Concensus On Action For Social Development Is Building

UNITED NATIONS -- Before the end of the Cold War, it almost seemed unthinkable that the world's governments might reach any real consensus about how to tackle the world's social ills.

In ideological terms alone, the disagreements over whether free markets or planned economies are better for promoting economic progress would surely have prevented accord on any overall framework for promoting global social development -- even in the unlikely event that agreement could be reached concerning the eradication of poverty, the globalization of trade, and access to technology.

In that light, observers find remarkable the degree to which the governments, despite lingering questions over financial commitments and operational mechanisms, have made progress in developing a draft Declaration and a global Plan of Action in recent preparatory meetings for the upcoming World Summit for Social Development, which will be held in Copenhagen next March.

The degree of consensus on an overall approach to the global problems of poverty, unemployment and social disintegration that the Summit intends to address were especially evident at recent "intercessional" negotiations for the Summit, which were held in New York, 24-28 October 1994.

In a final round of consultations on the last day of the meeting, delegation after delegation expressed its pleasure at the general result of the week-long negotiations, which sought to ready documents for a final Preparatory Committee (Prepcom) meeting scheduled to be held in New York in January.

"We were somewhat nervous coming into the session," said Ambassador Hugo Øftergaard-Andersen of Denmark, reflecting the general concern that many felt on entering the session, which had been added into the preparatory schedule because so many issues were not resolved at the last Prepcom in August. "But I leave New York in a much more comfortable mood. What we must never forget is politics is about differences of opinion and convergence toward agreements. We are in a process that is steadily progressing, and the Declaration is taking shape."

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