Cancún's False Promise: A View From the South

But to achieve this turnaround, governments committed to the Doha spirit must focus on making coherent and coordinated trade policy that is consistent with the MDGs. As such, the North should take the lead in opening up markets: trade protectionism must no longer take away with one hand what is generously given by the other in aid. Like me, many leaders in the developing world recognize the benefits of a multilaterally determined and governed open trading system. But we want the richer part of our world to ensure that such a system is tangibly beneficial to the large agricultural constituencies in our countries.

For the last two years, I have been privileged to work with a diverse group of distinguished personalities from government, academia, business, labor, and civil society in the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, which I was honored to co-chair with President Tarja Halonen of Finland. The broad goals of the commission are to identify policies for globalization that reduce poverty, foster growth and development, and widen opportunities for decent work; to identify policies that can make globalization more inclusive and fair; and to assist the international community in forging greater policy coherence to advance economic and social goals. We have tried to look at the social dimension of globalization in the lives and work of people by consulting stakeholders at national, regional, and global levels in both rich and poor countries.

President Halonen and I, together with Juan Somavia, director-general of the International Labor Organization, formally launched the report in London on February 24, 2004. It looks at both perceptions and facts and seeks to identify innovative ways of making the economic, social, and environmental objectives of globalization coherent, sustainable, and mutually reinforcing.

I urge leaders in both developed and developing countries to look at it.* If we work together, we can make the world a place of hope for everyone, rather than a place of despair and desperation for the majority.

Benjamin William Mkapa is President of the United Republic of Tanzania.

* The final report of the Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization can be found at www.ilo.org/public/english/wcsdg/.