Remembering CJ

The late President Cheddi Jagan died on March 6, 1997 at 12:23 a.m. at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the United States of America. Dr. Jagan bequeathed several legacies for the Guyanese people, but a significant birthright, among others, was his lifelong concern to bring happiness to the working class.

Today, this enduring concern has become the foundation for his globally- recognized legacy, the New Global Human Order (NGHO); Dr. Jagan boldly initiated this legacy in 1996. Jagan, for the first time since 1992, clearly, outlined his philosophic vision for Guyana in a speech in 1996 to the International Conference on the Global Human Order. What he presented was quite provocative for the squeamish, but practical, and required endorsement and implementation; endorsement he got in abundance. The view of the NGHO is remarkable, aimed at revitalizing poor developing nations through a just and fair partnership with the developed world.

Jagan’s vision of a developmental strategy incorporating NGHO’s principles would focus on the relationship of the worker to the products of his labor and on the process of producing that product; a reality only if there is a blending of the market economy with governmental interventions for nation building purposes; The U.S. does this quite well.

In the Epilogue to the last edition of The West On Trial, Jagan explained why a new global human order was necessary and where anything less was insufficient, thus: “Market-driven economic globalization and unbridled modernization...are leading to a spiral of marginalization and exclusion...”

The social and economic divisions between the advantaged and the disadvantaged in the industrialized nations of the North, in the developing and underprivileged countries of the South, and differences in accomplishments between North and South, are expanding. Clearly, the fight to eliminate poverty and restore human dignity has to be waged across national borders. Dr. Jagan knew all along that the fight for Guyana’s freedom was intertwined in the fight for world freedom, and so he took his battle against poverty and hunger to the international fora; not the North against the South, or the South against the North, but a North and South working together as partners.

The following developments attest to Jagan’s resilience and fortitude in his aggressive promotion of the NGHO: appeal to world leaders in 1994 arguing the case for a new order where the predominance of human development becomes the guideline for action; paper presented for the UN-sponsored World Hearings on Development, 1994; paper presented to the European Commission, 1994; paper presented to the Inter-Sessional CARICOM Heads of Government in St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1994; address to the Commonwealth Heads of Government in New Zealand, 1995; letter to the President of the World Bank, 1996; paper presented at the Global Development Initiative Advisory Group at the Carter Centre, 1996; address to the World Food Summit in Rome, 1996; Memorandum disseminated at the hemispheric Summit on Sustainable Development in Bolivia, 1996.

The Guyana Parliament in 1994 approved a resolution on the NGHO. In 1996, an international conference on the NGHO took place, culminating in its participants endorsing the NGHO. Then in 1997, CARICOM, The Group of 77 and China (G 77), and the UN General Assembly, endorsed it. The UN General Assembly has now debated Dr. Jagan’s NGHO.

The late President explained the complexion and nature of the NGHO, thus: “To attain a new Global Human Order, it is necessary to establish a sound and just system of global governance based on: a genuine North/South partnership and interdependence for mutual benefit; a democratic culture of representative, consultative and participatory democracy and a lean and clean administration; a people-centered development strategy free from external domination; application of science and technology for increased production and productivity; and the creation of a Global Development Fund.”

To squander the opportunity to put the NGHO in place is to condemn humanity to a lifetime of despair, alienation, and hopelessness; in short, a lifetime of poverty and hunger; a lifetime of nothingness; there is no need for this wastage.

Cheddi Jagan's Global Human Order

by Ralph Ramkarran

(paper delivered at a Seminar on the New Global Human Order at Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, August 9, 2006)

Background

The New Global Human Order came at a particular time in developments in Guyana and the rest of the world. Poverty was raging, the debt burden of the developing world was increasing and had become unmanageable, Guyana’s debt of US$2 billion was eating up 94 cents in every dollar earned, the IMF prescriptions had drastically reduced the standard of living of all Guyanese but had impacted most severely on the poor and disadvantaged thereby intensifying poverty and employment. These prescriptions were being increasingly recognised as “palliatives, not a cure.” At the same time the ideology of globalisation had become the new panacea for the ills of the world, both developed and developing.

