A declaration was adopted Thursday at an international symposium
on official development assistance (ODA), stressing that
development must advance social justice and equitable development
must reach vulnerable groups like women and children.
The Suzhou Declaration, ratified at the International Symposium
on ODA for Population and Development, emphasizes the "universal"
and "indispensable" right to development for all people, saying
human beings are central to sustainable development and priority
must be given to investment in human capital, particularly in
education and health services.
It says that the benefits of globalization have been unevenly
distributed, leading to widening gaps between the rich and poor,
between the developed and developing countries, and between
different regions within countries and over one billion extremely
poor people.
The declaration calls on governments to formulate national
strategies and assistance programs to ensure equitable development
to reach vulnerable groups such as women, children, the elderly and
migrants. "Programs should empower such groups, increase their
capacity for decision making and self-management, guarantee their
access to equal services without discrimination, and ensure their
participation in formulating, implementing and supervising social
policies."
It highlights that gender equality and the empowerment of women
are essential to achieving sustainable development, calling for
increased resources for women's programs.
Serious efforts must, says the declaration, be made to challenge
traditional concepts about gender roles, raise women's awareness of
their rights and their potential for self-development, address
gender-based violence and promote women's equal participation in
managing family, community and state affairs, at all stages of
decision making and implementation.
Governments should also incorporate women's empowerment and
gender equality concerns into the criteria for formulating and
evaluating social development programs, it says.
The Oct. 26-28 symposium, held in Suzhou, capital of east
China's Jiangsu
Province, with over 200 Chinese and foreign officials and
scholars participating, reconfirmed the consensus on development
reached at the World Summit marking the 60th anniversary of the
United Nations in September.
(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2005)