COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS HEARS SPECIAL RAPPORTEURS ON EDUCATION AND EFFECT OF FOREIGN DEBT ON HUMAN RIGHTS INTRODUCE REPORTS

AFTERNOON
HR/CN/99/26
8 April 1999


Speakers Stress Economic, Social and Cultural Rights are Among
the Most Basic Human Rights


The Commission on Human Rights this afternoon continued its debate on economic, social and cultural rights. Speakers called for a recognition of the fact that these three rights were among the most basic human rights, and urged the international community to help protect them by undertaking a global effort to eradicate poverty.

Katerina Tomasevski, the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, introduced her report, highlighting the main streaming of gender throughout, and the importance of taking a human-rights approach to the study of education. Aid to education in developing countries was vital. The right to education was a right that could not be ignored.

Reinaldo Figueredo, the Special Rapporteur on the effects on the full enjoyment of human rights of the economic adjustment policies arising from foreign debt, said that the link between debt, human rights and the right to development had been unequivocally recognised by the Commission as well as various conferences, experts and working groups. He called for hard thinking, and bold actions, elaborating preventive mechanisms for debt-hangover, and outlined a focus for investigation of these matters.

Speakers, among other issues, condemned unilateral coercive measures; stressed the need to take greater account of the adverse impact of structural adjustment policies on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights; noted increased polarization in the world; urged the need for globalization to spread its benefits and opportunities to all; and underlined that the debt burden of many least-developed countries, combined with declining levels of aid and foreign investment, was too much for many poorer countries.

Representatives of the United States, Cuba, Mexico, the Philippines, Indonesia, Venezuela, Uruguay, the Republic of Korea, Norway, Sudan, Guatemala, Bangladesh, Paraguay, Malaysia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Belarus, Iraq, Libya, Iran, the Netherlands, Brazil and Haiti addressed the Commission.Also presenting statements were speakers for the International Labour Office, the Holy See, the Food and Agricultural Organization, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

The Commission resumed its plenary from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday, 8 April to continue its debate on economic, social and cultural rights.

Economic, social and cultural rights

Before the Commission under this agenda item is a report (E/CN.4/1999/49) from the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Katerina Tomasevski, which traces the current work within the United Nations system on this subject and outlines a tentative analytical scheme for governmental obligations. The report concludes that education is a long-term process and the commitment should be equally long term. The Special Rapporteur intends to concentrate on a long-term vision of an educational strategy, grounded in the right to education. The report calls on a clear definition of the nature and scope of the right to education and a commitment to an in-depth study of identified issues.

Also before the Commission is a note (E/CN.4/1999/47) by the Secretariat which announces the appointment of Reinaldo Figueredo as Special Rapporteur on the effects on the full enjoyment of human rights of the economic adjustment policies arising from foreign debt

Statements

KATERINA TOMASEVSKI, Special Rapporteur on the right to education, said that the Commission’s initiative for the creation of the post of the Special Rapporteur could not have been better timed. Convergence between human rights and development was increasingly affirmed in rights-based development. Gender was main-streamed throughout the report. In the area of gender, there had been considerable successes, with a decreasing gender gap in the Middle East. Aid to education was vital. The very basis for education, including in the United Nations, was not always based on human rights. A human rights criteria should be applied to education. One crucial issue was school fees in primary school. Governments were obliged to provide primary education free of charge.

Ms. Tomasevski said there had been many changes in the approach to education, and not only in the statistical approach, for example, which ignored that age group between 11 and 15. A human-rights element could enrich the approach to education. The right to education was included in all human rights agreements. The right to education was being litigated in many countries, and by collecting jurisprudence, it would be possible to provide an international standard.

In her forth-coming report, Ms. Tomasevski said she would focus on primary education and the right to education, as well as on education in humanitarian issues. There was an urgent need to develop a human rights approach to merging human rights law and humanitarian law.

