THE INTERNATIONAL Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) has devoted much of
our energy before, during and after the 1995 World Summit for Social Development
to emphasising the crucial importance of creating an international economic
environment which will encourage genuine and sustained economic development
rather than being seduced by short-term speculative growth. We have warned
repeatedly that the latter approach has become dominant amongst key economic
actors during the last two decades and eventually will cause grave economic
damage as well as social hardship.
The validity
of these warnings has now been demonstrated starkly and tragically by the
economic crisis that was precipitated and aggravated in East Asia in recent
months by the actions of the international financial markets and the policies
of international financial institutions such as the International Monetary
Fund. These so-called economic experts have proved to be remarkably poor
at assessing and promoting genuine economic development in developing countries.
Instead, they have fuelled and applauded the kind of excesses and abuses
which they are now punishing too late and too savagely in East Asia.
ICSW has always
emphasised the importance of genuine and sustained economic development
as being an essential corollary of social development. But we have also
rejected the prevailing economic dogma which simplistically worships short-term
growth, even where it is measured by unreliable indicators and built on
manifestly unsound foundations. The dangers of pursuing this dogma are
compounded when the key economic judgments (both benign and condemnatory)
are being made principally by people who have little experience or understanding
of the countries in question. This was clearly the case in relation to
East Asia.
Previous issues of this
Review have referred to warnings by people of vast expertise, such as Paul
Volcker and George Soros, about the catastrophic damage which could arise
from the excessive volume and volatility of the international financial
markets. It is pleasing that a similar realisation of the danger, and the
need to diminish and regulate the flow of short-term speculation, appears
to be emerging within the World Bank. It is now crucial that vigorous action
of this kind is implemented.
One barrier
in the way of the necessary action being taken is the absence of a sufficiently
broad-based, balanced and effective forum for discussion and coordination
of economic policy-making. Intergovernmental groupings such as the Group
of 7, International Monetary Fund, Organization for Economic Co-operation
and Development and the World Trade Organization are controlled by a handful
of the largest economies and the simplistic dogmas to which their leaders
adhere. The UNÕs Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is more broadly-based
in both representation and background but, perhaps partly for that reason,
has not been allowed to develop the role and influence envisaged for it
in the UN Charter.
The World Summit for
Social Development urged ECOSOC, with input from its Commission for Social
Development, to take a greater interest in issues of macro-economic policy.
During the last year or so, some initial progress has been made in this
direction. This includes significant improvements in recent months in the
processes and priorities of the Commission, and the greater involvement
of ECOSOC in high-level economic discussions with the World Bank and IMF,
in particular. But much remains to be done by ECOSOC and the Commission
to strengthen their opportunities and capabilities in this crucial aspect
of their work. Closer interaction with regional groupings such as the Association
of South East Asian Nations and the Southern African Development Community
could help to achieve further progress. It is notable that some key regional
groupings in the South are increasingly conducting inter-regional discussions
as a complement or substitute for trying to work through ostensibly global
bodies which are either controlled or rendered ineffective by a few major
northern economies.
The stage is now
set for two years of preparation for the UNÕs Special Session in
2000 which will review and promote progress with implementation of the
Summit agreements. In the first of a regular series of contributions to
Social Development Review, the Commission for Social Development has canvassed
in this issue some possibilities for action before and at the Special Session.
In the next issue, ICSW will also suggest some priority issues and key
processes for addressing them.
Our priority
issues will include addressing the macro-economic problems which have been
manifested in the East Asia crisis but are of crucial significance throughout
the world. They will also include considerable emphasis on action at regional
and sub-regional levels. Our own programme of activities will include a
series of NGO Forums later this year and in 1999, building on the series
which we have conducted around the world since 1995, in order to encourage
our members and other NGOs to assess and promote Summit implementation.
We look forward to hearing about, and cooperating with, other governmental
and non-governmental initiatives
 JULIAN DISNEY
President
International Council on Social Welfare
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