United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board

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1 ex United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Executive Board Hundred and sixtieth Session 160 EX/13 PARIS, 12 September 2000 Original: English Item of the provisional agenda UNESCO s STRATEGY ON DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY ERADICATION SUMMARY In accordance with 30 C/Resolution 53 of the General Conference, and in application of 159 EX/Decision 3.3.1, inviting the Director- General to elaborate a strategy and preliminary programme on development and poverty eradication in UNESCO, through a strong interdisciplinary approach coordinated by the MOST Programme, that includes the examination of education as a tool, the Director- General submits the present document which is the outcome of this process. Its preparation has also drawn upon the contributions of the Executive Board Members at its 159th session, during the debate on documents 159 EX/9 and 159 EX/INF.6. This strategy would serve as the basis for the preparation of draft documents 31 C/4 and 31 C/5, insofar as a programme on development and poverty eradication is concerned. Decision required: paragraph 30.

2 160 EX/13 We commit ourselves to the goal of eradicating extreme poverty in the world through decisive national actions and international cooperation, as an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind. Copenhagen Declaration, World Summit for Social Development A. Poverty: A global challenge 1. Poverty, a long-standing scourge on mankind, has been reduced significantly over the last century in a limited number of countries. But expectations that this progress would reach the world as a whole have not been fulfilled by development trends over the last decades. The process of globalization has brought about large increases in global wealth and income. Such gains have, however, been distributed very unequally and inequitably, both within and among countries, accentuating further already existing disparities and divides. While some countries, especially in the North, have benefited conspicuously from globalization, most countries in the South have not been able to share in the prosperity and opportunities of the new economy. Rather, they remain mired in deepening poverty and, if anything, globalization under present conditions causes a deterioration of their situation and narrowing of options. But globalization, in particular the information and knowledge revolution, has at the same time brought about increased interdependence and networking among people, facilitating a shared consciousness that poverty eradication is in the interest of, indeed an imperative, for humanity as a whole. 2. The reality of absolute poverty is stark and sobering. Worldwide, some 1.3 billion people subsist on less than US $1 per day, indeed nearly half of the world s population lives on less than US $2 a day. In terms of inequality the ratio between the average income of the world s top 5% and bottom 5% has increased from 78:1 in 1988 to 123:1 in Sub- Saharan Africa is projected to have 50.7 million children out of school in 2005 and, with an estimated 51% of its people mired in absolute poverty, sub-saharan Africa would require a GDP growth of at least 7% per year until 2015 (it is currently hovering around 3%) to meet the goal of halving extreme poverty. While average levels of well-being may have increased, rates of school attendance have risen and mortality rates fallen, average life expectancy has in fact decreased in some countries and for the most vulnerable population groups. Women, children and youth remain significantly disadvantaged in many parts of the world; 800 million people are undernourished; 1.3 billion people live without potable water; the absolute number of people in poverty has increased. In some countries, HIV/AIDS, natural disasters and civil conflicts have set back social integration and accelerated the slide into poverty. In addition, unsustainable levels of debt constrain the domestic policy choices of countries and sap resources which otherwise could have been allocated for social services, including basic education and safe water, or poverty alleviation programmes. Innovative strategies and initiatives have been designed to provide for debt relief (such as the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiatives, debt-swap arrangements, etc.), but have proven cumbersome, timeconsuming, and have not yet yielded the expected results within a reasonable time frame. To initiate a more systematic effort to tackle poverty, developing countries are increasingly entering into new forms of partnerships with the international financial institutions (IFIs), notably through the preparation of country-designed poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs). 3. Today, there can be no more important and central challenge for the world community than the fight against poverty, especially extreme poverty, in all its dimensions. Indeed, all governments and the organizations of the United Nations system and other development agencies and civil society organizations have committed themselves to focus on the fight

