Abstract - Human Development Report 1999 Chapter 5 - Reinventing global governance-for humanity and equity
NOTE: THIS REPORT WAS EXTREMELY CONTROVERSIAL BECAUSE OF ITS OPENNESS WITH REGARD TO "WORLD GOVERNMENT" AND A "NEW GLOBAL ETHIC".
Harmonizing global competition and free market approaches with steady and expanding support for human development and human rights in all countries, developed/developing. This is y and reducing vulnerability on a worldwide scale at the heart of a NEW perspective, a NEW global ethic, a NEW approach to globalization. It requires a range of actions, from the broad to the specific. Reinventing global governance is not an optionit is an imperative.
The book then discusses the East Asian Crisis and its global repercussionsestimated at $2T or about 2% of global economic production, enough to double the incomes of the poorest fifth of the world's people.
This has become the worst setback to the global economy since the 1930s. P. 97
Fundamental rethinking of policy and governance is again required. It must be broad and fair, and it must restore an integrated approach covering social as well as economic issues. Key priorities:
1. Putting human concerns and human rights at the center of international policy and action
2. Protecting human security
3. Narrowing the extremes of inequality between and within countries
4. Increasing equity in negotiation and structures of international governance
5. Building a new global architecture for the 21st Century
1. Strengthening Global Ethics/Responsibility
Global governance with a human face requires SHARED VALUES, STANDARDS AND ATTITUDESA WIDE ACCEPTANCE OF HUMAN RESPONSIBILITIES AND OBLIGATIONS. THOSE VALUES INCLUDE RESPECTFOR LIFE, LIBERTY, JUSTICE AND EQUALITY. AND THE INCLUDE TOLERANCE AND MUTUAL CARING. 98
such values underline the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
2. Bring principles of human development/social protection into the concepts and practices of global economic governance
Global governance needs to incorporate human development priorities for people in all parts of the worldfr poverty reduction, equity, sustain-ability and human development. But a broader, more coherent set of international principles is requiredas governments are beginning to recognize. They should be built on:
a. Economic, social and cultural rights as well as political and civil ones
b. The goals and commitments of the global conferences of the 19990s.
C. Democratic and equitable governance, globally and nationally.
D. The WB and IMF need to explore how these principles are brought into their policies/operations
3. Develop a global Code of conduct for Multinational Corporationsand a Global Forum for their Monitoring
Multinational corp. are a dominant part of the global economyyet their actions go unrecorded and unaccounted. They need to be brought within the frame of global governance, not just the patchwork of national laws, many multinational corporations are taking their social responsibilities more seriously.
Also needed is a global forum to bring multinational corporations into open debate with other parts of the global communityunions, NGOs and government. The first major conference hosted by the UK based Ethical Trading Initiative in London in 1998 brought hundreds of people from a range of companies, trade unions and NGOs to discuss fair trade issues and company code of ethics. Six of the 9 UK companies among the top 100 multinationals now have codes in draft.
4. Strengthen the Global Commitment to Humane Governance
People's expanding awareness of their connections with the wider world is part of globalization. Many things already contribute to a sense of global responsibility: a) Education, b) the media's treatment of international news/events c) Networks of NGOs such as the Third World Network and the UN-NGO Forum.
5. Reducing Financial Insecurity
Developing and adopting new international codes of conduct for banks and financial institutions, improving information and transparency and enhancing international financial supervision and regulation are all part of the new consensus. So is recognition fo rthe IMF's need for incerased financial resources. Which could be obtained by increasing government financial commitments to the IMF, enhancing the use of IMF special drawing rights or selling some of its gold holdings.
6. Preventing Future Financial Crises
the financial crises of the 90s have been systemic--with finance surging in and out of countries at a speed and volume beyond the capacity of any country on its own to control. A UN task forces proposed:
a. Removing the requirements that countries liberalize capital accounts as a condition for borrowing
b. Incorporating standstill provisions into the rules for borrowing form the international financial institutions
c. Developing regional and sub-regional initiatives to support monetary and financial management.
D. Developing regional and subregional initiatives to support monetary and financial management
7. Protecting people
8, Controlling Global Crime
An international convention against transnational organized crime is under preparation. Key measures:
a. Encouraging cooperation in law enforcement and surveillance with support for advanced investigative techniques
b. Enhancing international judicial cooperationtransfer of cases from one jurisdiction to another and use of video-conference for cross-examination
c. Obliging states to develop effective programmes for protecting witnesses/legal professionals
PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS
NEW PARTNERSHIPS BETWEEN GOVERNMENTS, CORPORATIONS, PRIVATE VOLUNTARY ASSOCIATIONS AND OTHER STAKEHOLDERS SHOULD BE DEVELOPED. THE EFFECTS OF GLOBAL MARKETS ON LOCAL CULTURAL INDUSTRIES BOTH GOOD AND BAD SHOULD BE MORE CLEARLY RECOGNIZED.
Because of the activism of NGOs and other institutions of civil society
NARROWING GLOBAL GAPS
As Professor Jan Tinbergen, first Nobel Prize winner in economics wrote, "there should also be redistribution at the international level through development cooperation....As the world economy becomes increasingly integrated, so the redistribution of world income should be similar to that within well-governed nations." HDReport 94 - p.88
1. Reducing the Debt of the Poorest Countries
Slow progress in tackling the accumulated debt of the 41 HIPCs is one clear example of how globalization has been failing. Only 2 HIPCs have achieved growth rates of more than 2% per capita since 1980 while 9 did so between 1965 and 1980. Under the HIPC initiative, it takes 6 years for a country to become eligible for debt relief. This period should be sharply reduced by half or more. The debt sustainability ratiothe amount of debt that is deemed manageable by an indebted countrymust also be lowered form 200-250% of a country's annual exports to 100% or less.
THE SUM REQUIRED TO FUND THE HIPC INITIATIVE HAS BEEN OFFICIALLY ESTIMATED AT $7b. DEBT RELIEF FOR THE POOREST COUNTRIES COULD AND SHOULD BE FINANCED FROM NEW AND ADDITIONAL RESOURCES. THESE COULD COME FROM SALES OF IMF GOLD OR NEW ALLOCATIONS OF SDRSLIKE THE LTCM BAILOUT.