Putting People First: Whose New World Order?

Abstract

After the decade of the 1980s, during which people and their societies were asked to adjust themselves to the so-called exogenous facts of economic life, the 1990s start with an emphasis on human development; development for, of and by people. People first, indeed. That means: a first priority for poverty reduction, heading towards poverty eradication. Complete eradication may be a dream, but anyway, poverty is on the agenda again, not only on the agenda of the UN and the UNDP, but also on the agenda of the World Bank and the IMF; not only on the agenda of Ministers of Development or Welfare, but also of Ministers of Finance and Trade; not only of the North but also of the South, witness the excellent analysis in the Report of the South Commission. So, this is a good beginning of a new decade.