Annex

Initiatives of national Governments on the follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development

One hundred and ten Governments have reported on national actions taken in the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development. They are: Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of Korea, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Guinea, Guyana, Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Monaco, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Tanzania, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe. While some Governments provided information only on the designation of focal points, others described in detail national actions taken.

Cited below are brief summaries of actions taken by 40 countries.

Argentina

Following the Summit, the Government of Argentina convened a meeting of the Rio Group (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela) in May 1995, which adopted the Buenos Aires Declaration on the follow-up to the Summit. In partnership with the other members of the Group, Argentina drafted a concrete regional programme of activities on the implementation of commitments made at Copenhagen. Other actions taken included the holding of an interamerican technical seminar on poverty and a conference on the eradication of poverty and discrimination. In paying particular attention to the issue of poverty eradication, a wide spectrum of social policy was implemented, covering areas such as housing for the homeless, food for the needy, community development and ensuring the well-being of families. It also established a data system to monitor trends relating to poverty eradication. Other efforts include educating people on how to tackle poverty and turning economic growth into social progress through the provision of productive employment opportunities.

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Belgium

The Government of Belgium took advantage of the observance of the International Year for Poverty Eradication in 1996 to review the commitments made at Copenhagen and to formulate proposals for their implementation. It established a national commission, composed of representatives of the federal Government, communities and regions and with the collaboration of non-governmental organizations, to elaborate a comprehensive strategy with a view to strengthening social integration of the most vulnerable groups of society. In the context of the Year, it commissioned the compilation of a report on poverty. On the basis of the results of the report, interministerial conferences of social integration were held, with the participation of local authorities. Those consultations led to the following actions at the regional level: (a) the Flemish regional government carried out urban development programmes and a cross-sectoral committee for the eradication of poverty composed of civil servants and representatives of non-governmental organizations acted as an advisory body to the Flemish government and prepared an annual report on progress made; (b) the Walloon regional government established within its administration a social integration unit with the responsibility of coordinating activities relating to the eradication of poverty; and (c) the Brussels region targeted underprivileged city areas so as to increase the benefits they receive from its programme on eradication of poverty.

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Bulgaria

The Government of Bulgaria developed a strategy aimed at implementing the decisions taken at Copenhagen, which is contained in a report entitled "National Programme for Social Development". The report deals with actions to be taken through creating conditions for enhancing social development, alleviation and reduction of poverty, improving the quality of life, expanding higher employment opportunities, and fostering social integration of the most vulnerable groups of the population. It draws up the means required for the implementation of the strategy by assessing national resources, international cooperation opportunities and the support of non-governmental organizations in that endeavour.

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Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso established a national committee to carry out activities relating to the follow-up to the Summit. The committee has formulated a programme of activities with the following main features: (a) coordinating all actions launched at the national level; (b) promoting income-generating projects, housing, education and health programmes and involving women in the process of development; (c) developing an employment scheme taking into account the resources and potentials of the informal sector and the need to provide support to women involved in self-employment activities. Young school leavers, graduates and women are the target-groups of special programmes.

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Canada

In Canada, government authorities at both the federal and provincial levels have taken initiatives, in collaboration with business and local communities, to formulate and strengthen policies and programmes aimed at reducing the number of people living in poverty and providing effective social safety nets. These actions focused on the three key elements of learning, work and social security, and included a new employment insurance legislation; measures to assist low income families with children; programmes for youth geared to enhancing work opportunities; and more flexible transfer payments to provinces to support the development of innovative social programmes. At the international level, Canada contributed to development assistance programmes in support of sustainable development activities in order to reduce poverty and secure a more equitable and prosperous world. Canada is also committed to directing 25 per cent of its development assistance to meeting basic human needs, with collateral, emphasizing democratic development, strengthening the position of women and youth and promoting employment opportunities for vulnerable groups.

