By Holy See Mission
StatementBefore the high level
segment of the thirteenth session of theCommission on
Sustainable Development:Turning Political
Commitments Into Action New York, 20 April 2005Mr. Chairman,
First of all, my congratulations on what has been
achieved over the last two years, by both you and your predecessor,
Mr Børge
Brende, Chair of the 12th session of the CSD.
The 13th session of the CSD is intended to
launch a decade of implementation, so as to give greater effect to
the objectives of the great developmental and anti-poverty
conferences of recent times. This meeting therefore assumes a
particular importance, since much of the credibility and
effectiveness of the CSD’s new shape depends upon success here. For
this reason the Holy See associates itself with those who intend to
confer upon the CSD a central role in the process of promoting
sustainable development.
The purpose of the 13th session of the CSD
is to identify policy options and practical measures to expedite the
implementation of the MDGs and the Johannesburg targets in three
specific areas during 2004 and 2005, that is, water, sanitation and
human settlements. There is, therefore, a strong need to arrive at
forward looking and action oriented decisions in these three areas
which have profound repercussions on the quality of life of
everyone.
This debate has thrown light upon these three themes
which are so closely related one to the other, and which should be
part and parcel of strategies to promote sustainable development and
the struggle against poverty. There is in fact a clear link between
access to water, sanitation and human settlements on the one hand,
and, on the other, human health, the eradication of poverty, the
promotion of economic growth, environmental protection and the
adoption of sustainable patterns of consumption and production.
Thanks also to the last two sessions of the CSD, the international
community is now more aware of the need to adopt a multisectoral and
multidisciplinary vision properly to confront the inherent
difficulties connected to water, sanitation and human settlements.
During this debate, focus has rightly been placed on
the need to identify the correct balance between public and private
sector solutions in order to achieve the objectives in view.
However, it has become equally clear
that a variety of solutions will be required, according to the
socio-economic and cultural contexts, and based upon the principle
of subsidiarity. Guaranteeing both equal access and adequate amounts
of water, sanitation and human settlements will actually require the
direct involvement of local populations in decision-making
processes, with a view to finding solutions which by their very
nature are local. Thus each part of each society will be empowered
to look after its own affairs, while learning to respect and assist
others requiring assistance to do so.
According to the principle of subsidiarity, a
community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal
life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its
functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to
coordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society,
always with a view to the common good.
It is clear that this principle may be applied to
specific solutions to specific problems associated with the delivery
of water, sanitation and human settlements. Such problems are
characterized by a close connection with the land, both physically
and socially, calling for greater responsibility on the part of the
providers and the users of goods and services associated with water,
sanitation and human settlements, whether in a rural or urban
setting.
Such a responsibility also demands a greater
awareness of the complexity of the use of those goods and services,
and therefore requires education and formation locally, which will
concentrate on the need to redirect lifestyles and patterns of
production and consumption towards greater long term sustainability,
with a view to equity, both among users of this generation, and
between those of today and those of future generations.
Moreover, the application of the principle of
subsidiarity will permit the better realisation of one of the keys
to sustainable development, as recognised by the first principle of
the Rio Declaration: the centrality of the human person. The
principle of subsidiarity must not be seen just as a matrix for
greater participation in decision-making, but also as an instrument
in the reconstruction of solidarity and of the social fabric, to
bring together the people who make up a given community.
In the context of the CSD, the idea of solidarity
leaves its typically limited sphere to take on a more international
character. As it heads in that direction, the CSD must be capable of
demonstrating a particular care for those with less ability and
proportionately greater difficulty in gaining access to safe
drinking water, sanitation and adequate housing. Only from that
special care will it be possible to evaluate the success of the
CSD’s new working structure, and whether this first policy session
has been a success.
Thank you, Mr Chairman.
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