The General Assembly,
 
      Recalling its resolutions 46/139 of 17 December 1991, 47/92 of 16
December 1992, 48/100 of 20 December 1993 and 50/161 of 22 December 1995,
 
      Recalling also resolution 50/227 of 24 May 1996 on the restructuring and
revitalization of the United Nations in the economic, social and related
fields,
 
      Recalling further Economic and Social Council decision 1991/230 of 30
May 1991, resolutions 1992/27 of 30 July 1992, 1995/60 of 28 July 1995, 1996/7
of 22 July 1996 and 1996/36 of 26 July 1996, and agreed conclusions 1995/1 of
28 July 1995 and 1996/1 of 26 July 1996,
 
      1.    Reaffirms the commitments adopted by heads of State and Government
contained in the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the
Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social Development and their
pledge to give the highest priority to national, regional and international
policies and actions for the promotion of social progress, justice and the
betterment of the human condition, based on full participation by all;
 
      2.    Recognizes the necessity to create a framework for action to place
people at the centre of development and direct economies to meet human needs
more effectively;
 
      3.    Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on the
implementation of the outcome of the Summit;
 
      4.    Emphasizes that economic development, social development and
environmental protection are interdependent and mutually reinforcing
components of sustainable development;
 
      5.    Stresses the need for renewed and massive political will at the
national and international levels to invest in people and their well-being to
achieve the objectives of social development;
 
      6.    Emphasizes that democracy, respect for all human rights and
fundamental freedoms, transparent and accountable governance and
administration in all sectors of society, as well as effective participation
by civil society, are indispensable foundations for the realization of social
and people-centred sustainable development;
 
      7.    Stresses that social development is clearly linked to the
development of peace, freedom, stability and security, both nationally and
internationally;
 
       National action and international cooperation for social development
 
      8.    Stresses that social development and the implementation of the
Programme of Action of the Summit are primarily the responsibility of
Governments, while recognizing that international cooperation and assistance
are essential for their full implementation;
 
      9.    Notes with satisfaction the initiatives and actions taken by
Governments towards the implementation of the commitments of the Summit,
including, inter alia, the launching of initiatives to eradicate poverty, the
review and reformulation of existing social policies and laws based on an
integrated approach to social development, the organization of seminars and
conferences and the establishment of national focal points, and urges
Governments that have not yet done so to establish appropriate national
follow-up mechanisms;
 
      10.   Reiterates its call to Governments to define time-bound goals and
targets for reducing overall poverty and eradicating absolute poverty,
expanding employment and reducing unemployment, and enhancing social
integration, within each national context;
 
      11.   Urges national Governments to formulate or strengthen
comprehensive cross-sectoral strategies for implementing the Summit outcome
and national strategies for social development;
 
      12.   Acknowledges the key role of developing country actors and
institutions in creating and implementing effective programmes to maximize the
positive impact of investments in social development;
 
      13.   Reiterates the call of the Summit for Governments to assess on a
regular basis national progress towards implementing the outcome of the
Summit, possibly in the form of periodic national reports outlining successes,
problems and obstacles, and encourages Governments to submit such information
on a voluntary basis to the Commission for Social Development;
 
      14.   Expresses its solidarity with people living in poverty in all
countries, and reaffirms that the satisfaction of basic human needs is an
essential element of poverty eradication, those needs being closely
interrelated and comprising nutrition, health, water and sanitation,
education, employment, housing and participation in cultural and social life;
 
      15.   Reaffirms the need to strengthen, in a spirit of partnership,
international, regional and subregional cooperation for social development and
implementing the outcome of the Summit;
 
      16.   Calls on all Governments and the United Nations system, in
particular the relevant funds, programmes and agencies, to promote an active
and visible policy of mainstreaming a gender perspective and to use gender
analysis as a tool for the integration of a gender dimension into the planning
and implementation of policies, strategies and programmes on social
development;
 
                        Mobilization of financial resources
 
      17.   Recognizes that the implementation of the Declaration and
Programme of Action will require the mobilization of financial resources at
the national and international levels, as set out in commitments 8 and 9 of
the Declaration and paragraphs 87 to 93 of the Programme of Action;
 
      18.   Invites Governments to contribute to the Trust Fund for the
Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development to finance programmes,
seminars and activities in support of the implementation of the Declaration
and Programme of Action;
 
      19.   Recognizes that the implementation of the Declaration and
Programme of Action in developing countries, in particular in Africa and the
least developed countries, will need additional financial resources and more
effective development cooperation and assistance;
 