REINALDO FIGUEREDO, Special Rapporteur on the effects of foreign debt on the full enjoyment of human rights, said a serious foreign-debt problem continued to perpetuate inequalities within and among countries and to cause its greatest distress among children; in spite of some positive initiatives, the international community had not done enough to alleviate the "debt hangover"; it was an acute factor adversely affecting economic and social development as well as living standards in many developing countries.

It was time for hard thinking, identification and recognition of errors, and bold action, Mr. Figueredo said. A more reliable partnership had to be constructed, with more ample contributions sought. Many non-governmental organizations had come up with useful suggestions and actions and it was necessary to listen to them; and an "enhancing environment" had to be developed at the national level. A preventive mechanism was needed to keep the debt problem from getting worse, he said, and incentives should be established that would result, among other things, in earlier and deeper debt-relief actions.

Mr. Figuerdo said he planned to explore a number of aspects of the foreign-debt problem, including consideration of improvements to inter-agency activity; encouragement of a "consultative mechanism" within the United Nations’ Administrative Committee on Coordination; reaffirmation that social issues of development should go hand in hand with economic factors of growth and development; setting up of standards for children's rights and poverty reduction in connection with debt-cancellation and alleviation strategies; and establishment of a framework for debt cancellation within which every actor could play the role that was called for.

JEFFREY ROBBINS (the United States of America) said the people and Government of the United States cared deeply about the promotion of human rights and were willing to undertake the sometimes painful work which such principles required. The United States welcomed the opportunity to focus on economic, social and cultural rights, and believed that these rights were critical both in the promotion of human rights and the fostering of economic development. President Franklin Roosevelt reinforced this in the midst of the great depression and on the brink of the global agony known as World War II. He reaffirmed each individual’s rights to the four freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom from fear and freedom from want. Put in another way, they represented respect for the individual and protection of human rights, freedom to express oneself, to associate with whomever one choose, to worship, to be secure from governmental intimidation or persecution, and to be safe to participate in public affairs. These freedoms were indispensable to economic, social and cultural rights and indivisible from them.

Mr. Robbins said one of the ways of promoting economic rights was to ensure that working people had some measure of control over their work places. This was the reason that the United States had strongly supported the International Labour Office’s conference and the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work which the Office adopted last June. These principles included freedom of association and effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining, elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labour, effective abolition of child labour, and elimination of discrimination in employment and occupation.

RODOLFO REYES RODRIGUEZ (Cuba) placed the intervention of his country in the context of Article 2 of the Vienna Declaration. Ignoring this solemn commitment, the United States had adopted more than 21 legislative provisions with the goal of strengthening the blockade against Cuba, despite international protests. The Government of the United States had raised the blockade to a level that became in effect genocide, since it denied the people of Cuba many things, such as medicines and foreign aid. This had caused grave economic losses, as well as other forms of harm. The aim of this was to bring Cuba to its knees and to erase the Cuban political system, to undermine patriotic resistance, and, through anti-Cuban propaganda, to deceive the world.

Mr. Rodriguez said the United States at present maintained 61 cases of unilateral sanctions against other countries, with the intent of submitting Third World countries to United States designs and the United States political system. It was impossible to talk about human rights in such context of a gross and massive violations of human rights by the United States. Cuba hoped for an end to this and a condemnation of this process by the Commission.

ELEAZAR RUIZ Y AVILA (Mexico) said the main obstacle to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights was extreme poverty, and any successful attempt to enhance such rights had to focus on eradicating poverty. There must be strategies to strengthen internal savings and investment, increase productivity, improve employment, and ensure stability in the international economy.

Mr. Avila said Mexico’s economy had grown by 4.5 per cent in 1998 despite a drop in the price of oil, and the Government would invest more than ever before in social programmes; the percentage of the federal budget devoted to social and health programmes had shown a recent pattern of such increases. Great effort was being made to spur economic growth and production in the poorer sectors of the country. Mexico believed that combatting poverty was the most important challenge, and recently had launched a long-term programme of poverty-eradication that would help millions of people in thousands of villages around the country. Other measures were being taken, focusing on migrant agricultural workers, indigenous peoples, women, children and others who were especially vulnerable to poverty.

