Francine Fournier

United Nations Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Implementing the Copenhagen Agreements:
Governance and Rights

    Trancine Fournier began by stating that governance is characterised by a series of procedures and practices which distinguishes it from traditional forms of government. “It refers to a complex set of institutions and actors that are drawn from, but also beyond, government”. Governance in the global context can be applied to issues such as peace-building, human rights or the environment, where there is an absence of hierarchical authority and law enforcement, and where particular issues are negotiated between specific groups of stake-holders (in this case, sovereign states and international organisations). In the developmental context, international organisations have attributed features to governance which concern efficiency, such as fiscal rigour, market-led policies, and a reduced role for government intervention and privatisation. They also include issues concerning democracy, such as accountability, transparency, equity, justice, and the promotion of the rule of law, civic and socio-economic rights and decentralisation. Various adjectives have been adjoined: “good” governance, in the World Bank and OECD; “sound” governance in the UNDP; “democratic” governance in UNESCO.

    Francine Fournier went on to state that the economy is being globalised, and a homogenising superstructure more concerned with the freedom of flows than with the reduction of inequalities is emerging. At the international level, we should not accept that the economic reality predetermines the realm of values. Globalisation is an economic given. But it is important to ensure that it retains a human dimension and responds to the demand for equity. Good global governance can contribute to this. Democracy and freedom, the keys for a balanced transition from growth to human development, have broadened the demand for equity which is no longer the province of a few privileged owners.

    One of the merits of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action is that they recognise human rights as one of the components of social development. They explain that relieving poverty and combating social exclusion and extreme poverty are closely linked to the realisation of human rights, a point which highlights the human rights dimension of the two documents. The 1993 Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action also underlined that the existence of widespread poverty inhibits the full and effective enjoyment of human rights and that its immediate alleviation and eventual elimination must remain a high priority for the international community.

    Extreme poverty is in itself a violation of human rights because extreme poverty is the main obstacle for the implementation of all human rights and of the principles of the equal dignity of all human beings and of non-discrimination. The right to a decent standard of living, the right to adequate housing, the right to education, the right to work, the right to health, the right to protection of the family, the right to privacy, the right to adequate food and even the right to life are not implemented for those persons living in extreme poverty. The same can be said about the right to take part in political life, or the right to benefit from the results of technological progress, the right to participate in cultural life, and all other human rights. It is deplorable that, for many years, the problem of extreme poverty and its consequences for human rights has often been considered as a non-priority issue. It was placed at last on the top of the international agenda due to the efforts of experts working in the field of human rights.

   The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is rarely followed by socio-economic applications.

    Clearly, the follow-up to Copenhagen is a vital task not only for the United Nations bodies which are directly focussed on development but also for those which regularly deal with human rights – the General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights.

    UNESCO as an integral part of the United Nations system and as an intellectual organisation pays a great deal of attention to the problem of extreme poverty and its impact on human rights. The Organisation sees a strong link between democratic governance and respect for human rights, development and poverty eradication. Economic security of individual citizens is a basic component of a culture of peace. The appropriation and effective exercise of this and other fundamental human rights are a matter of priority.

    In implementing the Copenhagen Programme of Action, UNESCO’s actions have been putting the emphasis on the following dimensions: the appropriation and exercise of human rights as a guiding principle of development; endogenous capacity-building and human resource development, through education at all levels and throughout life; democratic and participatory governance; the incorporation of cultural factors in development strategies; environmental awareness and harnessing science and technology for development. Indeed, comprehensive action in these areas is needed to work towards reaching the three objectives of the Copenhagen Summit: from unemployment to employment; from poverty to welfare, and from social exclusion to social integration. Development is to aim at a “triple win”: economic efficiency; social equity; environmental prudence. Francine Fournier stated that, in the December 1999 issue of the International Social Science Journal, the focus will be on Implementation of the Copenhagen Commitments.

    Bearing in mind that governments are chiefly responsible for seeing that the commitments made in Copenhagen are honoured in their countries, it should be considered appropriate to point out that, in order to achieve the social development goals agreed upon at the World Summit, the development model selected nationally must be broad-based, invite participation and ensure that the benefits of progress are spread fairly among all members of the community.

    Economic and political opportunities tend to reinforce each other. As Amartya Sen has pointed out, serious famines rarely occur in independent, democratic countries with a free press. One simple reason is that, although famines can kill millions of people, they do not kill dictators.

   If there are no elections, no opposition parties, no forums for public criticism, those who rule do not have to worry about the political consequences of failing to prevent famine. That Botswana and Zimbabwe have been successful in preventing famine, while countries without democracy have not, is testimony to the importance of political participation and democracy in helping people meet their basic needs.

    The Copenhagen agreements showed that governance, rights and human development move together in the long run. The biggest challenge for multilateral organisations is to reinvent the sense of community and to give room for international solidarity. We need a real democratisation of international relations. It will not be easy given the individualism of our time, but it is the only way to ensure that history’s greatest transformations will be ethical. It is the only way development will indeed have a human face. As the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is being celebrated, it is not acceptable that socio-economic rights, which constitute an integral part of human rights, are disregarded. The deterioration of working conditions, with concomitant stress and health problems, informal (and illegal) extension of working hours in industrial nations, or poverty and malnutrition in developing countries are incompatible with socio-economic rights.

Francine Fournier is Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences, UNESCO.