This post-Cold War period has stimulated our hopes that a new world order
can be established on the basis of mutual respect, equal opportunity for all
peoples, the consolidation of democracy and human development.
A renewed opportunity is now afforded to place the welfare of our peoples
at the center of national and international efforts. Our peoples have the
right not only to political freedom but also to the full development of
their attributes. To this end we should strive again, as expressed in
Article 1, paragraph 3 of the Charter of the United Nations: "To achieve
international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic,
social, cultural or humanitarian character." Only then can sturdy and
lasting foundations for international peace and security be established.
We must resolve to reverse the gap which has been developing between the
richest and the poorest countries. The divisions between the rich and the
poor in the industrialized societies in the North and in the developing and
underprivileged societies in the South, as well as the distance in
attainment between the North and the South have been widening considerably
since the early 1980s.
In the North, the consequences of these disparities have been
unemployment, homelessness, urban disorder, increase in crime especially
among the youths, the rise of ultra-right movements, strident nationalism
and fragmentation accompanied by racism and ethnic tensions.
In the South, the consequences of these divisions have been the increase
in crime and disease, hopelessness, emigration, environmental degradation,
and the illegal traffic and use of narcotic drugs.
Taken together, there is a situation of despair, alienation and
indifference.
More alarming, however, is the incidence of increasing poverty across the
globe. Poverty atrophies the vigor and initiative of the individual and
deprives the society of incalculable human resources at a critical time. Its
elimination will enrich our community and release a harvest of energy and
skills. If left unattended, the expansion of poverty, with hunger, will
undermine the fabric and security of the democratic state.
In December 1992, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a
resolution entitled "New International Humanitarian Order." That resolution
urges Governments, as well as governmental and non-governmental
organizations, to provide comments and expertise for the Secretary-General
regarding the humanitarian order, and to develop international cooperation
in the humanitarian field.
In October 1993, the Commonwealth Heads of Government at their meeting in
Cyprus considered a memorandum on: The Emergence of a New Global
Humanitarian Order. That memorandum comprised a set of principles to govern
the behavior of states to underpin the new humanitarian order and to prevent
conflicts. Accordingly, Commonwealth Heads agreed to establish a high-level
inter-governmental group to examine specific ways in which the Commonwealth
can make a contribution to the work of the international community.
With this in mind, I introduced in March 1994, at the Inter-Sessional
Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community
in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an item: "The Emergence of a Global
Humanitarian Order." Caricom Heads discussed the item and agreed to work
together at the regional level and in concert with a Commonwealth high-level
group to advance the concept globally.
At the same meeting in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, we also supported
a proposal by Dr. Carlos Saul Menem, President of the Argentine Republic, to
establish an International Volunteer Corps for the Fight Against Hunger. The
main objectives of this Corps of Volunteers, as you are aware, are to
eradicate hunger and eliminate extreme poverty. Earlier in November 1993,
Dr. Menem had transmitted the proposal to the United National
Secretary-General with the intention that the Corps will operate within the
framework of the United Nations.
These several efforts acknowledge a concern for the expanse of hunger and
poverty. All societies, nationalities and systems of government are prey to
their debilitating effects. However, individual states or societies cannot
deal adequately with this problem. The evolving globalized system
necessitates a global response.
As I stated in November 1993, a development strategy for the eradication
of poverty must be global and positive, not the South against the North and
the North against the South, but the North and South in interdependence,
cooperation and partnership. It would be disastrous for humankind if the
East/West conflict of the Cold War era were to be transformed into a
North/South conflict.
Among other pertinent responses to the crisis is the Human Development
Report 1992 published for the United Nations Developmental Program. The
Report calls for a new global compact on human development: in essence, an
agreement to put people first in national policies and in international
development cooperation. The UNDP Report lists a number of objectives to
inform international effort.
