High NGO Participation

In keeping with the idea that the Social Summit should focus on people, and with the recognition that civil society must be involved in the solutions to social problems, non-governmental organizations have been encouraged to participate in the preparatory process for the Summit.

Some 300 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were accredited to the August Prepcom, with many taking a very active role in making suggestions about how governments should frame the Declaration and Program of Action. This process continued at the intercessional meeting in October.

"What we have found here in New York at the United Nations is that there is an implicit agreement at the theoretical level on the diagnosis of the problems and the necessary goals and objectives of governments and the international community," said Francisco Vio Grossi, one of the two global coordinators of The People's Alliance for Social Development, a worldwide network of NGOs concerned with social issues. "The problem now is at the level of action."

Foremost in the minds of many NGOs is to ensure that the Summit does indeed promote a new international "environment" that will "enable" civil society itself to tackle social problems. "Addressing social problems is the task of the entire society, not only of governments," said Mr. Grossi. "So the first thing we want to do is to strengthen the capacity of civil society to confront these issues."




Among the issues to be discussed at the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in March is how to promote social integration. Bahá'í communities around the world are acutely concerned with promoting unity while at the same time respecting diversity. Shown below are the Bahá'ís of Yakutia in Siberia, at a gathering which featured songs and dance, as well as a discussion of spiritual and moral principles.



NGOs representing women's organizations continue to play a key role in bringing forth new and important ideas. "Women are the biggest stakeholders in this process," said Susan Davis, executive director of the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). "Women have been left out of the political and economic decision-making processes in the world for the most part, and so for heads of state to come together and talk about any aspect of social problems and how they affect women is important."

Ms. Davis urged governments to go farther in making specific commitments. "It is not enough to say we are going to eradicate poverty," said Ms. Davis. "We have to look at specific commitments under that -- such as to say things like that 80 percent of the world's farmers will have access to credit by the year 2000, with full gender equity."

Jaime Duhart, a representative of the Bahá'í International Community, said the very process of raising major social issues -- which have for so long been considered strictly national concerns -- to the level of a world summit will open the door to a general discussion of the process of globalization and its effect on all of humanity.

"At this point in history, some groups have benefited from the effects of globalization more than others," said Prof. Duhart, who is Vice Rector at the Bolivariana University in Santiago, Chile. "Other groups of people, such as the disadvantaged and the marginalized, have tended to suffer from its effects, as jobs flow to other countries and/or they are exploited in some way or another for their labor or resources.

"In the long run, however, the growing interdependence and integration of the world's peoples will come to be understood as a necessary and ultimately beneficial stage in the evolution of humanity," said Prof. Duhart. "Part of what we hope the processes surrounding the Social Summit will do is help the world to coordinate and integrate the forces of globalization so that all peoples can advance and benefit."


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