Address by His Excellency Dr. Cheddi Jagan, to the Hemispheric Summit
Conference on Sustainable Development — Santa Cruz,
Bolivia, December 7-8, 1996
Mr. Chairman,
My dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I express my sincerest gratitude to His Excellency President Gonzalo
Sanchez de Lozada and to the Government and People of Bolivia for the
excellent conditions they have created for this historic hemispheric
summit on Sustainable development.
The holding of a special summit on Sustainable Development gives
recognition to the critical importance of this concept to the fortunes
of all our countries. We the participants are therefore saddled with the
responsibility of ensuring that we leave here with results corresponding
to the seriousness of our task.
We consider that Sustainable Development is an all-embracing approach to
socio-economic development. It is centred on the interaction of the
economic and political, social and cultural and environmental features
of global and national realities and goals.
This concept
has gained increasing currency since the United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development in Rio in 1992.
Generally also,
there has been much progress in developing special agreements,
conventions and protocols on some of these principles. A close
examination, however, reveals that the implementation process leans
heavily in the direction of the environmental issues with little
emphasis on the social and economic factors.
We do appreciate that progress has been made on sensitive environmental
issues. The Bio-diversity Convention, the Climate Change Convention,
Pollution Prevention Programmes and other global partnerships are vital
to the protection of our planet. We recognise, however, that the vital
issues of financial resources and technology transfer are not adequately
addressed in these processes.
Developing countries expect global partnerships to be maintained on a
more realistic and just approach. We want to implement all universally
accepted requirements for the protection of our environment but we lack
the resources to do so. This situation needs to be recognised and
understood by the developed world. But world economic and social and
social relations continue to be unjust, inequitable and destructive for
under-developed countries and the poor of the earth.
We have had to
endure deformed dependent development as a result of our colonial
heritage and the unfair conditions imposed by those who benefitted from
the historical advantage of rapid growth in the colonial era.
The prestigious world economic forum this year concluded that a mounting
backlash against the effects of economic globalisation, especially in
the industrialised democracies, is threatening to disrupt economic
activity and social stability and is creating a mood of helplessness and
anxiety.
These poverty
gaps have gained momentum and are widening in the north as well as in
the south, and between the north and the south. It is necessary
therefore for this limitation in the possibilities of developing
countries to be recognised by the developed world with a genuine effort
to assist.
We have noticed a tendency for developed states to try to revisit
earlier commitments with a view to reduce or avoid them, and an approach
in new declarations to de-emphasise the economic, social and political
needs while shifting emphasis to environmental issues.
This Santa Cruz Declaration and the Plan of Action reflect this
shortcoming. Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean support the
Declaration and Plan of Action and will work towards their
implementation, but we need to make it clear that we are disappointed
with the failure to deal more comprehensively with the social and
economic requirements of sustainable development. With specific
reference to the Plan of Action, it is regrettable that we are only
dealing with issues of education and health in a limited way which
emphasises their link to environmental consideration.
Health and
education are major social issues which are crucial bases for the
peoples of the world to make their contribution to sustainable
development.
Our Plan of Action is also deficient in its limited treatment of the
special vulnerability of small island and low lying coastal states which
repeatedly have had their development processes hindered — in fact very
seriously set back — by natural disasters.
Sustainable development might be an option for large countries but an
imperative for survival of small countries, especially small island and
low-lying coastal states. The small islands and low-lying coastal states
in the Caribbean are prone to pervasive damage from recurring natural
disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes and tropical
storms. They are extremely vulnerable to potential man-made disasters
such as oil spills, nuclear accidents and sea level rise. The Caribbean
economies are essentially coastal with more than 90 per cent of the
population living within 10 miles of the coast. Economic activity in the
form of tourism and fishery are heavily dependent on the coral reefs,
the mangroves and the beaches. These fragile eco-systems are very
vulnerable to damage from man-made or natural calamities.
The special vulnerabilities of small island states, especially those in
the Caribbean, and the challenges of managing the Exclusive Economic
Zones (EEZs) were recognised in the Declaration and Plan of Action from
the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island
Developing States (SIDS) in Barbados. We are pleased that this Summit
will give due recognition to the Declaration and Plan of Action from the
Barbados Conference. We hope that over time, as a Hemisphere and within
the Region, we will be in a position to allocate the resources necessary
to facilitate meaningful and urgent implementation of the SIDS Plan of
Action.
