Global Social Policy Digest

Redistribution

France chaired the G20 in 2011. The Cannes Summit Final Declaration ¹ (4 November 2011) reflected concerns about high unemployment levels and ever stronger tensions in the financial markets, and reaffirmed the

. . . commitment to work together and [to] the decision to reinvigorate economic growth, create jobs, ensure financial stability, promote social inclusion and make globalization serve the needs of our people.

The final communiqué noted ‘social and employment issues, alongside economic, monetary and financial issues, will remain an integral part of the G20 agenda’ (for more on this see G20 website ² ). An Action Plan for Growth and Jobs ³ was agreed on, and the Declaration announced the establishment of a G20 Task Force on Employment, with a focus on youth employment. The IMF, OECD, ILO and World Bank were tasked with reporting to the Finance Ministers on global employment.

In terms of global redistribution, however, the outcome was somewhat disappointing, especially in light of the expectations set out by France in February 2011 (see GSP Digest 11(2–3)). Although Bill Gates presented a report ⁴ that urged the world’s richest leaders to maintain their commitments to international aid, including proposals on taxes on financial transactions, tobacco and transport fuels, the G20 merely noted that some countries were experimenting with such taxes and only agreed that ‘over time new resources of funding need to be found to address development needs and climate change’ (para 28). Despite this, ActionAid’s Martin Hearson ⁵ commented:

The report is a bright spot in an otherwise bleak summit for the world’s poor, but it does not go far enough on tax havens and tax dodging by multinational companies.

The setback was particularly disappointing as the ‘Conclusions’⁶ of the earlier G20 Labour and Employment Ministers had called for innovative international funding for social protection floors in countries. The debate has not ended, however, as Philippe Douste-Blazy (former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, and currently UNITAID Chairman) has argued ⁷ for the swift imposition of a small Financial Transaction Tax (FTT).

There is also increased interest in countries raising their own revenues for sustainable social development. For example, UNRISD’s current research programme priorities ⁸ include the politics of domestic resource mobilization and allocation for social development. Indeed, in its Cannes Report ⁹ (para 32), the G20 Development Group focused on:

Recognizing the centrality of domestic resource mobilisation as the cornerstone of state building, social inclusiveness and better governance, we commit to deepening international cooperation to support capacity building of tax administrations and systems in developing countries.

The joint B20 and L20 meeting ¹⁰

. . . wish[ed] to seize the opportunity of social issues being put on the agenda of the G20 to draw the attention of governments to some major issues on which they have developed a common vision. The economic, social and financial crisis has indeed created space for discussing labour market and social protection challenges in a comparative perspective, within the G20. . . . [It] urge[d] the G20 to make these issues a priority in order to reduce unemployment and prevent the risk of a growing share of the population losing faith in the global economy.

At the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness ¹¹ in Busan South Korea (29 November–1 December 2011) the OECD ¹² and the World Bank ¹³ sought to present themselves as global leaders on aid effectiveness. The World Bank pointed to a report ¹⁴ rating the World Bank as a ‘best performer’ in terms of aid transparency. Oxfam ¹⁵ was less convinced that things would change for the better at Busan:

New and emerging donors are trying to water down commitments to deliver aid that works better for poor countries and their citizens. . . . Donors are refusing to concede to calls for an agreement which would give poor countries and their people greater say in how aid is spent. … This has become a conversation among donors about what kind of aid they want to give, not what the world’s poorest people need.

At a special session on gender Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director of UN Women, noted that: ¹⁶

The majority of the world’s poor are women. This brings to the forefront the challenge of addressing inequality, both between women and men, and between and within countries. . . . we need to take a critical look at the allocation of resources for women’s empowerment and gender equality.

The OECD has continued the process ¹⁷ of developing its new Strategy on Development (see also GSP Digest 11(2–3)), with a first draft scheduled for January 2012. It has also assessed the progress ¹⁸ on implementing the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action. In addition, the World Bank has continued its work on global development finance in Global Development Finance 2012: External Debt of Developing Countries. ¹⁹ A Policy Research Working Paper ‘To Give or to Forgive’ ²⁰ by Tito Cordella and Alessandro Missale focuses on the issue of aid versus debt relief. Another World Bank Policy Research Working Paper assesses the ‘Odds of Achieving the MDGs’ ²¹ while the UN’s MDG Gap Task Force report, entitled The MDG Gap Task Force Report 2011: The Global Partnership for Development ²² was released 15 September 2011.

