Investing in social services improves conditions overall, UN official says

Far from being an extravagance, spending on public services is essential to raising living standards in society as a whole, a senior United Nations official today told the Commission for Social Development, which opened an eight-day session in New York.

"One should always remember that the effective delivery of public services is not only necessary for equity, equality, a good functioning of society and strengthening of the social fabric; it is also an indispensable condition for economic development," said José Antonio Ocampo, the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

"Unfortunately, the provision of social services continues to be regarded by many as a 'luxury,' or as an expenditure, rather than as an investment in improving the human condition," he added.

Mr. Ocampo stressed that a well-functioning public sector is key to reaching the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which call for progress in tackling a range of social ills by the year 2015. "Economic growth, although indispensable, will not be enough," he said. "It is the content of that growth, especially its distributional and equity aspects, that is important."

International cooperation is key to improving the effectiveness of the public sector, Mr. Ocampo told the 46-member Commission, which he said "has a vital role to play by serving as the forum for exchange of experience and elaboration of norms on this very important subject."

Over the course of its current session, the Commission is scheduled to hold panel discussions on public sector effectiveness, the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, and issues related to international migration.

Since the 1995 World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, the Commission has been the key UN body in charge of the follow-up and implementation of the conference's Declaration and Programme of Action, taking up an important social development theme each year.