The World Revolution Global Progressive Agenda Working Draft November, 2002
Militarism & Disarmament Global disarmament (along with Global Security Force / UN force) Small Arms and Light Weapons More than 500 million small arms and light weapons are in circulation around the world. In major conflicts since 1990, they have caused 4 million deaths about 90 per cent of them civilians, and 80 per cent women and children. 1 Objective: Controlling and reducing the proliferation, availability, legal trade, illicit transfer, and use of small arms and light weapons Landmines -- Landmines maim or kill approximately 26,000 civilians every year, including 8,000 to 10,000 children. At least 75% of landmine victims are civilians. It is estimated that there are between 60 and 70 million landmines in the ground in at least 70 countries. 2 Objectives: An international ban on the use, production, stockpiling, and sale, transfer, or export of antipersonnel landmines. The signing, ratification, implementation, and monitoring of the mine ban treaty. Increased resources for humanitarian demining and mine awareness programs, and for landmine victim rehabilitation and assistance. (ICBL) Military Spending -- Current global military spending is approximately $800 billion per year; more than the total annual income of the poorest 45% of the global population. 3 Objectives: Implementation of the Women's Peace Petition, which calls for a 5% reduction a year for 5 years in military spending and the reallocation of these substantial resources toward human security programs and peace education. Hague Agenda (Women s Peace Petition) Arms Trade -- Adoption of the International Code of Conduct on Arms Transfers. Adoption of the Framework Convention on International Arms Transfers Nuclear Weapons -- There are approximately 30,000 nuclear warheads in the world today.. Som 5,000 nuclear weapons are on hair-trigger alert, ready to be launched on a few minutes notice. 4 Objectives: The abolition (elimination / prohibition) of nuclear weapons; and negotation of a Nuclear Weapons Convention (LCNP). Remove weapons off of hair-trigger alert. Reduction of nuclear arsenals to much lower / very low levels. Promoting a No First Use policy on the nuclear weapons. Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Chemical and Biological Weapons -- Objectives: Universal Adherence To and Implementation Of the Biological Weapons Convention. Universal Adherence To and Implementation Of the Chemical Weapons Convention Genocide & War Crimes -- Genocide and other mass murders killed more people in the 20th century than all wars combined. Between 54 and 80 million people have been killed in genocides in the the last century. 5 Between 170 and 360 million people have been killed, in total, by governments (democide) in the 20 th century, apart from war. 6 Objectives: (Ratification of the) International Criminal Court - full financial and political support of UN Member States. (Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide). Increasing and improving the effectiveness of the UN in preventing and stopping genocide. Enhancement of the political will to support the governments' efforts to take effective action to prevent and stop genocide. Promote International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law 2
War & Conflict There have been over 250 major wars in the world since World War II, in which 23 million people have been killed., tens of millions made homeless, and countless millions injured and bereaved. Over 37 (or 42) million people have by killed by wars in the 20 th century. Three times more people have been killed in wars in the last 90 years than in all the previous 500. 7 There are over 35 major conflicts going on in the world today. 8 In armed conflicts since 1945, 90 per cent of casualties have been civilians. 3 out of 4 fatalities of war are women and children. Objectives: Strengthen, promote and increase peaceful conflict resolution initiatives. Promotion of International Humanitarian Law (Protection of Civilians in Armed conflict). Promotion of Conflict Prevention initiatives. Global Security Force / Peacekeeping. Special protection for Children and Women in conflict. End Violence Against Women in Times of Armed Conflict. Adopt and implement the Global Action Plan to Prevent War. Strengthen, promote, and increase peaceful conflict resolution initiatives. Promote International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law. Strengthen the United Nations' Capacity to Maintain Peace (Hague). Prioritise Early Warning and Early Response (Hague). Strengthen Mechanisms for Humanitarian Intervention (Hague). Children and Conflict -- In the wars of the last decade, more children were killed than soldiers. In the last decade, child victims of war include an estimated 2 million killed, 4 to 5 million disabled, 12 million left homeless, and more than 1 million orphaned. 