UN Social Summit Issues Alarm on Worldwide Poverty
Episcopal News Service. April 7, 1995 [95060]
Jack Donovan, Communications assistant in the Episcopal Church's office of news and information.
(ENS) Drawing inspiration from the progress made worldwide by the women's and environmental movements, the United Nations Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen, ended March 12 with an appeal to the countries of the world to finally overcome the scourge of poverty. Juan Somovia, Chilean ambassador to the U.N. and chair of the committee that organized the summit, declared that "the essence of the summit is a cry of alarm. We are facing a moral crisis in the world. The idea that poverty is the fault of the poor is prevailing. The summit breaks that mode of thinking," he said.
The summit, the largest gathering of world leaders in history (including 120 kings, presidents, premiers and foreign ministers who arrived in the final days to sign the closing document), brought together 40,000 representatives to both the summit and the parallel forum of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) meeting nearby. "The significant thing about the summit is that all these countries must now go back and address their priorities," said Bishop James Ottley, Anglican Observer to the United Nation, who led an Anglican delegation that participated in the NGO forum and monitored the summit. "Will the countries put their resources behind arms or towards the elimination of poverty?"
The summit's official document listed three ambitious objectives: eradicate absolute poverty, find work for the 120 million unemployed (about 30 per cent of the world's work force), and narrow the equality gap so that those marginalized by poverty, gender, race, age, disability, religion and ethnicity are allowed to take their place in society.
According to statistics often cited at the summit, more than one billion people worldwide live in absolute poverty, a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs like food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education, and information. "The priority is to eradicate absolute poverty," Somovia said. "It should not exist. You can't wish it away, you can't legislate it away, but you can set standards. The U.N. is a standard-setting organization. So to deal with poverty, we are going to start with absolute poverty. It must die," he said.
Dr. Jeff Golliher, Ottley's staff person on the environment, said that while many agreed on the objectives contained in the final document, the preceding discussion "wasn't broad or in-depth enough. It was clear even going into the conference that the summit itself wasn't going to address many of the concerns that the NGOs felt were important."
For this reason, the World Council of Churches, with which Ottley worked closely during the summit, joined over 600 other nongovernmental organizations to endorse the Copenhagen Alternative Declaration. This document, which had been drafted by five organizations at the NGO forum, stressed other issues: immediate unconditional cancellation of bilateral, multilateral and commercial debts of poor nations; independent review and audit of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank; and the need to empower women and end violence and discrimination against them. The Alternative Declaration also derided the official text for the idea that social policy could be reduced to "a social safety net" in which the state withdraws from its role as a social service provider.
Delegation member Don Cichelli, executive assistant to Ottley, said that the document was significant because "if the NGOs didn't say anything, it would be a de facto endorsement of the official document. By producing the Alternative Declaration, the NGOs told the government representatives that they were signing a troubled, inadequate document."
"It was a very hopeful sign that such an overwhelming majority of NGOs raised the issue of the need to monitor the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund," Golliher added. "The U.N. doesn't know exactly what to do. No one does. We need as many voices as possible to describe the nature of this problem so that we can move from a state of chaos."
Lloyd Casson, Episcopal Church Center staff consultant in the peace and justice ministry cluster, noted that he came away from the summit with at least one hopeful sign -- that the Anglican Communion has a future as an NGO. "The fact that Bishop Ottley, as Anglican Observer, has the opportunity to relate to each of the primates in the communion, and that the primates are so close to the socio-economic situation in their areas, means that he can be in reasonable touch with the needs and concerns of those regions and accurately represent the 70 million members of the communion to the U.N.," he said.
Ottley agreed. "One of the wonderful things about this small group (the Anglican Communion) is that it is found in every country in the world. If we can develop an awareness of what's happening at the local level, then we can present an organized voice to meetings like the upcoming Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing. And we can make a difference."