In terms of redistribution within countries, the OECD’s Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising ²³ explores the reasons for the growth of inequality, documented in a follow-up report to Growing Unequal (2008). At its launch on 5 December 2011, the OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría noted that: ²⁴

Income inequality in OECD countries is at its highest level for the past half century. The average income of the richest 10% of the population is about nine times that of the poorest 10% across the OECD, up from seven times 25 years ago.

Gurría went on to stress the case for progressive tax policies within countries:

Over the last two decades, there was a move away from highly progressive income tax rates and net wealth taxes in many countries. . . . The benefits of economic growth DO NOT trickle down automatically. . . .Without a comprehensive strategy for inclusive growth, inequality will continue to rise.

Regulation

The G20 meeting at Cannes ²⁵ received expert reports from the IMF, World Bank, OECD and UN, from the Global Forum on Tax Transparency and from Bill Gates on financing for development. Of particular note is the stance taken by the OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría, who ²⁶ stated that ‘tax co-operation and compliance are of crucial importance for all countries and citizens – and not only in times of a tight fiscal and budgetary environment’.^27,28 The meeting did make some progress on these issues. ActionAid ²⁹ reports that the G20 took the following steps: a convention on fighting tax evasion; agreement to consider an automatic exchange of tax information on a voluntary basis; and, for the first time, recognition that multinational companies should improve tax transparency (but no concrete commitments to force them to do so). Nevertheless, ActionAid believes the G20 has missed a chance to commit to greater transparency for multinational companies.

The UN Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises, ³⁰ a new UN expert body charged with the promotion of respect for human rights by businesses, is inviting thoughts ³¹ to help it establish its work programme. Meanwhile, the Global Compact ³² hailed the introduction of a new directive on corporate social responsibility (CSR) for Europe, put forth by the European Commission in Brussels. In its first statement on the issue in five years, the Commission provides recommendations for companies to integrate social, environmental and ethical concerns into their core operations and strategies.

The World Bank’s report Doing Business ³³ noted that:

For the poor, starting a business or finding a job is an important way out of poverty. . . . Overly burdensome regulations and inefficient institutions that discourage the creation and expansion of businesses compound the problems.

Nevertheless, ILO and ICFTU criticisms of the report’s methodology levelled in previous years are having an impact. They had argued that the reports endorsed the view that it was easier to do business where workers could be easily hired and fired, and where social security and labour costs were low. In this year’s report we read:

Pending further progress on research in this area, this year’s report does not present rankings of economies on the employing workers indicators or include the topic in the aggregate ranking on the ease of doing business.

In a World Bank paper ‘Global Inequality: From Class to Location, from Proletarians to Migration’, ³⁴ Branko Milanovic argued that:

. . . migration, in the absence of acceleration of growth in poor countries, will be a great 21st century mechanism of ‘adjustment’. It will be driven by the self-interest of individuals but its ultimate result would be a reduction in global inequality and global poverty. Aid and migration ought to be regarded as two complementary means for achieving these goals. Policy makers in developed countries shall come to realize that either poor people will become richer in their own countries or they will migrate to rich countries.

At the Global Forum on Migration and Development ³⁵ that took place in Geneva in December, three working groups on aspects of migration and development reported recommendations. Of particular interest are the panel’s conclusions on issue of domestic care workers, ³⁶ that consideration should be given to

. . . establishing an international (or region-wide) body to oversee the regulation and licensing of migrant recruitment agencies, and the training of recruitment agencies on the rights and the roles of domestic workers.

The World Migration Report 2011: Communicating Effectively about Migration ³⁷ reviewed the evolution of the IOM over its past 60 years while the EC-UN Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JDMI) announced the publication of a handbook, Migration for Development – a Bottom-up Approach. ³⁸ The handbook is designed as a ‘toolbox’ for practitioners and policy-makers.

