Geneva, 10 May 2001

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) continued its annual session this afternoon by holding a roundtable discussion on the challenges posed for Europe in meeting the goals and timetables set by the United Nations Millennium Declaration, a far-ranging document calling for extensive progress in establishing peace, security and disarmament; promoting development and eradicating poverty; protecting the common environment; enhancing human rights, including the right to development; promoting democracy and good governance; protecting the vulnerable; and strengthening the United Nations.

Speakers sought to identify economic and social objectives most relevant to the ECE's 55 member States, pointed to progress already achieved, and suggested further efforts.

They noted, among other things, that development problems exacerbated latent ethnic and minority problems, often resulting in conflict; that the proliferation of small arms and the use of anti-personnel landmines posed threats to the region and made recovery after conflicts more difficult; that external debt burdens in some transition countries were a serious obstacle to their efforts to reduce poverty and stimulate economic development; that environmental agreements had to be implemented and not simply negotiated; that democracy and good governance were vital for economic development, for the effective use of international assistance, for respect for human rights, and for broad-based improvements in living standards; and that efforts should be directed not just at achieving higher rates of economic growth but at achieving more equitable economic growth.

Participating in the roundtable were ECE Chairman Harald Kreid; Ambassador Spomenka Cek of Croatia; M. Mamed-Kuliyev, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan; Ambassador Gunther Seibert of Germany; Ambassador Amiran Kavadze of Georgia; Carlo TROJAN, Ambassador of the European Commission to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Ambassador Norbert Frick of Liechtenstein; Dirk Jarre, Secretary-General of the German National Committee of the International Council on Social Welfare; Hugo von Meijenfeldt, Chairman of the ECE Committee on Environmental Policy; Ambassador Pekka Huhtaniemi of Finland; V. Mironovich, Counsellor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus; Mikko Elo, Vice President of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Jakob Simonsen, Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Regional Director of the Bureau of Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); Adrian Mara, Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Albania to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Ambassador Yaakov Levy of Israel; and Ambassador Kálmán Petöcz of Slovakia.

The discussion was not completed and will be continued at the Commission's session beginning at 10 a.m. Friday, 11 May. Later in the morning, the ECE will take up its agenda item on strategic directions for future work.

Roundtable on the Millennium Declaration

HARALD KREID, ECE Chairman, said that to prevent the Declaration from becoming a one-time event, UN organizations were mandated to regularly monitor its implementation, and it was understood that implementation would be a long and occasionally arduous process. It wasn't known to what extent and how fast the Declaration could and would be realized, but the six key tracks of the document deserved commitment and attention. As only about half a year had passed since the document was adopted, the ECE's task today was more a matter of becoming familiar with the text and determining what to do than of pondering any progress. What was on hand today was the beginning of a monitoring process that doubtless would be on the ECE agenda for many years. The six main chapters of the Declaration dealt with peace, security and disarmament; development and poverty eradication; protecting the common environment; human rights, including the right to development, democracy and good governance; protecting the vulnerable; and strengthening the United Nations.

SPOMENKA CEK, Ambassador of Croatia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, told the meeting that many problems involving conflict and disarmament could be traced to development problems, among other causes; this was the same as saying that the removal of factors within economies that raised causes for conflict aided the establishment of peace. Europe unfortunately had seen in recent years ethnic conflicts and conflicts based, among other things, on maltreatment of minority groups. Economic collapses had often accompanied these antagonisms. States mired in conflicts spent large amounts of their budgets on defense and armament matters, thus undercutting social budgets and programmes; furthermore, lack of confidence within countries and regions led to further purchases of arms and had a tendency to lead to further confrontations. Perceived xenophobia and intolerance combined with a lack of development had led to protracted conflicts in the Balkans that still were playing out. The proliferation of military spending and military establishments in such situations tended to lead to long-term declines for the countries concerned -- balanced economic growth was undermined, power became centred in military quarters, undercutting democracy, and bureaucratic obstacles were exacerbated, thus making reforms harder to carry out. Among the things that could be done were to increase aid aimed at economic and social stability in problem areas, and stressing social spending that set a good foundation for peace. Steps to reduce debt payments also could help -- it did not improve life for poor and vulnerable sectors of populations when countries had to channel scarce funds into repayment of financial obligations rather than into social programmes; if too much of that occurred, social stability could be threatened.