9 Objectives: Ensure humanitarian assistance and protection to children in situations of armed conflict (Hague Appeal). Rehabilitate and reintegrate children who have been exposed and traumatized by violent conflict. (Canada Conference) (Security Council Resolution 1261 on the involvement of children in armed conflict) Child Soldiers There are 300,000 child soldiers in the world. 10 Objectives: Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Strong and consistent pressure by governments, international agencies and the public against those governments and armed groups that recruit children for military service. (HRW). Full support for demobilization and rehabilitation programs. (HRW) Women and Conflict Objectives: End Violence Against Women in Times of Armed Conflict (Hague Appeal) Labor Objectives: Full implementation of adherence to the ILO Core Conventions / Core Labor Standards. Working Conditions are Safe and Hygienic. Living Wages are Paid. Working Hours are Not Excessive. No Harsh or Inhumane Treatment is Allowed. Workers have full rights to organize and form unions. Labor standards, working conditions Fair and decent wage for all Sweatshops, slavery, human trafficking, exploitation, child labor, women Employment Unions, labor rights 3
Human Trafficking -- At least 700,000 people annually, and up to 2 million, mostly women and children, are victims of human trafficking worldwide (a modern form of slavery -- bought, sold, transported and held against their will in slave-like conditions).. 11 Objective: End worldwide the human trafficking in persons Child Labor -- About 246 million, or 1 out of 6, children ages 5 to 17 worldwide are involved in child labor. Nearly three-fourths of these, about 180 million children, including 110 million under age 15, are exposed to the worst forms of, or hazardous, child labor. Some estimated 8.4 million children are trapped in the most abhorrent forms of child labour - slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, prostitution, pornography and other such activities. 12 Objectives: ILO Convention 182 Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention (Convention Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor). ILO Convention 138 Minimum Age Convention (Convention Concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment). (Oslo Child Labor Conference) Employment -- 1/3 rd of the world s labor force, is unemployed or underemployed. 13 Objective: Ensure adequate employment for all. Slavery & Exploitative Labor -- An estimated 27 million people are enslaved around the world, including an estimated 20 million people held in bonded labour (forced to work in order to pay off a debt, also known as debt bondage ).. 14 Women Women account for 70 percent of the world s people who live in absolute poverty. Women work two-thirds of the world's working hours, produce half of the world's food, and yet earn only 10% of the world's income and own less than 1% of the world's property. Worldwide, a quarter of all women are raped during their lifetime. Depending on the country, 25 to 75 percent of women are regularly beaten at home. Between 10% and 50% of women report they have been physically abused by an intimate partner in their lifetime. 15 Over 120 million women have undergone female genital mutilation. Women hold only 12% of parliamentary seats worldwide. Women account for 2/3 rd s of the world s illiterate adults, and girls account for 2/3 rd s of the world s children without access to education. Objectives: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The active participation of women in significant numbers in all decision and policy-making forums. (Hague Appeal for Peace). Full implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action. Discrimination against women, in politics / decision-making, employment, income Exploitation, oppression, violence against women Promoting the welfare of women, (economic, health) Racism, Ethnicity, and Minorities Objectives: Protection of the rights and welfare of minorities, ethnic, racial, indigenous, religious. Representation in decision-making. International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities). (World Conference Against Racism) 4
Other Vulnerable and Oppressed Goups Ageing and Elderly Objectives: Adopt the UN Principles for Older Persons as a legally binding charter of rights, to which all governments are accountable. (HelpAge). Full implementation of the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing Children and Youth Objectives: Convention on the Rights of the Child. (Youth Action Plan and Declaration from the Braga (Portugal) Youth Conference in 1999) Indigenous Peoples Objectives: Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. ILO Conventions 107, 169. ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 169. (Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) Gay & Lesbian Objective: Protect and advance the human rights of all people and communities subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status. (IGLHRC) Children, children s welfare, poverty, health Ageing, elderly welfare, discrimination Disabled people Gay, lesbian Human Rights / Civil & Political Rights 35% of the world s people live in countries in which basic political rights and civil liberties are denied (such as freedom of speech, religion, press, fair trials, democratic political processes, etc). 