The Caribbean Community Governments are pleased that the Plan of Action
from this Hemispheric Summit gives recognition to the Caribbean Sea. The
Caribbean Sea impacts directly on two-thirds of the States represented
at this Summit. Establishing and promoting the Caribbean Sea as a focus
for sustainable development would be a major positive action by the
Hemisphere in any overall thrust at sustainable development.
The sustainable
development of the Caribbean will depend significantly on human resource
development and availability. We have not focussed on this in any
fundamental way for this Summit. The Caribbean Community believes that
this issue is so important that it should be a focus for the next
Hemispheric Summit in Chile.
The Caribbean Community was, frankly, very disappointed that its efforts
to have these major threats to our continued existence, and indeed our
sustainable development, addressed in a balanced and meaningful manner
in the Declaration and Plan of Action from this Summit were not as
successful as it had hoped.
In spite of our disappointment that the Declaration and Plan of Action
could not be stronger in content, the Caribbean Community will join with
other states in the hemisphere to ensure that the issues we have
identified and emphasised are implemented efficiently in order to move
our countries several steps further along the road of sustainable
development.
We need to recognise however that these steps can only be limited and
piecemeal. Sustainable development is meaningless and impossible without
fundamental changes in the relationship between states. It is necessary
to take a holistic approach of development and the environment,
especially sustainable human development. In the past, they saw
environmental degradation as a product of industrial/economic
development. Now, it is becoming increasingly evident that poverty is
the biggest enemy of the environment.
We need our own strategy of development. The Latin American and
Caribbean Commission on Development and Environment, sponsored by the
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), in their report "Our Own Agenda", pointed out that we
followed a model of flawed growth:
"More than
a half century of flawed development has produced total stagnation
for those of us in Latin America. The burdensome external
indebtedness which deprives us of the capital needed for growth and
the grave economic crisis which for 10 years has further exacerbated
the condition of our underprivileged class are not the causes of our
problems but rather manifestations of an outworn model of growth."
The Commission
noted the need for a special strategy. The Commission reported:
"There is
no universal strategy for sustainable development. The most
successful strategies are based on an analysis of our own regional
institutional, economic and social peculiarities and of our
environmental problems. The achievement of sustainable development
also requires the establishment of a medium — and long-term planning
mechanism."
Such a
development strategy must combine good governance, internationally,
regionally and nationally, and must encourage North/South partnership,
cooperation and solidarity. This strategy must aim to alleviate, if not
eradicate, poverty.
In December 1992, the lead document of the Carnegie Commission on
Science, Technology and Government for the North/South Cooperation
Conference, called by President Jimmy Carter and UN Secretary-General,
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, noted that world hunger could be reduced by 50
per cent by the year 2000. Regrettably, no answers are forthcoming.
I have circulated for your consideration a memorandum which analyses the
dilemma facing developing states within the context of a global crisis
which undermines the the path of sustainable development in all
countries, but is exceptionally severe on poorer countries. Juan de Dias
Parra, leader of the Latin American Association for Human Rights
summarised the recent trends noting that:
"In Latin
America today, there are 70 million more hungry, 30 million more
illiterate, 10 million more families without homes and 40 million
more unemployed persons than there were 20 years ago.. There are 240
million human beings who lack the necessities of life and this when
the region is richer and more stable than ever according to the way
the world sees it."
We cannot
continue in such a direction .We need a New Global Human Order. My
memorandum proposes inter-alia:
-
a
regional development (integration) fund
-
debt
relief
-
an
American volunteer development corps
-
a
separate global development cooperation fund
A collective
effort in this direction will benefit developed and developing countries
alike and will create a more conducive environment for sustainable
development. We must also strive to build a more genuine democracy
having as its objective "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".
This would be ensured when it is all embracing — not only representative
(5 minute voting) but also consultative and participatory , particularly
of women — and when not only civil and political rights but also
economic social and cultural rights are realised. A person must exercise
his/her right to vote but that right will be exercisable only if the
food for life is available.
This must facilitate the broadest involvement of our peoples with a
meaningful role for civil society in pursuing the goals of sustainable
development. In a few months we will be evaluating at the United Nations
the achievements for five years after Rio.
We in this hemisphere must at this forum in a straight-forward approach
of genuine criticism and self criticism identify the successes and
failures of these 5 years. Especially we must see:
— what has
not gone on as planned
— what we
need to do to remove these obstacles and move on.