Rights

At the 18th session of the Human Rights Council, ³⁹ which concluded at the end of September 2011, texts were adopted that dealt with preventable maternal morbidity and human rights; the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation; on human rights and international solidarity; human rights and indigenous people; and human rights and climate change. On the human rights of migrants, the Council called upon states that have not yet signed, ratified or acceded to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, as a matter of priority, to consider doing so, and to strengthen measures to protect the human rights of migrant workers in times of humanitarian crisis (see also Habitat section). On International Migrants’ Day (18 December 2011), the IOM remarked ⁴⁰ that:

. . . the lack of adequate access to health services for migrants in most countries is a worrying public health omission requiring urgent redress in a world increasingly dependent on human mobility. . . . Migrants have proved time and again their positive contribution to the development of societies and economies. Their exclusion from health services and policies is not only a denial of the basic human right to health but also a misguided pandering to public fears and perceptions of migrants as a burden on social services. . . . It is now time for countries to be bold, to take action and uphold a tenet they ascribe to – the right to health for all.

The Human Rights Council ⁴¹ highlighted concerns with the right to health for older persons. UN Human Rights chief Navi Pillay said ‘it is clear that the situation of older persons should rank among the most pressing policy issues for governments, public institutions and societies at large. ⁴² The UNFPA also used the occasion of World AIDS Day (1 December) to call for an equal right to health:

In a world of 7 billion people, for every person to enjoy equal rights and dignity, we must focus on equity and reach out to the most vulnerable and underserved populations. By ensuring equal rights and dignity, we can empower people so that they can reach their full potential. And as our numbers grow in the years ahead, it is critical that we take actions now to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe and that every young person is free of HIV and AIDS. ⁴³

The World Bank’s World Development Report 2012 ⁴⁴ focuses on ‘Gender Equality and Development’. ⁴⁵ While the executive summary and documents appear to avoid any mention of rights, the report itself includes reflections on women’s rights:

The . . . different international legal frameworks reflect the rising global consensus on equal rights for men and women – a consensus that did not emerge overnight but rather evolved from a long, slow struggle for equal rights for women. . . . Reinforced by the emphasis on gender equality in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) . . . expanding women’s rights can foster agency in some realms. But the expansion of rights for family formation and control over household resources has been limited. And the effectiveness of expanding rights in bringing about change depends on their applicability – often linked to multiple legal systems – and their reinforcement.

Nevertheless the Bretton Woods Project ⁴⁶ has criticized the report for the absence of a rights-focus. A thorough assessment ⁴⁷ was made by Shahra Razavi for UNRISD, who argued that the report was a welcome opportunity for widening the intellectual space:

However, it is also a missed opportunity. By failing to engage seriously with the gender biases of macroeconomic policy agendas that define contemporary globalization, and by reducing social policy to a narrow focus on conditional cash transfers, the report is unable to provide a credible and even-handed analysis of the challenges that confront gender equality in the 21st century and appropriate policy responses for creating more equal societies.

In the next issue of Global Social Policy, the Forum will focus on assessments of the Bank’s report by Razavi and other leading feminist intellectuals.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Bank’s private sector arm, has concluded a two-year review of its performance standards ⁴⁸ on environmental and social sustainability, but according to the Bretton Woods Project, ⁴⁹ its weak human rights approach has angered rights organizations. At the same time the IFC highlighted the role of women in business in its I Am Opportunity – IFC Annual Report 2011 ⁵⁰ and in Women and Business, ⁵¹ while a two-day international conference on women’s economic empowerment, ⁵² co-hosted by the UN Women and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) issued a joint call of action with concrete actions to strengthen women’s economic security and rights.

Health

The WHO’s Executive Board concluded a three-day special session ⁶² with Member States expressing strong support for WHO’s work and reaching agreement on broad proposals for reform. Among the five core areas of work are: strengthening health systems and institutions and generating evidence on health determinants. Also at the WHO, the re-election of Director-General Margaret Chan was proposed ⁶³ as the only candidate. The final decision will be made at the World Health Assembly 21–26 May 2012.

In October, WHO also convened the World Conference on Social Determinants of Health, ⁶⁴ which focused on social conditions that drive health inequities. Hosted by the Government of Brazil, it included participants from various countries and representing governments, health experts, CSOs and other stakeholders. It resulted in the Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health, ⁶⁵ where it was recognized that ‘governments have a responsibility for the health of their peoples, which can be fulfilled only by the provision of adequate health and social measures’. The Declaration also notes that ‘health inequities within and between countries are politically, socially and economically unacceptable, as well as unfair and largely avoidable’, and that ‘good health requires a universal, comprehensive, equitable, effective, responsive and accessible quality health system’.