      20.   Stresses the need for all countries to develop economic policies
to promote and mobilize domestic savings and attract external resources for
productive investment, and to seek innovative sources of funding, both public
and private, for social programmes, while ensuring their effective
utilization, and in the budgetary process, to ensure transparency and
accountability in the use of public resources, and to give priority to
providing and improving basic social services;
 
      21.   Welcomes the recent initiatives of the Bretton Woods institutions,
including the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Debt Initiative, and the ongoing
process at the international level regarding debt relief, as appropriate, for
developing countries, and calls upon the international community, including
international financial institutions, to implement fully and effectively all
initiatives that will contribute to a durable solution of the debt problems of
developing countries, in particular African countries and the least developed
countries, and thus support their efforts to achieve social development;
 
      22.   Stresses the importance of encouraging national initiatives for
social development, including, inter alia, credit for people living in
poverty, particularly women, along the model of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh
in connection with self-employment and income-generation to address the
feminization of poverty, and notes with interest the microcredit summit to be
held in Washington, D.C., in February 1997;
 
      23.   Takes note of the efforts of the World Bank and the International
Monetary Fund to incorporate social development into their policies and
programmes and urges the Secretary-General, in cooperation with the World
Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other multilateral development
institutions, to continue to study the impact of structural adjustment
programmes on economic and social development and to assist adjusting
countries in creating conditions for economic growth, job creation, poverty
eradication and social development;
 
      24.   Reaffirms the urgent need for the international community to
strive for the fulfilment of the agreed target of 0.7 per cent of the gross
national product of developed countries for overall official development
assistance as soon as possible, an increase in the share of funding for social
development programmes commensurate with the scope and scale of activities
required to achieve the objectives and goals of the Copenhagen Declaration on
Social Development and the Programme of Action of the World Summit for Social
Development;
 
      25.   Endorses Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/48 of 26 July
1996 on new and innovative ideas for generating funds, in which, inter alia,
the Council decided that funds generated by new and innovative ideas should
not substitute for official development assistance, that they should be
distinct from funding the regular budget and the peacekeeping budget of the
United Nations, and should be part of global partnership and interdependence
and that the role of private investment in financing development should be
stressed;
 
      26.   Reaffirms the importance of agreeing on a mutual commitment
between interested developed and developing country partners to allocate, on
average, 20 per cent of official development assistance and 20 per cent of the
national budget, respectively, to basic social programmes, and takes note with
appreciation of the outcome of the meeting held at Oslo from 23 to 25 April
1996, which reaffirmed that promoting access for all to basic social services
was essential for sustainable development and should be an integral part of
any strategy to overcome poverty;
 
      27.   Recognizes the necessity of providing appropriate technical
cooperation and other forms of assistance to the countries with economies in
transition, as set out in the provisions of the Declaration and Programme of
Action;
 
                   Involvement of civil society and other actors
 
      28.   Reaffirms the need for effective partnership and cooperation
between Governments and the relevant actors of civil society, the social
partners, the major groups as defined in Agenda 21, including non-governmental
organizations and the private sector, in the implementation of and follow-up
to the Declaration and Programme of Action, and for ensuring their involvement
in the planning, elaboration, implementation and evaluation of social policies
at the national level;
 
      29.   Encourages non-governmental organizations to participate in the
work of the Commission for Social Development, in accordance with Economic and
Social Council resolution 1996/31 of 25 July 1996 and decision 1996/315 of 14
November 1996, and in the implementation process related to the Summit to the
maximum extent possible;
 
                       The role of the United Nations system
 
      30.   Takes note of Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/7, by
which it decided that the Commission for Social Development, as a functional
commission of the Council, shall have the primary responsibility for the
follow-up to and review of the implementation of the Summit and decided to
enlarge the membership of the Commission from thirty-two to forty-six and to
annualize its meetings;
 
      31.   Takes note also of the decision of the Council on a new structure
of the agenda and multi-year programme of work of the Commission for the years
1997-2000, with "Follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development" as its
substantive item, incorporating also the review of relevant United Nations
plans and programmes of action pertaining to the situation of social groups;
 
      32.   Takes note further of the decision of the Council on the revised
method of work of the Commission, including the formation of panels of
experts; 
 
      33.   Invites Governments to support the work of the Commission,
including through the participation of high-level representatives on social
development issues and policies;
 
      34.   Reaffirms that the Council will provide overall guidance and
oversee system-wide coordination in the implementation of the Summit outcome
and make recommendations in this regard;
 
      35.   Welcomes Economic and Social Council agreed conclusions 1996/1 on
coordination of the United Nations system activities for poverty eradication
and calls for their implementation by all organizations of the United Nations
system;
 
