced economic growth remains a priority for all countries, but current patterns of development should be revised to encourage growth which is more labour-intensive and job-creating. Labour markets have changed markedly in many countries. Governments cannot leave the responsibility for job creation to the private sector alone, but have a function to stimulate appropriate labour-intensive growth through effective policies. "(b) Improving the productivity of labour "16. There remains a massive problem for workers whose employment is not productive enough to lift them out of poverty: the persistence of the 'working poor', in spite of their best efforts and the long hours they put in, is a major component of poverty in nearly all countries. Policies and programmes should be implemented to enable workers to become more efficient, thus raising their productivity and, eventually, their incomes. "17. The provision of education and training, designed to impart practical skills and knowledge and revised regularly to take into account changing labour markets and national development needs, is essential and should be a prime concern of Governments. "18. While employment is considered essential to poverty eradication, recognition also must be given to situations in which people cannot find employment, are physically or emotionally incapable of maintaining employment, or are unable to earn sufficient income to sustain themselves. In such instances it is important for Government to maintain a basic minimum standard of living. "5. The potential of the informal sector "19. The informal sector and small and medium-sized enterprises have the potential to provide jobs and income for people living in poverty; often these jobs, precarious though they may be, are the only means available to the poor to earn some income. Yet because of their low productivity, jobs in the informal sector rarely provide workers with sufficient income or protection to enable them to lift themselves out of poverty. Some people view the informal sector as a trap for poor workers, consigning them to jobs with low productivity, unsafe conditions and little protection. "20. This raises the question of whether government policy should seek to encourage the informal sector and small and medium-sized enterprises to grow, thus promoting their integration into the formal economy, or whether it should encourage them to remain small and informal. In general, Governments are encouraged to support the further development of the informal sector, through such means as improving access to credit, while also adopting measures designed to raise productivity levels, thus leading to increased incomes and greater stability and protection for workers. "21. In rural areas emphasis should be given to the non-farm sector as a means to absorb surplus labour. "6. Who are the poor? The problem of perception and presentation "22. Policies aiming to eradicate poverty must take into consideration the various aspects of the problem, and must recognize and overcome the stereotypes and prejudices which often accompany public discussion of the issue. They must consider the perception that people living in poverty have of themselves. The media have an important role in creating and maintaining images of the poor and the causes of their condition, and they should be encouraged to provide balanced and thoughtful analyses of the complex issues surrounding poverty. Yet the media often merely reflect the sentiments of society at large, and cannot be expected to take the place of sensible and sensitive policy-making for poverty eradication. "23. Reference was made to the need for a better understanding of the causes of poverty - political, economic, social and personal. Various explanations currently being advanced were mentioned during the discussion, particularly the following: structural and institutional factors rooted in societies; specific barriers that groups have to confront and overcome, such as lack of access to education or resources; for individuals, lack of community or family support and a host of personal problems that lead to social dependence. None of these were considered as adequate explanations of poverty, taken singly. All of them had to be addressed together with the creation of a national and international enabling environment if strategies to eradicate poverty were to be successful. "24. Strategies for poverty eradication should recognize the varied experiences of different countries and their identification of the poor. Several aspects can be determined which identify or refer to people living in poverty: although much attention is given to the problems of the urban poor, in many countries the poor most often live in rural or isolated areas; they often have large families and low life expectancy; they survive without benefit of many basic services; they evidence a low level of participation in economic and political life; they often lack the basic means for productive employment; and they generally lack a sense of security in their lives. Policies to eradicate poverty must address these aspects of poverty, must seek to strengthen the determination of people living in poverty to improve their conditions and must assist them with planning and advice. "7. Basic human needs and basic social services "25. The Social Summit did not distinguish between the concepts of basic human needs and basic social services. For practical purposes, basic social services are often defined to include basic education, primary health care, nutrition, family planning and low-cost access to clean water and sanitation. The definition of basic human needs is broader in scope and extends