Whatever one can expect from this Declaration, at the 5th High-Level Symposium on Global Health Diplomacy ⁶⁶ WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy stated that ‘a decade-old WTO declaration [the Doha Declaration] has allowed the WTO and its partners to collaborate on helping governments target medical treatment for their poorer populations and understand their room for manoeuvre under intellectual property agreements’. ⁶⁷ The WTO also held a workshop ⁶⁸ in October 2011 that focused on TRIPS and public health.

Meanwhile, the Global Fund adopted a new strategy ⁶⁹ for 2012–2016. The Strategic Objectives include to ‘maximize the impact of the Global Fund investment on strengthening health systems [and] on improving the health of mothers and children’, to ‘integrate human rights considerations . . ., [and] increase investments in programs that address human rights-related barriers to access’.

The Independent Expert Review Group (IERG) ⁷⁰ to follow up the work of the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health released the proceedings of its first meeting ⁷¹ 21–22 November 2011 in Ottawa, Canada. Among its priorities are human rights and public health equity, gender and family planning. The IERG ‘agreed further that human rights should be considered separately from equity, which encompasses an array of parameters such as socio-economic, age, gender, etc.’. UNFPA co-sponsored a side-event to the High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases, ⁷² which focused on ‘Integrating Non-Communicable Diseases: The Next Frontier in Women’s Health’. ⁷³

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan established the Global Health Policy Division,⁷⁴ a step that had been announced at the 2010 UN MDGs Summit in 2010. The work will focus on the health-related MDGs (maternal and new-born health; the three major infectious diseases; and the response to international health threats). Unfortunately, there are few signs of earlier attempts to approach in a more systematic way global health (see GSP Digest 8(3)). Nevertheless, the World Bank’s newly issued Health Insurance Handbook: How to Make it Work, ⁷⁵ pointed out that:

Despite the many benefits that health insurance may offer, . . . the journey to implement insurance and achieve the benefits is challenging, long, and risky. Policy makers and technicians that support development and scale-up of health insurance must figure out how to increase their country’s financing capacity, extend health insurance coverage to the hard-to-reach populations, expand benefit packages, and improve the performance of existing schemes.

The OECD’s Health at a Glance 2011, ⁷⁶ which includes international comparisons of health expenditure and financing and access to care, noted that:

Despite public concerns about privatisation of health financing, the public sector continues to pay 72% of all health expenditure on average across OECD countries, a share that has not changed over the past years.

Social protection

Following the International Labour Conference decision in June 2011 (see GSP Digest 11(2–3)), the Social Security Department of the ILO issued a new ‘Report IV(1): Social Protection Floors for Social Justice and a Fair Globalization’. ⁷⁷ The report provides information on the law and practice concerning the establishment of national social protection floors, including an overview of the main developments and emerging global trends. The report was communicated to governments, whose replies will inform the nature of the draft Recommendation to be published in 2012 (see GSP Digest 11(2–3)).

The ILO has also been working to persuade world opinion in general, and the G20 in particular, that social protection floors are something worth supporting. The Advisory Board ⁷⁸ of the Social Protection Floor Initiative (which is a UN Chief Executive Board initiative) released the Bachelet Report – Social Protection Floor for a Fair and Inclusive Globalization. ⁷⁹ The report called on the G20 Leaders Summit in Cannes to consider an ‘action plan’ for implementing social protection floors through existing and new financing mechanisms. The report shows that some countries – such as El Salvador, Benin, Mozambique and Vietnam – could provide a major social protection floor for as little as 1–2 percent of GDP. The report goes on to argue that nationally designed social protection floors are affordable even in low-income countries.

As part of the attempt to influence the G20, the ILO and OECD published the ‘G20 Labour Ministerial: Joint Statement by OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría and ILO Director-General Juan Somavia’, ⁸⁰ which warned that ‘200 million people are out of work worldwide, close to the peak recorded at the depth of the Great Recession’.

In September, the G20 Labour and Employment Ministers’ meeting ⁸¹ concluded that the G20 should help ‘develop nationally defined social protection floors with a view to achieving strong, sustainable and balanced economic growth and social cohesion’. The conclusions suggest that the floors should include ‘access to health care, income security for the elderly and persons with disabilities, child benefits and income security for the unemployed and working poor’. The main G20 meeting ⁸² in Paris echoed these conclusions but with the caveat that the SPFs should be adapted to each country’s circumstances: ‘We recognize the importance of social protection floors in each of our countries, adapted to national situations.’

