Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations
Second, consistent with the emphasis on people, section Ill of the Declaration focuses on development and poverty eradication. The right to development is mentioned, but its application for "everyone" and to "the entire human race" suggests that it is regarded more as an individual and collective right than a right of nations. Reference is made to the "abject and dehumanizing conditions" endured by billions of "our fellow men, women and children" in extreme poverty. There is no mention of the distribution of income and wealth among countries or of the various gaps that separate developed from developing countries. It is stressed that development will depend first on "good governance within each country" but also on "good governance at the international level and on transparency in the financial, monetary and trading systems". The multilateral trading and financial system must be "open, equitable, rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory". The special needs of least developed countries are addressed in this section, and industrialized developed countries are called upon to undertake various measures for their benefit, including (a) the cancellation of bilateral debt "in return for their making demonstrable commitments to poverty reduction" and (b) the granting of "more generous development assistance", again, "especially to countries that are genuinely making an effort to apply their resources to poverty r e d u ~ t i o n " . ~ ~ Third, and most importantly, the eighth Millennium Development G~al*~--to"develop a global partnership for developmentM-is perfectly representative of the "new deal" or "new global contract" between developed and developing countries. Within the framework of this Goal, which is the only one directly pertaining to international development cooperation, specific attention is to be given to the creation of an open, rule-based, predictable, and non-discriminatorytrading and financial system; the special needs of least developed, landlocked and small island developing States; the debt issue; and cooperation with the private sector to provide access to affordable essential drugs and information and communication technologies. In addition, strategies aimed at providing youth with opportunities for decent and productive work are to be developed and implemented in cooperation with developing countries. Associated with the various dimensions of Goal 8 are 16 indicators for monitoring progress that relate to ODA provision, market access, debt sustainability, youth unemployment, and access to essential drugs, telephone lines, personal computers and the Internet. These texts, especially the Millennium Development Goals, have become very much a part of the international discourse and have even found their way into the national political debates of both developed and developing countries, and into the board discussions and policies of the World Bank, the regional development banks and the IMF. Even the WTO, notorious for its lack of interest in the development activities and pronouncements of the United Nations, has expressed its commitment to the realization of the Goals. This interest and approval has not been limited to official circles and the political establishment; civil society organizations have