CHAPTER 1: From poverty eradication towards diminishing inequality
Please read the Benchmark document: "A civil society Benchmark for the 5-year Review of the Millennium Declaration", sign it if you agree with the demands and help disseminate it
The world has the means to eradicate poverty. It can and must be done. Hunger, malnutrition and being condemned to a life in poverty are an affront to humanity and a denial of basic human rights. We therefore have an obligation to eradicate poverty and must take all possible actions to ensure that this objective is achieved. What is lacking is the political will to make it happen. The international community must not only re-affirm its commitment to eradicating poverty worldwide in the shortest time possible, but each government must also recognize its individual and collective obligation to put in place effective strategies for eradicating poverty.
Poverty is not a statistic and is not defined by USD 1, or even USD 2 a day. There is no benefit in singling out the very poor from the almost very poor or the poor among the rich in developing countries from the poor among the rich in developed countries. All must be addressed. Poverty is based on radically unequal distribution of income, but also in similarly unequal distribution of assets, unequal access to opportunities for work and employment, social services and benefits, and in the unequal distribution of political power, access to information and political participation. This is largely the result of deep-seated and persistent imbalances in the current workings of the global economy which according to the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization is “ethically unacceptable and politically unsustainable.” Women are most often among those who suffer these inequalities.
Inequality and social injustice are major sources of national and international instability and conflict. Those struggling to survive seek the means to live, while those who have more than enough protect what they have and all too often seek to accumulate more. An adequate response to poverty will only be found in comprehensive and redistributive initiatives which address all aspects of inequality, where particular attention is given to the gender dimension. A concerted emphasis on social development constitutes a major contribution to the eradication of poverty, with emphasis on the provision of basic health, basic education, water and sanitation. Achieving the MDGs within the agreed time lines is only the most urgent part of what is necessary to meet this requirement.
Security and stability can only be achieved when social justice is assured, when everyone’s rights to the means of life - water, health, food, shelter, etc - are respected, and when everyone has access to the means to a livelihood for themselves, their families and their communities.
We call on governments to commit themselves to eradicate poverty and to achieving social justice. In particular we call for:
-->> a re-affirmation of the conviction that poverty can be eradicated, as they did 10 years ago in Copenhagen;
-->> a commitment to eradicate poverty in each and every country by 2025, where poverty is defined within each country on the basis of different national realities;
-->> a commitment that national strategies for eradicating poverty be defined within each country by 2007, drawn up through a transparent and consultative process, in which the poor are actively engaged;
-->> the implementation of policies dedicated to reducing inequalities, including assuring universal affordable access to quality core public social services, redistributive tax policies, respect for the core labour standards;
-->> a halt to policies of privatization and “liberalization” which lead to the concentration of public resources in fewer and often non-national hands;
-->> strengthening of the reporting and review requirements of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to ensure more frequent and thorough reviews of states’ fulfilment of human rights obligations to their citizens;
-->> a commitment to report regularly to the UN ECOSOC on progress in implementing these strategies. The first such reports to be made no later than 2007.
Table of contents - Full text (pdf)
-->> 1.From poverty eradication towards diminishing inequality
-->> 2.Defining strategies for development: the role of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs)
-->> 3.Achieving gender equality and equity
-->> 4.Taking urgent action in the face of climate change
-->> 5.Stopping militarization and the proliferation of weapons
-->> 6.Financing of development
-->> 7.Making trade fair
-->> 8.Fighting HIV/AIDS and other pandemic diseases
-->> 9.Promoting corporate accountability
-->> 10.Democratizing international governance
-->> 11.Involving civil society
-->> Conclusions
Millennium +5 Summit
In September 2005, the United Nations will host the Millennium +5 Summit to review the progress so far in the implementation of the UN Millenium Declaration, adopted by 150 Heads-of-State in September 2000. |
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