Adjustment with a Human Face

993 Words4 Pages
Adjustment with a Human Face: A UNICEF Record and Perspective on the 1980's capitalism/communism/socialism etc with a human face a capitalist etc economic and political system that does not ignore people's needs Original Author: Jolly Richard Bibliographic Information: 1991 1807-1821 World Development, Vol. 19, No. 12 ________________________________________ Abstract: The UNICEF record on structural adjustment is presented. During the 1980's, structural adjustment programs were implemented in many developing countries. UNICEF called on the IMF and World Bank to consider the human dimensions of these programs. UNICEF provided the evidence, analytical framework, and action plan that influenced the process. ________________________________________ In the early 1980s UNICEF became increasingly concerned with the setbacks in health, education and child nutrition arising in many developing countries. This article follows the development of UNICEF's concerns with international and national policy to offset these setbacks, the development of its policy of "adjustment with a human face," and the major steps taken in the making of adjustment policy. Many countries experienced macroeconomic difficulties in the 1980s as the debt crisis and international recession brought structural weakness into the open. As the decade continued, it became clear that macroeconomic recovery and structural change were slow in coming. Evidence of declines in incomes and cutbacks in social services began to mount. It was UNICEF that first brought the issue into the debate on the design and effects of adjustment. By the end of the decade, the issue had become important for all agencies, and it is now reviewed in all adjustment programs financed by the World Bank. As UNICEF advocated, attention is focused both on how adjustment policies affect the poor and on the specific measures that can be
Open Document