Part III, further initiatives for inclusion in the outcome of the Special Session, will also be debated by the PrepCom in its current session. The document states that the goals of development are to improve living conditions and to empower people to participate fully in economic, political and social arenas. It concludes that while efforts have been made, progress has been uneven and further attention is required. The document also affirms that since the WSSD, national and international actors, including the UN system, have placed greater emphasis on social development in the form of new policies and programmes. However, lack of access to education, persistent poverty and unemployment, and inequitable access to opportunities and resources have caused social exclusion and marginalization.
Discrimination causes women and girls to suffer particular disadvantages.
A primary sticking point was a reference to economic sanctions and unilateral measures not in accordance with international law and the Charter of the United Nations. The final text concludes that sanctions and unilateral measures can impede social development. Much of the extra work of CSD-38 took place during the week originally scheduled for the PrepCom to meet intersessionally and to consider an integrated Chair s working draft text of the further actions and initiatives document. It spent much of its time debating the length and style of the negotiation document. After deciding to work with the Chair s draft, the PrepCom gave an initial reading of the first nine paragraphs of the document.