to essential aspects of life, including employment, shelter and personal freedom. Discussion focused on the provision of basic social services as an effective and cost-efficient way to reduce poverty and a fundamental contribution to the satisfaction of basic human needs. Quality basic education for all was singled out as being of critical importance to economic and social progress and the eradication of poverty. Experience has shown the vital role of basic education in the transformation of societies and the expansion of opportunities for the disadvantaged and those living in poverty. "26. The provision of basic social services is a complicated undertaking, particularly across widespread territory and in isolated areas. It requires a dedicated and long-term commitment from Governments to identify and reach the people most in need and to overcome the tendency for programmes to be usurped by those with more power, connections or information. In many places it also requires a sustained commitment from non-governmental organizations, networks, communities and families, all of which are often called upon to provide resources, labour, management skills, time and enthusiasm. "27. Although the importance of providing basic social services is widely recognized, assurance of their financing has not been achieved. Sources of increased resources include increased government allocations, greater mobilization of community resources, debt relief or debt swaps, additional bilateral and multilateral aid, foreign borrowing, private investment and privatization of services, special taxes and greater use of cost-recovery. "28. The 'Oslo Consensus on 20/20', developed at a recent meeting in that city, calls on developing countries to initiate dialogues with their development partners aimed at identifying methods to expand and fund access to basic social services. In the future, consultative group and round-table meetings will include a session on the implementation of 20/20 and the financing of basic social services. Recently, at the high-level meeting of the OECD Development Assistance Committee in Paris, a series of time-bound commitments was approved aiming to reduce poverty and meet targets for the provision of basic social services. The report of that meeting, entitled 'Shaping the 21st Century', was made available to the Commission for Social Development. "29. Each of the sources of resources listed provides opportunities and each has drawbacks, and the provision of basic social services under actual conditions will likely continue to rely on various combinations of all of them. No single option or combination of options can be predetermined. Governments have the responsibility to determine their own particular needs and develop their own solutions in partnership with the organizations of civil society, donors and multilateral institutions. "8. The role of civil society "30. As expressed in the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, Governments have recognized the potential of non-governmental organizations and other actors of civil society to reach people living in poverty, and they are increasingly willing to enter into partnerships to promote policies and programmes for poverty eradication, including employment creation and provision of basic social services. These partnerships should be supported and encouraged. "31. Organizations of civil society have been praised for being flexible, responsive, representative and open to wide participation; many function at the grass-roots level and provide vital opportunities for two-way communication with local communities. Many also provide the best, if not the only, means for people living in poverty to express their needs and concerns. It is, however, important to avoid making general assumptions about the nature of these organizations. Given the wide array of organizations and the diversity of their goals, operating methods and accomplishments, it would be an oversimplification to make all-inclusive conclusions about the role of the organizations of civil society. Nevertheless, the importance of involving a variety of organizations of civil society in efforts to eradicate poverty and the beneficial results of many of their efforts is frequently demonstrated and has been reflected throughout this summary. "9. The need for institution-building at all levels "32. At the international level, the United Nations and particularly the Economic and Social Council and its functional commissions, are clearly primary forums for discussion of the issues surrounding poverty and strategies for its eradication. Whether existing institutions can and should be revitalized and reshaped to enable them to promote and support new approaches to economic and social development is an issue which is currently being addressed, both in the Commission for Social Development and throughout the system. The question of whether new institutions should be developed has not been addressed. "33. Nationally, the design of policies for economic and social inclusion which will promote new approaches to development and to poverty eradication will also require a degree of rethinking about the institutions currently charged with these responsibilities. Questions were raised about the ability of existing ministries and national bureaucracies to implement the emerging international consensus on new approaches to development. New partnerships of Government and civil society will clearly be required, and this should be seen as a positive development. A part of the effort to eradicate poverty must include an analysis of the institutions which will be charged with the implementation of strategies. "34. Local