3 160 EX/13 - page 2 against poverty and to work towards the goal of reducing by half global poverty by the year 2015 as the top priority. By resolution 50/107 of December 1995, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the First United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty ( ). The recent special session of the General Assembly on the Implementation of the Outcome of the World Summit for Social Development and Further Initiatives (WSSD+5 held in Geneva from 26 June to 1 July 2000) also strongly reaffirmed the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action as the basic framework for social development in the years to come and committed Member States to placing poverty eradication at the centre of economic and social development and build consensus with all relevant actors at all levels on policies and strategies so as to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by the year For UNESCO s part, 30 C/Resolution 53 invited the Director-General to make poverty alleviation a long-term priority for the UNESCO of the twenty-first century in all its fields of competence, and to mobilize all UNESCO units with a request to give high priority [to the matter of extreme poverty]. Subsequently, the Executive Board at its 159th session invited the Director-General to elaborate a strategy and preliminary programme on development and poverty eradication in UNESCO, through a strong interdisciplinary approach coordinated by the MOST Programme that includes the examination of education as a tool (159 EX/Decision 3.3.1). B. The role of UNESCO 4. Although development has long been a major objective of UNESCO s programme, the Organization has not been consistently at the forefront of recent international debate and actions in the specific area of poverty eradication. But, in a world agenda that continues to evolve rapidly and requires the Organization to join forces with its partner agencies in the United Nations system and Member States, UNESCO has a core role to play, and is in a position to offer a significant added value to the collective thrust towards translating into reality the goal of halving extreme poverty by UNESCO is well placed to make significant contributions to poverty alleviation in areas in which no other organization possesses comparable expertise, experience or outreach. Indeed, UNESCO s fields of competence are critical tools for empowering people and creating an enabling environment for people to participate actively in individual and social development through education, respect for human rights, cultural and historical sensitivity in policy design, environmental sustainability, and access to information for all. In many areas, UNESCO s action can thus directly contribute to eliminating the root causes of poverty, especially by fostering environmentally sustainable use and management of natural resources, in particular water, by promoting equitable access to information and knowledge for all, and by promoting respect for the observance and realization of basic human rights and fundamental freedoms, access to information and communications, and the preservation of cultural heritage and knowledge systems. Further, UNESCO is well placed, as the United Nations system s intellectual and ethical organization, to advocate the moral as well as the political imperative of poverty eradication, as reiterated in the Copenhagen+5 Declaration. Poverty eradication being a significant condition for world peace and security and a question of human dignity the Organization has an enhanced role in promoting peace and common welfare through implementation of the right to development, and through supporting understanding and solidarity among humankind both between countries and between populations divided by growing disparities in access to wealth.

4 160 EX/13 - page 3 C. What approaches? Strategic issues 6. A number of aspects of the current international debate and intervention are of special concern to UNESCO: (a) (b) (c) The human and cultural dimensions of poverty and anti-poverty policies: Although conventional understandings of poverty have been considerably broadened, from financial measures ( less than $1 a day ) towards more humanity-centred concepts: deficiencies in human capabilities, powerlessness, vulnerability, lack of dignity, and so on, this broadened understanding is rarely reflected in policy. In particular, the cultural dimensions of poverty and antipoverty policies are absent from current debates, and should be one of UNESCO s specific contributions. Participation: despite formal recognition of the importance of participation and ownership by developing countries, the development and poverty eradication agenda still risks being largely set by donors. It is true that the process of linking debt relief to poverty eradication through the design of country-owned PRSPs is a leap in the right direction. Related to this is the increasing convergence amongst the main multilateral and bilateral development agencies on common policies and strategies, which also is a good thing in many respects, since it decreases the flagwaving project approach characteristic of development in the 1990s. However, the success of the PRSP approach is dependent upon strong political commitment to poverty eradication, genuine country ownership, and authentic participation of all actors in society. Building on its strong position as a partner to civil society UNESCO will contribute to basing on genuine civil society representation national capacity to design and negotiate policy frameworks for poverty eradication. The focus, rightly placed by the international community on extreme poverty and marginalized and excluded groups of society, needs not only direct care but complementary research, policy design, monitoring, advocacy, so as to change the conditions under which this extreme poverty has become and remains part of the global system. While devoting efforts to contributing directly to poverty eradication actions with and for the poor in several pilot endeavours, UNESCO has to reach a leverage capacity at a broader level, bearing on the dynamics of society as a whole, to help transforming the causes together with acting on the effects. This is where an intellectual and ethical organization might find its best added value in that field, for example by drawing attention to the socio-economic costs of poverty (environmental degradation, ignorance, diseases, HIV/AIDS, disparities, tensions and conflicts). The need for interdisciplinary and co-sectoral action 7. Poverty cannot be tackled successfully and effectively unless all of its dimensions are fully integrated. A comprehensive concept of poverty must capture both economic dimensions as well as human dimensions and requires a strategy based on integrated and co-sectoral approaches. Accordingly, the priority areas or thematic issues proposed in section D are not sector-oriented but cut horizontally across all the Organization s fields of competence. The

