Representatives from close to 20 Socialist International member parties and organisations convened in Berlin on 15-16 October 2004 for a meeting of the SI Committee on Economy, Social Cohesion and Environment, hosted by the Social Democratic Party of Germany and chaired by Christoph Zöpel, Chair of the Committee.
In this first meeting of the Committee since the SI Congress in São Paulo, the delegates addressed economic, social and ecological developments since October 2003 and the future work of the Committee on regionalisation of globalisation in Africa, Latin America and countries in transition in Europe and Asia.
In a unanimously agreed draft resolution on the issue of sustainable development and the fulfilling of the commitments of the WSSD held in 2002, to be presented to the forthcoming SI Council in Johannesburg, the delegates reaffirmed the strong commitment of the International to achieving the Agenda 21, the Millennium Development Goals towards ending extreme poverty by 2015 and the Johannesburg Declaration and Plan of Implementation, and underlined ‘the need for a new global partnership encompassing economic development, social advance and environmental protection, as interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable development’.
In order to give a more regionally focused approach to its work and to include each region’s specific needs in the International’s global agenda, the Committee agreed on a working plan to structure its forthcoming discussions, which will be based on: Identity and specificity of the regions; Regional strategies for development - combining economic, social and environmental dimensions - Strategy and criteria of regional integration; and the Aims of the regions concerning global policies.
Bernard Soulage (Socialist Party, France) and Ouafa Hajji (Socialist Union of Popular Forces, Morocco) were elected as Vice-Chairs of the Committee. Participants also discussed the co-ordination of the Committee’s future work with the SI Working Groups on the Bretton Woods System, on Trade and Social Rights and on the Reform of the United Nations. It was decided to meet next on 14 January in Geneva and in Africa in early March.
Chair of the Committee
Christoph Zöpel
(SPD Germany)
Secretary General of the SI
Luis Ayala
ALGERIA
Socialist Forces Front, FFS
Mohand Amokrane Cherifi
Djoudi Mammeri
BULGARIA
Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP
Georgi Pirinski
FINLAND
Finnish Social Democratic Party, SDP
Folke Sundman
FRANCE
Socialist Party, PS
Bernard Soulage
GERMANY
Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD
Katrin Werblow
Marina Von Muldau
GREECE
Panhellenic Socialist Movement, PASOK
Evi Christofilopoulou
MONGOLIA
Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party, MPRP
Terbishdagva Dendev
MOROCCO
Socialist Union of Popular Forces, USFP
Ouafa Hajji
NETHERLANDS
Labour Party, PvdA
Ferd Crone
PALESTINE
Fatah
Bader A. A. Abu Zahra
PORTUGAL
Socialist Party, PS
Maria João Rodrigues
SOUTH AFRICA
African National Congress, ANC
Moses Mabokela Chikane
Edward Lebeko
SPAIN
Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party, PSOE
Pedro Sanchez
SWEDEN
Swedish Social Democratic Party, SAP
Leif Jakobsson
TUNISIA
Constitutional Democratic Assembly, RCD
Riadh Saada
International Union of Socialist Youth, IUSY
Kai Burmeister
Party of European Socialists, PES
Bernard Tuyttens
SI Secretariat
Sophie Thérouanne
Guest:
Friedrich-Ebert Foundation, FES
Jürgen Stetten
If you are looking for an earlier meeting, please consult the LIBRARY section.