High Level Thematic Debate on Inclusive Development and Inequality

– As delivered –

Statement by H.E. Mrs. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of the 73^rd Session of the UN General Assembly

14 May 2019

Distinguished Ministers,

Esteemed Amina Mohammed, Under-Secretary General,

Excellencies, delegates,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Welcome to this Debate to inaugurate the “Prosperity Week” – a week that allows us to address, in an integrated manner, three key aspects for the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda and, consequently, fairer, more inclusive and sustainable societies.

Inequality is, perhaps, along with climate change, the greatest challenge of our generation; both topics have unfortunately become a distinguishing feature of the times we live in.

Although in the last 25 years more than one billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty, 10% of humanity still suffers from need, hunger and misery.

For many, this situation of extreme shortages is contrasted with an alarming reality: less and less persons concentrate more incomes, wealth and power. In 2018, only 26 people had the same wealth than the 3800 million poorest people of the world.

But while figures and percentages are important, we must know that inequality is expressed in the life and dignity of specific people, of concrete communities, who are affected by this harsh reality. Inequality is expressed, for example, in the life of Alex, a 9-year-old boy who eats once a day or sometimes none, while a more favored family wastes food and, with it, water, land, energy and resources that were used to prepare it. According to the FAO, while hunger in the world is increasing, a third of all the food produced worldwide is wasted.

Likewise, inequality was the one that robbed Alex of the possibility of meeting his mother Ana; she died on the day he was born, not because of lack of hospitals, but because of lack of access and coverage of health systems. Alex, by the way, will hardly be able to attend school. And like Alex, which is a true story, there are hundreds of millions of children around the world.

The gap between rich and poor continues to grow, leaving a trail of exclusion, injustice and undermining the social fabric.

In this context, I will refer to three key points.

Excellencies,

From SDG 1 on the eradication poverty to SDG 17 on alliances to achieve the goals, each one of them is closely linked to inequality.

Therefore, we must create the structural conditions that can guarantee the fulfillment of the basic rights of all persons in developed and developing countries.

To reduce inequality we must broaden access to services, to opportunities and to resources. We need to promote universal access to foodstuffs, land, consumable goods, healthcare coverage and quality primary and secondary education. We need to ensure the equality of rights.

SDGs 13, 14 and 15 also critically depend on reducing inequalities. At the High Level Event that I convened last March 28 on Protecting the Environment for present and future generations, we realized that environmental sustainability also entails a problem of justice and intergenerational equality.

Excellencies,

Extreme inequality fuels poverty and extreme poverty in developed and developing countries. The link between these phenomena is unquestionable.

When most of the wealth remains in just a few hands and a few economic groups, the mobility of wealth and its uses for productive use is limited. Calculations show that the wealthiest 10% accumulates up to 40% of the global income, while the poorest 10% only earns between 2 and 7%.

This impacts SDG 8 on decent work and inclusive economic growth, which are necessary requirements to achieve prosperity for all.

Violence, insecurity and injustice impact the poorest and most disparate societies harder, which is what SDG 16 seeks to solve.

Eduardo Galeano, the Uruguayan writer, said that “justice is like the snakes: it only bites the barefooted.” And that perception is the one that results from the effects of structural inequalities in the access to justice. Which leads me to my second point.

We need to adopt a multi-dimensional approach that provides special attention to vulnerable groups and, of course, to women and girls.

When rethinking inequality, we go beyond income, beyond the averages and beyond our time.

To reduce inequality, certain strategies have proven to be highly effective, such as educational programs and labor inclusion for persons with disabilities, which should also meet the requirement of non-discrimination, accessibility and support services.

For indigenous peoples, it is critical to ensure and protect the rights to their land, territories, resources and the sustainable management of natural resources and livelihoods. In average, the life expectancy of indigenous peoples is 20 years less than the general population.

We must protect migrants, facilitating basic services, documentation and legal protection against human trafficking and smuggling and labor exploitation.

For 2050, the forecast is that there will be more older persons than children in the world. In this context, we need to adopt laws and public policies that can fight age discrimination in employment and broaden the coverage of the healthcare system.

More than half the world’s population is employed in the informal sector, typically associated with unsafe, and sometimes, hazardous conditions, with deficient or no social protection. Thus, extending social security for this sector and improving labour legislation will be decisive to solve the structural factors behind informality.

The International Labour Organization calculates that 55% of the world’s population is unprotected by at least one social benefit. This must change to prevent worsening inequalities in future generations.

Of course, addressing gender inequality is also fundamental, since it affects half the world’s population. Just by closing the gender wage gap, which at a global level is of 20%, the global GDP could be increased in 28 trillion additional USD by 2025. We must ensure the financial inclusion of women as agents of the economy.

Rural women, who represent more than one fourth of the world’s population, are in a worst situation than rural men and urban women. Closing the gaps of access for rural women and girls to infrastructures, services, consumable goods and social protection is critical to reverse this reality.

Excellencies,

In only 10 months, in March, 2020, we will celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, whose Declaration resumed the commitment to reduce inequalities by eliminating all political, legal, economic and social factors and limitations that cause them.

A quarter of a century has passed and some countries still have discriminatory laws and practices that perpetuate inequality, which leads me to my third and last point.

In order to solve the persisting challenges and promote prosperity for all, we need to have a stronger multilateralism, and a more supportive an cooperative international system.

Reducing inequalities between countries and between regions is essential. For that purpose, we must accelerate our efforts towards a fairer and more equitable world order. This also requires us to achieve a more democratic and more efficient global governance system.

I would like to point out that we must focus our resources in tackling the structural causes that condemn hundreds of countries and millions of persons to poverty and perpetuate the inequitable distribution of wealth.

We must reduce the inequality and multilateralism is the most effective platform to close the gaps of inequality between the States and support them to reduce inequalities within them.

Global solutions such as regulating and monitoring institutions and financial markets, development assistance and direct investments in the countries that need it the most, are essential.

Excellencies,

Inequality is not the fate of humanity; we can put an end to it, it is a choice. It is, undoubtedly, a colossal challenge that requires collective solutions and a deep and structural transformation in our societies.

The 2030 Agenda offers us a roadmap to close gaps and achieve a world in which all nations and all persons, without discrimination, can enjoy sustainable development and human rights, without leaving anyone behind.

Thank you.