Commission for Social Development

Fifty-fifth session, 1-10 February 2017

Item 3(a) Priority theme: Strategies for eradicating poverty to achieve sustainable development for all

Statement by the Triglav Circle[1]

Thank you Chairperson,

The Triglav Circle was founded by participants in a seminar convened by the United Nations during the preparation of the 1995 World Summit for Social Development. The subject of this seminar was Ethical and Spiritual Dimensions of Social Progress.

In the Copenhagen Declaration, heads of State or Government (117 of them) acknowledged “that our societies must respond more effectively to the material and spiritual needs of individuals, their families and the communities in which they live.”[2] And, the first commitment they made was “to the goal of eradicating poverty in the world, through decisive national actions and international cooperation, as an ethical, social, political and economic imperative of humankind.”[3]

Some thirty years later, the need for such holistic approach to world issues is greater than ever. Policies are realistic and effective only if they integrate the non-material and non-measurable dimensions of Man and society. Allow me to illustrate this need with two observations.

First, strategies for eradicating “poverty in all its forms everywhere”, as stated in Goal 1 of the Agenda for 2030 ought to address not only extreme poverty, or deprivation, identified by the lack of the basic requirements for a decent and dignified life –be it income, lodging or access to public services. They ought to be integrated with strategies for reducing inequalities. This is the case in the Copenhagen Declaration and Plan of Action. Not in the SDGs: Goal 10 is, hierarchically and substantively, separated from Goal 1.

In addition, the same strategies ought to include forms of non-material poverty which are growing rapidly in many countries, perhaps especially the most affluent. Their sources are related but not reducible to issues of economic and financial distribution and redistribution. They are also political, moral and cultural. A sentiment of alienation, of exclusion, wound the spirit of those who have no control over changes and decisions that affect their lives. Social fragmentation, at the national and global levels, follows, and with it come enormous risks of conflicts and violence. The Copenhagen text has a commitment on social integration addressing facets of these non-material forms of poverty. Goal 16 of the Agenda for 2030 touches upon them.

In the Report of the Secretary-General before us, there is a commendable attempt to treat together reduction of poverty and reduction of inequality. We hope that this first step will be encouraged by this Commission.

The second observation is that policies to implement the goals of reducing poverty and protecting the environment have, in our view, limited chances of being successful if not based on a philosophy of  love and respect for nature. When we think “environment” we place ourselves outside Nature. When we think “nature” we place ourselves within Nature and the Universe. We are, obviously, at the center of the Earth, of “our” limited parcel of Nature, but we are part of it. This shift of perspective, entirely compatible with a renewed humanism, would have enormous practical consequences. Economic considerations, while obviously critical, would be secondary to ecological concerns. Science, while indispensable, would be only one of the sources of knowledge and inspiration. Technology, while nurtured as one of the expressions of human creativity, would be put at the service of the common good.

This holistic view of humankind and nature is a central part of the “change of course” that Pope Francis so convincingly advocate in his Encyclical Letter Laudato Si. Together with the placing of profit second to employment, or the downgrading of competition in the scale of individual and societal values that shape the spirit of our time, it is put into practice by a growing number of persons, communities, even cities and regions. Such remarkable and indispensable initiatives  will remain tragically insufficient if not complemented by national governments and international institutions. Notably, the goal of ensuring sustainable patterns of consumption and production (Goal 12, already present in the Copenhagen Declaration) should be at the center of all policies.

At this point, the role of the Commission for Social Development in the review of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals seems to us rather uncertain. We hope to be proven wrong, for there are very few intergovernmental forums open for debates on the sort of issues we have the privilege to raise today.

Thank you for your kind attention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Statement delivered by Charles Courtney and delivered by Jacques Baudot

[2] Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development, para. 3

[3] Ibid, Commitment 1, para.29