Fancourt Commonwealth Declaration
on Globalisation and People-Centred Development
In today's world, no country if untouched by the
forces of globalisation. Our destinies are linked
together as never before. The challenge is to seize
the oppotunities opened up by glob alisation while
minimising its risks.
On the positive side, globalisation is creating
unprecedented opportunities for wealth creation
and for the betterment of the human condition. Reduced
barriers to trade and enhanced capital flows are
fuelling economic growth.
The revolution in communications technologies is
shrinking the distance between nations, providing
new opportunities for the transfer of knowledge
and the development of skills-based industries.
And technological advance globally offers great
potential for the eradication of poverty.
But the benefits of globalisation are not shared
equitably. Prosperity remains the preserve of the
few. Despite the progress of the past fifty years,
half the world's population lives on less than two
US Dollars per day. Many millions live in conditions
of extreme deprivation. The poor are being marginalised.
Expanded capital flows have also brought with them
the risk of greater financial instability, undermining
the hope that a commitment to open markets can lift
the developing world, especially the least developed
countries, out of poverty and debt.
The persistence of poverty and human deprivation
diminishes us all. It also makes global peace and
security fragile, limits the growth of markets,
and forces millions to migrate in search of a better
life. It constitutes a deep and fundamental structural
flaw in the world economy.
The greatest challenge therefore facing us today
is how to channel the forces of globalisation for
the elimination of poverty and the empowerment of
human beings to lead fulfilling lives.
The solution does not lie in abandoning a commitment
to market principles or in wishing away the powerful
forces of technological change. Globalisation is
a reality and can only increase in its impact. But
if the benefits of globalisation are to be shared
more widely, there must be greater equity for countries
in global markets.
We call on all nations fully to implement the Uruguay
Round commitments to dismantle barriers to trade
for the mutual benefit of all. Moreover, recognising
in particular the significant contribution that
enhanced export opportunities can make for reducing
poverty, we call for improved market access for
the exports of all countries, particularly developing
countries, and the removal of all barriers to the
exports of the least developed countries.
Strong export growth remains a key element in the
ability of developing countries to improve their
living standards to the levels enjoyed in the industrialised
world. We support efforts that would enable developing
countries to build up their skills and manufacturing
capacities, including the production and export
of value-added goods, so as to enhance growth and
achieve prosperity.
Likewise, we urge that the forthcoming Ministerial
Meeting of WTO to launch the next round of global
negotiations on trade be one with a pronounced developmental
dimension, with the aim of achieving better market
access in agriculture, industrial products and services
in a way that provides benefits to all members,
particularly developing countries. The Round should
be balanced in process, content and outcome.
We fully believe in the importance of upholding
labour standards and protecting the environment.
But these must be addressed in an appropriate way
that does not, by linking them to trade liberalisation,
end up effectively impeding free trade and causing
injustice to developing countries.
We also call on the global community to establish
innovative mechanisms to promote capital flows to
a wider number of countries; and to urgently initiate
reform of international financial architecture to
minimise financial instability and its impact on
the poor.
We believe that the elimination of poverty is achievable
- but only if we take determined and concerted action
at national and international levels. We reiterate
our commitment to work for a reversal of the decline
in official development assistance flows. Urgent
action is also required to tackle the unsustainable
debt burden of developing countries, particularly
the poorest, building on the recent initiatives
agreed internationally. We believe such development
assistance must be focused on human development,
poverty reduction and on the development of capacities
for participating in expanding world markets for
goods and capital. Above all, we recognise the responsibilities
of national governments to promote pro-poor policies
and human development.
If the poor and the vulnerable are to be at the
centre of development, the process must be participatory,
in which they have a voice. We believe that the
spread of democratic freedoms and good governance,
and access to education, training and health care
are key to the expansion of human capabilities,
and to the banishment of ignorance and prejudice.
Recognising that good governance and economic progress
are directly linked, we affirm our commitment to
the pursuit of greater transparency, accountability,
the rule of law and the elimination of corruption
in all spheres of public life and in the private
sector.
We are concerned at the vast gap between rich and
poor in the ability to access the new technologies,
at the concentration of the world's research resources
in market-driven products and processes, the increasing
tendency to claim proprietary rights on traditional
knowledge, and at bio-piracy. We call on the world
community to use the opportunities offered by globalisation
for adopting practical measures for overcoming these
challenges; for example, by extending the benefits
of global medical research through the provision
of drugs at affordable prices to the poor in developing
countries.
We welcome the spread of ideas, information and
knowledge in building civil support for social equality,
and in opposing all forms of discrimination and
other injustices based on ethnicity, gender, race
and religion. But, while better communications have
increased human contact, there is for some a growing
sense of social exclusion and a general failure
of moral purpose. Persistence of inequalities faced
by women, continued high levels of youth unemployment,
lack of adequate support systems for the aged, children
and the disabled in many parts of the world and
increased threats to the diversity of cultures and
beliefs all contribute to the undermining of just
and stable society. We therefore call for a renewed
commitment to eliminate all forms of discrimination
and to take measures that promote respect for the
diverse languages, cultures and beliefs, and traditions
of the world, which enrich all our lives.
Recognising that the full exploitation of the opportunities
for development created by globalisation is not
possible without security, political stability and
peace, we commit ourselves, in partnership with
civil society, to promote processes that help to
prevent or resolve conflicts in a peaceful manner,
support measures that help to stabilise post-conflict
situations, and combat terrorism of all kinds.
Good governance requires inclusive and participatory
processes at both national and international levels.
We call on the global community to search for inclusive
processes of multilateralism which give amore effective
voice in the operations of international institutions
to developing countries, and which recognise the
particular vulnerabilities of small states.
We believe that the Commonwealth, an association
of diverse sovereign nations reflecting different
stages of development and united by common values,
has a vital role to play in promoting consensus
at national and international levels and in providing
practical assistance for the creation of capacities
needed to promote people-centred development. At
the threshold of a new millennium, we look to the
Commonwealth, and its family of organisations, to
contribute significantly to making the above aspirations
a reality.
Fancourt
George, South Africa
14 November 1999
