International Standards for Social Development

    In a major address at Harvard University last December, the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer (Gordon Brown) proposed speedy development of a set of global principles on social policy. Extracts from his address were published in the March 1999 issue of this magazine.

    At the request of the Group of 7, the World Bank then prepared a brief draft of “principles and good practice in social policy”, drawing heavily on the commitments agreed at the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995. The matter has now been referred by the World Bank and IMF for further consideration and development by the United Nations.
The UN system, and especially the Economic and Social Council, must seize this opportunity to play a leadership role in international cooperation and coordination of social policy. By doing so, ECOSOC would be somewhat belatedly exercising the rights and responsibilities which were vested in it more than fifty years ago by the United Nations Charter but have been largely abdicated or frustrated.

    ECOSOC’s response to this challenge should be prompt, vigorous and ambitious. First, it should commit itself to developing an extensive framework of International Standards for Social Development (ISSD) which deals in detail with a wide range of social policies and related matters. It should not limit itself to developing a brief and vague document of the kind drafted by the World Bank.

    Second, the ISSD framework should include some documents which already exist, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and some of the key standards of the International Labour Organisation. It should also propose priority topics and timetables for progressive development of standards in other areas.

    Third, the ISSD framework should include some documents which are legally binding, such as the human rights treaties, and some which, although internationally agreed, do not have such legal status. It is important, however, that whether strictly binding or not the standards are expressed with sufficient specificity to have practical impact.

    Fourth, the ISSD framework should recognise the formal agreement at the Copenhagen Summit that social policies and outcomes are crucially affected by economic, political, legal and cultural environments. It should, for example, include standards for aspects of economic policy which will enhance social development. This linkage between economic and social development was central to the philosophy behind Mr Brown’s original proposal.

    Fifth, the ISSD framework should provide for inclusion of, or reference to, standards which are developed at regional or sub-regional levels. This would be facilitated if ECOSOC substantially strengthened its own regional activities, especially through constructive interaction with non-UN regional groupings such as the European Union, ASEAN, Mercosur and so on.

    The initial step in developing an ISSD framework along these lines could be establishment by the ECOSOC President of an informal working group which is small, regionally-balanced and independent of governments or intergovernmental organisations. It could be charged with proposing an outline of the nature of the framework, key areas for inclusion in it, and processes for developing standards in priority areas.

    Prompt appointment of this group would enable it to instigate and benefit from discussion about its task at the meetings early in 2000 of the Commission for Social Development and the Preparatory Committee for General Assembly review of Copenhagen implementation. A report could then be prepared for discussion in the middle of the year at the General Assembly review itself and the annual ECOSOC meeting.

JULIAN DISNEY 
President 
International Council on Social Welfare