STATEMENT BY THE HONORABLE ALVARO TIRADO MEJÍA
AMBASSADOR OF COLOMBIA IN SPECIAL MISSION, ON BEHALF OF THE MEMBER COUNTRIES OF THE RIO GROUP


AGENDA ITEMS 103 AND 104:
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT FOLLOW-UP TO THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF OLDER PERSONS

New York, 26 September 2000

Madam Chair, The delegation of Colombia has the honor to take the floor in this Committee, in its capacity as Pro-Tempore Secretariat of the Rio Group, which is the principal mechanism for political concertation in our region of Latin America and which is comprised of the following countries: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela and Guyana, on behalf of the member countries of Caricom.

Let me express, Madam Chair, how pleased the Rio Group is to see you, a representative of our region, presiding over the work of the Third Committee. We are confident that under your leadership, we will give genuine substance to our debates and successfully conclude the tasks which our Governments have entrusted to us. May I also, through you, Madam Chair, extend our congratulations and best wishes for success to the other members of the Bureau. I would also like, on behalf of the Group, to thank the Secretary-General and, in particular, the Social Development Division of the Secretariat, for the reports which they have prepared for the session, documents which will be a useful guide for the work that we have before us. Madam Chair, This year has been one of special significance for the international community in the field of social development. Last June, the General Assembly held its twenty-fourth special session, entitled "World Summit for Social Development and beyond: achieving social development for all in a globalizing world", which renewed the political commitment of the States Members of the United Nations to the agreements reached at the Social Summit in Copenhagen, and decided on new initiatives for their effective implementation. This was an important task in towards a greater humanization of the phenomenon of globalization and requires that we continue our efforts to incorporate into our national and multilateral policies the objectives of the Social Summit. The countries members of the Rio Group actively participated in that Summit because we are convinced that it is essential to place people at the center of economic and social policies as the only possible means of achieving development with equity, in other words, development that reaches everyone and which does not leave behind any member of our societies. In this connection, the XIV Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Rio Group, held last June in Cartegena, Colombia, reaffirmed the commitment of the countries members of the Group to the human dimension of development, that is, the commitment that economic growth should contribute to a reduction in inequalities and a reduction in the high levels of poverty that still exist in our societies. In order to achieve the above objective, our Governments have also undertaken the commitment to allocate adequate resources to the social sector and for the development of human capital and adequate formulas are being sought to increase the rates of growth and the productivity of our economies.

Nevertheless, Madam Chair, in a globalized and interdependent world, such as the one in which we are now living, it is not enough to have the will and determination of a group of countries to eliminate poverty and achieve development. What is also needed, Madam Chair, are high levels of international cooperation, transparent access to markets and fair and just rules for international trade that would remove the protectionist measures which, regrettably, some of our partners in the developed world still maintain, particularly in the agricultural sector. The subsidies and domestic subventions that are maintained in some industrialized countries must be definitively removed in order to permit loyal competition from the products of the developing countries, whose exports help to create jobs and improve the social conditions of their peoples. Madam Chair, For the member countries of the Rio Group, it is essential to move from words to action. We all know what to do and what are the barriers to social development. What is needed is to definitively remove those barriers. If democracy, good government, the end to corruption, education and health for all are the recipes in the domestic sphere, access to markets, fair rules for trade and a reduction in the external debt are required in the international spheres. Our group reiterates here its commitment to continue to work towards this end.

Madam Chair, In the first part of this statement, the Rio Group expressed its general views on the efforts that are needed to improve the living conditions of our peoples, but our agenda for this year also includes a specific aspect on which the United Nations has quite correctly decided to focus attention. I refer to the "International Year of Older Persons", a subject on which we will now comment. For a long time, the western hemisphere has been referred to as a New World and was indeed noted for having a large young population, which ensured in some way the adequate maintenance of our older persons who deservedly retired from the productive stage of their lives. However, current figures for our region indicate that while the under 15 age group of the popultation is growing at a rate of 0.2%, the population aged 65 years and over is growing by 3%. The reasons for this aging of our population are diverse. Mention has been made of aspects such as the progress of medicine, improved living conditions, scientific and technological advances and the declining birth rates. Whatever the reasons may be, as the report of the Secretary General states, demographic projections have sounded the alarm for the contents of our social policies and point to the need for us to assess the impact of aging of the population on the sustainability of our economies. We must take into consideration, for instance, that in many of our countries the "extended family" continues to provide a protective network and social cohesion, notwithstanding increasing urbanization and the reconfiguration of the nuclear family. In the countries members of the Rio Group, programs are being carried out today for older adults, and care is always taken to take them into account in the elaboration of public policies. However, as in many other areas, international cooperation and the commitment of the international organizations are essential in order to effectively address the issue of aging. Consequently, the Rio Group supports the call to hold the second World Assembly on Aging in Madrid, Spain, in April 2002. Reviewing and tailoring the International Plan of Action on Aging to meet the new challenges will be a vital step in efforts to effectively address the problems of older adults. The countries members of the Group are naturally committed to participate actively in the preparations for the Second Conference so that its results would constitute an effective contribution to Governments in a field that is of increasing concern to our Governments.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.