28 May 1987

17th plenary meeting

Social aspects of rural development

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 3201 (S-VI) and 3202 (S-VI) of 1 May 1974, containing the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order, 35/56 of 5 December 1980, containing the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade, and S-13/2 of 1 June 1986, containing the United Nations Programme of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development 1986-1990,

Recalling also General Assembly resolution 2542 (XXIV) of 11 December 1969, containing the Declaration on Social Progress and Development,

Concerned at the reversal of the development process in most developing countries, particularly the rural sectors,

Emphasizing the necessity of intensifying the efforts to implement comprehensive rural development programmes to raise the living standards of the rural population in many countries,

Recognizing that debt-servicing problems constitute a severe and continuing burden that restricts the economic and social development of many developing countries,

Convinced that a major infusion of external resources, effective growth-oriented structural adjustment policies, including effective debt relief, improvement in the terms of trade and an acceleration in the volume of world trade under internationally accepted rules and principles could both speed growth and help reduce poverty and improve living conditions in the developing countries,

1. Agrees that early implementation of the elements for addressing the problems of external indebtedness of developing countries contained in General Assembly resolution 41/202 of 8 December 1986 could significantly contribute to controlling the major deterioration in the social situation of the developing countries, particularly of rural areas, which is described in the supplement to the 1985 Report on the World Social Situation;

2. Invites the appropriate organizations of the United Nations system to incorporate the social dimension of development in their country programmes and to co-ordinate those efforts through the Administrative Committee on Co-ordination;

3. Requests the Secretary-General, in consultation with Governments and within the framework of General Assembly resolution 41/202, to include in the 1989 report on the world social situation a section on the impact of structural adjustment, including debt, on the social development of developing countries;

4. Calls upon Governments to give special attention to social aspects in their rural development policies and programmes;

5. Invites the regional commissions to give particular attention to the social aspects of rural development;

6. Requests the Secretary-General to consider the possibility of holding an interregional seminar on national experience related to the social aspects of rural development, to be financed from extrabudgetary resources;

7. Requests the Secretary-General to give special emphasis in the 1989 report on the world social situation to the social aspects of rural development.