Partnership with the poorest.

• Author: Skelton, Diana
• Position: Poverty

Exactly ten years ago in Copenhagen, Denmark, the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in its Programme of Action called for "enabling [people who live in poverty] to become genuine partners in development". In February 2005, the UN Commission for Social Development met in New York to review the further implementation of the World Summit.

The presence of thirty government ministers at the forty-third session of the Commission helped underscore the importance of social development, as did three high-level round tables and with the participation of several non-governmental organizations (NGOs). And yet, despite their commitment, the question still remains of how to move forward with those who were not even present at the meeting, whether they are ministers of finance who could help provide the means for social ministries to reach their goals, or the very people who are intended to benefit from these programmes.

The civil society forum linked to the Commission adopted the NGO Forum Declaration on 7 February (1) urging the "inclusion and participation of all those affected by government policy". Dumisani Shadrack Kumalo of South Africa, Chairman of the Commission, called for "a people-centred approach to rise above abstract thinking". Towards the end of the meeting, a discussion among NGO representatives turned to the question of just how to enable people living in poverty to play an active role in shaping social development, since they are the major constituency affected by social development policy.

During UN conferences on the status of women and on the environment, the halls of the United Nations are thronged with people whose lives are directly impacted by these issues. So why aren't there more people living in poverty present at the Social Development Commission? It would certainly help to have more funding available from the United Nations and Governments to support the work done by NGOs to bring these people to UN Headquarters. But there are other obstacles to participation as well.

Several years ago, an NGO brought an international delegation of people living in poverty to the United Nations for a high-level seminar concerning extreme poverty. A journalist, who chose not to attend the seminar and instead interviewed participants after the meeting, cornered a woman and asked her: "Why don't you have any poor people with you? I can see that you're all well dressed, so you must not be the ones who need help the most." Little did he know the real background of the woman who was too...