communities must be able to help themselves; the vulnerable groups need to be defended against the process of exclusion, which may gain strength as economic growth accelerates. Therefore, it is essential that local networks, organizations and community groups be strengthened - with funding, with training and with increased self-confidence - to enable them to defend and support their members. "10. The need to guarantee rights and protections "35. A major factor influencing the ability of individuals and groups to raise themselves from poverty is their enjoyment of rights to resources - land, forests, fisheries - which they can utilize and manage to ensure sufficient incomes. Sometimes, social groups which have contributed significantly to national economic development are not able to enjoy the benefits of that development because they are excluded from ownership of or access to resources. "11. The need for continuous information and monitoring "36. Policies to eradicate poverty should strive to be comprehensive but focus on key issues. As economic growth continues social conditions change rapidly. For policies to be effective, it is essential that they be continuously reviewed and revised as necessary to address changing situations and needs. This will require that policy makers have access to continuous and up-to-date information about conditions and about the impact of current policies. "37. Information gathering and policy monitoring are, however, not ends in themselves: it is necessary that information be properly and sufficiently acted upon so that effective policies remain so and ineffective policies are changed. The organizations of civil society will also be instrumental in providing information and in monitoring policy performance. "12. The issue of social change and its impact on economic growth "38. Many societies have witnessed profound social change, most noticeably in terms of gender relations and in family structures, which are both cause and effect of economic growth and developments. "39. Social change, in particular with regard to women or to vulnerable social groups, actually refers to changes in attitudes about their roles in and their contributions to the societies in which they live. These changes in attitudes should lead to their empowerment and greater participation in economic and social life, which should improve their positions enormously. It can be expected that such change would lead to greater and faster economic growth, by freeing pent-up potential and skills which now go unutilized. It also requires change based on the political will to promote inclusion and the rights of all members of society. "40. The particular role of the family as a source of support should be recognized and supported by policies and programmes, while taking into account the evolution which traditional notions of the family have undergone in most places. "13. Obstacles to eradicating poverty "41. Many of the traditional theories and concepts of development, and the policies they have engendered, have been based on an ethic of materialism, exclusion and domination, rather than a sense of solidarity among all people, and have resulted in situations whereby participation by the poor is not facilitated and their views, experiences and contributions are not valued. It was perceived that, within many societies, a certain level of poverty may be considered desirable, as a source of cheap labour and to maintain a passive political constituency. Any strategy to eradicate poverty must first make a careful and honest assessment of which groups or institutions within society may actually benefit from poverty and how, so that likely resistance to anti-poverty efforts may be taken into account. "42. Many previous anti-poverty strategies have been organized in a paternalistic, top-down fashion which failed to take into account the needs, concerns and considerations of people living in poverty. Tremendous resources have been squandered in such efforts. Experience indicates that government interventions which fail to devolve decision- making to the local community tend to be far less successful than those which promote decentralization of responsibility. "43. There has also been a failure on the part of some Governments and donors to recognize the complexity of the condition of poverty. Often, poverty has been considered to be a single phenomenon with similar causes and effects everywhere, and assumptions have been made that all people living in poverty have essentially identical needs and aspirations. These false assumptions lead to simplistic, universal solutions which fail completely to take individual considerations into account and which are therefore often inappropriate, leading to failure, wasted resources and frustration. "44. It is important to recognize the tendency for the non-poor to usurp control over anti-poverty projects and to hijack their benefits, as well as the counter-strategies developed by the non-poor to perpetuate their economic and social advantages. Further research should be undertaken on the strategies of the non-poor and their impact on the ability of people living in poverty to improve their condition. "14. Establishing partnerships with people living in poverty "45. The eradication of poverty will require the establishment of partnerships between people living in poverty and the rest of society. Partnerships must be based on respect and solidarity, as well as on a recognition of the rights and responsibilities of both the poor and the non-poor. "46. Partnership must also be built on a new way of thinking about the poor: they may be 'cash poor' but rich in vision, tradition