United Nations Documents

A/RES/44/56
World Social Situation
78th Plenary Meeting
8 December 1989

Web Posted on: November 24, 1997

The General Assembly,

Recalling its resolutions 1392 (XIV) of 20 November 1959, 2542 (XXIV) of 11 December 1969, 40/98 and 40/100 of 13 December 1985, 42/49 of 30 November 1987 and 43/113 of 8 December 1988 and Economic and Social Council resolutions 1987/39, 1987/40, 1987/46 and 1987/52 of 28 May 1987, and taking note of Council resolution 1989/72 of 24 May 1989 and Council decision 1989/113 of 28 July 1989,

Bearing in mind the objective of improving the well-being of the world's population on the basis of the full participation of all members of society in the process of development and the fair distribution to them of the benefits therefrom, and recognizing that the pace of development in the developing countries should be accelerated substantially in order to enable them to achieve this objective, especially to meet the basic needs for food, housing, education, employment and health care,

Concerned about the worsening economic situation in the developing countries, particularly in the least developed countries, as evidenced by, inter alia, a significant decline in living conditions, the persistence and increase of widespread poverty in a large number of countries and the decrease of the main social and economic indicators of those countries,

Conscious that each country has the sovereign right freely to adopt the economic and social system that it deems the most appropriate and that each Government has the primary role of ensuring the social progress and well-being of the people,

Convinced of the urgent need to eradicate policies and practices that hinder social progress, including racism and racial discrimination, in particular apartheid,

Convinced also of the crucial need to eradicate dangerous trends and habits that debilitate individuals and incapacitate society, in particular drug abuse and illicit trafficking,

Bearing in mind the importance of the 1989 Report on the World Social Situation for increasing awareness of the advances made towards the goals of social progress and better standards of living, established in the Charter of the United Nations, and of the obstacles to further progress,

Believing that there is a need for greater efforts by the United Nations system to study and disseminate data on the existing world social situation, in particular in the developing countries,

Bearing in mind the important contribution of the 1989 Report on the World Social Situation to the preparation of an international development strategy for the fourth United Nations development decade,

Taking note of the deliberations on the question of the world social situation by the Commission for Social Development at its thirty-first session and by the Economic and Social Council at its first regular session of 1989,

Having considered the 1989 Report on the World Social Situation,

Concerned about certain shortcomings in the 1989 Report on the World Social Situation,

1. Takes note of the 1989 Report on the World Social Situation, including the information on the critical social situation in Africa provided in the annex thereto;
2. Urges the timely issue of future reports on the world social situation in order to allow the Commission for Social Development to consider them;
3. Notes with deep concern the continuing deterioration of the economic and social situation in the developing countries, in particular in the least developed countries, as well as in the low-income countries;
4. Notes also with deep concern that the situation faced by the developing countries has been worsened by sharp fluctuations in exchange rates, high real rates of interest, fluctuations in commodity prices, a serious deterioration in the terms of trade of developing countries, increased protectionist pressures, the net transfer of resources from developing countries, crushing debt burdens, the restrictive adjustment process demanded by financial and development institutions, the decline in official development assistance in real terms and the severe inadequacy of resources experienced by multilateral development and financial institutions;
5. Notes further with deep concern the critical social situation in Africa resulting from structural imbalances and weaknesses of the African economy and a hostile international economic environment, in spite of the efforts of the Governments of African countries to undertake measures, with the support of the international community, to stabilize and adjust their economies;
6. Reaffirms the principles and objectives of the Declaration on Social Progress and Development and calls for their effective realization as a means of attaining a more equitable world social situation;
7. Calls upon all Member States to promote economic development and social progress by the formulation and implementation of an interrelated set of policy measures to achieve the goals and objectives established within the framework of national plans and priorities for employment, education, health, nutrition, housing facilities, crime prevention, the well-being of children, equal opportunities for the disabled and the aging, full participation of youth in the development process and full integration and participation of women in development;
8. Calls upon the relevant organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system to mobilize the necessary resources to undertake measures aimed at improving social conditions world wide;
9. Endorses the request made by the Economic and Social Council in paragraph 2 of its resolution 1989/72 that the Secretary-General should submit an expanded version of the 1989 Report on the World Social Situation to the Council at its first regular session of 1990, as well as the other requests made of him in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the same resolution;
10. Requests the Secretary-General to continue monitoring the world social situation in depth on a regular basis and to submit the next full report on the world social situation, through the Economic and Social Council, to the General Assembly in 1993, for consideration at its forty-eighth session, and also requests the Secretary-General to submit an interim report to the Assembly in 1991, through the Commission for Social Development and the Economic and Social Council;
11. Also requests the Secretary-General to make the necessary arrangements for the wider dissemination of the reports on the world social situation;
12. Invites the organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system to co-operate fully with the Secretary-General in the preparation of future reports by making available all relevant information pertaining to their respective areas of competence;
13. Decides to include the item entitled "World social situation" in the provisional agenda of its forty-fifth session for the purpose of considering the expanded version of the 1989 Report on the World Social Situation, in that of its forty-sixth session for the purpose of considering the interim report, and in that of its forty-eighth session for the purpose of considering the next full report in 1993.