M. MAMED-KULIYEV, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, said peace, security and disarmament were topical issues at the start of the new millennium; the Millennium Declaration called for persistent efforts to establish a peaceful and flourishing world. But such hopes and dreams could hardly come true unless threats to peace and the roots of conflict were clearly identified and removed. It had to be understood that external threats based on violations of international law and double standards in the field of international relations posed problems for the viability of fragile and emerging democracies. Second, it was necessary to condemn attempts at territorial aggrandizement, terrorism, human-rights violations, violations of national sovereignty, and impunity. Those who committed breaches should be punished. In the South Caucasus, the main destabilizing factor was aggression by Armenia against Azerbaijan which had brought immense suffering to millions of people. Armenian forces had occupied 40 per cent of Azerbaijan, had committed widespread human rights violations, and had caused over 1 million Azeris to flee their homes. Despite UN resolutions calling for it, the Armenian forces had not withdrawn from the occupied region. Without compliance, it was impossible for peace to be established in the South Caucasus or for normal relations to exist between States there. Peace had to come from justice and from effective international response, including through the Security Council, to serious breaches of international law and of peaceful relations between States. Security was not a matter of a single State; countries had to act collectively to address existing threats.

GUNTHER SEIBERT, Ambassador of Germany to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said among other things that peace was crucial if there was to be stable and sufficient development in Europe; unfortunately in recent years there had been numerous conflicts in the region, claiming many lives and causing great economic damage. Democracy, human rights, economic development, and peace and security were closely related; advances had come recently from recognition of this interconnectedness. Steps to bolster all these pillars of peace and development were needed at the moment in southeastern Europe. Among other things, the States of the region needed to lead the way in focusing on disarmament, peacebuilding, demobilization of combatants, demilitarization of society, and expansion of social supports. The international community could help through responsible arms-export policies, cooperation with and assistance to individual regions and States, and through the setting of transparent and useful standards. Among international instruments of use were the Ottawa agreement on anti-personnel landmines, since landmines were not only cruel and heavily used weapons, but posed huge obstacles to post-conflict development. Similarly, more had to be done to combat the excessive accumulation of small arms in various regions; the upcoming international conference on the topic was of great importance. Much was being learned about the intricacies of post-conflict peace-building, and it was clear that this work was complex and required a committed, multi-faceted, long-term approach.

AMIRAN KAVADZE, Ambassador of Georgia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said development and poverty eradication were of serious concern to the transition countries, and especially the CIS nations. Georgia had begun independence under extremely difficult circumstances -- traditional economic relations with neighbouring republics had deteriorated; there had been a civil war; and there had been heavy refugee migrations. These factors together had led the Georgian population to the edge of extreme poverty. More than 2.5 million Georgian citizens were living on less than US$2 per day; a lot of the poverty was chronic while for another large section of the population it was sporadic -- a situation not much better because of the stress and uncertainty involved. Economic disparities also had greatly increased, as had unemployment. Social expenditures had declined by as much as 90 per cent; health-care expenditures had fallen to below 1 per cent of GDP -- the World Health Organization called for health expenditures of US$60 per capita, but in Georgia the figure was $7. Educational funding had dropped precipitously. The vast majority of employment was now in the informal sector. Obviously development and poverty eradication were of paramount concern to the country. The country's debt was around $2 billion, with over 30 per cent of the national budget devoted to repayment. For countries like Georgia, debt relief was very important if they were to take steps to ease poverty.

CARLO TROJAN, Ambassador of the European Commission to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the international community had made great efforts to help countries in transition, but it was true that there was a long road yet to travel; transition overall had proved more difficult and longer in duration than anticipated, and in retrospect that wasn't such a surprise. The level of poverty in the newly emerging states was alarming and a cause for concern; it was clear that the social aspects of transition had to be addressed. The consequences of armed conflicts were also major areas of concern for the Commission. Greater cooperation and communication were needed between international and regional actors. Regional distribution of European Community aid, already altered in recent years to meet changing demands, would continue to be adjusted, as would aid provided elsewhere. Aid policy had been refocused with an emphasis on poverty reduction and on enabling countries to fight poverty themselves.

NORBERT FRICK, Ambassador of Liechtenstein to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the Millennium goal was to reduce by one half the number of persons living in extreme poverty by the year 2015; for the majority of persons living in least-developed countries, the situation of poverty was an affront to human dignity. Within the ECE region, there were wide disparities in development, economic well-being and poverty rates. Transition countries were in many cases suffering greatly, especially among poor and vulnerable sectors of their populations, and the gap between the rich and poor had expanded. These problems had not been expected -- at least not in such magnitude -- and there had to be a common, concerted response to them, including by international organizations and institutions. It also was clear that development efforts flourished best in participatory democracies -- development was not just about economics but about civil, political, and social rights. Meanwhile the factors that were common to economically successful countries were well-known now, and deserved to be fostered in countries enduring difficulties. ECE activities could be built on these foundations, taking into account the particularities of the countries concerned.

