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Annan Responds to World Council of Churches Rebuke - UN Secretary General - Global Policy Forum Annan Responds to World Council
of Churches RebukeBy Gustavo Capdevila
Inter Press Service
July 6, 2000
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said a report on poverty that drew heavy criticism from civil society was not ''a policy document but a compendium of desireable targets and objectives.''
The head of the UN sent a letter to the World Council of Churches (WCC) Tuesday responding to criticism set forth by the organisation's head, Konrad Raiser.
The WCC, which groups 337 Christian churches in more than 100 countries, said the UN secretary-general's response, received at the church group's Geneva headquarters, ''keeps the door open for dialogue.''
WCC media relations officer Karin Achtelstetter said ''we very much appreciate the letter'' from Annan, which she described as ''a very inviting letter for engaging dialogue.''
Last week, Kaiser echoed, in a message to Annan, the ''great astonishment, disappointment and even anger'' reigning among NGOs in response to the report ''A Better World for All''.
The report was presented by Annan on Monday Jun 26, the opening day of the special UN general assembly that met through Saturday Jul 1 in Geneva to assess compliance with the commitments against poverty assumed at the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen.
The controversial poverty report was drawn up by the UN in conjunction with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) -- three institutions controlled by the world's wealthiest nations.
The report sets a 2015 deadline for cutting poverty in the world, which it says will be brought about by globalisation, the freeing up of trade and investment in developing countries.
Raiser stated in his letter that ''the consternation of these civil society representatives, and a good many of the government delegates as well, was aroused by your participation in what amounted to a propaganda exercise for international finance institutions.''
Martin Khor, with the Third World Network, one of the NGOs that lashed out against the report, criticised Annan's ''willingness to cooperate with the institutions that are the culprits'' in the poverty equation.
In response to Kaiser, Annan said ''the report contains our targets and objectives; these are the aims of the United Nations, as expressed at Copenhagen and elsewhere.''
The international financial institutions, ''our partner organisations, now express their support (for these aims) as well. It would be truly ironic if, after years of trying to get them to do so, we were now not to accept their 'yes' as an answer.''
The crux of Annan's argument was his assertion that the report was not a policy document, but a ''compendium of desireable targets and objectives.'' ''And while all the co-sponsoring organisations now agree on the objectives, there may well continue to be differences among them regarding how best to achieve them,'' he added.
With respect to the organisation that groups the world's industrialised nations, Annan said ''it is my hope that the participation of the OECD in the 'Better World for All' initiative represents a renewed commitment by the donor community to live up to its commitments and responsibilities.''
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