LILIA BAUTISTA (the Philippines) said the Subcommission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities, on the basis of the report of the Special Rapporteur on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, had requested the Secretary-General to prepare guidelines on structural adjustment and economic, social and cultural rights. The establishment of the Working Group to elaborate the preliminary set of guidelines as contained in the report of the Secretary-General had been a point of contention between developing and developed countries as evident in the split in the votes on the subject. As the Chair of the Working Group on structural adjustment and having personal and profession experience in her country, she admitted that the subject was difficult and complex. But that was no reason to abandon the policies and programmes. It was ironic that the people who were last to benefit from liberalization and globalization were the first to pay the cost of structural adjustment. The recent financial crisis of Asia showed this.

Ms. Bautista said the international financial institutions had realized this and had revised their original programmes, force fed upon Asian Governments, although it might be said that it was also under growing pressure from international public opinion after independent experts had started calling attention to serious policy mistakes committed. While the Philippines welcomed recent initiatives taken by international financial institutions, it called upon them to take greater account of the adverse impact of structural adjustment policies on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights. Structural adjustment was an area where the need for reforms intersected with the need for protection and promotion not only of economic, social and cultural rights but also civil and political rights. The Philippines hoped that the Commission would continue to give priority attention to this issue of critical importance to developing countries, particularly least-developed and heavily-indebted countries.

SUSANTO SUTOYO (Indonesia) said that it was a fact that the impact of globalization and liberalisation around the world was highly uneven, and that it had adverse social and economic effects in many developing countries, greatly undermining the economic, social and cultural rights of their populations. The international community should devote all its energy to pursuing institutional reforms, and should introduce more democratic, transparent and accountable policies, taking in consideration national circumstances. These efforts should take into account the diverse background of the international economy.

Mr. Sutoyo said the existence of wide-spread poverty inhibited the full and effective enjoyment of human rights; it was therefore the greatest cause of human rights violations in the world. It was also degrading to human dignity. Poverty prevented investment in health and education. The Charter of the United Nations detailed the conditions necessary for the stability and well- being necessary for peaceful development and the realization of the economic, social and cultural rights of all peoples. It was incumbent upon States that were in a position to help others to do everything possible towards this goal. A strengthened international cooperation based on mutual interests was acknowledged as a necessity to support the efforts of the developing countries in solving their social and economic problems and to help them fulfill their obligation to promote and protect human rights.

ALFREDO MICHELENA (Venezuela) said it had taken a half century to show that economic, social and cultural rights were as important as civil and political rights -- and even now only some believed it. The challenges today were to spur enjoyment of these long-neglected rights and to make sure that economic globalization spread its benefits and opportunities to all. Poverty existed both in developed and developing countries; in either case, polarization was increasing -- a few people were increasingly rich, many more were increasingly poor, and the middle class which gave cohesion and security to society was disappearing.

Mr. Michelena said new attitudes and approaches were needed; development and trade proposals needed to take into account the social and cultural needs of populations. Clearly trade and economic liberalization were not enough; conditions had to be created to enable the less-developed nations to progress. Transparency and ethical management in international and national economic affairs were critical.

FEDERICO PERAZZA (Uruguay) welcomed the report of the Special Rapporteur on external debt. The combatting of the scourge of poverty should be global, since it was a collective human problem. It produced more victims than war, but was looked upon with indifference, despite affecting millions. Equality in poverty was not sought for, however. The best ways and means of combatting racism and discrimination had been detailed already by the Commission, and it had been agreed that poverty aggravated these. All national and international actors should commit themselves to fighting poverty as a result of this conclusion. The right to food, adequate housing, employment, health and education were the law to which the community of States should look. Uruguay had made considerable efforts to fight poverty within national borders, and these had had positive results.

