Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations
inequality in the distribution of wealth and more equitable distribution of the benefits of economic growth within and among nations" (para. 5).31Incorporated in the commentary on further actions and initiatives under Commitment 9 are a number of recommendations on the mobilization of resources for development at the national and international levels that amplify those adopted in Copenhagen. It is suggested, for instance, that action be taken to explore "ways to combat the use of tax shelters and tax havens that undermine national tax systems" (para. 142 (c))and "ways and means of promoting the micro- and small enterprise sector whereby it becomes a possible vehicle for a new development model" (para. 142 (h)). Alluding to the Tobin tax and other proposals for levying taxes at the international or global level, one of the recommendations advocates "conducting a rigorous analysis of advantages, disadvantages and other implications of proposals for developing new and innovative sources of funding, both public and private, for dedication to social development and poverty eradication programmes" (para. 142 (g)).However, in terms of monitoring these renewed commitments and recommendations, the Assembly could only agree to "request the Economic and Social Council to assess regularly, through the Commission for Social Development, the further implementation of the Copenhagen commitments and the outcome of the special session, not excluding the possibility of bringing together, at the appropriate time, all parties involved to evaluate progress and to consider new initiatives" (para. 156). Every year since the World Summit for Social Development was held, the Commission for Social Development has examined a particular issue and submitted its conclusions to the Economic and Social Council. There, the specific priorities and overall message that emerged from the Copenhagen Summit and from the special session in Geneva have tended to disappear into the integrated treatment of all world conferences. The General Assembly also includes an item on the World Summit in its agenda and adopts routine resolutions every year. In 2005, ten years after the World Summit, the Commission for Social Development struggled to produce and was able to ensure the adoption, by consensus, of a short declaration3*essentially reaffirming that the Copenhagen and Geneva texts "constitute the basic framework for the promotion of social development for all at the national and international levels" (para. 1). There has been no real initiative to "bring together ... all parties involved"; if, in the ten years since Copenhagen, an "appropriate time" for action has not yet presented itself, the obvious conclusion would be that for the membership of the United Nations, the commitments made at the World Summit for Social Development no longer constitute a source of inspiration and decision-if indeed they ever did.
5.5 The focus on poverty eradication Those representing what might be called the mainstream thinking in the United Nations would contend that the above is not entirely true, arguing that the commitment