Mr. Chairman,
It is a great pleasure for me to address
the Commission for Social Development, of which Sweden as of this year once again is a
member. Let me also express our thanks for the highly interesting and valuable reports of
the Secretary-General prepared for this session. Sweden has a history of strong
commitments to the Commission and has always tried to participate actively in its work.
Its major role in the follow-up activities and implementation of the World Summit for
Social Development in Copenhagen 1995 has given the Commission a still more imperative
responsibility in the work for social development and human well-being for all.
The World Summit constituted a landmark
on placing human centered development as a matter of highest priority both on the national
and international agenda. It also pointed out that there can be no sustainable economic
development without social development. Social development is a base for a stable economic
and political society. Poverty eradication, globalisation, social and economic
development, equality between women and men, and the recognition of the right of the child
cannot be treated as separate issues. They require a concerted response. Sweden strongly
supports the major steps that have been taken in this direction.
The materialization of gender equality in
society is of vital importance when working with social and economic development. Men and
women should be given equal opportunities regarding education, working life and in caring
for children and family.
Sustainable poverty reduction can only be
achieved with the assistance of a strong civil society. It is of great importance to
promote good governance, democracy, human rights and empowerment in the process to
strengthen civil society. A key element in the fulfillment of the Copenhagen Program of
Action is the level of ODA with a primary focus on the least developed countries. Sweden
is concerned about the declining trend of ODA. As you know, Sweden has fulfilled the
agreed ODA target of 0,7%, and we urge other donor countries to implement the target we
all agreed upon.
The follow-up of the Social Summit should
be seen in the context of other UN conferences in the nineties. The impact - and where the
implementation of it has fallen short of expectations - has consequences for all. The
follow-up meetings of UN conferences should note where plans of action coincide,
complement and reinforce each other.
Mr. Chairman,
As pointed out in Copenhagen, the Social
Summit gave an opportunity for reflecting on how well our social policy model meets the
objectives and on whether the means to these ends are being efficiently used. We also
asked ourselves whether the demands being made on the welfare State were different from
those which applied when it was constructed. Were other types of system better suited than
today's for achieving the same type of objective?
At the time of the summit our country was
facing serious problems. We experienced an economic recession and a drastic increase of
open unemployment. The economic crisis that Sweden had to endure during the first half of
the 1990´s raised many doubts inside and outside our country concerning the future
economic viability of our welfare State.
The social effects of the crisis are
obvious. Unemployment is still unacceptably high, higher for women than for men. Like many
other states Sweden accordingly faces an important challenge: to increase employment and
overcome the problem of excessively high unemployment.
Thanks to the efficient reconstruction of
public finances we are now in a stable upward phase. There are clear signs of improved
labor market conditions. With an improved economy it has been possible to increase the
social security benefits. In order to ensure equality between women and men it is
important that we maintain a social insurance system and a tax system that is based on the
individuals and not on the family.
We can now see that the welfare system
managed not only to survive but also to fulfill its basic role of protecting people from
bearing the full burden of adverse economic conditions. In spite of the weak economic
development the income gap has not dramatically increased. However, new crises may occur
and therefore its important to ensure that the welfare state is equipped to deal with
future courses of events.
Mr. Chairman,
Having described the social situation in
more general terms I now wish to draw your attention to the situation of the elderly and
persons with disabilities. This is of course due to the fact that 1999 is the
International Year of Older Persons and to the fact that issues of disabled are given high
priority by Sweden. We are sharing these views with you with the intention for us to learn
more from your experiences.
The aim of Swedish disability policies is
full participation and equality. It is important that all the environments and activities
of the community should be made available to all persons with disabilities.
This approach is of vital importance.
Society must serve all residents properly, including persons with disabilities. The
overall strategy is to provide for the disabled within the frame of the general welfare
model and to avoid special systems. Caring and other services for the persons with
disabilities, in various ways become part of the general welfare model. Sometimes, though,
the practical solutions for the disabled have to be different, and in certain cases the
general system has to be supplemented.
Disabled persons own organizations have
an important part to play in the Swedish disability policy and they receive financial
support from government, county councils and local authorities. As we politicians
constantly have to compromise between different interests and, occasionally, conflicting
needs and wishes, it is tremendously important that the voices of the disabled persons
themselves are included in the continuous discussions.
The UN Standard Rules on Disability have
been extensively used by my country. A number of county councils and local authorities
have prepared or are for the time being drafting policy plans based on these rules. Also
at the national level we are working on new policies, particularly regarding accessibility
in the full sense of the word, such as measures to improve the way persons with
disabilities are received and treated in their daily life.
Policy for the elderly in Sweden is
facing several challenges. In the short term, there are deficiencies in caring services
for the elderly which have to be rectified. In the longer term we will have to adjust our
whole society to a new population structure. The elderly are becoming more numerous, and
in a couple of decades from now, one out of every four inhabitants will be over the age of
65.
Thus there is a need for a broad based
policy for the elderly. Many changes will take a long time to accomplish, therefore it is
important that work should begin here and now. One fundamental concern of policy for the
elderly is to transform attitudes and to enhance respect for older persons. In this regard
we have a lot to learn from other cultures.
A society of solidarity takes good care
of its older members. Good policy for the elderly is characterized by security, quality,
equality and participation. This calls, among other things, for a stable pension system
and efficient caring services for the elderly. Quality is concerned with opportunities for
active, independent living, but also with the people employed in caring services having
good skills and being sufficiently numerous.
My Government is now taking a number of
measures to achieve better care and an active policy for old people. In this work the
ongoing International Year of Older Persons, is providing us with an excellent opportunity
to take concrete actions for the elderly.
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
Permanent
Mission of Sweden to the United Nations