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"The World Council of Churches has been highly critical of the actions of the United Nations General Secretary, Kofi Annan, at the recent UN Special Session on Social Development in Geneva. Before the session began Annan released a report 'A Better World for All' together with officials of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. "Non Governmental organisations were frustrated and angry at both the content and timing of the report. A member of the ecumenical team monitoring the session, Methodist Bishop Bernadino Mandlate from Mozambique, called the launch of the report "abhorrent." The independence of the UN from the World Bank and the IMF was under question, he said. "World Council of Churches (WCC) General Secretary Dr Konrad Raiser noted how the report was received with great astonishment, disappointment and anger by many. In a letter to the UN General Secretary, Raiser described the launch of the report as "a propaganda exercise for international financial institutions." He went on to note how the UN's development agenda has floundered as increasingly responsibility for global economic trade reform was ceded to bodies such as the WTO, IMF and WB. "It signals an acceptance of the logic of the market" he said "The ecumenical team noted several specific objections to the report 'A Better World for All'. The report pre-empted the negotiations of the special session and devalued its process. It reinforced Northern perspectives and disempowered the South, so undermining the process of political inclusiveness. The report patronised the poor and ignored poverty in the North. The image was of poor people living only in the South who would be grateful for any assistance. It did not encourage the empowering of people living in poverty, to demand their rights. Finally the report not only failed to recognise the role of economic liberalisation polices in generating poverty, but proposed to eradicate poverty with more of the same. "Prior to the UN special session, WCC officials spoke of the need to turn from the 'neo-liberal' approach to development, to a commitment to build a 'people centred' economy. In a statement to the assembly, the ecumenical team stated that, 'From our faith based perspective, poverty eradication, full employment and social integration are fundamental... The ultimate aim of economic life should be to nurture sustainable and just communities. Building such communities requires nothing less than profound moral courage and political action." . nd to poverty. These foot-soldiers are mobilisi
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