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Chile

On the suggestion of the Government of Chile, the Rio Group established a coordinating body for the follow-up to the Summit, including heads of governmental structures responsible for social policies. The body met to formulate strategies for the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. Chile also held a conference on poverty eradication and discrimination in January 1996, in the context of the International Year for Poverty Eradication. At the regional and international levels, Chile has pioneered concrete initiatives geared to the implementation of the outcome of the Summit.

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China

In the context of the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, the Government of China has adopted a target to eradicate abject poverty by the end of the century. Promoting social development is an important component of the ninth five-year plan (1996-2001) for national economic and social development and the outline of the long-range objectives to the year 2000. Under those measures, the Government is addressing the aspects of feeding and clothing the poor, expanding employment by the creation of 40 million jobs and increasing the availability of basic education. China has also elaborated a programme for national social development for the period 1996-2010. The State Planning Commission has been designated as the focal point for matters relating to the implementation of the outcome of the Summit and has formulated concrete plans for annual and long-term activities.

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Colombia

Strategies elaborated by the Government of Colombia in the context of the follow-up to the Summit, considered as structural and compensatory programmes, include seven components: (a) education, culture and leisure; (b) universal social security coverage; (c) improving access to housing; (d) empowering women and encouraging their participation in economical and political activities; (e) improving the situation of ethnic minorities; (f) developing economic solidarity and providing support to small-scale entrepreneurship; and (g) putting emphasis on the respect of human rights and urban security and safety.

The national development plan, referred to as "El Salto Social", gave top priority to poverty eradication, creation of productive employment, social integration and provision of basic needs. The Government has also set in motion the Social Solidarity Network, a strategy that aims at improving the living conditions of the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of the population and initiating large social programmes through joint efforts of State-owned and territorial institutions, non-governmental organizations and the civil society. The strategy has implemented over 13 special projects, including plans for emergency employment in rural and urban areas.

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Denmark

The first of the Copenhagen seminars for social progress, organized by the host Government of the Summit, Denmark, took place in October 1996, and had the theme "Conditions for social progress: a world economy for the benefit of all". An advance version of the report of the seminar was distributed as an official document of the Commission for Social Development at its thirty-fifth session in March 1997 (E/CN.5/1997/10). The final report, and a summary of conclusions, are now available. A second seminar, entitled "Conditions for social progress: meet and create markets", will be held in October 1997. The themes to be discussed are: obstacles to accessing the market; policies for creating democratic markets; and setting limits to the role of the market. The seminars are being organized to pursue the international debate initiated by the Summit and to attempt to clarify the relationships between international economic trends and decisions and the living conditions of people.

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Ecuador

In implementing the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, the Government of Ecuador has elaborated a rural development programme aimed at increasing the productivity of farmers, diversifying agricultural products and creating employment opportunities in rural areas vulnerable to poverty. A strategy has also been designed to support economic growth among the most marginalized proportion of the rural population through the establishment of a fund to provide access to micro-credit. Human development initiatives include the development of primary health services, provision of basic education opportunities and the improvement of the quality of education. As a member of the Rio Group, Ecuador took part in activities conducted in the Latin American region in connection with the follow-up to the Summit.

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Finland

Measures taken by the Government of Finland on the implementation of the outcome of the Summit, particularly the fight against poverty, are designed according to the welfare system based on the principle of full access to services to all citizens corresponding to their needs. The system includes three major dimensions: social and health policy, education and labour. During the first half of 1996, a group of experts in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health studied the current development of poverty and social exclusion in Finland and made proposals to combat them. Finland also developed measures and programmes to eliminate poverty among disabled persons. Education and prevention of social exclusion of young people has been a major aspect of measures taken by the Government in implementing the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. In the field of employment, the Government has put emphasis on policies and programmes aimed at reducing long-term unemployment and alleviating social exclusion. Concrete actions taken include the formulation by districts of regional employment programmes and increasing self-unemployment opportunities.

