World Summit for Social Development to be held in Denmark in 1995; Social Committee carries broadest agenda, heaviest workload ever.

• Position: Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly - Includes related articles on aging and on the International Day of Disabled Persons

Aiming to foster "a shared worldwide commitment to put the needs of people at the centre of development and of international cooperation", the General Assembly on 16 December decided to convene a World Summit for Social Development--at the level of heads of State or Government--in Copenhagen, Denmark, in early 1995.

By adopting resolution 47/92, sponsored by 122 countries and endorsed by the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural), the Assembly decided that the Summit would primarily address three core issues affecting all societies--the alleviation of poverty, expansion of productive employment and enhancement of social integration.

Societies must "put a safety net under and an opportunity ladder within reach of everyone", said Giorgio Giacomelli, Director-General of the UN Office at Vienna and head of the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs. Thus, he said, social issues, in which progress had been seen "as a by-product of economic progress", were being "brought closer to centre stage".

The Summit promises to be "the most important event in the social field in the years to come", said Third Committee Chairman Florian Krenkel of Austria on 9 December. Juan Somavia, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for the preparation of the Summit, said on 20 October that the 1995 event should be as important as the June 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development. After all, he said, "people are no less important than the earth".

In other action emanating from the Third Committee, which in 1992 carried its broadest agenda and heaviest workload ever, the Assembly: approved a provisional agenda for the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights, scheduled for 14 to 25 June in Vienna; launched a Third Decade to Combat Racism (1993-2003); and recommended that a UN observer force be sent to monitor the referendum in Eritrea (see story p. 67).

Ageing, disabled persons, women, youth, crime and narcotic drugs were among the major topics covered in the Committee, which convened special expert panel discussions on these issues during the course of 60 meetings.

Summit aims

The World Summit, originally proposed in 1991 by Chile, will aim to: stimulate international cooperation at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels to assist in implementing nationally appropriate and effective social policies; formulate strategies on goals, priority actions and policies to address core issues of universal concern, in particular the needs of least developed countries; and address the modalities to attain "the necessary balance between economic efficiency and social justice".

Other goals include; identifying common problems of socially marginalized and disadvantaged groups and promoting their integration into society; highlighting the need to mobilize resources for social development at all levels; and making appropriate recommendations for more effective UN action in the social development sphere, particularly measures to revitalize the Commission for Social Development.

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