Keep focus on MDGs — UN challenges governments (Back Page)

Saturday October 18, 2008
THE United Nations (UN) has challenged governments to keep their promise on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) else they would create conditions for grave human misery and global insecurity.
The organisation says the current economic uncertainties have made the task not only challenging but also more important, since about 100 million people are now at risk of falling into poverty.
In his message on the celebration of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which falls on October 17 each year, the UN Secretary-General, Mr Ban Ki-moon stressed that promises made by many governments to bolster food security, eradicate disease, ensure access to water and sanitation and manage financial crisis were not a matter of charity, but an obligation in the pursuit of human rights for all.
In Ghana, the celebration which was scheduled between October 17 and October 19, 2008, was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and other UN agencies. It was under the theme: “Human Rights and Dignity of People Living in Poverty”.
As part of the programme, the public has been asked to sign their names on special banners provided by the organisers or text freely, ‘No to Poverty’, to short code 442 to TiGO or Kasapa and 1395 to MTN as a sign of “standing up and taking action against poverty”.
In the speech which was read by the UNDP Representative in Ghana, Mr Daouda Toure, the UN Secretary-General said it was unfortunate that hundreds of millions of people were still deprived of basic human rights such as food, housing, education and decent working conditions.
The deprivations notwithstanding the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights some 60 years ago, which affirmed that “everyone has the right to standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family”.
He stated that poverty could not be eradicated without due respect for human rights, adding that “on this International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, let us guarantee the inherent dignity and equal rights of the human family and strive for a world free of poverty and injustice”.
For his part, the Administrator of the UNDP, Mr Kemal Dervis, said this year’s event came at a particularly challenging time for the world’s poor because of the high and volatile food and fuel crises, as well as the current global economic conditions threatening the gains that had been made to reduce poverty and advance development for large numbers of people.
He said in these difficult times, it was important the world recognise the rights of the poor and vulnerable.
Mr Dervis pointed out that it was also vital that governments in developing countries formulate a strong mix of social and economic policies that would stimulate productive public and private investments to sustain growth.
“Importantly, governments need to resist the pressure to reduce service delivery which impacts the poor particularly hard, and instead ensure that social safety nets are in place for the most vulnerable”, he stated.
He reiterated that it was also important to ensure that poor farmers and small-scale entrepreneurs have protection and opportunities they need to improve their livelihoods.