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France

Following the Summit, the Government of France decided to maintain the National Preparatory Committee set up in 1993 for the Summit, changing its name to the National Follow-up Committee and assigning to it responsibilities for the implementation of decisions taken at Copenhagen. Composed of government officials, social partners and representatives of non-governmental organizations, the Committee has carried out a wide range of activities. It began its work by holding a meeting in February 1996 to define priority issues. The Committee has also launched a national awareness-raising campaign on the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. It prepared a note on the process of globalization and related social issues for the Group of Seven at its summit held at Lyon, France, in June 1996. In November 1996, the Committee reviewed actions carried out at the local level, assessed the work of the Third Committee of the General Assembly, discussed issues relating to the preparation of a green paper on social cohesion and prepared a report on its work that was presented to the Commission for Social Development at its thirty-fifth session in February 1997.

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Gabon

The Government of Gabon prepared a comprehensive report on measures taken to implement the outcomes of the Summit. The report identified seven areas of activities to focus on: (a) food security, to be acquired through provision of financial assistance; (b) the building and strengthening of social infrastructures which would support activities aimed at fighting poverty; (c) a project for the construction of 1,000 houses, launched with the assistance of the African Housing Fund; (d) with the support of the African Development Bank and the American Peace Corps, projects aimed at building education and training infrastructures; (e) to tackle unemployment, the creation of a national bureau of employment to streamline and manage labour-related data and information and opportunities for placement of job seekers; (f) health and social welfare programmes which have been given the principal objective of providing access to universal coverage of the population; and (g) the advancement of women, for which the Government is elaborating a new bill to strengthen measures protecting the rights of the mother and the child and supporting the establishment of organizations for women.

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Ghana

Ghana established a National Development Planning Commission charged with implementing and monitoring the Government’s macroeconomic and sectoral policies to ensure that broad-based, sustained economic growth and development meets the aspirations of all members of its society. A comprehensive development policy document called "Ghana Vision 20/20: The First Step" was being translated into a national programme of action or reference document informing the entire community of the enabling environment for the country’s priority social and economic activities. Emphasis has been put on national coordination mechanisms, capacity-building and mobilization of internal and external resources to ensure effective implementation.

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Germany

In addition to a sophisticated social security system providing assistance to the weaker sections of the population, the Federal Government of Germany has recently enacted a reform of social assistance legislation along the line of commitments made at Copenhagen. The new legislation aims at supporting more strongly incentives available to recipients of social assistance so as to help them find work through development of vocational skills. The Government has also kept the parliament and the public informed of the latest developments in the field of social development by publishing a series of reports on special groups and particular circumstances under which they live. Studies and surveys have been carried out and specialized conferences held on such topics as the cost of living with regard to children, housing for low-income households, indebtedness and debt counselling services, helping people find employment and new approaches in the care of the elderly. Germany has also developed projects designed to benefit the poorer groups of the population. The main focus of the German development cooperation is on efforts to combat poverty; protection of the environment and resources; education and training; with participating and self-help as the basic principles.

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India

Initiatives taken by the Government of India on the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action have been integrated into activities designed under the eighth national plan. The initiatives have the following objectives: (a) generation of adequate employment to achieve full employment by the turn of the century; (b) containment of population growth through people’s active cooperation and supported by an effective scheme of incentives and disincentives; (c) universalization of elementary education and complete eradication of illiteracy among the people in the age group of 15 to 35 years; (d) provision of safe drinking water and primary health care facilities, including immunization, accessible to all villages and the entire population, and the complete elimination of scavenging; (e) growth and diversification of agriculture to achieve self-sufficiency in food and generate a surplus for exports; and (f) strengthening the infrastructure (energy, transport, communication, irrigation) in order to support the growth process on a sustainable basis.

