Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations
and economics for what the Charter refers to as "social progress and better standards of life", which came to be called "development"), and also with different political philosophies (liberalismfor human rights, and various degrees and forms of dirigisme and socialism for development), and with different clients and constituencies (lawyers and Western States for human rights, and developing countries with the help of NGOs and the occasional tactical support of the Soviet Union for development). The promotion of economic and social advancement, or development, became a global cause, strengthened by the provision of substantial resources and the creation of a number of funds and programmes. Human rights activities, associated with the political units of the Secretariat in Geneva, drew the open hostility or suspicion of a majority of the membership of the United Nations and barely survived. With development occupying centre stage as an apanage of economics, those who were preoccupied with the distribution of the benefits of economic growth, including Member States with social democrat or socialist leanings, NGOs often of Christian origin, and members of the Secretariat with similar inclinations, worked to develop or identify relevant concepts, rallying political mottos and other ways to place "people" at the centre of the debate and of the International Development Strategies that were being drawn up. Social development, with its two main components of social participation and social justice, was one of these concepts. In connection with developing countries, in particular, social justice became identified with questions of the distribution of income and wealth, the distribution of opportunities for work and employment, and the distribution of opportunities for access to social services, especially education and health. With the identification of specific issues of distribution, the notion of equity gained substance and relevance, and the pursuit of growth with equity became a widely accepted objective of development. The work undertaken to promote development, growth and equity, both at Headquarters and in the field (through technical assistance and other forms of development cooperation in the latter case), proceeded as if the Universal Declaration and its covenants did not address the same issues in the form of rights, an example being the right of everyone to enjoy "a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family" (article 25, para. 1). In another example, studies were undertaken on the respective merits of general education and technical training, and relevant resolutions were adopted by the Economic and Social Council, with no acknowledgement of article 26, para. 2, of the Declaration, which states that "education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality". Similarly, the work on human rights proceeded as if the work on development did not exist. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, established by the Economic and Social Council in 198524to monitor the implementation by States parties of the InternationalCovenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which entered into force in 1976,25produced an abundance of reports with a wealth of