5 160 EX/13 - page 4 requirements for the design and successful implementation of a development and poverty eradication programme are explained in section E. Forging partnerships 8. Given the enormity of the challenge and task, no single organization will be able to succeed or make a lasting contribution on its own. UNESCO is therefore committed to work closely with other United Nations partners as well as multilateral and bilateral agencies and to strengthen the concerted effort in pursuing the international goal of halving extreme poverty by This will also involve building partnerships and joint action with regional IGOs, NGOs, civil society organizations, especially those of the poor and marginalized population groups. UNESCO, given its privileged relationship with civil society organizations active in its fields of competence, is well placed to play an active role in helping to promote partnerships and improve understanding between actors who are (a) largely excluded from current debates (poor citizens of developing countries, particularly disadvantaged groups, and the organizations that represent them); and (b) central to action aimed at alleviating poverty in UNESCO s principal fields of action. This will provide coherence and strengthen UNESCO s regular contacts with and assistance to governments, National Commissions and civil society actors. 9. UNESCO s action is underpinned by ongoing development initiatives, including outcomes of, and targets adopted, by international conferences, and the use of existing mechanisms such as the Common Country Assessment (CCA), the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) and the poverty reduction strategy papers (PRSPs). D. Objectives for UNESCO s action 10. UNESCO s action in the wide and complex field of poverty eradication has to focus on a core vision, based on the Organization s mandate, namely promoting peace and common welfare through enhancing understanding and solidarity among humankind, in its fields of competence. This is why, building on the fact that recent trends in world economy have heightened inequality between and within countries on the one hand, and on the other hand the fact that globalization has also brought increased interdependence between people, thereby calling for a shared consciousness that poverty eradication is in the interest of all humanity, UNESCO should focus on driving policy-makers at all levels towards addressing poverty as the top priority, and therefore aim at reinforcing public, private and societal efforts against poverty, particularly extreme poverty. For that purpose, it will focus on three major lines of action: (a) (b) (c) by empowering the poor and building their capacity to advocate, claim their rights, negotiate through effective participation, and support the design and implementation of policies that affect them; by assisting Member States to achieve the international development agenda by maximizing their capacities to design pro-poor policies within UNESCO s constitutional mandate; by engaging, through advocacy vis-à-vis empowered actors and groups, a deeper commitment to poverty eradication and a better understanding of the ways in which the persistence of poverty violates human rights and undermines the welfare of all.

6 160 EX/13 - page In programme design and implementation, attention must continually be focused on the ultimate objectives, as set out above. There are three particular implications for programme design: (a) (b) (c) UNESCO s contributions to the design and implementation of demonstrably innovative and relevant field projects can be justified to the extent that they can be shown to contribute directly and substantially to the ultimate objectives of this strategy; Special attention must be paid to high profile dissemination of the results of the strategy so that they impact effectively on ideas and policies, particularly through available communication technologies. Effective dissemination strategies must be incorporated into programme design, with active participation of OPI and UNESCO publishers, from the outset, since it is important that the results of the strategy be diffused effectively within nations; The goals and the means are to be realistic. The aim is to make a selective but effective contribution, that will both have a permanent impact on poverty eradication, with special attention to extreme poverty, and build up the capacity and credibility of the Organization to work further in this area. Priority areas for the programme on development and poverty eradication 12. The priority areas suggested below form the basis of a programme to be developed and elaborated in greater detail. UNESCO is to undertake activities within each thematic area at appropriate levels: (a) (b) (c) policy formulation and implementation, including influencing the formulation of country owned integrated pro-poor national policies, with the involvement of all stakeholders, and building the capacity of governments to design democratic participatory processes at national and local levels that involve the poor; advocacy and information, placing emphasis on the point that freedom from poverty is a human right, a global ethical imperative, and a government responsibility; policy-oriented research which should contribute to the analysis of extreme poverty and monitor progress toward its eradication; (d) capacity-building, particularly amongst those most impoverished countries immersed in or emerging from conflict or natural disasters, so as to assist the government and the State institutions to prepare frameworks that respond to the requirements of the United Nations system and the international financial institutions (IFIs), in the context of debt relief; (e) field projects, that are to be demonstrably innovative, related to the goals of this strategy, as well as to the priorities of the Member States, the outcomes of which are to be translated into policy implications. In order to achieve maximum impact, the programme will modulate the emphasis placed on the priority areas outlined below over the six years covered by the next Medium-Term Strategy. The prioritization of these areas are to be reflected in the Draft Programme and Budget.

