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IN THE CORRIDORS III

<$TSpInterLn=1383>As delegates move towards final adoption of the Platform for Action, many are evaluating the gains and losses that this newest UN conference document represents in the ongoing international discussion on issues related to development, equality and peace. NGOs applaud some of the language related to the macro-economic environment, especially the acknowledgment of multilateral debt problems outside the least developing countries and of the negative impacts of Structural Adjustment Programmes. The text that was agreed on Wednesday regarding accounting of unremunerated work was viewed as an improvement over Copenhagen language, calling for "full visibility of the type, extent and distribution" of this work. Human rights references, however, are said to be weaker in some respects than those in Vienna. The language related to respect for cultural and religious values is seen by many as weakening the assertions of the universality of human rights. New recognition of the need to protect human rights activists, by contrast, has been welcomed as an advance on Vienna commitments.