SECRETARY-GENERAL'S MESSAGE TO ROME SEMINAR ON HUNGER AND POVERTY
Press Release
SG/SM/6086
SECRETARY-GENERAL'S MESSAGE TO ROME SEMINAR ON HUNGER AND POVERTY
19961018 Following is the message of Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Seminar on Global Hunger and Poverty: Dimensions and Solutions, delivered on his behalf by Assistant Secretary-General for Public Information, Samir Sanbar, on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty in Rome on 17 October:I am delighted to send my best wishes to all those participating in the IFAD Seminar, Global Hunger and Poverty: Dimensions and Solutions, on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
This Day poses a challenge to the international community as a whole to do more to stem the rising tide of world poverty. Today, more than 1 billion people around the world are living in absolute poverty of a kind we can barely imagine. In too many parts of the developing world, people face a daily struggle to overcome the burdens of famine, disease, civil strife and war. Eight hundred million people, two hundred million of them children, are chronically undernourished. In a world of plenty, no one should have to face the evils of famine and starvation.
The eradication of hunger and poverty requires constructive and concerted international action. The world's poorest countries cannot address these problems in isolation. They require the technical expertise and economic assistance which can only come from the developed world. And governments in the rich North must do more to combat the twin problems of "donor fatigue" and the growing debt burden of the developing world.
For our part, the United Nations has made the assault on poverty a priority. The urgent need for new policies and new initiatives has dominated all United Nations world conferences on development issues held over the last five years: the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the International Conference on Population and Development, the World Summit for Social Development and the Fourth World Conference on Women.
At the inter-governmental level, real progress is now being made. 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 between the developed and developing worlds. The Copenhagen Declaration and
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Programme of Action urged the international community to stimulate new jobs, growth and trade, to improve health, community and educations 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.
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. This initiative, developed in close consultation with Africa's leaders, emphasizes the importance of self-reliance and economic reform. It highlights the critical role of agriculture and food security for the future development of Africa. It mobilizes new resources to meet desperate needs in health, education and employment. It underlines the United Nations commitment to promoting development and security throughout the world's poorest continent.
Here, the experience of IFAD and other United Nations agencies is critical. Your work has helped to challenge an important myth. There is nothing inevitable about levels of absolute poverty in the developing world. Quite the reverse. Policies designed to reduce levels of poverty are not only practical and feasible, but make good economic sense. Poverty alleviation can help to reduce dependence and stimulate new demand for products and services in even the poorest countries. And domestic markets can be strengthened by generating additional output and purchasing power among the poor.
If we are to succeed in combating hunger and poverty, particularly in the least developed world, new policies will be needed at both the macro and micro levels. At the macro level, economic reform, market incentives and support for vital infrastructure projects are essential. In the absence of more stable economic and regulatory regimes, agricultural production in the world's poorest countries will continue to decline.
At the micro level, there is a pressing need to recognize that the poor can play a positive role as true partners in the development process. This means not only listening to their concerns, but learning from them. It means encouraging the widest possible participation in development projects from the design stage to evaluation. Above all, it means a greater voice for grass- roots organizations in development institutions and the market place.
The IFAD has shown that a sustainable future and a world free of poverty and hunger are practical and achievable goals. Today, we need to build on your experience, expertise and commitment. The world faces four important challenges: first, we must ensure that commitments made in international forums are translated into practical advances on the ground; second, we must work hand in hand with the developing world to promote real and lasting reform; third, we must do more to promote the global goal of sustainable development; and fourth, we must finally lift the millstone of debt from around the neck of the poorest countries.
If we do all of these things, we can begin at last to eradicate the world-wide scourges of hunger and poverty.
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