UNITED NATIONS, July 20 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called for efforts to end poverty and inequality "in a world where inequality has become entrenched" and "poverty remains deeply rooted."
In remarks to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) at the Observance of Nelson Mandela International Day, which were delivered by his Chef de Cabinet Courtenay Rattray, Guterres said wealth nowadays "disproportionately accumulates at the very top," and hundreds of millions of people struggle to afford basic needs.
"This year's theme for Mandela Day reflects a defining challenge of our time: poverty and inequality," he said.
"There is something deeply wrong when we spend more on the instruments of destruction and death than on the tools of development and peace," the UN chief said.
Ending poverty and inequality requires rewiring economies and societies to focus policies, budgets and investments on people by jump-starting economic growth, adopting progressive fiscal policies to ensure more equitable outcomes, investing in all the drivers of development and poverty eradication, scaling up domestic and global financing and debt relief for developing countries, and reforming the international financial architecture, said Guterres.
It also requires building economies powered by renewable energy, ensuring that digital technologies are within reach of all people, working towards full gender equality and empowering women and girls across every sector, upholding the dignity and human rights without discrimination, and putting peace first by reining in out-of-control military spending and investing in peace and development, he added.
"It's up to all of us to come together to make that progress real, and through our actions, our advocacy, and our voice, to defeat poverty and inequality," he said.
In her remarks, UNGA President Annalena Baerbock said that today 808 million people, nearly one in 10 worldwide, are living in extreme poverty, and only one in five countries is on track to halve its national poverty rate by 2030 although UN member states committed, through the Sustainable Development Goals, to end poverty in all its forms.
"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings," she said, quoting Nelson Mandela, the former South African president.
"Poverty is not only a development challenge. It is a question of human rights, justice, and ultimately, peace," said Baerbock.
When the root causes of poverty and inequality -- conflict, discrimination, unequal opportunity, climate vulnerability and exclusion -- are addressed, progress is not only achieved, it is sustained, she said.
The UNGA adopted a resolution in November 2009 to designate July 18 as Nelson Mandela International Day, in honor of Mandela's legacy in the promotion of social justice, the fight against poverty, and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world. ■