      36.   Welcomes Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/36, in which
it decided to continue to ensure, on a regular basis, the harmonization and
coordination of the multi-year work programmes of relevant functional
commissions by promoting a clear division of labour among them and providing
clear policy guidance to them;
 
      37.   Renews its call to all relevant organs, organizations and bodies
of the United Nations system to be involved in the follow-up to the Summit,
and invites specialized agencies and related organizations of the United
Nations system to strengthen and adjust their activities, programmes and
medium-term strategies, as appropriate, to take into account the follow-up to
the Summit;
 
      38.   Invites the Administrator of the United Nations Development
Programme to continue, as a contribution, inter alia, to the United Nations
Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, the effort launched in 1996 with the
Poverty Strategies Initiative, in order to strengthen assistance in the
elaboration of national plans, programmes and strategies to eradicate poverty
in developing countries, particularly African countries and the least
developed countries, and calls upon all countries to contribute to the
Initiative;
 
      39.   Welcomes the initiative taken by the Administrative Committee on
Coordination to establish inter-agency task forces on follow-up to
international conferences, and emphasizes the importance of continued and
enhanced cooperation and coordination by all relevant organs, organizations
and programmes of the United Nations system and the specialized agencies in
the implementation of the programmes of action that emerged from the Summit
and other recent United Nations conferences;
 
      40.   Requests the Administrative Committee on Coordination to report to
the Economic and Social Council on the outcome of the work of those task
forces and on future inter-agency coordination on the implementation by the
United Nations system of the outcome of the Summit;
 
      41.   Takes note of the initiatives taken by the regional commissions in
the implementation of the outcome of the Summit, and urges their continued
involvement and support in the promotion of the implementation of the
objectives of the Summit at the regional and subregional levels;
 
      42.   Renews its invitation to the regional commissions, within their
mandates and in cooperation with the regional intergovernmental organizations
and banks, to convene on a biennial basis, a meeting at a high political level
to review the progress made towards implementing the outcome of the Summit, to
exchange views on their respective experiences and to adopt appropriate
measures, and welcomes the offer by the Government of Brazil to host such a
meeting at Sao Paulo in 1997, and welcomes the invitation extended by the
Government of Austria to host a regional follow-up meeting to the Summit at
Vienna at the beginning of 1998;
 
      43.   Reiterates its invitation to the International Labour
Organization, which because of its mandate, tripartite structure and
expertise, has a special role to play in the field of employment and social
development, to continue to contribute to the implementation of the Programme
of Action and to the consideration by the Commission on Social Development of
the theme "Productive employment and sustainable livelihoods" in 1997;
 
      44.   Reiterates its request to the Secretary-General to ensure an
effectively functioning secretariat, within which clear responsibility is
assigned to assist in the implementation of the follow-up to the Summit and
the servicing of the intergovernmental bodies involved, and to continue to
ensure close cooperation at the secretariat level between all the United
Nations entities involved in the Summit follow-up;
 
      Special session of the General Assembly in the year 2000 for an overall
      review and appraisal of the implementation of the outcome of the Summit
 
      45.   Recalls its resolution 50/161, in which it decided to hold a
special session in the year 2000 for an overall review and appraisal of the
implementation of the outcome of the Summit and to consider further actions
and initiatives;
 
      46.   Decides to organize the preparatory process of the special session
on the following basis:
 
      (a)   The Commission for Social Development, as the functional
commission of the Economic and Social Council with the primary responsibility
for follow-up to the World Summit for Social Development, and for review of
the implementation of the Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action, will
undertake work in 1999-2000 for the preparations of the special session, in
accordance with its programme of work as set out in Economic and Social
Council resolution 1996/7;
 
      (b)   A preparatory committee of the whole of the General Assembly is to
be established at its fifty-second session; the committee will hold an
organizational session in 1998; it will initiate its substantive activities in
1999 on the basis of inputs by the Commission for Social Development and the
Economic and Social Council; and it will also take into account contributions
by other relevant organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations
system;
 
      47.   Reaffirms that the follow-up to the Summit will be undertaken on
the basis of an integrated approach to social development and within the
framework of a coordinated follow-up to and implementation of the results of
the major international conferences in the economic, social and related
fields;
 
      48.   Requests the Secretary-General to report on the implementation of
the outcome of the Summit to its fifty-second session;
 
      49.   Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-second
session the item entitled "Implementation of the outcome of the World Summit
for Social Development" and to consider the implications for a more coherent
treatment of related items on its agenda.