16 In 1998, extrajudicial executions were carried out in 47 countries, disappearances occurred in 37 countries, torture occurred in 125 countries, prisoners of conscience were held in 78 countries, unfair trials for political prisoners occurred in 35 countries, detentions without charge or trial occurred in 66 countries, executions were carried out in 36 countries, and human rights abuses were committed by armed opposition groups in 37 countries. 17 Objectives: Full adherence to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Full adherence to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Vienna Conference on Human Rights Declaration and Programme of Action. Criminal justice, judicial system Political freedom Freedom of press, speech, association, religion, etc. Torture -- Full adoption of, implementation and adherence to Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment Death Penalty -- Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (for the abolition of the death penalty); Universal abolition of the death penalty 5
Environment & Sustainability Overfishing -- More than 20 percent of the world's known 10,000 freshwater fish species have become extinct, been threatened, or endangered in recent decades. 18 Sixty percent of the world's important fish stocks are threatened from overfishing. Objectives: Greenpeace Principles for Ecologically Responsible Fisheries. To cut the numbers and fishing power of large-scale fishing fleets in half by 2005 (Greenpeace) Desertification and Land Degradation -- Desertification and land degradation threaten nearly one-quarter of the land surface of the globe. Over 250 million people are directly affected by desertification, and one billion people are at risk. 19 Objective: Full implementation of and adherence to the Convention to Combat Desertification. Global Warming -- Global warming is expected to increase the Earth's temperature by 3C (5.4F) in the next 100 years, resulting in multiple adverse effects on the environment and human society, including widespread species loss, ecosystem damage, flooding of populated human settlements, and increased natural disasters. 20 Objectives: Adoption, implementation & ratification of the Kyoto Protocol (to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change). Phase in clean, sustainable energy solutions and phase out fossil fuels. Reduce/end government subsidies for fossil fuel industries. Major investments must be made in renewable energy. Immediate international action must be taken to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases Dams -- An estimated 40-80 million people have been forcibly evicted and displaced from their lands to make way for the construction of large dams, resulting in economic and social devastation for these people. 21 Oceans -- Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles and marine mammals are entangled and drowned by irresponsible fishing practices every year. 22 Coral Reefs -- 60% of the world s coral reefs, which contain up to one-fourth of all marine species, could be lost in the next 20-40 years 23 Objective: International Coral Reefs Initiative Call to Action and Framework for Action Forests -- Half of the forests that originally covered 46% of the Earth's land surface are gone. Only one-fifth of the Earth's original forests remain pristine and undisturbed. 24 Objectives: Decrease & reduce deforestation. (Rio Conference Forest Principles Declaration) Biodiversity -- Between 10 and 20 percent of all species will be driven to extinction in the next 20 to 50 years. Based on current trends, an estimated 34,000 plant and 5,200 animal species - including one in eight of the world's bird species - face extinction. Almost a quarter of the world's mammal species will face extinction within 30 years. 25 Up to 47% of the world s plant species are at risk of extinction. 26 Objective: Full implementation of and adherence to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Wildlife -- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Oceans Coral Reefs, Marine Animals, Marine Pollution, coastal systems, overfishing 6