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Ireland

Following the Summit in March 1995, the Government of Ireland established a high-level intergovernmental policy committee to oversee the development of a national anti-poverty strategy to address issues relating to poverty and social exclusion. The Committee is composed of senior officials of all relevant government departments and national agencies, and chaired by the Prime Minister. It prepared and published a statement setting out the nature and extent of poverty and social exclusion in Ireland, and requested inputs from voluntary and community organizations, social partners and other interested bodies and individuals. More than 300 contributions were received, evaluated and published. Regional seminars to discuss those contributions were held in various locations of the country. From the submissions received and the development of the anti-poverty statement, five key themes have been identified. They include: (a) educational disadvantage; (b) unemployment, particularly long-term unemployment; (c) income adequacy; (d) disadvantaged urban communities with a concentration of poverty; and (e) poverty in rural areas. Five working groups have been established to address the themes identified, focusing on policy instruments and institutional mechanisms.

The Government of Ireland recently published a national anti-poverty strategy, "Sharing in Progress", which represents a unique initiative in the development of public policy in Ireland, it being the first time that an Irish Government has formulated a strategic plan to address the issue of social exclusion in its society. The top priority of the Strategy is to reduce the 9 to 15 per cent of the Irish population who have been identified as consistently poor to under 5 to 10 per cent by the year 2007.

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Islamic Republic of Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran’s development strategies, policy plans, and programmes are being reoriented towards a people-centred, human development approach. A large portion of total public expenditure has been allocated to social development and poverty alleviation, with the goal of reaching 48 per cent by 1997. The "national project of poverty eradication" was adopted in September 1996, with the major goals of identifying the economic hardship of the people, creating appropriate grounds and opportunities for full employment of both men and women, addressing the concerns of vulnerable groups, in particular the disabled and the elderly. The Government has also taken steps to improve the economic conditions of people in lower income brackets by forcing agricultural support programmes through subsidized input and guaranteed price floors for the output, inflation adjusted minimum wages for manufacturing workers, low price of public utilities for the lower consumption levels and subsidized housing.

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Israel

Israel is committed to the objectives of the Summit and has recently taken a number of steps to implement national initiatives in the spirit of the recommendations contained in the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. Efforts have been aimed at sustained economic growth through strengthening the peace process, investing in technology, expanding capital investment and employment opportunities. The Government of Israel has identified specific social welfare measures for vulnerable social groups. Those measures include: (a) increasing expenditures for income maintenance and social services; (b) providing better health services; (c) enhancing education opportunities; and (d) providing better access to housing. Resource allocation for the care of children at risk, prevention of family violence, and expansion of services and improvement of the quality of life for the elderly are parts of the social welfare scheme.

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Jamaica

In its activities aimed at implementing the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, the Government of Jamaica has put emphasis on eradication of poverty. In this regard, a national poverty eradication programme was developed, encompassing the following elements: a long-term strategy to improve education and training opportunities; a sound welfare system; and geographically targeted measures involving multifaced poverty reduction activities in deprived communities. The programme was the result of a national conference on poverty held in May 1995, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme. The Planning Institute of Jamaica has undertaken an extensive review of the problems of poverty and unemployment, and their level of severity. Sixty programmes to eradicate poverty were launched, focusing on the development of human resources through investment and social policy reform. The Government has taken other initiatives in areas such as human resource development, involving actors of civil society in social development policies and programmes, expanding the micro-enterprise sector and creating a social investment fund with the assistance of the World Bank. The involvement of civil society in social development was encouraged and the labour market had been reformed to provide more employment opportunities.

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Malawi

Actions taken by the Government of Malawi on the implementation of the outcome of the Summit include amending its Constitution so as to create a conducive and enabling environment for the formulation and implementation of social development policy and programmes. The Government also approved a policy framework for a poverty alleviation programme. Free primary education has been targeted as a long-term goal towards eradicating poverty. The integration in society of marginalized groups, particularly girls and women, has been also identified as a priority. A social investment programme (known as Malawi Social Action Fund) is being piloted, with the objective of developing social infrastructure at the grass-roots level. In addition, various credit schemes are being formulated to provide capital to poor people wishing to create self-employment opportunities.

