KUWAIT, March 31 (KUNA) -- International lawmakers stressed the need to focus on women, youth and democratic policies in order to achieve sustainable development adding that the aim requires a global cooperation driven by developed countries.
The call came in the closing statement, or the Quito Deceleration, of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly's 128th meeting, which ended at the capital of Ecuador on Friday in the attendance of lawmakers from 120 countries.
Sustainable development now stands at a crossroads as production and consumption - two of the fundamental components of economic prosperity - are unsustainable. Growth is no longer a solution to challenges of a social, economic or environmental nature and has become only a part of the solution, read the statement.
If the world intended to develop as a global society able to conform to principles like peace and cooperation, while living in harmony with nature, it should focus on comparisons that aim to achieve good living standards.
A large growth rate does not necessarily mean further development and happiness for humankind, but to the contrary. Balanced social policies and limited growth rates are what together achieve good living standards.
Providing jobs and salaries in developing countries should go hand-in-hand with policies that aim for these relaxed living standards.
Good living standards should include components that do not depend on unlimited material consumption such as education, health, culture, entertainment, the right to practice religion, human rights, emotional satisfaction and patriotic belonging, which all aid in achieving human satisfaction and development without any large impacts on the environment.
These components are crucial in the modern model for development, and the government and private businesses, of any country, should assure that further jobs catering to these needs are met.
Tackling discrimination between genders should also be addressed, in order to release the full potentials of women as citizens and employees - especially as they form 50pct of the global population and continue to suffer from injustice in many economic and social sectors worldwide.
On the environment, the statement urged the need to transfer green technologies to developing countries.
On the political scale, it urged the need to give less-interacting components of the society - women, youth, indigenous communities and the poor - a chance to take part in the decision-making process, particularly over their own destinies. (end) ms.tb.sd KUNA 311608 Mar 13NNNN