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| Speeches and statements |
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United
Nations Millennium Declaration - A perspective from the International
Federation
Statement
by Mr Robert Barnes, QC, Vice President of the International Federation,
at the High Level Segment of the United Nations Economic and Social
Council, in New York
1
July 2005 |
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The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
(IFRC) set its own objectives for the first part of the current
millennium at its General Assembly in 1999, nearly a year before
the world’s heads of government met in New York to accept
their separate and collective responsibilities to uphold the
principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global
level.
Our objectives, which are framed in our Strategy 2010, find
some powerful convergence with those which States accepted in
the UN Declaration.
Our work now is more and more directed at providing the vital
community base necessary for the achievement of our common aspirations
as described in the Millennium Declaration and in its accompanying
Development Goals.
We have made this point at many of the important international
conferences which have taken place since 2000. We remain concerned,
however, that despite the progress made, too much of the work
has been top-down.
Too many programs are announced by governments without the involvement
of the people the programs are designed to benefit, and too
few of the policy and program documents brought to the international
system acknowledge the need for meaningful consultation with
the communities for which the policies and programs are designed.
It remains our view that the Millennium Development Goals are
not an unrealistic set of targets. They are eminently achievable,
but achievement will depend on changes in the mind-set of governments
and other public institutions.
The approach required is one which instinctively reaches out
to communities and to the most vulnerable and absorbs an understanding
from them of their needs at the time of program design.
One example of this principle in action would mean that mechanisms
must be developed which enable those millions who now live with
HIV/AIDS to play an integral part in programming to achieve
MDG 6.
We have also spoken of the need for the governments to link
to and effectively partner with their Red Cross and Red Crescent
Societies as their auxiliaries in the humanitarian field, and
to civil society, to build a culture of prevention which sustains
development and dignity.
Prevention in this context means empowering communities to build
strength and resiliency and which facilitates the development
of their human capital. Empowerment requires more than a simple
legislative response. It also requires the provision of basic
needs for all, including those recognized in the MDGs –
water and sanitation, universal primary education, maternal
and child health and gender equality.
Prevention also requires that the impact of natural disasters
must be minimized by effective programs at the community level.
The Asian earthquakes and tsunamis of December 2004 have taught
all of us, unfortunately not for the first time, that disaster
preparedness and risk reduction must be an important part of
national development plans, and essential components in meeting
the objectives of the Millennium Declaration.
It also means that there must be full recognition for the part
played by volunteers in achieving sustainable development and
protecting human dignity. Too often, the contribution of volunteers
is relegated to the margins.
Governments can do more in promoting and supporting volunteers
as a factor in achieving the MDGs. We are very pleased that
UN Volunteers – one of our most significant partners –
has been able to bring these issues to the forefront and keep
them there since the International Year of Volunteers in 2001.
We have also said that work with and for communities can only
be done effectively if it is within communities which are free
of discrimination and where the acceptance of differences is
fully respected. The creation of a human-rights-based social
fabric is a critical ingredient in the building of resilient,
peaceful and prosperous communities.
Governments need to recognize that they have a responsibility
to set standards of good governance which, by example, will
be embodied throughout their communities and which will contribute
to the participatory processes which are essential to stable
and sustainable development programs.
There is a real risk that some among us will attempt to prioritize
the MDGs around their own agendas. We believe this to be an
unproductive and potentially dangerous approach. Our experience,
including from our own work around Strategy 2010, shows that
these Goals are so interconnected that none can be achieved
in isolation.
Some Goals are, however, necessary to facilitate others. Our
experience shows that MDG 8, especially as it refers to partnerships
for development, is a necessary underpinning without which none
of the other Goals can be fully achieved. Equally, progress
toward other Goals is of little value unless there is a real
and determined effort to break the poverty cycle so important
to MDG 1.
The debate today is of special significance to the IFRC and
its member Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies this year.
At the same time as the United Nations is reviewing the Millennium
Declaration and its Goals, we are preparing to review our Strategy
2010. And, at the same time as the United Nations is examining
plans for its own reform through the In Larger Freedom report,
we are preparing for a debate on what we call Our Federation
of the Future.
Our debates will take place in November in Seoul, at the IFRC’s
General Assembly. It is already clear that many of the issues
which you have identified will be equally relevant to our debates.
This is a natural consequence of the place of the Red Cross
and Red Crescent Societies as auxiliary partners to their Governments,
but it is also a reflection of the current state of our world.
Member States of the United Nations and Member Societies of
our International Federation are discussing many of the same
challenges presented by the world in 2005, and with closely
related understandings of priorities.
It is our hope that your work will take clearer account of what
we are saying about communities and their place in the future
of humanity. Without this, as we have said, we believe many
of our shared objectives will not be achieved.
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