HO YOUNG AHN (the Republic of Korea) said his country had responded to the challenge of globalization of the world economy by economic restructuring on the one hand and strengthening social welfare on the other. The Republic of Korea would have handled the financial crisis better if its economic actors had been better prepared for the volatility of the world economy. The process of adjustment was costly and painful, however, it had began to pay dividends. Broad ranging measures were taken to deal with the unemployment problem. In order to stimulate employment, public work programmes were increased by 50 per cent and an ambitious plan was set up to create 1.5 million new jobs in three years. Special emphasis was being laid on employment of youth, women and people with disabilities through various incentives. Emphasis in economic, social and cultural rights should be placed on the importance of good governance at home which would precede any international efforts.


Mr. Ahn said attention was now being paid to the trade impact of exchange rate volatility, marginalization of certain member countries in the globalized world and the related concerns raised by civil societies. The Republic of Korea welcomed such developments through which the recognition of the dual nature of globalization took place in multilateral discussions of international finance, trade and investment. At the same time the Commission should make more input into these processes so that the outcome of those discussions led to the strengthening of economic, social and cultural rights as envisaged in various human rights instruments. The Republic of Korea was ready to share its experiences and to participate in these and other projects so that an analysis of globalization could be fully integrated into the Commission on Human Rights' work on economic, social and cultural rights.

MERETE BRATTESTED (Norway) said the acceptance of the universality of human rights and dialogue had eliminated many of the stumbling blocks to common understanding and progress in the area of human rights. How could Governments use this window of opportunity for the benefit of mankind? Governments had the responsibility for the realization of these rights, and individuals were beneficiaries. Each Government must adopt measures and pursue policies that brought a just and fair distribution to all without discrimination of any kind. Governments were responsible for creating economic, political, social, cultural and legal environments that enabled people to achieve successful and lasting development.

Mr. Brattested said the exercise of addressing social, economic, and cultural rights through popular participation was not a theoretical one in Norway. The Government had an ongoing plan of action to promote human rights in Norway and abroad. Taking economic, social and cultural rights seriously implied a commitment to social integration, solidarity and equality. This was true for all the human rights. Economic, social and cultural rights entailed major concern for the protection of vulnerable groups such as the poor, handicapped, minorities and indigenous people. Considering that the majority of the people in unacceptable conditions of poverty were women, Governments must mainstream a gender perspective into national plans and donor countries must live up to their responsibility to assist states in their efforts to overcome existing barriers to full enjoyment of all human rights by women.

ILHAM IBRAHIM AHMED (Sudan) said the country was watching with great concern the increasing levels of extreme poverty around the world, and especially in Africa; eradication of poverty required not only money but strong political will, both nationally and internationally. Sudan, despite the complex problems and obstacles it faced, had accorded great importance to eradication of poverty and had introduced a number of measures and national plans on the topic.

Mr. Ahmed said the debt burden of many least-developed countries, combined with declining levels of aid and foreign investment, was too much for many poorer countries. Coercive measures also were a serious obstacle; these included international economic embargoes and other acts, such as the bombing by the United States of the Al Shifa Pharmaceutical plant in Sudan last August on the flimsiest of pretexts. Sudan also called on the international community to exert pressure on the rebel movement Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Sudan People’s Liberation Army to sit at the negotiating table with the Sudanese Government to reach a peace agreement and end the war that was limiting development in the country.

LUIS PADILLA MENENDEZ (Guatemala) said it had listened carefully to the reports submitted this morning, as well as the statements made by Japan, Peru, Germany and the United Nations Development Programme. A knee-jerk reaction to these statements supported a combination of the different proposed solutions to poverty, such as a mixture of financial aid and social economic policies. There was a need for a global policy for financing development, and it should be dealt with in the Millennium Assembly, as suggested by the Secretary-General yesterday in his address. There was a need for a consistent approach, so the time could come to improve inter-agency activities and communication.