and initiative. Strategies to eradicate poverty must be imbued with an awareness of the skills, expertise and knowledge of people living in poverty, must acknowledge and respect diversity, must provide the information and access to services and resources that will enable people living in poverty to raise their standard of living, and must base their prescriptions on the solutions that the poor themselves develop. "47. Successful partnerships rest on ensuring access to fundamental services; protecting and empowering families; investing in human resources; allowing time for trusting relationships to develop; sharing knowledge between the poor and the non-poor; training individuals and institutions working with the poor; assessing progress, with the participation of the poor. "48. Particularly in cities and other areas of steady in-migration, where traditional patterns of solidarity have often broken down, it is important to support emerging forms of solidarity, including religious, women's or youth groups. "49. To encourage self-reliance requires a long-term effort to reach out to communities of people living in poverty. It requires efforts to encourage them to develop their own organizations based on common needs, interests or goals and should take into account a series of different phases of enablement, including consciousness-raising, mobilization, participation, organization, capacity-building and allowing local control of space and resources. "B. Summary of the dialogue with the chairpersons of inter-agency task forces on follow-up to international conferences * (* Task Force on Basic Social Services for All, chaired by the United Nations Population Fund and represented by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; Task Force on Employment and Sustainable Livelihoods, chaired by the International Labour Organization; Task Force on the Enabling Environment for Social and Economic Development, chaired by the World Bank; and Inter-Agency Committee on Women, chaired by the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues. The dialogue was moderated by the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme.) "50. The dialogue focused on the link between intergovernmental policy processes and actions taken to implement in an integrated and coordinated fashion commitments adopted at recent United Nations conferences in the social and economic sectors. "51. The dialogue can be summarized in terms of five issue clusters. "15. Development - as an inclusive process "52. A major focus in the work of the various inter-agency mechanisms is how to ensure that development is a process which is inclusive of all, sustainable and equitable. At present many countries, groups and individuals have been left behind in the emerging global economy. While the market-oriented approach was generally recognized as being capable of bringing greater dynamism and efficiency, it did not ensure broad-based development and fulfilment of basic human needs for all. Positive policies of the State at different levels were therefore essential. Special attention is being directed to effective incorporation of gender concerns in implementation of recent conference goals and commitments. Measures are also being tested and evaluated to ensure that relief and rehabilitation efforts in post-conflict situations can progress smoothly, are mutually reinforcing and ensure a smooth transition to renewed development and social progress. "16. More effective and efficient system-wide follow-up "53. It was noted that the inter-agency mechanisms have yielded a number of improvements in terms of specific time-bound and demand-driven responses to country-level needs that further the implementation of recent conference goals and commitments. This has served (a) as a driving force for a better division of system-wide efforts, as evidenced by the subject-matter focus of the three task forces; (b) as an enabling mechanism for integrated country-level action; and (c) as a vehicle for critical new input on complex development issues, as evidenced by the Secretary-General's Africa regional-level initiative on agreed development objectives and the United Nations system-wide approach to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. "54. Reform efforts were bringing about changes in organization of work and outreach among specialized constituencies both among the United Nations system and the Bretton Woods institutions. Both had instituted measures to consult with civil society on issues and trends and had established new public-private sector partnerships to promote sustained and equitable development. "55. Among obstacles in the way of a satisfactory system-wide response to conference follow-up, a lack of financial resources for the necessary level of development cooperation was cited. Resource shortfalls had affected progress in implementing the 'Education for All' commitments adopted at the Jomtien Conference. Second, was a need for a United Nations system organizational framework at all levels as well as an appropriate institutional framework for cooperation with the bilateral donor community. Third, was a need to strengthen the process of genuine country 'ownership' of development cooperation activities among programme countries. "17. Initiatives in system-wide coordination "56. The decision of ACC to establish the three task forces and the Inter-Agency Committee on Women was based on a concern to reduce duplication of efforts and to focus on priority objectives of recent conferences. The task force experience is to be appropriately incorporated in the programmes of work of participating United Nations organizations, including