8. Human Rights

Mikalai mentioned that solving environmental problems and those of sustainable development, we should keep in mind that they are closely connected with the generally acknowledged human rights. Hardly there can be any effective and progressive development without a broad public access to decision- making.  The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is certainly a good start in findings universal values. Universal and fundamental human rights are universal values. There are more universal values to be found. Human rights and democracy are closely intertwined. Respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is one of the characteristics of a democracy. 

In health we add that an  adequate level  of health care is a universal value as well as a human right. We expect adequate health services to be accessible, affordable, compassionate and socially acceptable. The Global Community  is required to participate in the development of health policies and services.

The Global Community is committed to participate in the discussion of all issues related to human rights and in finding universal values other than  human rights.

Human rights represent an ideal and a supreme goal which can give meaning to life in society. Throughout the history of humanity, the rights of human beings have been defined and enshrined with reference to the values of the dignity of each individual and of freedom, equality and justice. These values are universal. The Global Community has accepted and enshrined them into its own ways of behaving and dealing with all peoples. Cultures and societies differ so much that their expression takes varying forms, but diversity does not affect the foundation of inalienable values constituted by human rights. Each individual is recognized as a representative of humankind. Human dignity resides in each of us and this dignity must be recognized and respected by all.

9. Quality of Life

Colman has researched and developed an indicator to include the quality of life. Natural resources are explicitly valued; unpaid household work and voluntary work are measured; and costs are distinguished from benefits. The GPI subtracts rather than adds the costs of crime, pollution and accidents. The index goes up if we have more free time, greater equality, and a cleaner environment. It therefore more accurately reflects actual changes in our quality of life. 

Lange proposed a value to redefine the quality of life from a consumptive, acquisitive mode to a mode of non-consumptive relatedness. This mode challenges the frantic pace, exhaustion and burn-out many people feel. It enables people to restore organic connections to time, space, body and human relations and to engage in non-consumptive forms of fulfillment. Most importantly, it can reduces the depletion of natural resources for endless material goods and exploitation of human and natural communities for profits.

Ira mentioned that well-being - including stress, life satisfaction, and personal happiness is an important dimension in assessing the way of living in different places.

Abramia explained that the Georgian Parliament regulates major legal relations in the area of environmental protection on the entire territory of Georgia and is guided by the following key principles: · "polluter pays" principle
· "biodiversity conservation principle"
· "recycling principle"
· "restitution principle"
· "environmental impact assessment principle"
and the "information availability principle" - information on the condition of the environment shall be open and available to public. 

Hao explained that China has now established an environmental protection management system which is supervised legislatively by the National People’s Congress, implemented by the people’s government at various levels, managed in unified way by administrative departments in in charge of environmental protection and supervised by various relevant departments in accordance with the laws. There are a set of management system such as Annual check system, technical supervision system, centralized management by specialized department, monitoring networks etc.

Well-being is a concept central to this explanation of the Kerala phenomena(Alexander).  Our operational definition within this analysis (securely within the dictionary definition exclusive of income) is a the package of closely associated measures of human behaviours: infant mortality rate, life expectancy, educational attainment, and total fertility rate. This definition is also framed by our understanding of human behaviour as a part of human sustainability.

McGregor has researched and developed a new concept of quality of life that is indeed multi-dimensional, complex and very subjective. For instance, someone who has changed their consumption habits to better ensure that their choices will make a better quality of life for themselves, the environment and future generations, may be seen by others as having a lower or inferior quality of life since they have removed themselves from the materialistic mainstream characteristic of our consumer society. Someone may feel that an absence of violence and abuse in their life leads to a higher quality of living even though they have fewer tangible resources, money, or shelter; peace of mind and freedom from abuse has increased the quality of their daily life relative to what it was like before. Family-life professionals have a role to play in helping families help individual members identify, clarify and select values that may improve their quality of life. There are four universal quality of life values which lead to "human betterment" or the improvement of the human condition. In addition to the value of species survival (human and other living organisms), they include: adequate resources, justice and equality, freedom, and peace or balance of power. Since quality of life is at the core of our professional mission, it must be better understood, especially in relation to well-being. 

10. Global Ethics

 Vilela presented Objectives of the International Earth Charter Campaign. Ethics must always be grounded in realities(Dufour). But realities are changing constantly and are different in different places. We live in a world that makes progress toward democracy. Ethics and morality exist only when human beings can act freely. In our free society, rights are tied to responsibilities. Corporations are committed to improvement in business performance and want to be seen as 'good corporate citizens' on a local and a global scale. Corporations have social responsibilities as they are an integral part of society. With this World Congress, The Global Community organization has now at hand the method and framework to conduct societal checks and balances of sustainable development. A more balance world economy will result of annual checks and balances. Corporations will take their social responsibilities and become involved in designing, monitoring, and implementing these checks and balances. Results will be taken into account in the evaluation of sustainable development. Corporations are required to expand their responsibilities to include human rights, the environment, community and family aspects, safe working conditions, fair wages and sustainable consumption aspects.

