SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS UN PRIORITY FOR HELPING WORLD'S POOR IS CHALLENGE TO THOSE WHO SAY HUMAN MISERY IS 'INEVITABLE'

17 October 1996

Press Release
SG/SM/6083

SECRETARY-GENERAL SAYS UN PRIORITY FOR HELPING WORLD'S POOR IS CHALLENGE TO THOSE WHO SAY HUMAN MISERY IS 'INEVITABLE'

19961017 Message at New York Ceremony for Inauguration of Stone to Commemorate Victims of Extreme Poverty

This is the text of a message from Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on the occasion of the inauguration today -- in the United Nations garden in New York -- of a commemorative stone in honour of the victims of extreme poverty (an event sponsored by the Permanent Mission of France and the international anti-poverty group, ATD):

Exactly nine years ago in Paris, Father Joseph Wresinski, Founder of ATD Fourth World, unveiled the first commemorative stone to victims of poverty. It is particularly fitting that on this the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the United Nations should receive an exact replica of the Parisian stone from the Government and people of France.

Here, in the heart of United Nations Plaza, the stone will stand as a permanent tribute to all those who face the daily struggle to overcome the burdens of poverty. It will serve as a constant reminder of the needs, concerns and aspirations of a neglected and excluded section of the world community. It will provide inspiration to all those who work and campaign to rid the world of inequality and injustice.

Father Wresinski's message remains universal: poverty has no respect for race, religion or national boundaries; no country is immune to the evil of poverty; no country can boast that all its citizens are well fed, and properly clothed and housed; and no country can afford to be complacent in the battle against the causes of poverty.

Today's important event poses a timely challenge to the international community as a whole to do more to stem the rising tide of world poverty. In a world of enormous and growing wealth, it is estimated that more than one billion people must survive on less than $1 a day each. This is simply unacceptable. If we are to meet this challenge, initiatives are needed and resources must be found.

For our part, the United nations has made the assault on poverty a priority. The urgent need for new policies has dominated all United Nations world conferences held over the last five years, and the General Assembly has declared 1996 the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty.

Defeating the global scourge of poverty will not be easy however. Entrenched inequalities cannot disappear overnight. Today, as Father Wresinski so often observed, there is a pressing need to recognize that the poor themselves can and must play a positive role as partners in the defeat of poverty. This means encouraging a greater voice for grass-roots organizations. It means listening to the poor and learning from them. Above all, it means challenging all those who believe that there is something inevitable about poverty and human misery.

Excellency, on behalf of the entire United Nations family, I would like to thank you and the people of France for this most generous, moving and inspiring gift. It will serve as a permanent and poignant token of the vision and timeless message of Father Wresinski: that "whenever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty".

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