7 160 EX/13 - page 6 Operationalizing rights-based approaches to poverty 13. Issue: Poverty has been recognized as a violation of all human rights at the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna (1993). Thus, the approach to poverty eradication and development should emphasize the indivisibility of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. Freedom from want cannot be divorced from people s freedom to make their voices heard, and to have their right to participate recognized. Participation makes development more demand-driven, bottom-up, rather than top-down and supply-driven. Building human capacities for effective participation, and ensuring good governance and the respect of human rights constitute inseparable elements to the right to development. A rightsbased approach to development which places people at the centre of policy formulation, and makes the governments and the international community accountable to the rights and the needs of the people will also increase inter alia the provision of basic social services. 14. Action: Encouraging the recognition of the broad and diverse linkages between rights and poverty; hosting dialogue, commissioning research and disseminating information about statutory policies and actual practices with respect to all rights at the international level; contributing to the creation of an enabling environment at the national and subnational levels; encouraging national-level improvements to existing policies and practices and empowering civil society organizations, especially those of the poor, to become aware of their rights through advocacy and information. Understanding the costs of poverty 15. Issue: Poverty not only undermines the dignity of the poor, it debases the dignity of all of humanity. In an age of unprecedented affluence, the coexistence of conspicuous wealth and grinding poverty in developing countries as well as industrialized countries is an indictment on the failure of public and private institutions to spread the gains of economic growth to those who are unable to benefit directly. Furthermore, poverty reduction must also be conceived as a global public good: high levels of poverty and inequality are associated throughout the world with social problems (insecurity), violation of human rights and dignity (i.e. trafficking of migrants), public health problems (the spread of communicable diseases because of inadequate provision of sanitation to poor and marginalized groups), ecological problems (environmental degradation and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources) and political instability, tensions and violence. 16. Action: Understanding the root causes of poverty, the factors that contribute to it, and its impact on society as a whole; creating effective partnerships with multilateral agencies and NGOs that are committed to furthering the respect for human rights and reducing poverty; working closely with the media to examine how poverty issues can be constructively reported to raise public awareness and commitment; monitoring and influencing the global research agenda, to respond to knowledge gaps, deepen understanding of concepts, challenge mainstream development thinking, and nurture public debate within relevant constituencies; integrating the findings into education and training programmes. Building social cohesion and fighting exclusion 17. Issue: Often the marginalization of the poor is linked in many societies to their membership of particular ethnic, social, cultural or other groups and categories defined by gender, social class, age, race, ethnicity or religion. Discrimination against these categories creates structural barriers and denies access to livelihood opportunities that would allow the poor to escape from poverty.

8 160 EX/13 - page Action: Encouraging the formulation of social development policies and strategies in a democratic framework, that caters to the many dimensions of poverty (urban poor, rural poor, regional and international migrations); contributing to an improved understanding of the linkages between poverty and discrimination; encouraging the full and genuine participation of the poor and vulnerable in poverty assessments, design and implementation of culturally sensitive anti-poverty programmes, and monitoring and evaluation of impacts of these programmes at the national and subnational levels. Empowering people through education and training 19. Issue: A fundamental step in the fight against poverty is empowerment of people, and in particular women, through education and training. They need to be aimed at imparting knowledge and skills required for improving quality of life and enhancing income generation, thus enhancing people s capacity to participate actively in the development processes. 20. Action: This action will be undertaken under the following headings: (a) (b) promoting access to basic education for all as a human right (follow-up to the Dakar EFA forum); developing alternative strategies of education to reach the excluded and vulnerable groups (women and youth; out-of-school children, youth and adults; minorities; street children; etc.) with an emphasis on non-formal and informal education, skills training geared towards work and employment; developing knowledge and skills for the sustainable use and management of natural resources, building linkages between modern and traditional systems of knowledge, with particular emphasis on water and energy; popularization of science and development of science and technology education; (c) development of skills and human resources for income generation and employment creation (work in handicrafts, cultural tourism, eco-tourism, etc.); (d) developing community radios and multimedia centres as focal points for exchange of knowledge and skills and of experiences in the area of development and poverty eradication; sensitizing journalists and media personnel to poverty eradication issues; (e) raising awareness (especially among social scientists, policy-makers and development practitioners) through research and the dissemination of information on best practices highlighting the role of education in responding to poverty; developing human rights education, etc. Science and technology for poverty reduction and development 21. Issue: Two thirds of the world s poor live in rural areas and depend primarily on smallholder, farm and non-farm activity for their livelihoods. Urban drift and rapid urbanization partly in response to rural poverty and vulnerability is raising urban poverty in towns and cities throughout the world. The innovation and diffusion of technology, tools and knowledge, especially at the smaller scale, offers enormous potential for addressing problems of both rural and urban development and poverty reduction. In rural areas, appropriate technology can contribute both to increased non-farm income generation and small-scale enterprise and enhanced agricultural productivity. There are risks in these areas, however. Technological innovations for small-scale rural enterprises may have negative