ISMAT JAHAN (Bangladesh) said human rights were about freedom from both fear and want. Reports presented by the Independent Experts on human rights and extreme poverty and the effects of structural adjustment policies had amply documented the intrinsic link between extreme poverty and the full effective employment of all human rights. The globalization of the world economy had indeed provided some with new opportunities, but brought in daunting challenges for many others. The Independent Expert on structural adjustment policies had noted that increasing globalization had rendered many countries to the margin of development. These countries had no reason to rejoice over globalization and liberalisation.

Mr. Jahan said the principal responsibility for creating conditions for the full enjoyment of all human rights by citizens rested with national Governments. However, domestic efforts buttressed by external undertaking and support could make a difference. Bangladesh was a case in point. A nation could only progress with the broad-based participation of its people in development. Protection and promotion of human rights was the shared responsibility of all members of the civil society.

ROLPH VAN DER HOEVEN, of the International Labour Office (ILO), said the ILO had organized a meeting on structural adjustment and employment which provided it with a mandate to deal with the social and economic aspects of structural adjustment policies which hitherto had been regarded as the territory of the international financial agencies. The meeting also had urged Governments to take into account ILO conventions and recommendations in dealing with all aspects of structural-adjustment policies.

Mr. Hoeven said structural-adjustment measures had gone through several generations since the early '80s, with increasing emphasis being placed on ameliorating the social hardships they could cause. Now they were about to enter a new generation which recognized that structural-adjustment policies had virtually replaced a whole gamut of other development policies -- it hence was necessary that they were part and parcel of negotiated national longer-term strategies. There could not be any fruitful programme without the involvement of the population affected by it and without a majority of that population accepting the programme.

ROBERTO RECALDE (Paraguay) spoke of the visit of the Special Rapporteur on the illicit movement and dumping of toxic wastes to his country. The Special Rapporteur had diligently accomplished her mandate. A report was submitted to the Paraguayan Government, who submitted it to the court covering the matter of toxic wastes being deposited on Paraguayan soil. The recommendations of the report were implemented. As a member country of the Basel Convention, Paraguay joined the Special Rapporteur in her appeal to avoid all illicit dumping of dangerous and toxic substances. International and judicial cooperation was essential, as was cooperation between industrialised nations and developing nations to help the identification and prevent the trafficking of toxic products. There would be continuing cooperation on these measures from the Paraguayan Government.

HASNUDIN HAMZAH (Malaysia) said there was increased belief that globalization, for better or worse, had an impact on human rights. For the time being it seemed the impact was largely on economic, social and cultural rights. However history had taught people that what affected one set of rights would, given the interdependence between the two sets of rights, affect the other. The report of the Independent Expert on extreme poverty had touched on the issue of globalization. While globalization accorded the opportunity to eradicate poverty on a scale and speed hitherto unknown, the resulting turbulence made these accomplishments precarious and transient.

Mr. Hamzah reiterated Malaysia’s view that the mandate of the Independent Expert should not be confined to extreme poverty only but to the issue of poverty at large. Fifty-one years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human rights and given the wealth the world had at its disposal, the matter was worth pursuing. Malaysia welcomed the increasing attention given to economic, social and cultural rights and believed it would be useful to collaborate and identify common themes with the reports of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education and the Independent Expert on structural adjustment programmes.

CHRISTOPH PAPPA (Switzerland) spoke of the growing attention paid to economic, social and cultural rights over the last few years. This was due to certain negative effects of globalization, notably economical and financial effects. On a national plan, certain programmes of structural adjustment and the repayment of the national debt often had negative effects on the obtention and enjoyment of economic and social rights, such as basic education, social security, health or workers’ rights.

Mr. Pappa said these rights were directly linked to poverty. It was vital to opt for a pragmatic approach and to obtain by extensive study concrete and practical solutions. The implementation of the right to education on the internal level or at the international level could be facilitated. Such a study would also highlight the possibilities and difficulties existing in the prospective application of other rights, whether economic, social or cultural.