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Mexico

In honouring the commitments made at the Summit, the Government of Mexico has formulated a national strategy to alleviate the plight of poverty. Elaborated with the contribution of representatives of various sectors of society, the strategy is based on the national development plan for the period 1995-2000, which includes a social capital element. Main elements of the plan are: (a) providing equal opportunities to all citizens regarding social services; (b) increasing the well-being and living standards of the population; and (c) giving priority to the fight against poverty and social exclusion.

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Mongolia

In Mongolia, the national committee established for the preparation of the Summit had been mandated to ensure nationwide coordination of follow-up activities to the Summit. Prior to this, the Government had adopted a poverty alleviation programme and a study on social conditions in the country was carried out. On the basis of the study, Mongolia launched a poverty eradication programme aiming at reducing the number of poor people from 26 per cent to 10 per cent by the year 2000. While most of the activities of the programme are being carried out at the local level, a poverty alleviation committee has been set up to coordinate the programme at the national level.

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Netherlands

The Government of the Netherlands has been active in implementing the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action. It co-sponsored the Oslo 20/20 Conference with the Government of Norway, held in April 1996. During the ninth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development at Midrand, South Africa, an agreement was signed whereby the Netherlands would contribute US$ 1 million to a trust fund in support of programmes developed in the least developed countries. The Netherlands has been providing support to the poverty assessments programme undertaken by the World Bank. In the context of the follow-up to the Summit, non-governmental organizations have conducted activities to complement governmental actions. Those include publications, and national, regional and local conferences. In April 1996, the non-governmental organizations published a document entitled "A Social Mirror" on the social policy of the Government as a basis for further discussions. The Government has also provided the non-governmental organizations with financial support to implement their activities related to the follow-up to the Summit.

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New Zealand

The Government of New Zealand introduced several significant economic and social reforms consistent with the commitments made at Copenhagen. During the past two years, on the recommendation of a task force, the Government has adopted policies to improve employment opportunities, with emphasis on young unemployed and long-term unemployed. New Zealand has also launched a comprehensive set of targeted income support programmes with supplementary programmes to meet individual and family needs. The Government recently announced a package of tax reductions and family assistance measures that will increase the net income of all low-income families with dependent children.

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Norway

The Government of Norway has, for a long time, considered its commitment to the alleviation of poverty and suffering in developing countries as a moral imperative and an integral part of its development assistance. In spring 1996 the Government submitted to the Parliament a White Paper that gave an overview of the basic measures and principles for poverty reduction in Norwegian development assistance. As a follow-up to the Summit, Norway hosted a meeting at Oslo in April 1996 on the 20/20 initiative, at which the Oslo Consensus on 20/20 was adopted. A central aspect of the consensus was the commitment to the goal of universal access to basic social services.

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Pakistan

Prior to the Summit, Pakistan implemented, with external financial support, the Social Action Programme I aimed at addressing primary education needs, basic health care, family planning and water supply in rural areas. Since the adoption of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, Pakistan has created an enabling environment to meet the objective of full employment and eradication of poverty, and the challenge of negative effects of economic reforms on social programmes. In addition, a number of measures have been taken to provide relief to the disadvantaged and marginalized groups of society. These steps were incremental to the implementation of the Social Action Programme Project II, which targeted those groups specifically. Concrete measures included a rural support programme through non-governmental organizations, establishment of vocational and technical training centres, construction of farm-to-market roads, electrification of villages, financial and technical assistance to non-governmental organizations under a participatory development programme, provision of loans to unemployed persons for establishing their own business, provision of technical and financial assistance to micro-enterprises, and the establishment of the Pakistan poverty alleviation Fund.

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Peru

In implementing the outcome of the Summit, the Government of Peru has put emphasis on improving the quality of life of the population. It has targeted employment creation, poverty eradication and social and economic integration of the most vulnerable groups of the population. The part of the national budget allocated to development programmes and projects shifted from 37 per cent in 1995 to 40 per cent in 1996. The Government has also achieved major economic successes in stabilizing the rise of inflation, increasing economic growth and fighting poverty and destitution. Peru has established a strategy to reduce extreme poverty by 50 per cent by the year 2000, which will leave less than 10 per cent of the population in extreme poverty.

