Seven Pledges on Sustainable Development
Michel Camdessus, 74th Semaine Sociale, 1999

During the 74th Semaine Sociale, Michel Camdessus invited the participants to join his campaign against exclusion and absolute poverty. This campaign aims at making the commitments respected : during the last decade, the governments have committed themselves, international conference after international conference, to promote the human development, through a certain number of precise and achievable objectives. "Let us imagine that these commitments would be respected ; it would be an enormous progress towards a better world, particularly in favour of the most underprivileged among the poor, that is to say women and children."

But these commitments are fragile and tend to be forgotten by most of leaders in the world : "Let us mobilise ourselves in order to make of the first decade of the century the decade of the kept word. There is here something about our solidarity with this 1.3 billion people who are living in extreme poverty. There is too something fundamental here between the human beings : the respect of the given word. When we would let cynicism win that field, we could forget our dreams of progress towards a more fraternal worldwide society."

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Reducing extreme poverty
The proportion of people living in extreme poverty in developing countries should be reduced by at least one half by 2015. (Copenhagen)

Universal primary education
There should be universal primary education in all countries by 2015. (Jomtien, Beijing, Copenhagen)

Gender equality
Progress towards gender equality and the empowerment of women should be demonstrated by eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005. (Cairo, Beijing, Copenhagen)

Infant and child mortality
The death rates of infant and children under the age of five years should be reduced in each developing country by two thirds the 1990 level by 2015. (Cairo)

Maternal mortality
The rate of maternal mortality should be reduced by three-fourths between 1990 and 2014. (Cairo, Beijing)

Reproductive health
Access should be available through the primary health-care system to reproductive health services for all individuals of appropriate ages, no later than 2015. (Cairo)

Environment
There should be a current national strategy for sustainable development, in the process of implementation, in every country by 2005, so as to ensure that current trends in the loss of environmental resources are effectively reversed at both global and national levels by 2015. (Rio).