DIRK JARRE, Secretary-General of the German National Committee of the International Council on Social Welfare, remarked that when addressing poverty, it was essential to create a sustainable response dealing with social, economic and environmental matters. There had to be a structured civil dialogue, moreover, including full consultation with relevant non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The resulting strategy should be firmly grounded in fundamental rights, and particularly fundamental social rights, reflecting standards contained in relevant international instruments. People should be treated not merely as consumers or economic units, but as citizens with all the rights of citizenship. It wasn't the function of social policy to serve economic performance; rather economic policy must underpin important social goals. The goal must be establishment of a cohesive, just society, where each person could have access to the rights, goods, and services he needed. The cost for establishing such a society should not fall on those who were poorest or most vulnerable. Social exclusion, gender inequality, and discrimination must be battled. Social policy had to be seen as part of a triangle of social, political and environmental issues. Social policy was critical, moreover, for sustainable development -- such development would not occur without social justice and well-being. The impact of changes in productive systems on social services and the poor had to be addressed.

Following these panel presentations, a representative of Armenia objected to the characterization by the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and said the terminology used in the Deputy Minister's address had been "unacceptable". The representative said conflicts were best resolved and peace established through dialogue and that in Armenia's opinion there was great scope for progress in negotiations between the two countries.

HUGO VON MEIJENFELDT, Chairman of the ECE Committee on Environmental Policy, said that in improving environmental protection, it was vital not only to complete political agreements but to implement them -- to pay attention to compliance and enforcement, to monitor, to advocate for progress in environmental matters. Exchanges of best practices and experiences could be useful, and in fact such practices could be developed into guidelines -- not binding instruments but matters for voluntary reference and consultation. Sustainable development was a term mentioned over and over again; for the ECE it was an over-arching principle. Security and instability similarly were large concepts that had major implications for environmental matters. It had to be noted that environmental matters were sometimes among the causes of conflicts -- that certainly had been true of water. Perhaps it was time for the ECE to concentrate its efforts on the newly independent states in environmental matters as it had in economic matters.

PEKKA HUHTANIEMI, Ambassador of Finland to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said the Millennium Declaration proclaimed that current, unsustainable production and consumption patterns had to be changed to protect current and future generations, and called as well for implementation of the Kyoto Protocol; it also called for an end to unsustainable exploitation of water resources. A "road map" was being developed for achieving the goals of the Declaration. Now the ECE had an obligation to recognize the most relevant objectives for Europe and the ECE region -- to develop a road map for the ECE. There had to be more full implementation of existing environmental instruments, it was true; and greater attention to water issues. The ECE had been active in the preparation of international, legally binding instruments on environmental matters; it had gained experience in that area; perhaps it now should try to become a model organization in terms of the implementation of such instruments. It seemed to take a very long time before these instruments were ratified and began to have real effects. Finland had taken extensive steps to improve water quality, to reduce water pollution flowing from the country into the Baltic Sea, and to develop and comply with other undertakings to improve the environmental condition of the Baltic Sea. The EU's joint anti-pollution efforts with Russia also were worth noting and deserved increased support.

V. MIRONOVICH, Counsellor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus, said the country paid due attention to environmental protection and to international environmental standards, including those stemming from the Rio conference. A number of projects to protect Belarus's forest and rivers had been established; and working with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Belarus had completed a large project to protect ozone-depleting products from reaching the environment. In addition, programmes had been undertaken to protect biodiversity in the country. A number of environmental agreements had been concluded with countries in the region and elsewhere in Europe. One major challenge was that the Chernobyl nuclear disaster was still causing problems. The damage caused to Belarus would never completely be repaired; the accident in effect had divided the country's history in two. The difficulties of transition had been undertaken by the country under the shadow of the Chernobyl disaster, and transition was difficult enough without the complete abandonment of a number of towns and villages, the closure of schools, the medical costs that had resulted from Chernobyl. Belarus simply couldn't cope with these challenges without further external assistance, and it expressed gratitude to those countries which had provided help to date.

