Message by
H.E. MR. HARRI HOLKERI
President of the General Assembly
International Day for
the Eradiction of Poverty
17 October 2000
The world does not lack good intentions to eradicate poverty. A firm commitment
to halve the proportion of people living in poverty by the year 2015, was made
by the World Summit for Social Development in 1995 and reiterated this September
by the 144 world leaders attending the Millennium Summit. I note the many efforts
and programmes carried out by the United Nations, its specialized agencies,
governments and civil society actors. But as yet we have not done enough. The
number of poor people is increasing, not decreasing.
Globalization has been identified as a new cause of poverty - we need to mitigate
its impact on those who are threatened by marginalization, in every society.
Poverty is linked to fluctuations in world economic development, to the cycle
of recessions and periods of economic growth. Likewise, chronic poverty is linked
to conflicts, to the lack of the rule of law, to the lack of protection against
arbitrary violence, and to the lack of possibility for civil society at large
to interact positively with the public sector.
This year's Poverty Report of the United Nations Development Programme and the
World Bank's Development Report, among other recent publications, give striking
examples of the impact of healthy governance practices in reducing poverty.
Improving governance requires countries to adopt a culture of accountability
and to build the regulatory capacity of the public sector. It also requires
the eradication of corruption, for it is the poor who pay the highest price
for corrupt governance. Empowerment of the poor means democratization and decentralization
of power - giving a voice to poor people. Fortunately, there are positive trends
with the spread of democratic governance throughout the world.
Poverty is the lack of economic assets, such as land or secure tenure to the
land and its produce. It is also the lack of opportunities, skills and knowledge.
These factors impact in particular on women who constitute about 70% of the
poor. That is why I believe that education of girls must be one of the main
priorities of every government.