Economic and Social Council

Human Solidarity Day Commemoration

AM Meeting

UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL UNDERSCORES NEED FOR INITIATIVES TO REDRESS INEQUALITIES

AS ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL MARKS HUMAN SOLIDARITY DAY

 

Innovative initiatives were required to address the persistent economic and social inequalities that continued to threaten human solidarity and the United Nations development agenda, the Economic and Social Council heard this morning as it met to commemorate the first International Human Solidarity Day.

José Antonio Ocampo, Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, cited a recent study that estimated that the richest 2 per cent of the world’s adult population owned more than half of its household wealth, while the poorer half owned a mere 1 per cent.  Since markets did not always meet the needs of all people, especially the poor, the world must dedicate more attention to achieving economic solidarity.

Cooperatives, volunteer organizations and other social enterprises held great potential to create employment, provide financial services and promote social integration, he said.  That “solidarity economy” could complement the market-based model to allow the simultaneous management of both economic and social development.

Proclaimed by the General Assembly to take place on 20 December each year, the event was intended to raise awareness of the importance of advancing the international development agenda and promoting global understanding of the value of human solidarity.

Ali Hachani ( Tunisia), President of the Economic and Social Council, said he hoped the event would highlight the importance not only of alleviating poverty and hunger, but also of strengthening peace and stability and giving the world’s poorest people, especially those in the neediest countries, the chance to live in dignity.  “What we need is to continue to search for innovative solidarity mechanisms to finance poverty eradication and promote social development,” he said, expressing the hope that the international community would renew its commitment to making operational one such initiative:  the World Solidarity Fund.

He said Tunisia had established its own National Solidarity Fund nearly 15 years ago, and since that time, had reduced the level of poverty to less than 4 per cent of the population by allocating resources to small projects aimed at improving basic infrastructure and the socio-economic environment of low-income people living in remote areas.  “What is achievable nationally can be attained globally,” he added.

Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa ( Bahrain), President of the General Assembly, said that, with more than a billion people living in poverty, most of them in Africa, the alleviation of their plight and suffering was the world’s collective responsibility and common cause.  One of the key messages emerging from the Assembly’s November informal thematic debate on implementation of the Millennium Development Goals was that, by working together, the Goals could still be achieved.  That would be “the single greatest service to mankind”.

Anwarul K. Chowdhury, High Representative of the Secretary-General for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States, said human solidarity became meaningless if much of the world remained extremely poor, adding that equal opportunity to share the benefits of global prosperity was the very essence of human solidarity.  Millennium Development Goal number eight, on international cooperation for development, was a “true expression of global solidarity”, especially in revalidating the importance of lending support to the most vulnerable groups of countries.  Novel ways to generate financial support for the neediest nations included the international solidarity contribution on airline tickets that some countries had initiated, and the High Representative’s own proposal for a contribution of 10 cents a barrel by all major oil-producing countries for infrastructure development.

Ad Melkert, Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, described the new landscape as one where “iron gates around territorial sovereignty are being replaced by ‘glass ceilings’ between networks of worldwide connectivity”.  Both realities called for effective authority to preserve the common good and promote justice and access for all.  The United Nations had a strong duty to lead by example in carving out a landscape that maintained the value of solidarity as its non-negotiable core.

Dalius Cekuolis ( Lithuania), Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council, reinforced that notion, saying the United Nations needed to reach out to the billions of people who remained unconnected to modern information and communication technology, which were an extremely powerful tool in fostering solidarity.  The Internet, in particular, provided great opportunities to form bonds and unite action around common causes, across barriers of distance, politics and culture.

Joseph Salim, of the non-governmental organization Virtue Foundation, pointed out, however, that technological advances also brought to light ideological and social disparities and called for new tools to address them.  With the advent of information technology, modern class systems were no longer determined by birth, but increasingly, by access to opportunity.  That created envy and animosity among those who were suddenly aware of what the world had to offer, only to be frustrated by their inability to access such opportunities.  Unless the basic ideological needs of human beings were reassessed, it was doubtful that economic aid and technical expertise alone could bridge the increasing rift dividing different cultures.

Other speakers this morning included three Vice-Presidents of the Economic and Social Council -- Leo Merores ( Haiti), Prasad Kariyawasam ( Sri Lanka) and Hjalmar Hannesson ( Iceland).

The representative of Bangladesh also made a statement.

At 3 p.m. today, the Economic and Social Council will consider organizational matters and take action on several draft resolutions and recommendations.

* *** *

For information media • not an official record