December 1998, Vol. 2, No 4
 

 

At the heart of the 20/20 Initiative is the shared responsibility between developing and donor countries to achieve universal access to basic social services of good quality on a sustainable basis, as agreed at the World Summit for Social Development...At the global level, the Initiative suggests an indicative allocation of 20% of national budgets in developing countries and 20% of official development assistance (ODA) to basic social services, in order to close the gap between current spending and the minimum level required to achieve universal access.      In reviewing the progress made since the Oslo meeting in 1996, it was noted that awareness of the importance of universal access to basic social services has been raised. Thirty country studies undertaken have stimulated national policy debate...National budget studies show that most developing countries and their donor partners spend less than 20% of their budgets on basic social services. These studies also indicate that public spending on social services is not well targeted and that inefficiencies and insufficient coordination reduce its impact on social outcomes.      The meeting recognized that the difficulties developing and donor countries encounter in achieving the goal of basic social services for all stem, to a large extent, from lack of political priority and absorption capacity. These factors in turn result in an inadequate level and use of resources allocated to basic social services...Special efforts are needed to more effectively reach the poor and vulnerable groups, especially women, girls and boys.      The meeting agreed that achieving universal access to basic social services will require translating the commitment and shared responsibility among developing and donor countries into concrete financial terms and action...existing mechanisms, such as sector investment programmes, sector-wide approaches and sectoral round table meetings, could form the basis for development of such mutual agreements. The meeting recognized the urgent need for such arrangements as millions of people remain deprived of their right to basic social services, or are at risk of losing their access.     The meeting called upon governments to reform their budget processes, if necessary, and restructure their budgetary allocations (as well as implementation) to ensure that basic social services receive high priority. Governments and donors were encouraged to better protect resources for basic social services against the impact of economic turmoils. In the formulation and implementation of structural adjustment programmes, adequate attention should be given to the social aspects, including to social safety nets.     The meeting recognized that, for heavily indebted poor countries, debt servicing presents one of the main obstacles to development, and urgent action is needed to alleviate the debt burden of these countries. The meeting welcomed existing initiatives for debt reduction and called for additional efforts to grant early and deep debt relief and forgiveness in favour of the allocation of extra resources to basic social services.     The meeting encouraged non-governmental and community-based organizations to continue their advocacy and dialogue with governments and multilateral development organizations to promote greater accountability and participation and more effective targeting of basic social services for the poor. Examples of best practices in the design and delivery of these services should be better shared among governmental and non-governmental providers. Governments were encouraged to welcome a dialogue with the NGO community on the strategies, programmes and funds required to provide basic social services to all.     The multilateral development organizations were requested to examine their programmes of cooperation with the countries concerned to ensure that basic social programmes receive higher priority. Greater emphasis should be given to capacity development for planning, implementing and monitoring basic social programmes and for aid management and coordination. Multilateral organizations are encouraged to provide DAC (Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) with relevant information and data regarding their spending on basic social services.     The meeting called upon donor countries to make every possible effort to allocate more resources to basic social services in response to the needs expressed by developing countries to reach the target of 20%...All necessary steps should be undertaken to make ODA spending in support of these services more transparent at the national and international levels.     The meeting agreed that the Hanoi Consensus and the objective of achieving universal access to basic social services should be presented and promoted in relevant international fora, in particular at follow-up meetings to the Social Summit, such as the Special Session of the United Nations Assembly to review the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and Programme of Action. The preparatory process of the Special Session should consider reports by the World Bank, UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA, DAC and other multilateral organizations on the various dimensions of the implementation of the 20/20 Initiative. The meeting called for continued monitoring of the Hanoi Consensus in Consultative Group and Round Table meetings, sector investment programmes, donor reporting through Development Cooperation Reports of UNDP and the Creditor Reporting System of the DAC, and debt relief for basic social services.