Although the world has been witnessing a fast-paced technological evolution and an impressive increase in agricultural production during the last decades, there are still more than 1 billion people worldwide suffering from hunger and poverty. On 20 September 2004, these issues took centre stage in a meeting that brought together more than 60 heads of States to UN Headquarters in New York. The World Leaders’ Meeting on Action against Hunger and Poverty, led by Brazil in cooperation with Chile, France, Spain and the United Nations, discussed innovative ways to help pave the way towards hunger and poverty eradication and create financial mechanisms capable of fostering development.
In 2000, the problem of hunger and poverty was given special attention in the UN Millennium Declaration, in which 189 nations declared their resolve “to create an environment–at the national and global levels alike–which is conducive to development and to the elimination of poverty”. As part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), these countries committed to halve by 2015 the number of people living below the poverty line. Nevertheless, although some level of international cooperation has been achieved, a lot remains to be done, as United Nations and World Bank estimates show a gap of $50 billion per year for the fulfilment of this core development goal.
At the opening of the high-level meeting, Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned that action was “falling short”. Hunger and poverty eradication efforts were more than a financial matter, he said, and should also take into consideration, among other issues, education and women’s rights. He welcomed the initiative, which he considered a “demonstration of political goodwill”.
The meeting discussed ways that developing and developed countries could tackle hunger and poverty, such as the improvement of domestic policies and governance, and the increase in development aid. It also examined proposals, put forward by a technical group set up in January 2004 by leading countries and the Secretary-General, on innovative financing mechanisms conducive to development, which include taxation of financial transactions and arms trade, and voluntary contributions through credit cards.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who created the initiative, affirmed that the encounter represented a concrete political gesture towards eradication of hunger and poverty. He asked poor countries to pursue domestic changes as this would provide them with greater moral authority to ask for assistance from developed countries. Furthermore, referring to hunger and poverty as one of “the main weapons of mass destruction”, Mr. da Silva called for increased cooperation between Governments, civil society and the private sector, which would ultimately contribute to the security and stability of both developing and developed countries.
Along the same line, President Jacques Chirac of France called the meeting an “active gesture of tolerance and peace”, bringing countries together beyond political divergences and technical issues in the fight against hunger and poverty. He urged developed countries to increase development aid in order to obtain the necessary amount to reach the MDGs on time, arguing that it was a meagre figure compared to a global income of $408 trillion. Mr. Chirac hoped that further discussion of this important issue would take place at the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, adding that he would propose to British Prime Minister Tony Blair its inclusion in the 2005 G-8 meeting.
President Ricardo Lagos of Chile emphasized that the multilateral report presented diverse sustainable proposals in line with the short timeframes that the issue of poverty and hunger requires. It is set on instruments resultant from globalizing processes which contribute to a fairer distribution of benefits across the global population. “All we have to do is act, and I ask you all to act”, he urged. Addressing a United Nations audience for the first time, Spain’s Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero called the current hunger and poverty scenario in the world “an attack on the human condition”. He echoed his colleagues, saying that the necessary additional yearly contribution of $50 billion is a modest figure in view of the objectives the international community is facing. He added that countries must work together towards establishing new financial mechanisms, including new trade norms and debt management instruments.
In 2005, UN Member States will meet to review the progress done towards the attainment of the MDGs. Secretary-General Kofi Annan emphasized that the international community “needs to be able to say the world is on track, and that we are truly poised to make the following decade one of real achievement”. |
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