Global Warming & Climate Change Biodiversity Wildlife, wildlife trade, endangered species Forests Land, Desertification, mountains, wilderness Freshwater ecosystems, rivers Poverty & Economic Development Poverty - 3 billion of the world s people (one-half) live in poverty (living on less than $2 per day). 27 1.3 billion people live in absolute or extreme poverty (living on less than $1 per day). 28 Objective: Reduce the number of people living in extreme poverty (earn less than $1 dollar per day) by half by the year 2015 (Millennium Development Goal). Provide necessary resources (especially from developed countries) to achieve the Poverty MDG. Foreign Aid (Development Assistance) - Developed nations to fulfill pledge of giving 0.7% of GDP for Overseas Development Assistance (and ensuring a poverty eradication priority). [Strive to achieve over 1%, or 1.5% percent of GNP for ODA]. End tied aid (ActionAid). Millennium Development Goals - Fully fund, implement and adhere (achieve) to the UN Millennium Development Goals. Debt Crisis - Poor countries (which contain 4/5 th s of the world s people) pay the rich countries an estimated nine times more in debt repayments than they receive in aid. Africa alone spends four times more on repaying its debts than it spends on health care. In 1997 the foreign debts of poor countries were more than $2 trillion and growing. The result is a debt of $400 for every person in the developing world where average annual income in the very poorest countries is less than a dollar a day. 29 Objective: Increase debt relief for poor countries and ensure that they are not spending more on debt relief than on health or education (Oxfam GB?). Full debt / complete debt cancellation (bilateral and multi-lateral) for poor countries / HIPC countries / Least Developed Countries. HIPC Initiative. Tobin Tax - 0.1% - 0.25% taxes on international currency speculation (yielding $100-$300 billion dollars in revenue). Use of revenues to fund Millennium Development Goals and economic development. HNWI Wealth Tax ( Robin Hood Tax) - [3% annual wealth tax (for approx. 10 years) on the 7 million individuals worldwide ( high net worth individuals ) whose financial net worth exceeds $1 million yields approx. 810 billion dollars per year in revenues). Revenues to be used for poverty eradication, economic development, and the Millennium Development Goals.] Housing & Shelter - Over 100 million people live in slums. An estimated 25 to 50 percent of urban inhabitants in poor, developing countries live in impoverished slums and squatter settlements. 30 Objective: The Habitat Agenda (global plan of action adopted at the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat), held in Istanbul, Turkey in 1996). Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers. 7
Food & Hunger - 800 million people are hungry or malnourished. Nearly 160 million children are malnourished worldwide. 31 11 million people die every year from hunger and malnutrition. Objective: Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015. (Hunger, undernutritioun, malnutrition Food security) Water & Sanitation - 2.4 billion people lack access to proper sanitation. 1.1 billion do not have safe drinking water. By 2025, at least 3.5 billion people or nearly 2/3 rd s of the world's population will face water scarcity. More than 2.2 million people, mostly children, die each year from water related diseases. Objective: Halve the number of people without adequate sanitation by 2015. Secure adequate sanitation for all by 2025. Halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water by 2015. Increase the funds available for water and sanitation in support of these targets Education - 275 million children never attend or complete primary school education. 32 870 million of the world s adults are illiterate. Objective: Achieve universal primary education for all children by 2015. (UN MDG s). Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005 and to all levels of education by 2015. (MDG s). Abolish fees and charges for public primary education. Implement the Education for All Plan (Dakar Framework for Action). Fund the Education For All Action Plan. (The price for realising Education for All is an additional $8 billion a year). Implement and fund programs to increase adult literacy. Employment Social Services Health 800 million people lack access to basic healthcare. 17 million people, including 11 million children, die every year from easily preventable diseases and malnutrition. 33 HIV/AIDS - 3 million people die every year from HIV/AIDS. Approximately 25 million people have died from AIDS in the last 20 years. 70 million will die from AIDS by 2020. 40 million people are currently infected with HIV/AIDS, who will die within 10 years. 13 million children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS since the epidemic began, and the number is expected to double to 26 million by 2010. 34 Objective: Have halted and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015. Fully finance the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria ($10 billion per year). Essential medicines should be accessible and affordable to developing countries (MSF) Infectious & Other diseases - 17 million people, including 11 million children, die every year from easily preventable diseases and malnutrition. 35 Objective: Have halted and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases by 2015. Fully finance the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria ($10 billion per year). Essential medicines should by accessible and affordable to developing countries (MSF). Increased research into neglected diseases 8
