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WORKING GROUP II

Amb. Richelle announced the distribution of the Secretariat"s compilation of amendments on Chapter I. Additional amendments were read and the Working Group then broke for regional consultations.

DRAFT PROGRAMME OF ACTION

PARAGRAPH 1: (introduction) Switzerland proposed an explicit introduction of the aim of social development, but withdrew the amendment for the sake of brevity. Canada"s proposal, which noted the success of the Programme of Action would be based on results, was adopted ad referendum. PARAGRAPH 2: (recommended actions) Iran specified the creation of an "international and national" environment favorable to social development, which the EU wanted "on a sustainable basis." The G-77 and China found acceptable language to incorporate both ideas. Canada, Japan, and Norway supported the US sentence on environmental concerns, but the G-77 and China objected, so the proposal was bracketed. The G-77 and China objected to the Canadian proposal to delete the word "basic" before "human rights." Canada noted that the Cairo document refers to "all" human rights, and Algeria reformulated the text using "all," and incorporated Swiss and US proposals on rights to health care.

PARAGRAPH 3: (background of world conferences) China wanted to mention specific conferences. Algeria suggested a general reference to major conferences. The G-77 suggested a reference to "world conference and global concerns." The EU only wanted to highlight what has been discussed at these meetings. The Chair suggested that interested delegations meet to work out compromise language. Delegations accepted the EU amendment to include "principles" after "commitments." Kuwait withdrew its amendment on national laws, but wanted "religious values" placed after the word "priorities." The US said that the dynamic of the Programme of Action should be emphasized. The Chair said that the first and last parts of paragraph 3 need discussion.

PART I: ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

PARAGRAPH 4: (social development) The EU said that "spiritual environment" is encompassed by "cultural environment." The G-77 supported deletion of the next sentence on promotion of social development, and agreed with the Holy See"s formulation. The US, EU and Japan supported replacement of this sentence with language proposed by Switzerland. The Chair asked Switzerland and the Holy See to find compromise wording. The US proposed language for the last amendment in the section: "Human dignity, human rights, fundamental freedoms, equality, and justice must be fundamental values of all societies." Iran suggested substituting "constitutes" for "must be." The G-77 offered "human dignity, all human rights, fundamental freedoms, equity, equality, and social justice." The US bracketed the words "equity and social." The G-77 objected to the Canadian amendment on people-centered development. She preferred a reference to sustainable development. The Holy See offered compromise language based on the Rio Declaration and the Cairo document. The Chair suggested further consultations on the basis of Agenda 21.

PARAGRAPH 5: (increasing interdependence) Delegates accepted the proposal from the G-77 and China to mention food crises and Turkey"s reference to threats from racial discrimination and xenophobia. Algeria objected to the Canadian proposal that "social development is primarily a national responsibility" on the basis that this fact is self- evident. PARAGRAPH 6: (market forces and national policies) Delegates could not agree on the Libyan proposal to refer to social, as well as economic activities and "social" remains bracketed. A Libyan proposal to refer to social forces rather than market forces was not adopted. Delegates objected to a Norwegian proposal for public policies to supplement market mechanisms. An EU reformulation calling for public policies to "correct market failures" was accepted, although Norway"s insistence that policies also "supplement market mechanisms" required brackets.

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