Addis Ababa — The following document was released by UN Economic Commission for Africa: At the World Summit on Social Development in Copenhagen in March 1995, African countries joined the rest of the world in proclaiming that they would afford social development the highest priority among their national policies and programmes.
They endorsed a far-reaching, time-bound compact for reducing and ultimately eradicating poverty in their countries. They pledged to raise life expectancy, reduce infant and maternal mortality, eliminate malnutrition among under-fives, provide universal access to healthcare and basic education, and reduce adult and especially female illiteracy.
Four years on, and as the challenges of a new millenium loom large, the focus is now on the extent to which the goals laid out in the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action for Social Development have been achieved. Working with UN and other partners, the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are involved in a regional effort to take stock of progress since Copenhagen, as well as to crystallize efforts towards meeting the established targets.
As part of this stock-taking, and towards advancing the commonly-agreed social development goals, ECA and UNDP are organizing two subregional follow-up conferences, to take place as follows :
* For Eastern and Southern Africa: Nairobi, Kenya 15-17 March 1999
* For North Africa: Marrakech, Morocco 23-25 March 1999
The backdrop to the follow-up process is that all but three of 53 African countries monitored by ECA registered positive economic growth in 1997, as compared to 1995, the year of the Social Summit, when 6 countries had negative growth rates, and 1994, when 12 countries did not grow at all. Also in 1997, 31 out of the 53 countries grew at rates faster than their populations, leading to increased per capita incomes.
Thirteen of these 31 countries achieved GDP growth of at least 5 per cent, which is considered the required threshold for sustained poverty reduction in Africa. Yet studies show that poverty -- manifested and exacerbated by unemployment, social disintegration, conflict, environmental degradation, marginalization and isolation -- is on the increase.
The gap between rich and poor continues to grow, with Africa accounting for a large percentage of the more than one billion people in the world living in abject poverty. "Poverty, lack of productive employment and social disintegration are an offence to human dignity", states the Aide-memoire to the subregional follow-up conferences.
"Our challenge", it adds, "is to establish a people-centred framework for social to guide us now and in the future, to build a culture of co-operation and partnership, and to respond to the immediate needs of those who are most affected by human distress". The subregional conferences will bring together policy makers, civil society leaders and representatives from bilateral, multilateral and inter-governmental development partners, to take stock of what progress African countries have made in delivering on their agreements in Copenhagen.
Progress will be examined in the context of four clusters: Poverty Reduction; Employment Creation; Achieving the Objectives of the Social Sectors; and Governance.
It should be recalled that the Copenhagen Summit agreed to:
* eradicate absolute poverty by a target date to be set by each country and support full employment as a basic goal ;
* promote social integration based on the enhancement and protection of all human rights and achieve equality between women and men ;
* strengthen co-operation for social development through the United Nations to accelerate the development of Africa and the least developed countries ; and
* create "an economic, political, social culture and legal environment that will enable people to achieve social development" to increase resources allocated to social development to attain universal and equitable access to education and primary health care, and ensure that structural adjustment programmes include social development goals.
Monitoring indicators identified by the UN, which emanate from the decade of world development conferences, include:
* Life expectancy at birth in all countries of not less than 60 years by 2000. Life expectancy greater than 70 years by 2005, and greater than 75 years by 2015.
* A one-third reduction in under-fives mortality from the 1990 level, or to 70 per 1,000 live births, whichever is less, by 2000; and by another half by 2015.
* A 50 % reduction in maternal mortality from the 1990 level by 2000, and by another half by 2015.
* A 50 % reduction in severe and moderate malnutrition among children under five from the 1990 level, addressing especially the gender gap in nutrition.
* Universal access to high-quality and affordable primary health care by 2000, and the removal of all programme-related barriers to use of family planning by 2005. Eradication of polio, guinea worm disease, iodine deficiency disorders and vitamin A deficiency.
* Universal access to basic education and the completion of primary education by at least 80% of primary school-age children by 2000. Full universal primary education by 2015.
* Reduction of adult illiteracy by at least half from the 1990 level by 2000. Closure of the gender gap in primary and secondary school education by 2005. Reduction of female illiteracy by at least half from its 1990 level by 2020.
For English and French language documents relating to the subregional conferences, please visit our Website at : http://www.un.org/depts/eca
For further information, please contact:
Peter K.A. da Costa Senior Communication Adviser Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) United Nations P.O. Box 3001 (official) or 3005 (personal) Addis Ababa Ethiopia Tel: +251-1-51 58 26 Fax: +251-1-51 03 65 E-Mail: dacosta@un.org dacosta@igc.apc.org
