Means and Ends: the Messages from the Country Reports
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Means and Ends: The messages from the country reports The ends were agreed and clearly articulated, the means were (and still are) available. And yet something stands in the way. Among the many obstacles identified by Social Watch coalitions around the world, inequalities and its associated symptoms of inequity and injustice clearly emerge as the main reason why the common aspirations of humanity are not being achieved. he “ends” are enshrined in the Uni- versal Declaration of Human Rights Every year the Social Watch national coalitions report on their countries’ progress or T of 1948 with its commitment to free regression towards the internationally agreed goals. As UN member states start negoti- people everywhere from fear and want. That ating a new development agenda and a new set of goals key “means and ends” questions common objective of humanity spelled out must be addressed: Are the goals relevant? Are the means appropriate? at the end of the Second World War and The country reports are available at www.socialwatch.org. Common themes that embodied in the United Nations soon was emerge are summarized here. split into two by the Cold War: on the one side those that cherished civil and political rights, on the other side those that argued social, economic and cultural rights had to address “both their underlying and structural Lisbon Treaty, the unofficial constitution of the be achieved first. In the middle the Third causes and their distressing consequences.” European Union. World, the impoverished majority of human- Yet, under pressure of the donors that pro- ODA is not the only way in which richer ity, successfully struggled for independence vide the bulk of their budget and without inter- countries can contribute to development but did not manage to translate political self governmental negotiations similar to those of (other options include technology transfer, determination into a dignified life for its citi- the big conferences of the previous decade, fair trade terms, debt cancellation, etc.) and zens. the UN development agencies and the multilat- perhaps not even the most important. But as it At the end of the Cold War, in the last dec- eral financial institutions shrank their mandate implies direct budget decisions, ODA can be a ade of the 20th century, the UN agenda was re- to a minimal set of Millennium Development good thermometer of the “political will” of the vised and updated by a series of world confer- Goals focused exclusively on “extreme pover- donor country. In 2013, which was a “record ences establishing the rights of children (New ty” in low-income countries and its associated year,” net ODA from OECD countries stood at York, 1990) and of women (Beijing, 1995). The symptoms in health and education. 0.3 percent of gross national income, exactly concept of “sustainable development” was In his 2005 report to the General Assem- the same percentage as in 1992 and less than endorsed in Rio de Janeiro (1992), asserting bly, then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan ex- half of the longstanding UN target for an ODA/ that present needs should be met in a way that plained that the MDGs “do not directly encom- GNI ratio of 0.7 percent. does not prevent future generations to meet pass some of the broader issues covered by While the MDGs did not help to sub- theirs, while the Social Summit of 1995 in the conferences of the 1990s, nor do they ad- stantially improve the behaviour towards Copenhagen committed all governments to dress the particular needs of middle-income the emergency victims, governments of free the world from poverty and ensure decent developing countries or the questions of middle income countries did not feel major work and “social integration” for all. growing inequality and the wider dimensions pressure from those goals to make extra ef- The challenge heads of states and govern- of human development and good govern- forts, as the benchmarks were set too low ments expressed at that Summit was that “we ance.” Nevertheless, he argued, “the urgency for them. They had basically achieved the are witnessing in countries throughout the of achieving the MDGs cannot be overstated.” goals before the start of the race. In Thailand, world the expansion of prosperity for some, The analogy with an emergency was con- the national Social Watch reports how the unfortunately accompanied by an expansion vincing: Let’s focus on those at extreme risk country claimed to have achieved the MDGs of unspeakable poverty for others. This glaring first! But in practice that strategy was not ef- long before 2015, even when those achieve- contradiction is unacceptable and needs to be fective. Foreign aid (known in development ments are at risk due to threatened economic corrected through urgent actions.” jargon as “official development assistance” instability and “environmental sustainability At that moment, the “urgent need” was or ODA) and particularly aid directed to