28 May 1987

17th plenary meeting

Interregional Consultation on Developmental Social Welfare Policies and Programmes

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling its resolutions 1983/22 of 26 May 1983 and 1985/26 of 29 May 1985, by which the Secretary-General was requested, inter#alia, to proceed with the organization of the Interregional Consultation on Developmental Social Welfare Policies and Programmes, to be held, within existing budgetary resources, at Vienna, at an appropriate policy-making level, in the autumn of 1987,

Recalling also its resolutions 1979/18 of 9 May 1979 and 1981/20 of 6 May 1981 on strengthening developmental social welfare policies and programmes,

Mindful of the relevance of the Declaration on Social Progress and Development to the Interregional Consultation, and reaffirming that the aim of the Interregional Consultation is to find some practical ways of implementing the provisions of the Declaration,

Convinced of the need to follow up the 1968 International Conference of Ministers Responsible for Social Welfare, and to reassess social welfare policies in the light of past experience and present issues,

Taking note of the action taken relevant to the Interregional Consultation at the Fourth Conference of African Ministers of Social Affairs, held at Addis Ababa from 18 to 26 March 1985, the Third Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference on Social Welfare and Social Development, held at Bangkok from 9 to 15 October 1985, the Arab Regional Conference on Social Welfare Policies and Programmes in the Arab World, held at Tunis under the auspices of the League of Arab States from 12 to 15 October 1985, and at the thirteenth session of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, held at Baghdad, from 19 to 24 April 1986,

Taking note also of the preparations for the Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Social Affairs, to be held at Warsaw from 6 to 11 April 1987, and the Intergovernmental Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Social Welfare, to be held at Montevideo in June 1987,

Recognizing the importance of taking an integrated, family-oriented and cost-effective approach to the design and delivery of social welfare services and related social security arrangements, and other relevant social issues especially in the context of implementing the conclusions of recent global events concerning women, youth, the disabled, the aging, the homeless, drug addicts, population and other areas significant to social welfare,

Taking into account the fact that the Interregional Consultation would also identify procedures to facilitate international co-operation in the implementation of its decisions,

1. Takes note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on the Interregional Consultation on Developmental Social Welfare Policies and Programmes;

2. Approves the revised draft agenda for the Interregional Consultation contained in the report of the Secretary-General incorporating the change made by the Commission for Social Development at its thirtieth session, namely, that item 7 shall be entitled "Guiding principles for social welfare policies and programmes in the near future" instead of "Goals in the social field for the year 2000";

3. Calls upon States to participate in the Interregional Consultation at an appropriate policy-making level, for example, ministerial or other high decision-making level;

4. Calls upon intergovernmental organizations, specialized agencies and regional commissions to participate actively in the Interregional Consultation at a high decision-making level;

5. Calls upon non-governmental organizations in the field of social welfare having consultative status with the Economic and Social Council to participate in the Interregional Consultation and its follow-up activities;

6. Expresses its appreciation to the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs for the work already performed in spite of budgetary and human resource constraints, and requests that a focal point within the Centre be identified to prepare for and follow up the activities of the Interregional Consultation and related activities in developmental social welfare policies and programmes;

7. Requests the Secretary-General, within existing resources, to redeploy resources to ensure adequate preparations for and appropriate follow-up to the Interregional Consultation, and to provide for the follow-up of the Interregional Consultation in the proposed programme budget for 1988-1989 and, in the proposed medium-term plan for 1990-1995, for activities concerning developmental social welfare policies and programmes;

8. Calls upon all bodies within the United Nations system to avoid duplication in those areas, bearing in mind General Assembly resolution 41/213 of 19 December 1986, in particular duplication of the work of the Interregional Consultation and the Commission for Social Development;

9. Requests the Secretary-General to take into account, to the extent possible, in the documentation for the Interregional Consultation, the conclusions reached at the various regional preparatory meetings;

10. Decides that the Commission shall review at its thirty-first session the results of the Interregional Consultation, paying particular attention to technical co-operation activities in developmental social welfare for developing countries, and that specific actions shall be referred to the appropriate functional commissions of the Council;

11. Requests the Secretary-General to include in the provisional agenda of the forty-second session of the General Assembly an item entitled "Interregional Consultation on Developmental Social Welfare Policies and Programmes".