One of the Bachelet Report’s recommendations to the G20 was that the World Bank should endorse the UN’s (ILOs) social protection floor approach:

We recommend that the social protection floor approach be fully integrated into the World Bank Social Protection Strategy 2012–2020 as well as in the social protection technical assistance programmes implemented by the regional development banks.

Whether this happens remains to be seen. The World Bank has launched the second round of consultations on its Social Protection and Labour Strategy ⁸³ but the second draft of the new policy appears on the website in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, ⁸⁴ which failed to mention the SPF. Moreover, while the summary of the responses to the first round of consultation pointed out that one of the often-mentioned issues is the need for more interagency cooperation, the PowerPoint presentation focuses on the three Ps approach – Prevention (insurance), Protection (assistance) and Promotion (human capital) – and talks of developing social protection systems, expanding coverage, supporting productivity and developing knowledge. On pensions, the PowerPoint presentation is not very informative. It lists a new kind of three pillar approach: Mandatory Pensions (without specifying whether defined contribution or defined benefit), Elderly Social Assistance (without specifying if universal or mean tested) and Voluntary Savings. Consultation ⁸⁵ comes to a close at the end of December 2011, and the new strategy, to be published early 2012, will be subject to further consultation.

An interesting discussion on the World Bank’s forthcoming World Development Report on Jobs ⁸⁶ can be found on Duncan Green’s website. ⁸⁷

UNICEF continues to be active in this field not only by continuing its email discussion on ‘Recovery with a Human Face’ but also by establishing an Advisory Board on Economic and Social Policy. ⁸⁸ A recent working paper, ‘Austerity Measures Threaten Children and Poor Households: Recent Evidence in Public Expenditures from 128 Developing Countries’, ⁸⁹ examines the latest IMF government spending projections for 128 developing countries, comparing the three periods of 2005–2007 (pre-crisis), 2008–2009 (crisis phase I: fiscal expansion) and 2010–2012 (crisis phase II: fiscal contraction). It discusses the possible risks for social expenditures; assesses the most common adjustment measures being considered by developing countries in 2010–2011 and their potentially adverse impacts on vulnerable populations; and summarizes a series of alternative policy options that are available to governments to expand fiscal space and ensure a Recovery for All, including children and poor.

In addition to ‘Divided We Stand’ ⁹⁰ (discussed in the Redistribution section) the OECD asked if the European Welfare State is really more expensive, ⁹¹ and launched a new report on measuring well-being ⁹² that attempts to build on the Stiglitz Commission.

An ILO-WTO co-publication ⁹³ which looks at how to make globalization socially sustainable argues that social protection, investment in public goods and well-functioning markets are vital to make globalization socially sustainable. Although Christine Lagarde and staff at the Fund are beginning to acknowledge that too much austerity is risking jobs and growth and civil society groups call for an end to IFIs’ policy conditions, IMF programmes are criticized by the Bretton Woods Project ⁹⁴ for continuing to promote fiscal retrenchment.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities was 3 December. To mark this, the World Report on Disability, ⁹⁵ produced jointly by the Bank and the WHO, was published. The ILO launched its first global business and disability website. ⁹⁶

Education

The most important decision taken at the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference ⁹⁷ was the recognition of Palestine as a full member of the organization. As a consequence, the US, which accounted for nearly one-quarter of the organiszation’s budget, suspended its membership fees to UNESCO. It is still too early to assess the effects of this for the organization, but it might accelerate the current trend in UNESCO to establishing partnerships with private corporations to keep educational programmes going.

The international community met in Copenhagen 7–8 November 2011 to replenish the Global Partnership for Education ⁹⁸ (GPE), formerly known as the Education for All Fast Track Initiative. The conference aimed to re-energize global support for basic education and to highlight the critical impact of education on health, economic development, gender equality and peace in poor countries. Although the aim was to collect US$2.5 billion over three years from public and private donors, by the end of the conference, donors were only prepared to promise US$1.5 billion. Before the GPE meeting, a report released by the Centre of Universal Education at the Brookings Institute, entitled Prospects for Bilateral Aid to Basic Education Put Students at Risk ⁹⁹ had already warned about the reduction of the commitment of aid to education on the part of donors such as the Netherlands, Denmark, Spain and the US in the context of the current financial crisis.