the is more difficult to fins than a needle in a hay- recognized “to address profound social prob- least developed countries, did not increase stack.” Similarly, huge problems of employ- lems, especially poverty, unemployment and substantially as a result of that focus on the ment and social integration in the developed social exclusion, that affect every country.” “poorest of the poor,” in spite of UN resolutions countries also fell off the UN radar, as no goal And the leaders understood as “our task” to and an explicit mandate in that regard in the mentioned them. Social Watch / 4 The UN is, of course, a body of universal the collapse of copper prices and the simulta- million. The proportion of Italians who cannot membership with a clear global mandate to neous increase of oil prices in 1974, forty years afford an adequate full meal at least every two maintain international peace and promote hu- ago. This imbalance in trade was made worse days, doubled in 2013 and affects one in every man rights and fundamental freedoms for all. by bad governance and strong demographic eight Italians. Yet, in a context of strong and And yet, focusing exclusively on the MDGs cre- pressure from young people entering the labor generalized reduction of public spending, the ated the notion that the organization should market in search of jobs every year. Persist- Ministry of Defence got a budget increase in only focus on the poorest countries. Such a ent armed conflicts and lack of social policies 2013-2015, 25 times higher than that of social misrepresentation led the Canadian minister of or job creating economic policies make the policies. Citizenship and Immigration to describe in May situation worse and currently there are 16 mil- A similar frustration emerges out of 2012 as “completely ridiculous” the visit of the lion people (out of 66 million total population) the Portuguese Social Watch report, which Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food to his suffering malnutrition and a majority of the denounces “increasing unemployment, im- country. The envoy of the Human Rights Coun- population without formal jobs or any social poverishment and increasing vulnerability of cil, a body with universal mandate, was told that security protection. powerless groups and communities” as the he should not get involved in “political exercises The Social Watch report from Armenia major consequences of austerity policies. in developed democracies like Canada.” also points to a prolonged crisis, in this case Given the high levels of unemployment and Universality is practiced by the UN Human beginning 25 years ago when the Soviet Un- poverty already being experienced in Portugal, Rights Council through the Universal Periodic ion (of which Armenia was a confederated and the findings that early anti-crisis measures Review (UPR), a mechanism for all countries, republic) collapsed. The impact on Armenia disproportionately affected poorer people, Canada included, to report regularly to their was “catastrophic”: about 1,000 industrial en- very serious impacts might be anticipated on peers on their obligations to respect, protect terprises ceased to function, agricultural as- vulnerable groups, putting at risk the more el- and promote both civil and political rights as sociations were disbanded in 1020 agricultural ementary economic, social and cultural rights. well as social, economic and cultural rights. formations, and more than 1 million people For these reason, the authors recommend “the Further, the UN Conference on Sustain- became unemployed. The country still faces implementation of a human rights based ap- able Development, meeting in Rio de Janeiro in a huge drain of the population that migrates proach to national budget and welfare state 2012 emphasized that the “sustainable devel- abroad in search of jobs, plus “problems with reform, allowing the social protection of the opment goals” to be negotiated multilaterally monopolists, the shadow economy sector and powerless and dis-empowered groups.” should be “action-oriented, concise and easy to corruption.” South Korea was hit both by the Asia fi- communicate, limited in number, aspirational, The Czech Republic, previously seen as nancial crisis in 1997 and the global financial global in nature and universally applicable to having performed a successful transition from crisis in 2008. According to the Korean So- all countries while taking into account different the Warsaw Pact into the European Union, now cial Watch report, the impressive economic national realities.” faces severe hardships, with “unemployment growth (GDP doubled between 2000 and The logical conclusion is that all countries at 10 percent, government reforms undermin- 2010) helped hide “gaps between regions, will have to report on actions taken towards ing the economy, antisocial and anti-family industries, social stratums, and sectors” and those universal aspirations. For the Social policies, corruption among politicians and dubious practices such as the concentration Watch coalitions this is not new.