SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR RENEWED COMMITMENT TO STEM POVERTY'S 'RISING TIDE' IN MESSAGE ON INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR ERADICATION OF POVERTY
Press Release
SG/SM/6080
SECRETARY-GENERAL CALLS FOR RENEWED COMMITMENT TO STEM POVERTY'S 'RISING TIDE' IN MESSAGE ON INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR ERADICATION OF POVERTY
19961015 Following is the text of the message of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which will be observed on 17 October:The observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty must be the occasion for a renewed, world-wide commitment to stem the rising tide of world poverty. There is no greater challenge to the international community today.
More than 1 billion people around the world are still living in absolute poverty. In too many parts of the developing world, people face a daily struggle to overcome the burdens of hunger and disease, often in conditions of civil strife and war. Women and children are the most affected. In fact, no society, even in the industrialized world, can claim to be free of the problem of poverty. In a world of expanding wealth and prosperity, inequalities and the risks of marginalization of certain countries, and of groups within countries, are also on the rise.
The United Nations has made the assault on poverty a priority. The urgent need for new policies and new initiatives, and for the active involvement of local, community-based organizations and civil society at large, has dominated all United Nations world conferences on development issues held over the last five years: the World Summit on Children, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social Development, the Fourth World Conference on Women and the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements.
AT the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, 117 heads of State agreed to an integrated approach to poverty eradication based on the concept of partnership, within societies as well as between developed and developing countries. The Copenhagen Declaration and Programme of Action embodies commitments and measures at both the national and international level to stimulate growth, trade and employment; to improve health, community and education systems; and to ensure that official development assistance goes where it is needed most -- on meeting basic human needs in the world's poorest countries.
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Nowhere are these needs greater than in the continent of Africa. Earlier this year, I launched the United Nations System-Wide Special Initiative on Africa, to support and expedite the realization of the goals established by the General Assembly in the United Nations New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s. This Initiative, developed in close consultation with Africa's leaders, underlines the United Nations commitment to promoting development and security throughout the world's poorest continent. It emphasizes the importance of self-reliance and economic reform. It mobilizes resources to meet desperate needs in health, education and employment.
If we are to succeed in combating poverty, new policies will be needed at all levels. At the global level, a concerted effort is required to create a conducive international environment, geared to supporting the integration of the least developed countries, and of the poorest groups within countries, in the mainstream of the global economy. At the national level, policies to enhance overall competitiveness must be accompanied by targeted programmes and projects that combat social exclusion, expand social services and stimulate productive employment. At all levels, there is a pressing need to recognize that the poor can be key partners in the development process, and that investments in people are the surest way to lasting development.
On this day -- and as 1996, which was proclaimed by the General Assembly International Year for the Eradication of Poverty, comes to an close -- we must renew our efforts to ensure that the commitments made in international forums are translated into concrete advances for the world's poor, and that all people are given an opportunity to contribute to, and share in, economic growth and sustainable development. If we do so, we can begin at last to eradicate the world-wide scourge of poverty.
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