The main purpose of this submission is to propose some projects which could be adopted by the Commission as priorities for the next year. The projects are aimed at pursuing implementation of a number of the key agreements made at the WSSD in Copenhagen in 1995. Special emphasis is given to projects which are not being undertaken elsewhere in the UN system or are not being pursued with sufficient regard to social development.  

In a separate submission, Strenghtening the Structures and Processes of the Commission, ICSW has proposed ways in which the Commission could improve its effectiveness, especially through  

• developing vigorous intersessional activities; 
• encouraging regional and sub-regional activities;
• closely involving non-governmental experts in its work.

Thus far, such meetings have been held in only two regions (the Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean). The Commission should urge all regional commissions to ensure that a series of biennial meetings is established by early 1999, and should encourage preparatory meetings at sub-regional levels and amongst NGOs before each regional meeting.  

The Commission should also actively encourage individual governments and intergovernmental agencies to provide fmancial and other support for the convening of these meetings and should schedule at least two days at its annual meeting for considering reports from them. including reports from NGOs.  
    

2. Priority targets for meeting basic human needs  
   
      The Commission should establish a project for monitoring progress towards achievement of the quantifiable targets relating to basic human needs (e.g., in relation to food, water. health and education). The importance of meeting these basic needs was strongly emphasized in the WSSD agreements (see commitments 2b and h of the Declaration and paras 35-37 of the Programme of Action).Targets should be selected from those which have been adopted in relevant international agreements during the last decade or so. Some examples arc in paragraph 36 of the WSSD Programme of Action (for example, by the year 2000 reducing the adult literacy level to half of its 1990 level).  

Sponsors should be sought from amongst governments and intergovernmental agencies for conducting a process to select the targets and for preparation of regional or sub-regional reports on progress towards their achievement. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights should also be invited to join in aspects of the project which are of special relevance to its work. The project should report to each Commission meeting and culminate in a report to the General Assembly review of WSSD implementation in the year 2000.  
   
   
3. The goal of full employment  

      The Commission should establish a project for improving statistical measures of employment, self-employment, unemployment, under-employment and voluntary unpaid work, and for using them to measure progress towards the goal of full employment. That goal, which article 55 of the UN Charter explicitly requires the UN to promote, was reaffirmed in the WSSD agreements (see especially commitment 3 of the Declaration and see also paras 48a and b, 49f and 63 of the Programme of Action).  

Sponsors should be sought by the Commission to conduct seminars or workshops, and to prepare draft reports, on elements of this project. In doing so, it should give due significance to the differences between countries in different stages of development. Some of these activities could be conducted at regional or subregional level. The Commission should work closely with the ILO on aspects of this project.  
   
   
4. Taxation, poverty and unemployment  
   
     The Commission should establish a project to examine ways in which internationally- coordinated taxation reform could reduce poverty and unemployment both through encouraging economic development on a sustainable basis and generating adequate levels of public revenue for enhancing social development Taxation reform was identified repeatedly in the WSSD agreements as being a matter of great importance (see, for example, commitments lj, and 9e, g and i of the Declaration and paras 9g, 13d and f, 64e, 87a and f, 88k and 93 of the Programme of Action).  

Sponsors should be sought by the Commission for convening seminars or workshops and preparing reports in this area in relation to ways of reducing excess speculation and volatility which deter governments and private enterprises from longer-term planning and development.  Some of these activities could be conducted at regional or subregional level.  
   
   
5. International Financial systems, poverty and unemployment  
   
The Commission should establish a project on ways in which improvcments in the operations of international financial systems could reduce poverty and unemployment, especially by encouraging productive, long-term investment and greater availability of private sector finance in developing countries. The importance of addressing these issues was emphasized in thc WSSD agreements (see commitments le and 9 of the Declaration and paras 9g. 12b, 13d and 49a of the Programme of Action) and also by leading experts such as Paul Volcker and George Soros  

Sponsors should be sought by the Commission for convening seminars or workshops and preparing reports in this area, especially in relation to ways of reducing excess speculation and volatility which deter governments and private enterprises from longer-term planning and development. Some of these activities could be conducted at regional or subregional level.  
   
   
6. Other possible projects  
    
Other projects which the Commission could identify as priorities include:  

• establishment of basic standards for social security systems which provide adequate protection for families and individuals during periods of hardship or vulnerability; basic social security standards
• establishment of basic standards for taxation systcms which enhance sustainable economic development and social equity and also ensure collection of adequate public revenue.