specialized agencies. "57. Lessons emerging from the coordination initiatives to date include the importance of an agreed division of labour among concerned members of the system to achieve efficiencies in the design and delivery of development cooperation, of promoting cooperation with all concerned development partners, including civil society, to further demand-driven development cooperation, and of formulating country-level frameworks, such as the country strategy note, to further country ownership of development cooperation activities. "58. System-wide coordination initiatives have resulted in the identification of gender and of the family as important cross-cutting concerns in poverty eradication measures. In addition, the view was expressed that the exploitation of children and child labour represented another issue for system-wide action since it involved basic education, health, labour standards and rights, and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods among men and women. "18. Initiatives in institutional development "59. Effective poverty eradication will require strengthened institutional arrangements. These include both the market as a mechanism to mobilize and allocate resources and the involvement of representative and participatory organizations of civil society. "60. Recent experience also suggests the importance of effective and transparent governance in sustained and equitable development and an effective public service. Greater importance needed to be given to restoring the role and effectiveness of public services at all levels. Governance was considered at the resumed fiftieth session of the General Assembly in the context of public administration and development as well; and the role of the State in development will be the subject of the World Development Report, 1997. "19. Resources management initiatives "61. Conference follow-up involved issues of new and improved output measures as well as improved data and information for development reporting, of new and alternative resources for social investments, particularly in the light of debt-service levels in many countries, and of building national capacities for sustained development. "62. Improved data for evaluating progress is being considered by the three task forces with a view to greater consistency in the respective indicators of progress achieved. In terms of output indicators, income inequality and gender-based distributional and demographic measures were stressed, and also infant mortality. "63. The need to identify new and additional resources for social investments had led to a number of initiatives in mobilizing private sector flows as well as community-based resources among selected programme countries. Specific reference was made to recent relief and rehabilitation activities in post-conflict countries. The World Bank also cited its current study in cooperation with the non-governmental community on structural adjustment measures and the social objectives. "64. National capacities and institutional capabilities represent a third development resource dimension. National capacities will necessarily influence the nature and pace of country 'ownership' of development cooperation activities. Effective and participatory institutions will influence the nature and role of civil society in development decision-making as well as in the sharing of the benefits of development." NGO Documents for the Earth Summit, 1992 Non-Governmental Organization Alternative Treaties at the '92 Global Forum Treaty 18. Poverty Treaty Preamble 1. Poverty is the state of deprivation of essential elements necessary for a human being to live and develop with dignity physically, mentally and spiritually, while accounting for specific needs relating to gender, ability/disability, cultural values, age and ethnicity. 2. Every year 13 million children die from hunger related diseases due to poverty. In a world of abundance, this is ethically intolerable. 3. The unequal distribution and accumulation of wealth and over consumption are the greatest causes of poverty, leading to the destruction of life, the erosion of people's civil rights and cultural identity. Destruction of cultural identity makes people vulnerable to many forms of social, economical and political domination. 4. Historically the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few has led to poverty. Within the last few hundred years colonial expropriation has led to concentration of poverty in the South and concentration of wealth in the North. Dominant policies of international trade and structural adjustment programs, as well as exploitative practices of national and transnational corporations are responsible for the growing poverty in the South as well as the North. Also the undemocratic policies of national governments have increased poverty and concentrated wealth in the hands of the elite. Particularly in the South, these processes lead to the disruption of traditional agricultural systems and to the conversion of land to unsustainable production for export. The loss of local food production and national food self-sufficiency has been a major cause of starvation. 5. Poverty is the result of the present development model rooted in the exploitation of people and of nature. Social inequalities result from unequal access to resources and from people's exclusion from the political decision-making process. The centralization of power to control natural resources causes, simultaneously, poverty and environmental degradation. 