World Summit for Children, 1990

MAC/WFY

Page-328

0230_553559_36_cha32

World Summit for Social Development,
1995

As with the other major conferences held during the 1990s, the decision to hold
the World Summit for Social Development (popularly known as the Social Summit) was
triggered by growing concern among UN member states, and the UN secretariat,
that widespread social problems had been seriously neglected and in some cases
had become unmanageable (UN, 1995a). Among the reasons given for convening
the summit was that while prosperity had expanded for some, it was accompanied
by an expansion of `unspeakable poverty' for others. This `glaring contradiction'
was unacceptable and needed to be corrected through urgent action. The process
of globalization was seen as a double-edged sword. While offering the prospect
of new opportunities for sustained economic growth and development of the
world economy, the rapid process of change and adjustment had been accom-
panied by intensified poverty, unemployment and social disintegration. More
than one billion people lived in `abject poverty, most of whom go hungry every
day'. A large proportion of them had `very limited access to income, resources,
education, health care or nutrition, particularly in Africa and the least developed
countries'.

A major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment

was `the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in
industrialized countries'. The continued growth of the world's population, its
structure and distribution and its relationship with poverty and social and gender
equality, challenged the `adaptive capacities' of governments, individuals, social
institutions and the natural environment. Over 120 million people worldwide
were officially unemployed and many more were underemployed. More women
than men lived in `absolute poverty', with serious consequences for them and their
children. Women carried a disproportionate share of the problems of coping with
poverty, social disintegration, unemployment, environmental degradation and
the effects of war. One of the world's largest minorities, more than one in 10, was
people with disabilities. Millions of people worldwide were refugees or internally
displaced persons. Communicable diseases constituted a serious health problem
and were a major hindrance to social development and often the cause of poverty
and social exclusion. The challenge was `to establish a people-centred framework
for social development

to build a culture of cooperation and partnership, and

328

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Useful links	World Summit for Children, 1990 MAC/WFY Page-328 0230_553559_36_cha32 32 World Summit for Social Development, 1995 As with the other major conferences held during the 1990s, the decision to hold the World Summit for Social Development (popularly known as the Social Summit) was triggered by growing concern among UN member states, and the UN secretariat, that widespread social problems had been seriously neglected and in some cases had become unmanageable (UN, 1995a). Among the reasons given for convening the summit was that while prosperity had expanded for some, it was accompanied by an expansion of `unspeakable poverty' for others. This `glaring contradiction' was unacceptable and needed to be corrected through urgent action. The process of globalization was seen as a double-edged sword. While offering the prospect of new opportunities for sustained economic growth and development of the world economy, the rapid process of change and adjustment had been accom- panied by intensified poverty, unemployment and social disintegration. More than one billion people lived in `abject poverty, most of whom go hungry every day'. A large proportion of them had `very limited access to income, resources, education, health care or nutrition, particularly in Africa and the least developed countries'. A major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment was `the unsustainable pattern of consumption and production, particularly in industrialized countries'. The continued growth of the world's population, its structure and distribution and its relationship with poverty and social and gender equality, challenged the `adaptive capacities' of governments, individuals, social institutions and the natural environment. Over 120 million people worldwide were officially unemployed and many more were underemployed. More women than men lived in `absolute poverty', with serious consequences for them and their children. Women carried a disproportionate share of the problems of coping with poverty, social disintegration, unemployment, environmental degradation and the effects of war. One of the world's largest minorities, more than one in 10, was people with disabilities. Millions of people worldwide were refugees or internally displaced persons. Communicable diseases constituted a serious health problem and were a major hindrance to social development and often the cause of poverty and social exclusion. The challenge was `to establish a people-centred framework for social development to build a culture of cooperation and partnership, and 328 back to top Next page
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