SERHIY REVA (Ukraine) said the Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development had defined specific targets and collective commitments aimed at ensuring social progress and better living standards; the commitments made in Copenhagen were solemn pledges which, though not legally binding, amounted to strong ethical and moral imperatives. The follow-up session scheduled for the year 2000 should pay special attention to the social impact of globalization and to such matters as integrated approaches to poverty eradication and creation of economic, political, social, cultural and legal environments that would enable people to improve their lives.

Mr. Reva said that although making a difficult transition from a centrally planned to a market economy, Ukraine was undertaking consistent and wide-ranging programmes to enhance economic development and improve the well-being of its population. Ukraine strongly believed in and supported the United Nations technical-assistance programmes that had been provided for countries in transition.

S. MIKHNEVICH (Belarus) said that it took centuries for mankind to recognise and protect human rights. It was unfortunate that today as before, the realization of economic, cultural and social rights was merely spoken of, and not achieved. There was virtually no machinery to oversee the implementation of these rights, and there was a need for such a machinery. The protection of these rights could only occur if three conditions were achieved: health, education, and a decent living standard. In conditions of transition, this was very complex, since it required significant social resources, however, it could be done. Belarus was the example.

HUSSAIN SAAD (Iraq) said economic, social and cultural rights acquired special importance because of their direct impact on the daily lives of peoples, and because of the original and basic rights of man which could not be dispensed with. Nobody was unaware of the extent of suffering of the Iraqi people as a result of the comprehensive embargo imposed on them from August 1990 until now which had deprived them of basic humanitarian needs. The grave results of the embargo had led to the death of more than 1 million innocent children of transitional diseases and malnutrition, in addition to the death of 1 million Iraqi citizens as a result of the spread of various diseases and an increase in cancer, nerve and heart diseases.

Mr. Saad said that in addition, the environment sector had witnessed a great deal of destruction as a result of the military aggression launched against Iraq in 1991, everyone knew the effect on health. The recent United States and British aggression had targeted the very infrastructures of the Iraqi economy. Iraq requested the Commission to reject these gross violations of human rights that ran counter to the principles of human rights.

GIUSEPPE BERTELLO (the Holy See) noted that the international arena had changed considerably since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, the implementation of these rights remained a dream for many people. The right to self-determination could not be limited to political aspects, since it extended also to economic activities as well as those conditions necessary for the respect of human dignity.

Mr. Bertello said the new world order needed to express that truth dear to Christian socialist doctrine: that all were brothers, and mankind should form a real community. In a world that was increasingly interdependent, and amid the challenges thrown down by globalization, there was a need for multilateral collaboration and a political will to explore new strategies and to implement projects that would answer the true needs of the global population. International cooperation needed to reinforce social structures. This solidarity needed to be accompanied by a realization of the responsibility of every individual to obtain his rights without waiting for external help. Poverty would only disappear when the poor themselves could take their plight in hand.

MOHAMED MOHAMED EL-GHERAN ( the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) said respect must be shown for human-rights duties and obligations; it was important to establish relations and cooperation among peoples based on the principle of cordiality; if countries could not work together they would not be able to solve many problems. Libya thus condemned unilateral coercive measures taken by some countries against others, thus limiting their economic, social, and cultural development. Such measures thwarted human rights in many ways.

Mr. Mohamed El-Gheran said some countries, including the most powerful in the world, had not applied the conclusions and recommendations adopted by the General Assembly, thus violating international law; when they carried out coercive actions they were causing great harm. Libya had suffered such coercive measures for more than 20 years, as applied by the United States; the international community must act to end such behaviour.

