AS WRITTEN

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED  REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA,
H. E. ALI HASSAN MWINYI,

AT THE WORLD SUMMIT FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
COPENHAGEN, 11TH MARCH. 1995 


Mr. President,
Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government,  
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen, 

 I wish to begin by congratulating you, Mr. President, for your well-
deserved election - to the stewardship of this Summit.  Tanzania recognises 
the historical importance of this Social Summit which represents the first 
ever global initiative, and global commitment, towards the urgent task of 
poverty alleviation in the world. This is an occasion that embodies the 
dwindling hopes of a large section of humanity having the misfortune of 
living in  absolute poverty, or permanently subsisting under its shadow. It 
is  in this context that I feel obliged to thank all institutions and  
individuals who, for the past two years, dedicated their time, energy  and 
resources to the preparations for this Meeting. I wish in  particular to 
mention the United Nations Secretary-General, Dr.  Boutros Boutros Ghali 
who, since his election in 1992 has played a  leading role in putting the 
question of social development on the international agenda. 

 I wish also to recognise the important role played by our host,  the 
Government of Denmark. It is, I think, quite appropriate that  Denmark 
should host a Summit devoted to poverty alleviation and social development. 
Denmark's commitment to this cause is beyond  question. Of all the rich 
countries, only Denmark, Norway, Sweden  and the Netherlands have 
consistently attained, and often surpassed,  the U.N. aid target of 0.7%, 
of GNP. 

 Furthermore, I wish to commend all the Heads of State and :  Government, 
who have come to this meeting, the success of which  will largely depend on 
political commitment at the highest levels of  Government. There is no 
better way for a Government to begin  showing its commitment to this global 
challenge than by being represented here at the highest possible level. 
Those of us from the very poor countries are encouraged by this remarkable 
level of participation by world leaders.

 Mr. President, 

 Poverty, unemployment and social disintegration are the  greatest non-
military threats to human security facing our common  planet. The 
tremendous and unprecedented advances in science and technology, as well as 
great human progress, achieved this century have, unfortunately, not 
benefited all sections of humanity. On the contra, we witness an ever-
growing, and peace-threatening, gap between the rich and the poor; the 
over-fed and the under-fed; the well-clothed and those in rags; the 
employed and the unemployed the educated and the illiterate; the healthy 
and those dying from  easily preventable or curable diseases. It is as if, 
by some strange  twist of fate, the poor must be poorer so that the rich 
can get richer.

  As human beings we must have the decency to tame our pride  at human 
progress with our shame for the abject poverty under ;  which enormous 
sections of the human population have to live. This Summit has given us all 
a rare chance to begin rectifying this social injustice both within nations 
and between nations. We  should, therefore, leave Copenhagen with a 
workable blueprint and  a programme of action in which each one of us, 
whether poor or rich, will have a role to play. We should neither be 
daunted by the enormity of the problem nor repress our ambitions for a 
cause so  noble. It is in our power to do it.

  Tanzania's commitment towards the equitable satisfaction of  basic human 
needs and social development has never been  questionable. The improvement 
of the welfare of the entire  population has always been the focus of our 
development policies.  We have always believed that development must be 
people-centred.  With the full support of the donor community, Tanzania 
made  remarkable progress in some aspects of social development,  
especially in primary education, adult literacy, health care, and  water 
supply. The question now is how to sustain these  achievements in the 
middle of Structural Adjustment Programmes that severely curtail government 
spending, at a time characterised by donor fatigue.

  According to the OECD, worldwide official development  assistance in 1993 
fell to its lowest level in 20 years. I must express  our great concern for 
this erosion of the spirit of cooperation for  social development. We see 
this s tendency in bilateral relations. We  see it in institutional 
relations between developed and developing  countries. We also see it in 
international fora, including the present one.

  This unfortunate development increasingly pushes the  responsibility for 
poverty reduction in the hands of developing 0  countries. This, 
inevitably, leads to the entrenchment of poverty in our societies, not 
because we do not want to take responsibility for  our own development, but 
rather because of limited capacity and  resources in the face of competing 
and equally pressing demands.  Tanzania's successes in the 70's were only 
possible because our  own programmes and efforts were supported by 
substantial external  aid geared specifically towards social development. 
Without this  support, not as much progress would have been achieved. 
Without  it, the gains will be eroded. The partnership against poverty,  
therefore, needs to be maintained.  Both the causes of, and solutions to, 
the problems of poverty  unemployment and social disintegration for the 
poorest countries do  not lie entirely within the boundaries of one nation. 
They have  international dimensions. For example, economic and trade 
policies of rich countries affect the performance of weaker economies. The  
unbearable debt burden results in net transfers of resources for  social 
development from the poor to the rich. The influx of refugees  increases 
the strain on already scarce resources in host countries.  Problems of this 
nature cannot be solved by an individual poor  county trying to promote 
domestic social development.

  Mr. President,  The requirements for achieving social development are  
enormous and long-term but our resources are constrained. We,  therefore, 
have to define a minimum package of social goals for which we must 
establish targets and timetables, and commit  financial resources. We must 
also have a mechanism for making the most efficient and effective use of 
those resources for actual poverty reduction In this connection, we in 
Tanzania are at the initial stages of  a social sector strategy whose 
objectives, among others, include the creation of an enabling environment 
for self-employment, and the improvement of basic social services with 
gender balance considerations in our minds. A complimentary programme 
specifically designed to deal with poverty alleviation is also in the 
making.

 Mr. President,

 This Summit has raised the hopes of the masses of poor and unemployed 
people worldwide. Let us not fail them, and let us not forget that their 
poverty is not totally unrelated to our prosperity, and their unemployment 
to our jobs. History will not forgive us for missing this rare chance to 
reduce their misery. In Shakespeare's  Julius Caesar, we are told that:  

"There is a tide in the affairs of men which if taken at the  flood, leads 
on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows 
and in miseries..."

  I conclude by asking all of us to enter into a social compact to take the 
tide at the flood and begin to get our people out of their  miseries. 

 Thank you for your kind attention.