For once Southern voices are
the majority at a panel at the Geneva 2000 special session on
Social Development held from June 26-30. In a huge conference hall
in the Swiss city eight people from Africa, Asia and Central
America were giving their views on the processes they have been
involved in prior to the meeting and during.
For these people to come this
far the process has been long and grassroot oriented. Their task
was simply to see, if the different countries lived up to the 10
commitments agreed on during the Social Summit in Copenhagen 1995.
On the initiative of MS,
Danish Association for International Co-operation first held
national conferences with representatives from the civil society
in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Lesotho,
Nicaragua and Nepal.
Thereafter a conference was
held in Copenhagen with representatives from the nine countries to
discuss and share experiences from the national conferences and to
develop a South/North Declaration, summing up the views and
bringing the views to Geneva.
No Commitment
Jaffari Mpilli, Secretary-General of Tango, a
Tanzanian NGO umbrella organisation, highlighted the main points
of the South/North Declaration, included in the magazine Images of
Social Realities, launched at the conference. Mpilli is not
optimistic.
"In the declaration we say that there has been
very little progress in the implemention since 1995”, he stated.
Looking at the realities in the nine countries
described in the magazine it is clear that the situation is very
alarming. The declaration reads: "Poverty has worsened in many
countries, especially in the South. Internationally globalisation
has unleashed itself with unprecented speed and vigour and is
ruthlessly dismantling national borders, thus affecting democratic
growth, transforming weaker states and their national economies
into dependencies of transnational capital. We have seen no
determination to honour the commitments made at the World Summit
in 1995 and the total lack of concrete actions towards social
development, especially actions to benefit marginalised.”
The declaration points out five priority areas
that should be given special attention: Good governance, poverty
reduction, employment, debt cancellation and the HIV/Aids pandemic
Fragmented Approach
At the panel in Geneva the people from the South,
explained their efforts and the outcome.
Chatinaya Mishra from Nepal summarised the
conditions in his country Nepal in one sentence ”Poverty is very
high.” 42% live in poverty according to government statistics.
Some even put it higher. 47% are unemployed. One of the major
problems is that the poverty issue is seen as fragmented.
"In Nepal the government addresses poverty only at
targeted programmes to targeted groups. Poverty is not seen in a
holistic view”, Mr. Msihra added.
Seabata Motsamai, Executive director for Lesotho
Council of NGOs stressed the importance of the policies for
poverty reduction and social integration. "The policies are there.
Are they really going to be implemented ? That’s what we wanted to
see at the grassroot level in Lesotho”, he said.
"The Hurricane Mitch made it evident, that the
poorest countries and the poorest people are most affected,
because we are more vulnerable”, stated Milogros Barahona from
Nicaragua, the poorest nation in the whole of Latin America.
In the Central American country the preparation
for the Geneva meeting stressed the need to formulate an agreed
upon strategy to eradicate poverty and to ensure citizen’s
participation. Participation was a core issue for the civil
society Geneva 2000 participants.
"Development should be centred around the people.
In this way nobody will get marginalised, neither in the North,
nor in the South,” Jaffari Mpilli said. He stressed the need for
intensifying social watch and encouraging co-operation and
networking on a regional basis.
Charles Mutasa, a documentalist of the Poverty
Reduction Forum in Zimbabwe, reiterated the need for the private
sector to contribute wholeheartedly to the social services.” They
can not produce if the workers don’t enjoy good health or access
to education,” he said.
Robert Ekongot from Deniva, an NGO-umbrella from
Uganda, presented one of the five priority areas from the
South/North Declaration. "HIV/Aids is a global concern. It’s
important that we continue to put it on the agenda. It has been
dealt with as a health issue, but it is a development issue”, he
said.
Political Struggle
Bjørn Førde, Secretary-General of MS, Danish
Association for International Co-operation wanted the civil
society define the agenda for discussions in Geneva. "It’s not
only a question of networking. It is a political struggle. It has
to be fought for. I would like to see the word political struggle
enter these conference halls,” Bjørn Førde stated.
Edward Oyugi from Social Development Network in
Kenya saw the northern donors as hampering the eradication of
poverty, because of their own specific interests and priorities.
"We get fragmented by the jointed donor agendas. Before my
organisation can get funds or resources, some donor has to agree
with it,” Edward Oyugi said. "We need to generate our own
resources in the South. Right now we are picking the grains on the
ground like chicken who don’t see beyond,” he continued.
Jaffari Mpilli from TANGO in Tanzania looked
beyond Geneva 2000. "What’s next ? We came to Geneva to share
ideas with other NGOs and national delegates. Now we are lobbying
at two different levels: At government level and together with the
different caucuses. When we leave this place we are going back to
our constituencies to brief them on what we did in Copenhagen and
Geneva. What are the successes and what are the failures?” Jaffari
Mpilli said.