In Guyana the IMF prescriptions had begun to take hold and these included the removal of subsidies, reduced government spending, a balanced budget, wage freeze, high interest rates and privatisation. The devastating consequences were described in the McIntyre Report and the 1991 Budget Speech of the Minister of Finance. McIntyre described Guyana as being the poorest country in the Caribbean next to Haiti and Greenidge described Guyana as bankrupt. In 1992 the Government changed and Cheddi Jagan took the opportunity to present in one document the ideas he had been developing for some years.

As is well known, Cheddi Jagan’s consuming ambition was the elimination of poverty. He rightly saw this scourge as an infliction and an affliction on the developing world which could be eliminated even within the context of the existence of developed capitalist states. He saw poverty as destructive of the “vigour and initiative of the individual and deprives the society of incalculable human resources at a critical time. Its elimination will enrich our commu nity and release a harvest of energy and skills. If left unattended, the expansion of poverty, with hunger, will undermine the fabric and security of the democratic state.” He saw that rational and realistic policies, acceptable to and supported by the developed world, could eliminate poverty. He said that: “Our times call for clear thinking to diagnose the ills of our globe, to ascertain the root cause of society’s growing problems and to formulate what must be done – a set of guiding principles and a programme of action.”

Cheddi Jagan’s vision was expansive and ambitious. He had studied development issues for fifty years and had written volumes on it. He had always recognised and understood that Guyana alone could not obtain the necessary support and resources to influence the developed countries to change course. He knew how important it was to devise a strategy that would gain broad acceptance. He said: “....a development strategy for the eradication of poverty must be global and positive.”

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly, he said that he saw this as a “crucial time” as charactersised by globalisation and liberalisation dominated by the transnational corporations with one dominant ideology; unacceptably high unemployment and underemployment; increasing poverty and widening gaps in developed and developing countries; chronic budget and balance of payments deficits; social, including family disintegration; strife and convulsions based on race, ethnicity, tribe, culture and religion; demagogy and confusion leading to a rise in fascism and racism.

He argued that Third World debt which he had been studying and writing about since the 1970s and had been one of the earliest voices arguing that it was unpayable and should be cancelled, was strangling reconstruction and human development efforts.

He calculated the at that time US$500 billion was lost in unfair and non-equivalent international trade, a sum equal to ten times official development assistance from the developed countries.

He concluded that “these factors pose a grave threat to international and individual peace and security. Consequently, there is an urgent need for a New Global Human Order, as an adjunct to the UN Agenda for Development. A New Global Human Order must have as its goal human development: meeting the basic needs of the people, cultural upliftment and a clean and safe environment.”

The New Global Human Order proposes changes leading to :

1. The establishment of global institutions to respond to the global dimension of the existing human society.

2. The United Nations system to play a more central role in global economic management and should have access to large financial resources.

3. The IMF and World Bank to concentrate on human development as distinct from the means of development and return to their original roles.

4. A new Official Development Assistance which would channel to the poorest countries two-thirds of ODA instead of one-quarter.

5. The acceptance of sustainable human development as an attainable goal.

6. A greater role for non-governmental organisations in international institutions.

7. Reduction of military expenditure and the use of the “peace dividend” for debt relief. Introduction of the Tobin Tax of 0.5 percent on speculative transfer of currency.

8. Providing for equitable international trade both in goods and services to accelerate global growth and allow a more equitable distribution of its benefits.

Ten years have gone since the New Global Human Order was launched. It was Cheddi Jagan’s and Guyana’s contribution to the struggle against poverty, a struggle which consumed the entire lifetime of Cheddi Jagan. How have we feared so far?

Despite the tragic international situation which now prevails, we have seen some initiatives during last year but a tremendous amount remains to be done.