The Global Campaign for Education ¹⁰⁰ welcomed the renewed ‘commitment and energy’ shown in Copenhagen, but also stated that ‘more finances are needed urgently if we are to complete the journey to school for all of the world’s poorest children’. Civil society representatives expressed their scepticism of the increasing centrality acquired by private donors in fora such as the GPE. Education International launched Global Corporate Taxation and Resources for Quality Public Services, ¹⁰¹ which challenges the philanthropic role of multinational corporations in the aid to education, and requests they contribute to quality public education via fair taxation. The Bretton Woods Project ¹⁰² critically assessed the annual report ¹⁰³ of the Independent Evaluation Group of the World Bank. The report found ‘quite uneven results’ in education, and that only 56 percent of education projects were rated satisfactory (substantial decline). The IFC’s work in education was also challenged by the IEG report.

World’s Teachers Day was celebrated 5 October. Taking advantage of the occasion, UNESCO, UNDP, UNICEF, ILO and Education International released a joint statement ¹⁰⁴ warning about the feminization of teachers’ labour (today, 62 percent of primary teachers in the world are women), which has accompanied a deterioration of teacher conditions in many countries. These organizations also call for improving gender equality in the educators’ careers:

We must promote equal opportunities for women to be school leaders, institutional managers and decision-makers within ministries of education, for more women to become science, mathematics and technology teachers, and for more men to be recruited as early childhood and primary school educators.

The World Bank, UNESCO and the Korean Ministry of Education organized the Global Symposium on ICT in Education 2011 ¹⁰⁵ (Seoul, 7–10 November 2011). The main objectives of the symposium were to share and discuss results of ongoing initiatives related to ICT in education indicator frameworks and to retrieve what evidence there is for ICT in education policy.

Food

The Global Monitoring Report 2012, ¹⁰⁶ currently underway, focuses on Food, Nutrition, and the Millennium Development Goals. The new Food Price Watch, ¹⁰⁷ released ¹⁰⁸ by the World Bank ahead of the G20 Summit in Cannes, is concerned that ‘millions of people around the World are still suffering’. ¹⁰⁹ The FAO Food Price Index ¹¹⁰ illustrates that global food prices remain high and volatile. This development in food prices was also considered at the WTO. The WTO’s Agriculture Committee ¹¹¹ discussed destabilizing food prices, and how standards on health and other issues are becoming new trade barriers (more at the new website ¹¹² on food security). The first IMF-World Bank-WTO Joint Trade Workshop ¹¹³ also saw food prices as a major issue.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter, was not impressed: ¹¹⁴

The world is in the midst of a food crisis which requires a rapid policy response. But the World Trade Organisation agenda has failed to adapt, and developing countries are rightly concerned that their hands will be tied by trade rules. . . . the excessive reliance on food imports has left people in developing countries increasingly vulnerable to price shocks and food shortages.

Whether or not the Committee on World Food Security, which released its final report ¹¹⁵ in November, will be able to make a change, remains to be seen. Oxfam commented ¹¹⁶ that:

. . . it is up to its role as the central body of the global governance on food security, agriculture and nutrition. However a number of governments, notably G20 food exporters’ countries, showed that they are not yet ready to address the structural causes of the broken food system and recognize the inconvenient truths that expose their flawed policies.

At a high-level event on scaling up nutrition at the UN headquarters the UN Secretary-General said:^117–119

Under-nutrition is a serious and neglected challenge. The Scaling Up Nutrition initiative has support from more than 20 countries. They understand that food and nutrition security is a human right. They know that food and nutrition security drives economic, social and human development. And they have detailed plans for Scaling Up Nutrition.

The gender dimension of the issue has not been completely ignored. The International Day of Rural Women ¹²⁰ (15 October) focused on the key role of women in making social progress, including their role in enhancing agricultural and rural development, improving food security and eradicating rural poverty.

Habitat, land, housing

World Water Week 2011 focused on ‘Responding to Global Changes: Water in an Urbanising World’. ¹²¹ Gaurav Dwivedi (Manthan Adhyayan Kendra, India) notes ¹²² that ‘[World] Bank-funded private water projects across the world are facing serious financial, socio-political and operational problems, but recent trends show that more such are projects coming’. ¹²³

The 18th session of the Human Rights Council ¹²⁴ was concerned with the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. It called upon states to continuously monitor and regularly analyse the status of the realization of the right to safe drinking water and sanitation on the basis of the criteria of availability, quality, acceptability, accessibility and affordability (see also Rights section).