These include institutional changes leading to:
(i) The establishment of global institutions to respond to the global
dimension of the existing human society. Global governance today is weak and
is dispersed over a number of institutions, many of which are the exclusive
preserve of the industrialized and wealthy states that exert tremendous
power and influence on international activity;
(ii) The United Nations system itself also has to play a more central
role in global economic management and should have access to larger
financial resources. Important global issues like debt, monetary stability
and international resource transfers have not been dealt with extensively in
the UN system;
(iii) The Bretton Woods Institutions - the International Monetary Fund
and the World Bank - have moved away from their original mandate and need
now to concentrate on human development, as distinct from the means of
development, positing human beings at the center of their deliberations;
(iv) Democracy has been making promising gains in the nation states. This
development is also imperative for the international institutions. Reforms
are necessary within the context of the evolving global system where the
general welfare of the peoples of our globe is central. Thus, the UN should
assume greater responsibility for the formulation of development policy;
(v) The IMF can then be adjusted to serve as a global central bank, its
original raison d’etre: to create a common currency, maintain price and
exchange rate stability, channel global surpluses and deposits, rationalize
access to credits, and provide the liquidity and credits which the poor
countries need separately;
(vi) The World Bank would then return to its original mandate to mediate
between the capital markets and the developing countries by assuming the
role of an international investment trust, creating a new loan window - an
Intermediate Assistance Facility - that would help countries to graduate
from the concessional International Development Association terms but not
yet sturdy enough to meet the tougher terms of the World Bank;
(vii) A new Official Development Assistance (ODA), which can channel to
the poorest countries two-thirds of ODA, instead of the present one-quarter,
is also a priority;
(viii) Additionally, a system of progressive income tax should be
collected from the rich nations according to their income and development
needs;
(ix) The UN Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) offers
an opportunity for both rich and poor countries to accept sustainable human
development as an achievable goal. UNCED also seeks to ensure that the poor
countries have access to technology to promote human development in a
sustainable way. In this regard, the Global Environment Facility is a
valuable mechanism and we would need to expand its resource base, enlarge
the participation of the developing countries, expand its mandate to cover
national capacity building and the environmental priorities of developing
countries: water; desertification, urban degradation and acid rain;
(x) A greater role for non-governmental organizations in the reformed
institutions without diminishing the vital interests and representation of
the poorer South;
(xi) Urgent action to utilize the gains at the end of Cold War
confrontation by further reducing military expenditure which had reached a
peak of US$838 billion in 1987. The UNDP Report proposed that all countries
should agree to reduce military expenditures in the 1980s by at least 3% a
year. This would yield by the year 2000 a "peace dividend" of US$1.5
trillion. This "peace dividend" will give the wealthy countries a chance to
direct more resources to a social agenda and to assist poor countries
through debt relief. A new debt bargain can be reached to halt the current
debt related transfer of $50 billion a year from the developing countries to
developed countries;
(xii) Providing for equitable international trade both in goods and
services so as to accelerate global growth and allow a more equitable
distribution of its benefits;
(xiii) Creating sufficient job opportunities to absorb the annual
increase in the labor force and to contain immigration pressures. To this
end, I had suggested increased employment through reducing the number of
days or the number of hours worked per week without loss of pay; and
reducing the pensionable age without loss of benefits.
(xiv) A Works Program for physical and social infrastructure similar to
that of President F.D. Roosevelt’s New Deal;
(xv) Tax and other incentives for more research and the use of science
and technology to create jobs instead of eliminating them;
(xvi) Greater emphasis on increasing and improving basic services in
health, education, housing and nutrition.
I have outlined some proposals for a fresh consideration; some
countenance major institutional changes and sustained mutual understanding.
I am assured that there exists the political goodwill to construct a new
order where the primacy of human development is the guiding principle.
Preparing a peaceful and orderly transition to the twenty-first century is
compelling.
These proposals are not exhaustive; they are merely indicative of the
challenging options available. I am convinced that with coordinated
international effort, poverty and hunger can be eradicated in our lifetime.
What is required is the international collaboration to define a framework
for action buttressed by the resources from the "peace dividend."
To this noble end I seek your support.
Dr. Cheddi Jagan
President, Republic of Guyana
May 1, 1994
