Introduction


     In 1995, representatives of 186 governments gathered in Copenhagen for the World Summit for Social Development. It was a unique and important event for all concerned with social justice and human development. The resulting Copenhagen Declaration and its accompanying Programme of Action include important commitments for reducing poverty, unemployment and social exclusion.

Five years after the Summit, the United Nations General Assembly conducted a one-week Special Session to review and promote implementation of the Copenhagen agreements. The Special Session was entitled ‘Geneva 2000 – The Next Step In Social Development’ and was held in Geneva from 26 – 30 June 2000.

The International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW) has placed an emphasis over the past six years on strengthening the input of civil society organisations (CSOs) into the follow-up to the Copenhagen Summit. In order to monitor and review the implementation of the Summit agreements, ICSW has held a unique series of regional forums bringing together over 1000 civil society organisations from more than 100 countries world-wide.

These forums have enabled civil society organisations to review progress in their own countries and regions and to suggest further priorities for further action and implementation of the Copenhagen Commitments. In many cases the forums have preceded key global and regional UN meetings to review progress on implementation of the Copenhagen Agreements and have made specific recommendations for action to the meetings.

The Forums have promoted wider awareness of the Copenhagen agreements among civil society organisations. They have included plenary and workshop sessions and provided an opportunity for wide-ranging informal discussions focusing especially on practical strategies to implement the Copenhagen agreements in their regional contexts. This compilation collects together the recommendations from some of the key forums held so far. Copies of the full reports are available from any of ICSW’s principal offices worldwide and are also available on ICSW’s website: www.icsw.org

ICSW believes that the World Summit for Social Development is of great global and national significance. We invite other civil society organisations to join in the struggle to achieve its implementation.

Since the United Nations Special Session to review the Copenhagen Summit, ICSW has continued to monitor the Summit's implementation and promote the Summit's goals in other UN meetings and processes such as the International Conference on Financing for Development.