McGregor has extended the idea of sustainability to be a moral and ethical state, as well as an economic and environmental state, wherein sustainable consumption patterns respect the universal values of peace, security, justice and equity within the human relationships that exist in the global village. Put more simply, not only should consumers be concerned with the impact of their decisions on the environment but also on the lives and well-being of other people. Since one of the key functions of families as a social institution is to engage in production (selling their labour in return for wages) and consumption (using those wages to buy goods and services), the roundtable would examine the role of families as they impact sustainable consumption and development. To embrace a moral and ethical perspective, the family's function of production and consumption has to be discussed in relation to its other key functions , especially (a) socialization of children into adult, roles and (b) social control of family members so they are responsible contributing members of society. 

Barsky, Diepeveen, Wilson and  Hanna proposed new ideas based upon material from a variety of perspectives, including conflict resolution theory, social work theory, and sustainable development theory. When all people are provided an opportunity to give voice in public discussions, sustainable development decisions will include a more complete range of perspectives, ideas, and solutions. People will be more committed to the processes, more trusting, and more likely to contribute. Past lip service to participatory decision making must give way to meaningful involvement. With a truly broad base of people being mobilized in a collaborative effort, a shared vision of the future is surely within reach. 

Grishin and Tokmakova discussed the following issues of public participation in environmental impact assessment: (a) goals and principles; (b) practical acpects; (c) legal, administrative and institutional frameworks; and (d) methods for arranging public participation in EIA. More practical experience dealing with public participation in environmental impact assessment in a transboundary context has been gathered since the entering into force the Convention in September 1997. Practical aspects of public participation in EIA in a transboundary context were discussed.

 Hyvarinen contributed to the debate about the EU's role in the international climate negotiations. 

KAANICHE explained that sustainable development constitutes an evolutionary and very complex process making use of several disciplines and different data: economic, social and ecological. 

Mehandjiev and  Mehandjieva proposed  a contemporary clear and practically applicable definition of the notion "sustainable development" can be build, in accordance with the principle and approaches of the Bulgarian Association of Environmentalists and Ecologists - ABEECOL.

 During the last years, private companies as well as public agencies have been realized that consultation of stakeholder groups is an indispensable step for achievement of results and improvement of impacts (Nauheimer). Consequently, companies like The Body Shop, IBM, or Shell have developed their own tools to ensure that management decisions can be significantly influenced by customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, the public opinion and other important groups. 

Rich explores the relationship between the features of collaborative environmental management and the conditions necessary for achieving sustainability.

When communities, nations, or international bodies make decisions affecting sustainable development, there are many voices to be heard (Barsky,  Diepeveen, Wilson and  Hanna). Typical bodies involved in public discussions of environmentalists, developers, business people, taxpayers, scientists, community planners, governmental officials, and non-governmental organizations. 

13. Eradication of poverty

  Constraints to poor people’s accessing and benefiting from credit among the 19 microfinance schemes in Kyrgyzstan, only 3 of them (FINCA, UNDP Poverty Alleviation Project, and the completed Pilot Demonstration Project - World Bank) reach the poor(Dzhamanbaev).

Dzhamanbaev explained that in developing poverty alleviation interventions, the need for detailed poverty analyses within target areas cannot be underrated. Employing participatory approaches in identifying needs, solutions and designing specific mechanisms for poverty alleviation reduces the risk of programme failure. Building the capacity of the poor to develop their own strategies for overcoming poverty and supporting these strategies enables us to ensure sustainability of poor people’s own initiatives. 

Madeleine dit qu'il est tentant d'affirmer sans risque aucun d'etre dementi que quelque soit l'angle sous lequel on veut aborder ce concept de nos jours, pour l'Afrique et pour les africains, la notion semble paradoxale dans la mesure ou elle conjugue deux idees contradictoires: d'un cote, celle du developpement, et de l'autre, celle de durabilite.

Poverty exists everywhere, and in  it takes dramatic forms in developing countries where governments have a hard time in coping with the basic needs and demands of their populations (Dufour). The distribution of wealth around the world demands more compassionate approaches to bridging the continuously widening gap between the rich and the poor. Understanding the economic and social development of a balance world is a priority of The Global Community organization. The eradication of poverty in the world is a priority and our responsibility. 

The interaction of poor health, poverty and environmental deterioration has been measured and was found  to have a direct relationship with the stage of economic and social development of a country. 

Policies to combat poverty should not damage the environment. Environmental policies should not create poverty. This requires: 

1. The diversification of production activities thereby reducing pressure on natural resources

2. A major change in consumer habits so as to be compatible with the natural environment

3. The development of technologies aimed at specific environmental and social conditions; 'clean' technologies that have less impact on the environment

Several developing countries are ruled by socio-economic and political structures that are oppressive and it is the inherently vulnerable  and dependent groups that are at a higher risk of neglect and abuse. There has to be an organized NGO sector and active human-rights groups in such societies in order to protect and defend the oppressed people.

14. Wars, armed conflicts, and violence

  Condemned by individual governments and the United Nations as the most widely reviled abuse of women's human rights , military sexual atrocities against women continue unabated at the dawn of the third millennium(Eaton).  