9 160 EX/13 - page 8 environmental consequences pollution, heavy natural resource extraction and uncertain implications for rural inequality and poverty reduction. As an example, current research into genetically modified foods, like the previous Green Revolution may offer the possibility of increased crop yields, but also raises profound ethical, environmental, health and land redistribution concerns and uncertainties. 22. Action: Promoting actions for sustainable development sustainable use and management of natural resources (water; earth; energy; ocean; etc.), preventing natural disasters and mitigating damages, protecting fragile island and coastal eco-systems, combating desertification, protecting biodiversity, etc. as a direct contribution to reducing poverty and enhancing rural and urban livelihoods; promotion of science and technology education, and of environmentally friendly technologies and of the use of indigenous/local knowledge based know-how that are relevant to the contextual needs of the rural and urban poor; promoting applied research, the transfer and diffusion of innovations in appropriate technology; development of a more informed and balanced global debate on the potential advantages and risks presented by the advances in certain specific fields of science and technology (e.g. biotechnology). Impact assessment, monitoring and indicators 23. Issue: To widen the scope of work and to broaden the understanding of governments and societies concerning the nature and dynamics of poverty/exclusion. There is a need to strengthen capabilities of local and regional institutions to communicate results of data analysis and research to key audiences; to identify needs and provide technical assistance to institutions in developing countries seeking to communicate with policy-makers, allowing them to interact in areas of mutual interest and to access tools that would improve their research capacity. 24. Action: Developing assessment and progress indicators; working with national counterparts in statistical agencies and line ministries to build a database comprising data from different national (and international) sources; better identifying the poor and those who are excluded and the interrelationships between poverty/exclusion and education, science and culture; promoting wider dissemination and increased use of information related to poverty and exclusion for planning and decision-making and by identifying policy information needs requiring further research. Modalities for implementing the strategy for development and poverty eradication 25. The monitoring of this strategy and overall guidance of the programme pertains to the college of ADGs, (cf. 160 EX/6) and its implementation is to be carried out in keeping with 159 EX/Decision 3.3.1, namely through a strong interdisciplinary approach involving all relevant programmes and units, one of which will act as the coordinator of the programme. 26. To elaborate the co-sectoral programme that will reflect the present strategy, the Organization must think in terms of expected results rather than in terms of internal structures. This calls for a co-sectoral structure of the programme, free of any references to a particular sector, but rather based on a network of specialists belonging to the various sectors and units of the Organization, at Headquarters and in the field, organized into multi-sectoral teams to design and implement a range of projects. This interdisciplinary and multi-sectoral network should be held accountable on the basis of a clear and transparent distribution of responsibilities, defined from the point of view of the expected results.

10 160 EX/13 - page The programme is to be equipped with adequate human and financial resources required for its success. An appropriate amount of budget will be earmarked, in the successive C/5 documents covered by the MTS period, for the implementation of the present strategy through a specific co-sectoral programme. The co-sectoral project teams constituted by the network for the implementation of the programme would manage the corresponding shares of that specific budget on a results-based rule. The staff for this programme should be provided by the various sectors and units (including UIS and OPI), officially detached to the programme for a fixed period, most of them on a part-time basis. 28. The setting up of the network will require specific efforts with regard to the members qualifications, and will call for specific training. To increase the intellectual potential of the Organization, it could be useful to make exchanges and to set up staff training, within other institutions, in the Member States, in research centres or even in some NGOs. Furthermore it would contribute to nurture the operational links with the other stakeholders involved in the field of development and more specifically in poverty alleviation. 29. The programme is aimed to be developed along a six-year period. A mid-term assessment is foreseen half way through the second biennium, and a final evaluation at the end of the six-year period. Decision 30. In light of the above, the Executive Board may wish to adopt a draft decision along the following lines: TheExecutiveBoard, 1. Having examined document 160 EX/13, 2. Recalling 30 C/Resolution 53 and 159 EX/Decision 3.3.1, 3. Recognizes the necessity for UNESCO s commitment to broad-based action in order to contribute to efforts in favour of development and poverty eradication in conformity with its mandate and in cooperation with other concerned agencies and partners; 4. Invites the Director-General to give careful consideration to the procedures to be worked out to ensure the successful implementation of the strategy, on the basis of the modalities outlined in paragraphs 25 to 29 of document 160 EX/13; 5. Endorses the strategy proposed on development and poverty eradication; 6. Invites the Director-General, when preparing the next Medium-Term Strategy (31 C/4 Draft) and the Programme and Budget for (31 C/5 Draft) to take it as a framework and to foresee the adequate human and budgetary resources necessary for its implementation.