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Time for mobilizing the South

A High Level Policy Forum, held in the Jordan Valley at the Dead Sea on the January 14-15, 2003, brought together the members of the Board of the South Centre, eminent intellectuals and policymakers from all developing regions.

The Forum was chaired by Prince El Hassan bin Talal, a member of the South Centre Board.

The global context and recent economic, social and political experience

Generalizations about the state of the South today are hardly possible as developing country experiences have varied widely.

On the positive side, significant strides and achievements have been recorded and some developing countries have demonstrated strong potential in various domains of development.

Yet major disappointments, failures and setbacks have also been registered in different spheres of economic, social and political life, in particular with regard to critical development indicators, such as those concerning poverty, health, education, food security and sustainable development.

A number of countries are currently facing social tensions and upheavel, and some of them are at risk of economic or political meltdown.

The evolution of the world order, in particular regarding North-South relations, the management of international affairs and the world economy, has had an unfavourable impact on developing countries, giving rise to widely felt disappointment and discontent.

In this age of increased globalization, the global system, structures and institutions have everywhere assumed a critical role in all spheres of life and society, providing countries of the North with powerful leverage to pursue their interests.

Thus, in various forms and to different degrees, all developing countries are experiencing a massive and multifaceted intrusion in virtually all domains of national policy, sovereignty and governance.

The North has arrogated to itself the right to interfere at will, in complete disregard of the basic premises of the United Nations Charter. The North views this as natural and legitimate in view of its superior power.

Development no longer features as a priority, having been demoted from its earlier position as the central concern on the international agenda, and the agenda has been selectively recast according to Northern interests and preferences.

The policies that developing countries have been constrained to pursue have often proven ineffective or damaging. They are resented and rejected by the mass of the population in these countries, and have given rise to social, political and economic turmoil.

Being further weakened, developing countries are even more exposed to external interference, including in the sphere of national politics and governance.

Their policy autonomy has virtually disappeared and, under this North-inspired and North-driven global regime, developing countries are not allowed properly to fend for themselves in the increasingly highly competitive and unequal global environment.

The overall result in many parts of the South is economic and international marginalization.

Overall world system

In the light of the above conditions and considerations, developing countries, nationally and collectively, need to:

* Overcome the widespread mood of resignation and acceptance of the existing state of affairs, realize their own potential for change and action, mobilize in order to become more actively engaged in shaping their own destiny and the overall world system and to regain policy autonomy;

* Evolve their own vision and understanding of challenges facing them in the medium term, and formulate a positive and pro-active agenda of where they want to go and how to get there.

In support of this, they must develop their own conceptual frameworks and language to describe their own reality and define the nature of the challenges they are facing, as well as provide a reference point for policy orientation and for action, whether at the local, national, regional and global level, which are increasingly intertwined in the age of globalization;

* Forge a South consensus on key policy premises and broad objectives, on the basis of which the South countries can work and act together, and initiate a process of active cooperation.

Once in place, this process will create its own dynamic and generate the desired results. While recognizing diversity, unity can be achieved on the basis of shared objectives and goals, and also by striving to ensure that divisive issues are not allowed to overshadow broader policy concerns and systemic objectives;

* Mobilize and educate the new generation, relying increasingly on the young in civil society, academia and in the national leadership to lead this new phase in the continuing struggle by developing countries for economic and political independence and sovereignty, to achieve an equal place in the global community, and for securing a genuinely democratic, participatory and equitable international system and world order;

* Build national, regional and South-wide institutions and mechanisms to work in support of common goals;

* Recognize that the countries of the South also need to accept their own responsibility for enhancing their domestic capacity to promote sustainable growth, while facing up to the complex and difficult international and geopolitical environment in which they have to operate. If approached in an integrated manner, this goal is within their reach.

Goals for collective attention and action of the South

An alternative human-and development-centred paradigm of the world order. In order to resolve the problems of a planet of 6 billion or more people, the collective attention and action of the South should focus on defining and promoting a new world order based on a human - and development-centred paradigm, to replace the present dominant North-defined and market-driven paradigm.

The latter has led to fragmentation, fractures, and conflict in the global community and it wreaks havoc in many countries.

The new paradigm would seek to resolve the myriad challenges on the global agenda through cooperation and participation, and would more fully and equitably realize the immense and growing potential and opportunities that exist today, especially those offered by advances in science and technology and knowledge, and particularly with regard to the South's grossly underutilized human resources.

These are often misappropriated or wasted under the current global regime, which has many of its roots in the mercantillist era and the age of colonialism. Only a new paradigm, achieved through global debate and dialogue, would be likely to foster development and sustain peace, cooperation and democracy worldwide.

In elaborating and arguing for a new human - and development-centred paradigm of the world order, there is a need to identify through in-depth research and objective analysis the unjust, inequitable and discriminatory aspects of the current world economic order, including the asymmetric manner in which agreements are implemented and the double standards adopted by the North, in particular in global financial, monetary and trade arrangements.

These impact adversely on the well-being of millions of people living in the South and on the South's development.

A contemporary agenda for the South

In the spirit of this paradigm, the South must develop its own contemporary agenda, or platform, drawing on the values and objectives underpinning the historic struggle of peoples and countries in the South, while also being guided by the realities and challenges of the contemporary world and the present and future needs of developing countries, which will need to be realized through a balanced interaction between the State, market and civil society.

(Courtesy: South Letter Issue 39, 2003)

(To be continued)

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