Wars begin in our minds, and it is therefore in our minds that the event of peace must be constructed(Dufour). We may desire peace and abhor war and also be moved by the suffering it causes but this is not enough. We must realize that knowledge of and respect for human rights and other universal values found in this World Congress can lead each member of The Global Community towards the universal peace to which we all aspire.

15. Earth Management

De Feis explained that balancing equity amongst the needs of people, optimal resource utilization, the economy, and the environment is at the heart of sustainable development. Djanaeva proposed that each level of the Social Ecological Crisis(SEC) roots has its own structure, interrelations, or hierarchy, subordination as well as with the basic ecological relations. The overall aim of the project is to contribute to creating an understanding of sustainable development as an ongoing, cumulative process owned by the society as a whole(Vilinovic,  Chrenko, Hudek,  Toma and  Miklos ).   Raghbendra Jha and K.V. Bhanu Murthy argue that the notion of sustainability as used in the extant literature is incomplete because of two reasons: (i) a neglect of the spatial dimensions of sustainability and (ii) the absence of a link between sustainability on the one hand and change in behavior and property rights on the other. They concentrate only on the problem of consumption reduction. It advocates a complex strategy for attaining the reductions in consumption necessary for attaining sustainability. It advocates the use of group taxes on producers as well as consumers. Second, the tax revenues so collected are earmarked for spending for the purpose of the environment. The resulting lowering of the discount rate and behavioral changes would lead to a drop in the rate of increase of prices of natural resources and, therefore, to a postponement of their consumption. All these involve the design of an intermediate run policy that treats environmental goods as merit goods as a prelude to their (ultimately) being treated as common resources. Md. Hasibur Rahman explained that air pollution must be considered as the most vulnerable environmental health hazards. It is important to take immediate initiative to protect air pollution on the basis of latest scientific information and technology available. 

The democratic functioning of The Global Community organization, or Earth Community, or Earth Society (three names for the same organization), implies the possibility of a global dialogue among all its members, between people of all beliefs and opinions. Democracy is a way of living together and an expression of respect for other people; it is now rooted in The Global Community. The typical fundamental freedoms of a democracy (freedom of expression, thought, assembly, and association) are themselves part of human rights. These freedoms were present during the World Congress as we have dialogue and debate on the rights of different people and their accompanying obligations and responsibilities as human beings. These freedoms can exist everywhere.

Democracy is a political system based on the participation of the people. It foresees the separation of powers among the judiciary, the legislative and the executive authorities, as well as free and regular elections.

The organization promotes efficient forms of management and participation. The political rights of The Global Community define the conditions under which citizens exercise their responsibilities. For our organization to be  democratic, we must organized our political and social life with the greatest respect of all peoples.

16. Cooperation between developing and developed countries

During the past three decades, the size and composition of external capital flows to developing countries have gone through major changes.

Since the beginning of 1990 we have witnessed a rapid expansion of private capital inflows due mainly to the rapid liberalization of markets and privatization of economic activity in developing countries. The private sector has become the principal borrower.

Large amounts of capitals from foreign direct investment are now making their ways to developing countries. They are a supplementary investment to private capital inflows.

The success of the integration of developing countries into the international trading system depends largely on the effective management of their exchange rates.

 Huba described the situation in Slovakia, as well as in other post-communist countries in Central and Eastern Europe. In Slovakia, which is more or less representative as a typical Central and Eastern European country in transition, the principles of sustainable development are still rarely applied.  The impacts of the recent economic globalization on the Brazilian economy have revealed a diversified tendency when the regional productivity indexes are observed(Kon).  World globalization process caused significant changes in advanced and also in less developed economies in recent years that include: a) increasing internationalization of economic activities; b) the reorganization of dominant firms: c) the increasing integration of manufacturing and service production; d) the growing use of microelectronics technology; e) the growing demand in industry for a high skilled workforce, but many routine jobs being displaced by technical change; f) the increasing complexity and volatility of consumption; and a changing role for state intervention.

  The problems of ecology and technological safety become more and more important for mankind (Krasnyanski). But the majority of countries of East Europe, South America, Asia and Africa have not enough finances either for environment protection (keeping air and water clean) or for utilization of the accumulated industrial and domestic wastes, or for preventing fires and explosions in industry, woods, etc. 

  Wegosky and his organization suggested that  a special activity to compensate the destroying affects of Urban Civilization upon nature. In our views the mankind can achieve the balance only by creating nature-reviving dynamic that is to compensate the destroying urban dynamic. 

During the past three decades, the size and composition of external capital flows to developing countries have gone through major changes. Since the beginning of 1990 we have witnessed a rapid expansion of private capital inflows due mainly to the rapid liberalization of markets and privatization of economic activity in developing countries. The private sector has become the principal borrower. Large amounts of capitals from foreign direct investment are now making their ways to developing countries. They are a supplementary investment to private capital inflows. The success of the integration of developing countries into the international trading system depends largely on the effective management of their exchange rates.