"Bad development", ecological as much as economic and social, is not confined to the Third World. It encompasses the entire planet: the spiralling debt and socio-economic stagnation of many Southern countries and the ever-widening gap between the living conditions and consumption levels of the rich and of the poor all over the world amply justify this assessment. If we limit ourselves simply to the statistics furnished by various United Nations agencies, we see that chronic poverty is the lot of more people around the world than ever before. Likewise, ecological catastrophes are multiplying, threatening the very survival of humanity and of planet Earth, and providing potential new sources of conflict. Massive stockpiling of weapons is also a central factor in bad development.



A primary concern of the CETIM is the search for alternatives capable of ensuring the survival and development of the majority of the countries of the South. These countries are faced with a dominant model that clearly disadvantages them, whether economically [e.g. the inappropriateness of world production to basic economic and social needs, the vicious cycle of the third-world debt], by damaging the social fabric [e.g. unemployment, the dismantling of social welfare systems], ecologically [e.g. deforestation, pollution], or by threatening their culture [e.g. standardisation and loss of cultural identity]. The growing marginalisation of regions like sub-Saharan Africa, considered by the industrialised world as possessing no strategic value, is also profoundly worrying.



By getting involved in consultations and demonstrations, the CETIM participates in local, national and international campaigns in cooperation with a wide network of organisations and movements. Already in 1995, for instance, the CETIM organised an international symposium, "GATT/WTO: What are the issues, the effects?" in Geneva with 20 speakers and several hundred participants.



Working at the UN

CETIM enjoys general category consultative status with the ECOSOC, the UN Economic and Social Council, which allows us to engage in several important activities. Criticisms emerging from civil society [people`s movements, grassroots organisations, trade unions and NGOs] around the world are transmitted to the international level in the form of proposals for concrete action and calls for innovation. At present, the CETIM is emphasising in particular respect for, implementation and promotion of economic, social and cultural rights, as well as issues related to the right to development.