Wider international support for the
New Global Human Order
By Odeen Ishmael
Guyana’s multilateralism achieved a signal honour in
December 2007 when its resolution on the role of the United Nations in
promoting the New Global Human Order (NGHO) was adopted by the UN
General Assembly. This resolution follows two others on the same subject
approved in 2000 and 2002.
It is clear from the adoption of this latest
resolution that many ideas proposed by the New Global Human Order have
taken deeper roots in the international community, especially among
developing countries of the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. This
is evidenced by the widespread support the resolution attracted, with
more than 75 countries adding their names as co-sponsors. These included
33 Latin American and Caribbean nations making up the combined
membership of Caricom and the Rio Group, and at least 30 from Africa.
Significantly, the two most populous nations, China and India, as well
as a number of other Asian and Pacific island states were among those
that co-sponsored the resolution.
No doubt, the overwhelming co-sponsorship by the
developing states of the South is significant since they feel that the
NGHO initiatives promote in practical terms their fight against poverty
and inequality and can help reduce the burdens of debt and dependency
which suffocate their economic and social development.
The NGHO proposal was first enunciated in 1993 by the
late Guyanese President Cheddi Jagan (1917-1997) in a letter to world
leaders. Initially, some political and academic “experts” felt that the
ideas promulgated in the proposal were utopian; that they would not gain
support and would never engender serious discussions. Some even doubted
that any government or multilateral institution would ever seriously try
to implement the ideas for a long, long time.
But as President Jagan rightly pointed out, many
ideas, which initially seemed utopian, eventually became accepted as
realistic and practicable. As such, the Government of Guyana, since
1993, consistently propagated the proposal at all international forums,
especially at the UN, OAS and other multilateral organisations. At
first, it took some time for world leaders and governments to appreciate
this fresh proposal coming from a Third World leader, but gradually –
most likely because of Guyana’s persistence – many governments became
interested, and over the years regional and international bodies such as
Caricom, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Rio Group expressed their
total support.
As the NGHO initiatives were refined and expanded
over the past decade, some leaders from richer nations introduced their
own parallel proposals with many of the same objectives. These include
“Global Partnerships”, “Action Against Hunger
and Poverty Initiative”, “Dialogue of Civilisations”, “World Solidarity
Fund”, “Human Security”, and the “International Humanitarian Fund”. Even
though these have not acquired international prominence as the NGHO,
these initiatives have assisted in identifying and providing new
resources to foster development cooperation, and in all respect, they
can be seen as complementing the NGHO.
Basically, the NGHO calls for the
mobilisation of concerted long-term global actions, within a holistic
framework, to address development challenges and improve the well-being
of people. These actions, aimed overall at the alleviation of poverty,
include a commitment to sound policies; good governance at all levels
and the rule of law; mobilising domestic resources and attracting
international flows; assuring long-term investment in human capital and
infrastructure; promoting international trade as an engine for economic
growth and development; increasing international financial and technical
cooperation for development; sustainable debt financing and external
debt relief; and enhancing the coherence and consistency of the
international monetary, financial and equitable trading systems.
They also demand a review of the role of the Bretton
Woods Institutions and the WTO to focus more on human development; the
reduction of military expenditures in favour of greater development
spending and aid; the application of sound, sustainable environmental
policies; creation of a Global Development Trust Fund; and the
introduction of the “Tobin tax” of 0.05 percent on speculative transfer
of currency.
All of these actions intend, in the final analysis,
to promote partnership and cooperation among all nations for greater and
more balanced economic and social progress, aimed at alleviating
persistent poverty and under-development. Emphasising this, the UN
resolution insists that primacy must be given to people in the
development process to create an environment which encourages them to
develop their potential and contribute meaningfully to their societies.
It also recognises the disparities between rich and poor, both within
and among countries, amidst current unprecedented global prosperity and
notes that these have implications for the realisation of the Millennium
Development Goals.
As a result, the resolution calls on the UN Secretary
General to submit to the 65th session of the General Assembly (i.e., in
2010) a report on the implementation of the resolution including an
assessment of the implications of inequality for development. It is
expected that by that time, many plans will be operational, and the
report should eventually establish a framework for a fair and equitable
system of international social and economic relations.
For the Latin American and Caribbean countries, it is
important that they work together to implement the NGHO initiatives to
combat inequality and boost their human capital. In this respect,
Guyana’s proposal for the establishment of a “corps of development
volunteers”, first mooted by President Jagan in 1994 at the Summit of
the Americas, should be revisited. This proposal was aimed at
supplementing the work of the volunteer group known as the White Helmets
(which is now managed by the UN) to assist in emergency situations in
various countries. Jagan envisaged that the corps of specialist
volunteers – teachers, health workers, engineers, scientists, etc. –
would assist in special social and economic programmes throughout the
Americas. While this proposal won unanimous support at the summit, it
was never implemented. But, today, as new integration initiatives and
cooperation expand across Latin America and the Caribbean, this proposal
for the of development corps of volunteers may prove to be very useful
for battling poverty, ignorance and disease in many of the countries of
the region.
Already, some initiatives pertaining to debt relief
and the provision of improved social infrastructure, improved trade
regimes, as well as growing representative democracy, are being
implemented in many countries, but much more still has to be done to
improve the human situation in various parts of the planet. While the
poorer nations must pool ideas and resources to assist each other, the
UN must also assert its influence on the larger economies and
multilateral financial institutions to provide tangible resources and
other forms of assistance to ensure the implementation of at least some
of the NGHO initiatives. The increased participation of the larger
economies in this project will, no doubt, go a long way to reduce
inequality and poverty for vast sections of the world’s population.
But since building the NGHO is an incremental
process, the poorer countries of the Americas, Africa, Asia and the
Pacific, which all stand to earn greater benefits, must place their own
houses in order by taking actions which, in a large part, do not require
substantial forms of external assistance. For a start, many of them must
improve on democratic governance, make greater efforts to curb
corruption, improve their justice system and enforce the rule of law.
Surely, such actions will definitely set these nations on the road to
realising at least some of the accrued benefits defined by the NGHO.
Caracas, 22 January 2008
(The
writer is Guyana’s Ambassador to
Venezuela. The views expressed are solely those of the writer.)