ENB:10:28
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WORKING GROUP II
DRAFT PROGRAMME OF ACTION
PARAGRAPH 6: (market forces and national policies) The US modified India"s proposal regarding altering attitudes towards gender. The G-77 and China and the EU preferred moving the reference to another paragraph.
PARAGRAPH 7: (goal of social development) The G-77 and China"s proposal for "increased and equal economic opportunities" was agreed to, as was the EU call to respect cultural diversity. The EU reference to "an equitable partnership between men and women" was accepted.
PARAGRAPH 8: (enabling environment) The Canadian proposal to describe a people-centered approach in the introductory paragraph generated debate. The US supported Canada, the EU supported a shorter version, and Benin suggested language from Rio. The US suggested "broad-based participation of civil society." In the second bullet, the G-77 and China suggested "broadly-based patterns of sustained economic growth and sustainable development." The EU linked growth, population and development while the G-77 and China said the Cairo text should form a separate paragraph. Canada wanted to maintain reference to the environment in bullet 2. The G-77 and China said the concept of sustainable development is an agreed concept from Rio. The EU did not want to mix Rio and Cairo language. In bullet 3, the US reserved on "equitable" and suggested "an increased and fair and non-discriminatory distribution of the benefits of growth." The G-77 and China accepted "fair, equitable and non-discriminatory." In the fifth bullet, delegates accepted the Canadian call for public policies "that respect pluralism and diversity." The EU opposed a US-proposed bullet on health care services, including reproductive services, citing the inappropriateness of such detail at this point. In the sixth bullet, delegates accepted a G-77 and China reformulation of the Canadian call for a stable legal framework and for promoting democracy. The Holy See and the G-77 and China"s eighth bullet proposal for a strengthened family role, coupled with a US amendment to refer to the family in all its forms, provoked a heated debate. Argentina quoted related language from the ICPD document, but the EU objected. The Norwegian and G-77 and China proposals to refer to health care in the ninth bullet were expanded to "health care services," as proposed by the US. The US, supported by the G-77 and China, reformulated the Holy See"s text: "public policies that empower people to enjoy good health and productivity throughout their lives."
PART A: A FAVOURABLE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT
PARAGRAPH 9: (promoting trade employment) The US referred to "broad- based" sustained economic growth and non-discriminatory and rule-based trade. The EU, supported by China, said that rule-based trade must be multilateral. China added the word "open." The G-77 and China added "global sustained economic growth," which was accepted language from the UN Second Committee. The US bracketed "global." The G-77 and China, supported by the EU, said that the original "requires" is preferable. Canada withdrew its amendment of "and/or international level." The US wanted to substitute "non-discriminatory" for "equitable" in the new (a) of the G-77 and China. There were no objections to "sound and stable" in the original (a).
Switzerland, supported by the EU and the G-77 and China, said that consistency of sectoral policies with macroeconomic policies was important. The EU, the US, and Japan favored the present text on poverty reduction. The G-77 and China preferred its own amendments. Algeria cautioned against backsliding vis-…-vis the General Assembly. The G-77 and China said (a)(bis) should be in the employment chapter. The EU and the US disagreed.
The US supported Japan"s proposal to replace language on the Uruguay Round with "implementing the WTO agreement faithfully." In 9(d) (reducing volatile interest rates), the US, supported by the EU, replaced this subparagraph with: "Encourage national and international policies to promote stability in financial markets." The G-77 and China had a new formulation dealing with coordinating macroeconomic policies at the national, subregional, regional, and international levels to reduce volatility of exchange and interest rates. The US objected. All the versions of the paragraph were bracketed. In 9 (new g) (SIDS), the US requested a reference to the SIDS Programme of Action.
PARAGRAPH 10: In 10(a) (reduction of debt burden), the G-77 and China could not accept Canada"s amendment to "reduce and/or eliminate debt burden on a case-by-case basis." In 10(b) bis (sustainable consumption patterns), the US added "curbing consumption and production patterns in all nations."
PARAGRAPH 11:In paragraph 11(c) (implementing development strategies), the US suggested alternative language: "working in partnership to ensure the implementation of the measures." In 11(d) (increasing ODA), the EU agreed with the target of 0.7% of GNP for ODA reached as soon as possible.
PARAGRAPH 12: In 12(a) (opening market opportunities), the Canadian proposal to replace "the poor" by "people living in poverty" was accepted. In 12(b) (functioning of markets), the US reacted strongly to regulating markets.