6. In some parts of the world, natural calamities and wars contribute to increased poverty. Since population growth is not a cause of poverty, while women must be empowered to control their own reproduction, it is unacceptable to enforce policies of birth control as a means of combating poverty and environmental degradation. 7. As demonstrated by the 1991 United Nations Human Development Report, even governments recognize that poverty does not result from a lack of resources but rather represents a lack of political will to eradicate it, pointing to debt and militarism as the leading causes of continuing poverty. 8. It is unlikely that the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) will reduce international inequities. Implementing economic environmentalism similar to that defined in Agenda 21 will, according to projections of the World Bank, result in the per capita Gross National Product (GNP) of $60,000 in the developed world and $400 in Africa by the year 2030. 9. In order to build a democratic world based on social justice and ecological equilibrium, poverty must be tackled through real changes in development models, international relations and local structures. Action Plan Stopping The Causes Of Poverty 10. We pledge to undertake educational campaigns on and popular mobilization against the following major causes of poverty, showing that: a. The net outflow of resources from the poor countries to the rich countries due to debt servicing must be stopped and debt must be cancelled b. Unfair terms of trade which benefit wealthy nations or wealthy social groups inside nations should be eliminated c. Military expenditure should be reduced enabling the reallocation of vast financial resources to sustainable livelihoods and ecological integrity d. The concentration of physical wealth should be controlled by laws or by taxes on unnecessary consumer items, non-durable resources or directly on physical wealth e. The basic rights of all human beings should be guaranteed through sustainable livelihoods which permit them to satisfy these rights f. Corporations, national or international, which concentrate wealth increase the unjust distribution of resources. Boycotts can be used against these corporations g. Structural adjustment conditionalities that divert resources from basic services and ecological protection should be eliminated h. Over consumption aggravates poverty and inappropriate patterns of consumption cause ecological degradation i. The feminization of poverty requires the development of alternative economic models which take account of the full roles of women as unpaid workers. Empowerment Of Local Communities We pledge to: 11. Work with already existing community councils and grassroots organizations and to create alternative local structures to acquire the management and control of all socio-economic processes and environmental dimensions of their community. This implies a decentralization and democratization of social and economic decision making in order to ensure people's access to food, shelter, health care, education, secure land tenure and sanitary infrastructure 12. Support and create locally-run cooperative banks to support local efforts for self-sufficiency, permitting grassroots organizations, such as indigenous peoples, women, small farmers, to control their resources for the development of their programs and projects according to the political and social reality of each country 13. Work to empower those sectors of the society most affected by poverty, i.e. women, children, indigenous peoples and other marginalized groups through their full participation in decision-making at every level, full employment, equal property and legal rights, and entitlement and access to education and full information 14. Recognize the value and encourage the use of traditional sustainable knowledge. Encourage local capacity to develop appropriate technology adapted to local skills, needs and environment. Create community-based knowledge banks to facilitate access to these technologies 15. Create self-sufficient alternative communities based on an integrated, sustainable approach 16. Integrate educational programs about basic rights and legal instruments to fight poverty and environmental degradation into all school curricula 17. Promote cooperatives on a grassroots level which increase employment opportunities and help to raise the standard of living and empower communities 18. Form a coalition of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and social movements at a local, national and international level on poverty issues to share experience, information, resources, develop joint strategies, campaigns and policies on poverty eradication 19. Use these coalitions to focus government's primary care structures on providing essential elements for all human beings to live with dignity and to democratize the decision-making processes 20. Set up local systems to monitor and to control the quality of drinking water, food and other essential elements in both rural and urban areas 21. To make greater use of the media in order to promote the above-mentioned strategies and alternative ways of living that contribute to the elimination of poverty 22. Monitor the activities of major multilateral bodies the United Nations (UN), General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to prevent policies that abuse sustainable livelihoods 23. Support the institutionalization of a global network of NGOs and social movements to facilitate communication between NGOs and communities on an ongoing basis. Part of this exchange should be disseminating success stories 24. Support social movements and grassroots communities to create environmental and social impact assessment committees to evaluate projects which affect their communities. 1 62