We have had
enough of conferences, declarations and plans of action. We need to
proceed by dealing not merely with symptoms but with the root causes of
our problems. Our specific targets in our Declaration of Santa Cruz and
our Plan of Action must be implemented with vigour but must be set
against the background of an international effort to secure a New Global
Human Order.
Thank
you.
© Nadira Jagan-Brancier 2000
The Quest for Peace, Justice and Development
Guyana’s leader, President Cheddi Jagan was
among 200 Heads of State who addressed the special commemorative meeting of
the United Nation’s General Assembly to mark the 50th anniversary of the
world body. In his presentation on October 24, 1995, President Jagan paid
tribute to the work of the United Nations over the years, outlined the new
tensions that threaten world peace and thwart development, and offered his
own formula for a New Global Human Order.
As the United Nations proudly celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, I wish to
join the other members of our international family in paying tribute to this
organization which has served us so well over these many years.
As so many others before me have testified, the accomplishments of the
United Nations during its fifty years of existence have been many and
significant. With the ending of the Cold War, there is now a promise of even
greater achievements. Yet although now free from the tensions of East-West
rivalry, we are still hostage to many threats to our peace and security.
This crucial time is characterized by:
• Globalization and liberalization with the dominance of transnational
corporations (TNCs) and one overpowering ideology.
• Unacceptably high unemployment and underemployment, even in the period of
economic growth, referred to as “jobless growth” and “jobless recovery.”
• Increasing poverty and widening gaps in developed and developing
countries, between the “haves” and the “have-nots,” the “included” and the
“excluded” and between the rich North and the poor South.
• Chronic budget and balance-of-payments deficit problems of many of the
OECD countries are leading to the dismantling of the welfare state and cuts
in welfare benefits in the North, and cuts in aid to the South - the
phenomenon now deemed “donor fatigue” or “aid fatigue.”
• Social, including family, disintegration.
• Strife and convulsions based on race, ethnicity, tribe, culture and
religion leading to a marked increase in refugees.
• Demagogy and confusion, leading politically to the dangerous rise of the
extreme right, the religious right, national chauvinists, xenophobists and
neo-fascists, and socially to racism and racist attacks.
Cumulatively, these factors pose a grave threat to international and
individual peace and security. Consequently, there is an urgent necessity
for a New Global Human Order, as an adjunct to the UN Agenda for
Development. A New Global Human Order must have as its goal human
development: meeting the basic needs of the people, cultural upliftment, and
a clean and safe environment.
To attain a New Global Human Order, it is necessary to establish a sound and
just system of global governance based on:
• a genuine North/South partnership and interdependence for mutual benefit;
• a democratic culture of representative, consultative and participatory
democracy and a lean and clean administration;
• a development of strategy free from external domination and diktat;
• application of science and technology for increased production and
productivity;
• a global development facility, funded by pollution taxes, cuts in military
expenditure - the peace dividend, which, with only a three per cent
reduction can realize US$460 billion in a five-year period and a tax of 0.5
percent on speculative capital exchange movements, which can yield US$1500
billion annually;
• administration of a Development Fund by a democratized and reformed United
Nations for allocation without undue conditions to the developed and
developing countries. With such assistance, more job opportunities can be
created by a works program, as under the Roosevelt New Deal Administration
during the depression of the 1930s, a shorter workweek and a lower
pensionable age. For the developing countries, aid can be given in the form
of debt cancellation, long-term rescheduling of debt, soft loans and grants.
Third World debt is strangling our reconstruction and human development
efforts. Although we paid more than US$1.3 trillion between 1982 and 1990,
yet our countries were 61 percent more in debt in 1990 than they were in
1982. During the same period, there was a net South to North outflow of
US$418 billion (not including outflows such as royalties, dividends,
repatriated profits, underpaid raw materials, etc) - a sum equal to six
Marshall Plans - the plan which provided aid to Europe at the end of World
War II.
At the
same time, our Third World countries lose annually, about US$500 billion in
unfair, non-equivalent international trade, a sum equal to ten times ODA
assistance from the developed countries.
This
unjust economic order must be replaced by a just New Global Human Order for
international and individual security and peace.
The human
development paradigm must be established on the basis of empowerment of our
peoples, accountability, productivity and sustainability.
Economic
growth must be linked to equity, with social justice and ecological
preservation.
Let us
together resolve, on this historic occasion, to strengthen the United
Nations which was created not only to preserve us from the scourge of war
but also to allow our peoples to live in larger freedom.
I thank
you.
© Nadira Jagan-Brancier 2000
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