New York, 4 October 2002

Mr. Chairman,

As it is the first time that I take the floor on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, allow me to congratulate you and the other members of the Bureau for your election. The G77 and China is confident that under such skillful leadership, this Committee will conclude its work in a smooth, constructive and timely manner.

Mr. Chairman,

Social development cannot be considered in a vacuum. There are a number of interrelated and underlining factors involved in the achievement of social development goals. That is why we find extremely useful and interesting the approach followed by the Secretary-General in his report contained in document A/57/115. In it, he examines the linkages of the outcomes of both, the World Summit for Social Development, held in Copenhagen in 1995, and the twenty-fourth special session of the United Nations General Assembly, held in Geneva, in 2000, with other United Nations conferences and summits.

The G77 and China concurs with the assertion made in the report that each of the conferences and summits that have taken place over the last two years has encouraged continued and concerted action for social development at the national and international levels. Moreover, we also find a clear and close link between the implementation of and follow-up to the World Summit and the special session and the implementation and follow-up processes of these conferences and summits.

However, the G77 and China is of the view that, beyond such linkage, the agreements reached in these international events come to complement and further elaborate the social development goals agreed at the World Summit and at the Special Session. To illustrate this, allow me Mr. Chairman to offer an approximation on the assertion I just made, by referring to the conferences and summits that have taken place most recently: the International Conference on Financing for Development; the World Summit for Sustainable Development; and the Second World Assembly on Ageing.

International Conference on Financing for Development

Mr. Chairman,

When speaking on behalf of the G77 and China under this same agenda item last year, the then Chairman of the group, his Excellency Ambassador Bagher Asadi, said: “Achievement of social development...(is) a matter of will and resources”. He then went on to say: “What is yet to materialize is an effective system of international cooperation for development to ensure that national efforts for social development are supported in a meaningful and sustainable manner”.

The Monterrey Consensus provides an excellent platform for a system of international cooperation for development, that the developing countries called for year after year. In fact, Monterrey is the beginning of a concrete and pragmatic process to expedite the flow of financial resources for development through mechanisms, such as Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Foreign Direct Investment, among others.

The International Conference on Financing for Development elaborated further the recommendations contained in the outcome document of the twenty-fourth special session with regards to further actions to mobilize resources for social development at the national, regional and international levels.

But it is not only in terms of resources that Monterrey complements both Copenhagen and Copenhagen +5. One of the most important achievements of the Monterrey Consensus is the issue of the reform of the international financial architecture. Such reform will have an uncontested, favorable impact in the implementation of three key aspects of the Copenhagen Programme of Action: the improvement of the structural adjustment programmes; the promotion of an enabling environment for social development and the strengthening of the frameworks for subregional, regional and international cooperation.

Thus, the implementation of Monterrey will provide not only the material basis to reach the social development goals, but will also contribute in taking forward specific elements of the Programme of Action and Further Initiatives.

World Summit for Sustainable Development

Mr. Chairman,
Social development is one of the areas where action is required in order to achieve sustainable development. This idea was integrated in Agenda 21. The outcome of Johannesburg contains specific targets and actions in the area of poverty eradication, some of them drawn from the outcome document of the twenty-fourth special session.

Poverty eradication is an issue where the Copenhagen and Johannesburg processes converge. Poverty eradication is one of the three pillars in which the social development goals rest and has been identified as an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. The goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people living in absolute poverty by 2015 was first adopted by the international community at the twenty-fourth special session in the year 2000.

The Plan of Implementation of Agenda 21 further elaborates on the actions adopted by the twenty-fourth special session in the area of poverty eradication. It also expands and complements the actions in the sphere of the promotion of a coordinated and simultaneous approach in the consideration of environmental, economic and social policies, which are mutually reinforcing components of sustainable development.

Second World Assembly on Ageing

Mr. Chairman,

The enhancement of social integration is another key element in the social development goals adopted both at the World Social Summit and at the twenty-fourth special session. According to the Copenhagen Programme of Action, the aim of social integration is: “…to create ‘a society for all’, in which every individual, each with rights and responsibilities, has an active role to play.”

This concept was not only expanded by the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, but was also complemented by a programmatic framework that deals specifically with the situation of older persons, who run the risk of being marginalized. The main objective of the Plan of Action is to secure an environment of security and dignity for older persons and to enable them to participate fully in their societies as citizens with equal rights and opportunities.

In the area of poverty eradication, the Second World Assembly also converges with and complements Copenhagen and Copenhagen +5, when it recognizes the importance of placing ageing in the context of poverty eradication strategies. This is an issue of critical importance for the G77 and China, taking into account that by the year 2050 the number of older persons is expected to quadruple in the developing countries.

The achievement of the social development goals is an ongoing, long-term effort which involves determined action by Governments, the international community, the civil society and the private sector. The Monterrey, Johannesburg and Madrid processes, with their own, independent dynamics and appropriate follow-up and implementation mechanisms constitute an important contribution to that effort. There is not doubt that the implementation of these three processes will hasten the achievement of the social development goals agreed in 1995 and in 2000.

Mr. Chairman,

Allow me to refer now specifically to the Second World Assembly on Ageing that took place in Madrid, Spain, in April this year.

The Second World Assembly on Ageing marked a watershed for developing countries in terms of their policies on ageing to effectively deal with what is increasingly being referred to as a demographic “agequake”. 

Ageing in the developing world is a reality. Statistics have already established that 80% of the world's population lives in developing countries. By 2050, it is estimated that the total of those aged 60 years and older will double worldwide, and triple in developing countries, concomitant with a sharp decline in birth rates. This situation will pose a tremendous challenge to developing countries, in addition to all the developmental challenges already faced by them.

For the Group of 77 and China, one of the most important achievements reached in Madrid is that the Plan of Action adopted is a forward looking document that takes into account the special needs and challenges faced by older persons in the developing world.

We welcome the report presented by the Secretary-General on follow-up to the Second World Assembly, contained in document A/57/93, which outlines the activities being carried out for the implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action.

The G77 and China concurs with the Secretary-General on the need to strengthen the United Nations programme on Ageing, so it can undertake in an efficient and timely manner the tasks arising from the implementation of the Plan of Action.

The group will present a draft resolution on the follow-up to the Second World Assembly on Ageing that we hope that, repeating the spirit that prevailed in our negotiations in Madrid, will be adopted by consensus.

Thank you very much Mr. Chairman.