THEMBA MASUKU (the Food and Agricultural Organization) spoke of the World Food Summit Plan of Action as providing a blueprint for creating conditions so that all would enjoy the right to food. The right to food implied that optimally people should be able to provide for their own needs in full dignity and in a sustainable manner. In the short term, many of the over 800 million malnourished people would only enjoy the right to food through direct assistance. Work at all levels needed to be done. Information at the national and global levels about who was food insecure and why should be seen as a tool for action. This action needed to be taken primarily at the national and local levels, but international organizations should be ready to lend assistance in a coordinated way. The right to food in emergency situations needed to be brought into the limelight. Agencies should make a concerted effort to devise the delivery of food aid in full respect for human dignity and human rights. Humanitarian access should be seen in the context of the victims right to food and other basic necessities, and should be insisted upon as a legal obligation of the state in cases where it was unable or unwilling to provide such assistance itself.

FARHAD MAMDANHI (the Islamic Republic of Iran) said full realization of civil and political rights without the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights was impossible. Regrettably the promotion and implementation of economic, social and cultural rights and the obstacles hindering their realization had not received deserved attention within the framework of the United Nations and the international community at large. The Vienna World Conference on Human Rights had called upon States to refrain from any unilateral coercive measures, not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations, which created obstacles to free trade relations among States and impeded the full realization of human rights.

Mr. Mamdanhi said Iran believed that international monetary and economic institutions and trade organizations shouldered a grave responsibility in creating a favourable international economic environment to help eliminate the impediments to the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. Another obstacle to the developing countries in the enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, was the dilemma of foreign debt. The World Conference had called upon the international community to make all efforts to help alleviate the external debt burden.

BAREND VAN DER HEIJDEN (the Netherlands) supported the statement made by Germany on behalf of the European Union. The stark facts of the number of people living in poverty, suffering from illiteracy and with no access to a safe, clean water supply, were difficult to reconcile with a commitment to economic, social and cultural rights. Global as well as national action was required, but should not be left solely in the hands of the Commission on Human Rights and the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Specialized agencies and financial institutions should become more visible actors. Governments also bore ultimate responsibility for the implementation of these rights. It was important to acknowledge that activities in the field of development cooperation directly contributed to the enhancement of these rights including the eradication of hunger, illiteracy, and basic health and housing problems.

ANTONIO DO NASCIMENTO PEDRO (Brazil) said there seemed to be a better atmosphere this year surrounding this agenda item; a few years ago there was contention about whether or not the topic should even be discussed; now it was regarded as part and parcel of the Commission's work. Brazil welcomed the appointment of the Special Rapporteur on foreign debt; and further welcomed the visit to Brazil of the Special Rapporteur on illicit movement and dumping of toxic wastes.

Mr. Pedro said now it was time to go beyond words and good intentions and act on economic, social and cultural issues, and on issues related to the illegal movement of toxic wastes.

LESLEY MILLER (the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF) said the right to education was meaningfully reaffirmed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child. UNICEF had dedicated this year’s state of the world’s children report to the right to education. The right to education meant the right to experience citizenship. Yet of countless numbers of children around the world, citizenship remained distant and unknown.

Mr. Miller said UNICEF had reported that 130 million children of school age remained out of school, two-thirds of whom were girls. The various experiences illustrated by the report clearly indicated that if education was envisaged as a priority in national agendas, the Convention on the Rights of Child would be taken as a guiding reference, and would achieve good results and develop a child-friendly education system. It was their hope that a
child-friendly education system, which was child centred, relevant, inclusive, gender sensitive, inspired and developed within the framework of the Convention, would increasingly become a tangible reality for children.

FRITZNER GASPARD (Haiti) said that in the context of a globalized economy, economic liberalisation and increased competition, it was difficult for developing countries to provide their citizens with economic, social and cultural rights. In consequence, they often had to apply programmes of structural adjustment. This caused a change in the national economy, causing a re-allocation of resources which only made the plight of the most marginalized levels of society worse. These structural changes also caused a negative change in civil and political rights. These changes should therefore be made in the general interest, and not just in the interest of the market.