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Philippines

The Government of the Philippines established a World Summit for Social Development Multisectoral Committee to coordinate activities connected to the follow-up to the Summit and other United Nations international conferences. Main areas of responsibility of the Committee include:(a) ensuring the full implementation of the recommendations of the Summit; (b) submitting regular progress reports to the Social Development Committee, the President, the Parliament and the United Nations; (c) mobilizing various governmental entities, non-governmental organizations, peoples’ organizations and other actors of civil society to work together in implementing the outcome of the Summit; (d) preparing a monitoring mechanism for the follow-up to the Summit; and (e) promoting awareness-raising campaign of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action.

The Social Reform Agenda of the Philippines had a three-point agenda: access to quality basic services; access to productive resources and asset reforms; and institution- building and participation in governance. On employment expansion, the Philippine Government has embarked upon the Comprehensive Employment Strategy Programme, which emphasizes employment generation, promoting labour welfare, and human resource development focussed on providing skills for productive employment.

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Poland

Poland has formulated multidimensional strategies and socio-economic programmes in conformity with the recommendations stemming from the Summit. Its current social security scheme was undergoing a period of complex reforms and unemployment insurance was being developed, with emphasis on the promotion of economic activity of the unemployed in small towns and in rural areas, as well as the disabled.

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Republic of Korea

In fulfilling the objectives set out by the Summit, the Government of the Republic of Korea formulated the framework for the national welfare of the twenty-first century, which aimed at attaining a higher standard of living, expanding social and welfare services and improving the social insurance system. At the international level, the Republic of Korea reaffirmed its pledge to vigorously support efforts aimed at implementing the Summit commitments. It set forth the objective not only to expand the scale of its official development assistance, but also to provide technical training for more than 30,000 persons from developing countries by the year 2010.

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Romania

The Summit provided the ground for reviewing and developing the existing social strategy and laws of Romania. The Government has reinforced actions devoted to improving living standards and enhancing social integration. Among the actions were a project for the development of social services; a pilot programme for poverty eradication; measures for enhancing the protection of children; aids to the elderly, the disabled, families without income or with low income; youth training and access to jobs; and granting credits for the creation of small and medium-sized enterprises. One of the major objectives of the Romanian Governing Programme is the protection of population against the social costs of the transition to market economy.

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Russian Federation

In following up the commitments made at the Summit, the Russian Federation has established a Council on Social Development Questions. The objectives of the Council are to prepare and conduct activities geared to the implementation of decisions adopted at Copenhagen, including eradication of poverty, expansion of productive employment, promotion of social integration and support to persons in adverse social circumstances.

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Sweden

The Government of Sweden designated the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs as focal point for the follow-up to the Social Summit. The Ministry launched a welfare project aiming at an in-depth debate, analysis and development of the future of the Swedish welfare system, in close cooperation with universities, research institutes, non-governmental organizations and local and central government authorities. Another new project is a government task force on social integration, focusing on social problems in the three largest cities in Sweden, to analyse the factors behind social exclusion and poverty. In May 1996, a conference on the theme "A Society for All: Forum on Social Integration and Development" was organized by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. Representatives of the Parliament, governmental officials, all relevant local authorities and actors of the civil society attended the conference. The focus of the conference was on employment opportunities, adequate housing for all and the welfare of children at their early age. The overall objective of the Swedish development cooperation is to raise the standard of living of people in poor nations. With a view to strengthening the poverty focus, the Government intends to concentrate development cooperation on a more limited number of countries and to strengthen a more long-term orientation, as well as to place greater emphasis on equality issues.

