Are we in danger of not meeting the Millennium Development Goals deadline? According to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the fight for global poverty appears to be headed in the wrong direction. Our failure seems to resonate in the lack of focus in putting people at the center of our development policies and strategies concerning economic recovery.
The fears of job loss, inability to feed their families, and access to health care are concerns, but to overcome these and many other challenges faced globally, common-sense has to come in play. Investment needs to be in the source, the people. Continuing to ignore the voices of the poor and the youths will only deter us from ultimately achieving our goals of eradicating poverty.
An expert in extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepulveda, urged States to immediately address the growing inequalities between the rich and the poor. "These rising inequalities have diminished social cohesion and increased insecurity and exclusion through out the world." stated in her message. Also noted was that the poorest and most excluded are taking the hardest hits with these financial crisises, while the richest continue to prosper. "What is required are recovery measures that are equitable, accompanied by human rights safeguards and designed from the ground up, taking into consideration the specific needs of vulnerable populations."
"As we work to avoid a global financial meltdown, we must also work to avoid a global development meltdown."
-Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations
-Georisa Chang
SOURCE: UN News
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