Statement by

H.E. Michael Ritter

Deputy Head of Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein


Geneva, 26 June 2000



Mr. Chairman, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen

Let me at the outset express my thanks and appreciation to the Government and to the people of Switzerland for their hospitality and for providing us with such excellent arrangements.

Five years after the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen where we expressed our will to give increased priority to social development in
--our national and international policy objectives and where we thus decided to put people in the center of our development efforts, we reunite these days to renew our commitment to eradicate poverty, promote full and productive employment and foster social integration to achieve a stable, safe and just society for all. Even though many new national policies and programmes have been initiated in the past years, the situation worldwide has not improved as substantially as we would have wished. In some key areas even regress is evident. We therefore strongly believe that common and comprehensive- efforts have to be maintained to implement the ten commitments we all accepted five years ago. In the outcome document we will adopt later this week we are not only to reaffirm the commitments of Copenhagen by reviewing the results of its implementation but we will agree on further initiatives.

Eradicating poverty continues to hold its place at the top of national and - international policy agendas, as the gap between rich and poor countries tend to grow in spite of the existing plans, programmes and measures taken since the summit. We believe that human rights and fundamental freedoms, democratic institutions and market economy favour economic and social development and have therefore always seeked to promote these rights and principles in the appropriate fora. It is evident that not only values but also resources are needed for an improvement of economic and social development. By contributing to various programmes and projects, Liechtenstein would like to express its continued support to the international fight against poverty. We consider efforts towards social cohesion, mutual tolerance, justice and equality to be very challenging tasks, which can only be fulfilled in close co-operation between all countries.

In Liechtenstein we are in the privileged situation to be in a position to provide our inhabitants with a comprehensive network of social security and financial assistance. Persons who nevertheless fall out of this net have the right to the socalled economic assistance which is designed to guarantee life above subsistence level.

The unemployment situation in most regions of the world has slowly improved during the last few years, but still continues to be one of the major problems of developing as well as industrialised countries. Liechtenstein is very fortunate as it has been able to reduce its unemployment rate to a very low figure, at about one percent, and we are able to provide work not only for our inhabitants but also for many people from neighbouring countries.

Especially in the labour market, gender equality has to be promoted and gender discrimination has to be eliminated. This means not only the right to equal pay for equal work or work of equal value but also other legal guarantees against all forms of discrimination at the workplace. Liechtenstein has established these rights in the Equality Act of March 1999. Further measures and specific actions are needed, especially with regard to empowering women to participate in the public decision-making and implementation process, in the remunerated work process and to ensuring their access to all kinds and all levels of jobs. On the other hand, men have to be encouraged to take their share in family and social responsibilities. This requires in particular more flexible working arrangements and the availability to quality child-care facilities. The Liechtenstein Government is every year reviewing the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and is deciding on a set of measures to achieve de facto equality between women and men in all spheres of life.

Mr. Chairman,

Social integration is another central issue in a world haunted by violent ethnic conflicts, racism and other forms of discrimination. We had to note that prosperity and public welfare could not prevent psychological suffering, suicide or a high divorce rate. On the contrary we must assume that prosperity leads to an increase of dissatisfaction and uncertainty, to egoism and a lack of solidarity.

We realised that the pure granting of financial assistance to individuals without expecting anything in return made people more and more demanding. At the same time, the willingness and the ability of people to look after themselves is decreasing. People should not be reduced to passive objects of public welfare. We therefore came to the conclusion that whenever assistance is granted it is reasonable to expect something in return, something which the concerned person is able to provide within his or her abilities and possibilities. People in need have of course the right to material and psychological help, but the principle of getting a return favour is a key element of our social policy to foster integration and participation.

A socially just global system can only be inplemented when actions at the international level are taken, where the United Nations plays a vital role. The United Nations Charter, aiming at "social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom", continues therefore to be the foundation for all efforts, we will undertake in order to promote social developments all over the world.