The Millenium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations in September 2005 set a ten year agenda with clear goals which it was hoped would guide the strategies of both developed and developing countries in planning their assault on poverty. The MDG proposes to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development all by the target date of 2015.

While these goals are ambitious and the means to attain them have not been identified, during last year the G8 countries agreed to write off the debt of 18 of the poorest countries in the world, Guyana included, amounting to US$40 billion. Guyana has already been benefitting from this facility. This is a start but its implementation has been severely criticised.

In his book, “The End of Poverty,” Jeffrey Sachs said: “Alas, the international community’s approach remains incoherent in practice. On the one side, it announces bold goals, like the Millenium Development Goals, and even ways that the goals can be achieved, such as the pledge of increased donor assistance made in the Monterey Consensus. Yet when it comes to real practice , where the rubber hits the road, in the poverty reduction plans, the Millenium Development Goals are expressed only in vague aspirations rather than operational targets. Countries are told to go about their business without any hope of meeting the MDGs. The IMF and World Bank reveal split personalities, championing the MGDs in public speeches, approving programmes that will not achieve them, and privately acknowledging, with business as usual that they cannot be met.”

Jeffrey Sachs is a famous economist who specialises in development strategies and is absolutely convinced that the poverty and the problems of development can be resolved with the correct strategies and the commitment of the developed world.

Guyana has prepared Poverty Reduction Strategies at the behest of the donors. This is what Professor Sachs said about these: “Knowing that a certain amount of aid is likely, the recipient country is expected to engage in a broad-based public consultation to prepare the poverty reduction plan, including how the aid will be deployed. The international community’s insistence on broad public participation in the design of these plans is designed to achieve four main goals: (1) better prioritization of investment plans, (2) increased public awareness about poverty reduction programmes, (3) mobilisation of NGOs and community groups in the fight against poverty, and (4) fostering more political ‘antibodies’ against corruption. All of this is fine; indeed, it is reasonably successful in eliciting public participation. What is missing in the process are the practical linkages between the Millenium Development Goals and the poverty reduction plans. In today’s arrangements, the country is presented with a fait accompli – ‘Here is the amount of aid you will receive.’ Instead, the process should be turned around. The first step should be to learn what the country actually needs in foreign assistance. After that, the IMF and World Bank should go out to raise the required amount from the donors.”

Professor Sachs recommends a programme for a poverty reduction strategy based on the MDGs. It should be in five parts, namely, (1) a differential diagnosis, identifying the policies and investments that the country needs to achieve the MDGs, (2) an investment plan, showing the showing the size, timing, and costs of the required investments, (3) a financial plan, to fund the investment plan, (4) a donor plan, which gives the multiyear donor commitments for filling the MDGs Financing Gap, and (5) a public management plan, that outlines the mechanisms of governance and public administration that will help implement the expanded public investment strategy.

There is clearly a growing recognition of the belief that Cheddi Jagan carried his entire life by outstanding and world recognised experts like Professor Sachs and public figures like Bono, the pop star, who wrote the forward to the book, that poverty could be eliminated with the resources that are currently available and with the correct policies.

While there have been minimal successes, there have been serious failures. The failure of the Doha Round of trade talks recently has been a great disappointment to developing countries which had been hoping that the reduction of trade barriers would have gone a long way in contributing to their own economic growth and the development of the world’s economy.

Even though there is much that is discouraging, including the war in Iraq and the continuing hostilities in Israel and Lebanon, we have moved, albeit slowly, from the position where up to recently poverty was considered to be the fate of ‘lesser’ peoples to the situation where it is now recognised that developed countries have a responsibility and a duty to do much more to destroy this scourge. Developing countries have an equal responsibility to put their houses in order and must discharge that responsibility.

The hopes of Cheddi Jagan as envisioned in the New Global Human Order helped to point the way when many were not looking or could not see. Let us hope that his dreams for Guyana are soon achieved.

New Global Human Order, globally recognized