MIKKO ELO, Vice President of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, said promotion of democracy and good governance were vital for economic development, and the matter had been one of the Council's areas of emphasis. Good management, honesty, and transparency -- in other words, good governance -- were critical for the effective use of international assistance, moreover, and these factors were taken into account more and more as time went on. Good examples from the past, including the Marshall Plan, abounded. Lack of good governance perhaps explained why communism in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe had collapsed; communism and central planning had rested on the very opposite of the principles of transparency and wide participation in government and society that were necessary components of good governance. Elsewhere in the world one could find similar examples, along with the painful lesson that throwing money at problems didn't work without responsible, open governments to cope with their nations' difficulties. It clearly made sense for further efforts to be made to promote and nurture good governance.

JAKOB SIMONSEN, Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Regional Director of the Bureau of Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said the right to development and the link between human rights and democracy were things no one disputed at this point. UNDP had been working with countries in the region over the past several years on projects devoted to justice, justice reform, creation of Ombudsman's offices, and strengthening of civil societies based on the principles of open democracy. Today, around the ECE, there was an uneven pattern; some countries were struggling with EU accession; some countries were struggling merely to survive, so heavy were their difficulties with poverty and still-shaky economies. UNDP had sharpened its focus in recent years on institution building, on making government operations transparent and accountable, on battling corruption. A new challenge in the region was posed by HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases. These issues, at this point, were not transition challenges so much as development challenges. Such matters as rural development had to be tackled; social safety nets had to be established; systems of justice had to be made transparent and independent; and information and other technologies shared around the region.

ADRIAN MARA, from the Permanent Mission of Albania to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said Albania was engaged in extensive reforms aimed at changing from a public-sector-based economy to a market-based system. Social reforms, crime prevention, and steps to battle corruption were among the wider responsibilities undertaken. The macro-economic situation had improved and had become encouraging over the past three years; the rule of law had been advanced; the GDP had grown impressively; and inflation had been brought under control. Corruption and smuggling were the only things still limiting such progress. Investments were being encouraged, but to date more fiscal resources were needed than were available. The Government, in its activities, was using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a guide, and was well-embarked on establishing effective, transparent, and accountable government institutions. Among the challenges still to be faced were strengthening of the rule of law and further secure establishment of financial markets. Albania continued to receive extensive international assistance for carrying out various far-reaching reforms aimed at establishing a healthy market economy and a healthy, functioning democracy.

YAAKOV LEVY, Ambassador of Israel to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said protecting the vulnerable was a concept that extended back centuries and was often mentioned in the Bible. Essentially, the vulnerable were those who lacked individual, collective, or national defense mechanisms, or those whose societies did not provide them with protections, as happened in some cases in transition countries. The vulnerable had no one to speak on their behalf, and lacked tools, including political tools, for responding to their difficulties. In Europe, vulnerability had been created, among other things, by conflict, by the costs of the transition process, by the loss of State revenues, by hyper-inflation, and by unemployment. Vulnerability in transition countries was often exemplified by the hazards of working in the informal sector -- little security and low pay, or pay in kind. One alarming sign of vulnerability in parts of the ECE region was declining attendance in primary education. One also had to speak of the consequences of globalization, which included widening income gaps and marginalization, especially among certain groups, including the women members of vulnerable groups, and children belonging to such groups. Homeless children, living in poverty, without education or healthcare, likely to come into contact with the law, exposed to alcohol and drugs, were excessively vulnerable. Other European groups needing attention were migrants, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced persons. Among other steps to help the vulnerable, States had to be made responsible, transparent, participatory, and strong; civil society had to be strengthened; and efforts should be directed not just at achieving higher rates of growth but at achieving more equitable growth. The ECE should continue and expand its efforts at helping the vulnerable.

KÁLMÁN PETÖCZ, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Slovakia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, said there were such huge disparities between and within the ECE member States that it was hard to generalize on the topic of vulnerability. Defining the term could occur in several ways. Women had been mentioned, and children, but it was important not to ignore another vulnerable group -- men, especially men of productive age in certain transition countries, where they were suffering losses of jobs, serious health problems, were subject to high rates of suicide, were prone even to unusual numbers of traffic accidents. Minorities had to be mentioned -- ethnic, political, linguistic, or, for that matter, minorities according to sexual preference. The Roma minority was very vulnerable in Europe; Roma were general around the region and yet also specifically noticeable from country to country. They appeared to be hit by every possible negative factor and at the same time information and statistics on this group were woefully lacking. ECE activities to protect the vulnerable had been limited to date, and should not be; among the organization's advantages, if it chose to do more, was that it could take a broad-based approach -- many organizations in Geneva sought to help the vulnerable, but from narrow perspectives. The ECE perhaps was needed to approach the matter in all its complexity.