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Switzerland

In the context of the International Year for Poverty Eradication, the Government of Switzerland carried out a number of activities relating to the follow-up to the Summit. In February 1996, the Ministers for the Interior and Foreign Affairs launched the Year with much publicity. A discussion followed the event. It brought together the two Ministers, government officials, the media and non-governmental organizations working in the field of poverty eradication in Switzerland and in developing countries. The Minster of the Interior announced, at this occasion, the creation of a fund of SwF 300,000 to support projects aimed at fighting poverty in Switzerland. At the request of the conference of ministers of social affairs of the cantons, a meeting took place at Berne on 5 July 1996. It offered a forum for discussion to political leaders, members of the Parliament, officials of the civil service and representatives of charity organizations. The main objective of the meeting was to review strategies and means for improving the cooperation between public and private organizations active in the area of poverty eradication. Switzerland took other steps regarding coordination of actions relating to the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action at the international level.

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Thailand

The Government of Thailand has designated the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Board as its focal point for the implementation and monitoring of the Summit follow-up. Thailand’s five-year national economic and social development plan (1997-2001) is consistent with the goals of the Summit. The plan has mapped three strategies: strengthening the national economy by promoting equitable income distribution; promoting social integration and social justice; and improving capacity-building through the development of national administration. The plan also gives consideration to commitment 2 of the Summit, with a target of reducing the number of poor people to below 10 per cent by the end of the year 2000.

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Ukraine

Ukraine drafted a policy instrument on the basic priorities of public authorities in the implementation of the final documents of the Summit. The document provides for nationwide measures aimed at strengthening economic and social development programmes; stimulating production in factories; improving the flow of credits; intensifying investments; and accelerating the process of agrarian reform. The Government is also undertaking several social programmes for the advancement of women and the family, protection of mothers and children, family planning and for disabled persons. In the context of the International Year for Poverty Eradication, the Government has established and developed a system to monitor poverty and to collect and review data and information relating to its root causes and the different forms it takes.

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United Republic of Tanzania

The Government of the United Republic of Tanzania developed in 1996 a national policy on poverty as its major policy instrument for the follow-up to the Summit. In this context, a country strategy note on poverty eradication was prepared, which identified priorities, challenges and suggested practical measures to combat poverty. The Government also held workshops, seminars and meetings nationwide involving a cross-section of people and institutions from academia, representatives of donor countries, local authorities, non-governmental organizations and the private sector. As an ongoing activity, the Government, in collaboration with the World Bank, has prepared a country economic memorandum on poverty alleviation. It established a Poverty Eradication Division under the Vice-President’s Office with as main responsibilities coordination of actions by different stakeholders involved in poverty eradication in the country.

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United States of America

In implementing the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, the United States of America has developed a comprehensive programme encompassing national as well as international dimensions. The following elements deal mostly with international measures: (a) universal access to basic education and completion of primary education by 80 per cent of primary school-age children; (b) life expectancy of not less than 60 years in any country (United States life expectancy is 76 years); (c) reduction of the mortality rates of infants and children under five years of age; (d) reduction in maternal mortality; (e) achieve food security by ensuring safe and nutritionally adequate food supply and access to enough food for all; (f) primary health care for all; (g) access through primary health-care system to reproductive health for all people of appropriate ages; (h) eradication, elimination or control of major diseases constituting global health problems; (i) reduction in the adult illiteracy rate; (j) access to safe drinking water in sufficient quantities and proper sanitation for all; and (k) improving the availability of affordable and adequate shelter for all. At the national level, the Government has undertaken efforts to support social development, including increasing the minimum wage, reforming health insurance policies, reducing the national deficit and providing tax credits for working families with children.

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Venezuela

The Government of Venezuela adopted a series of measures in line with the commitments made at the Summit. A new development strategy was designed to generate economic productivity and social equity. A major component of this strategy was strengthening organizational capacities among the population so as to stimulate development of community programmes. Venezuela has been working with other countries of Latin America to identify new and creative ways to combat poverty. Its commitment to eradicate poverty comprises three basic areas: a system of services targeting low-income families through direct subsidies, subsidies for education and for the care of the elderly; revision of the current legislation to guarantee universal access to the job market; and training programmes oriented to non-traditional activities.

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