Its role is not to prescribe but to listen, stimulate and facilitate. The commission has had a difficult and controversial life. However, it has provided some new opportunities for ordinary citizens to engage in public ethical reflection and debate. Its problem has been to overcome the silence from the media and find ways to stimulate debate linked to concrete policy development and choices that involve more than the few. Ethics and morality are not limited to the individual and private space, they must also be an ongoing concern in the public space.
Governments have a moral responsibility to guide development towards what is just and equitable.
The private sector has a responsibility to act in ways that are just, fair and conducive to people s participation. Citizens and social institutions have a moral responsibility to hold governments and the private sector accountable for their actions, to uphold and nurture values, or to question their relevance. We must continue to look for mechanisms and processes that inform, question, and deepen and broaden the dialogue about how basic values are translated into daily life decisions and actions at all levels of society. This should not only be an elitist exercise or one limited to certain interest groups. We live in times when the boundary between the national and the international arenas is much less distinct than before.