Child Mortality -- Objectives: Reduce by two-thirds by 2015 the under-5 child mortality rate. Maternal Health -- Objectives: Reduce by three-quarters the maternal mortality ratio by 2015. Mental Health -- Objectives: Promote awareness of mental health as a critical health issue, not one of shame, to address underlying and structural causes of mental health problems, facilitate access to mental health care, and urge governments to include issues of mental health in their overall health policies and programs (Seoul NGO Conference) Global Economics Trade & WTO Objectives: Ensuring that WTO rules are subordinate to environmental, public health and labour standards internationally agreed (War on Want). Democratizing the WTO to give poor countries a stronger voice. Changing WTO rules so that developing countries can protect domestic food production. Improving market access for poor countries and ending the cycle of subsidized agricultural over-production and export dumping by rich countries. Remove or decrease agricultural subsidies by rich nations (totalling $300 billion per year). World Bank/ IMF, SAPs Objectives: Prohibiting rules that force governments to liberalise or privatise basic services that are vital for poverty reduction (Oxfam Make Trade Fair). Ending the use of conditions attached to IMF-World Bank programmes which force poor countries to open their markets regardless of the impact on poor people Inequality (within countries) -- Objectives: Decrase economic inequality within countries, extreme disparities in wealth International Inequality - The richest 1% of the world's people earned as much income as the bottom 57% (2.7 billion people). The top 5% of the world's people earn more income than the bottom 80%. The top 10% of the world's people earn as much income as the bottom 90%. The richest 16% of the world s population receives 84% of the world s annual income. 36 The wealth of the world's 7.1 million millionaires ($27 trillion) equals the total combined annual income of the entire planet. 37 Other Issues Global Governance Objective: The reform and democratization of the United Nations, including democratic strengthening of the General Assembly and extending consultative rights to civil society representatives, non-governmental organisations and parliamentarians at all levels of the UN. The recommendations of the Commission on Global Governance, including the participation of civil society in global governance. The reform of the United Nations Security Council to make its composition more representative and its decision-making process more transparent. Democracy - 33% of the world's people live under authoritarian, non-democratic regimes. 35% of the world s people live in countries in which basic political rights and civil liberties are denied (such as freedom of speech, religion, press, fair trials, democratic political processes, etc). 38 Objective: Promote the establishment of democratic governance, and strengthening of democratic institutions where they already exist. 9
Corporations & Corporate Responsibility - Human Rights Principles and Responsibilities for Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises. The U.N. Global Compact. Human Rights Principles for Companies (Amnesty International). (Reporting initiative) Natural disasters Refugees - There are over 45 million refugees and internally dispaced people in the world. 39 Objective: Protection of rights and welfare, and resettlement of refugees Ethical Culture Animal Rights Corporations Consumerism & Consumption Corruption Media issues Technology Culture of violence Ethical business Liberation of Youth Family, marital relations 1 United Nations Conference on Small Arms 2 International Campaign to Ban Landmines, Adopt-A-Minefield 3 SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) 4 International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) 5 Campaign to End Genocide, Death by Government 6 Death by Government 7 Peace Pledge Union 8 Center for Defense Information 9 UNICEF 10 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Human Rights Watch 11 U.S. Government 12 ILO (International Labor Organization) 13 ILO (International Labour Organization), World Employment Report 14 Anti-Slavery International, United Nations 15 WHO (World Health Organization) 16 Freedom House 17 Amnesty International 18 World Resources Institute 19 UN Convention to Combat Desertification 20 UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 21 International Rivers Network 22 Greenpeace 23 World Resources Institute, Environmental Defense Fund 24 Rainforest Action Network 25 UNEP Global Environment Outlook 3 Report 26 Science 27 World Bank, World Development Report 28 World Bank, World Development Report 29 New Internationalist 30 World Resources Institute 31 Oxfam 32 Oxfam 33 Oxfam 34 UNAIDS 35 Oxfam 36 Milanovic, Branko, True World Income Distribution, World Bank, 1999. 10
37 Merrill Lynch, World Wealth Report 38 Freedom House 39 Human Rights Watch 11