The greatest moral issue
The greatest moral issue
Posted 10:58pm (Mla time) Feb 07, 2005
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the February 8, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
LAST Friday in London, on the eve of a meeting of the leaders of the world's richest nations, former South African president Nelson Mandela demanded freedom for the millions of "slaves" of poverty all over the world. He said, "Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural."
Mandela said poverty is man-made and can be eradicated by the actions of human beings. "And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice," he said.
To the credit of many of the world's leaders, they recognize that poverty is the No. 1 economic, social and political issue of our times. At the recent annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, for instance, nearly 65 percent of the 700 economic, political, intellectual and cultural leaders of the world chose to make poverty the No. 1 item on the agenda.
At the Global Town Hall that started this year's WEF meeting, participants said that the problem of poverty is fundamental to everything, and that alleviating poverty would reduce terrorism and instability. Indeed, if the poor nations could be put on the road to progress and prosperity, much of the instability that prevails in the world today could be reduced.
The talk at Davos, surprisingly, did not consist of glittering generalizations and empty rhetoric. In line with this year's motto, "Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices," the world leaders made concrete proposals. British Prime Minister Tony Blair committed the United Kingdom to treble its aid to Africa, the poorest continent in the world, and to insure that aid is more effectively administered.
President Jacques Chirac of France called on the developed countries to fulfill as soon as possible pledges made two decades ago to devote 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product to aid for poor nations.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that the single biggest contribution the developed world could make to poverty alleviation was to break down trade barriers. "Trade access is worth far more to underdeveloped countries than development assistance," he said.
Celebrity made its power felt in Davos, and not only did they focus attention on the problem of poverty, they raised funds to help alleviate it. For instance, there was Sharon Stone of "Basic Instinct" fame, who suddenly stood up during a discussion on the funding of the war on poverty to say that she was donating $10,000 to combat malaria in Tanzania whose president, Benjamin Mkapa, was one of the panel speakers.
Stone urged the participants to stand up and pledge donations. At the end of the discussion, organizers said they had raised $1 million in pledges. Previously, Bill Gates of Microsoft gave $750 million to vaccinate children all over the world against deadly diseases.
Before the meeting closed, it approved the creation of a fund to accelerate financial aid to the poorest nations and the removal of trade barriers that deprive poor countries of the dividends of global economic growth.
The recently concluded World Economic Forum at Davos stressed the need to address the problem of worldwide poverty before it explodes and causes greater misery and instability. The rich nations-the United States first among them-have to make hard decisions-decisions that will call for the expenditure of huge sums in aid and may work against their economic interests-to reduce the problem of poverty.
Right now, about 800 million people all over the world go hungry every day, according to the Global Governance Initiative Annual Report. We cannot imagine people of the rich nations going to bed every night without a twinge of conscience, without giving a thought to the 800 million of their fellow human beings who are hungry and destitute and deprived.
Unless the problem of poverty is relieved soon, the eventuality that President Jacques Chirac warned of in a special message to the Forum could come to pass. Chirac warned that the young people of the developing world could rise in revolt if the rich countries do not provide hope for a better future, by offering them a way out of the grinding poverty in which hundreds of millions live in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Which brings us back to Mandela, who said that "while poverty exists there is no true freedom." He said that overcoming poverty is an act of justice. But poverty is not only an issue that involves the economy, geopolitics, social classes or justice. Above all, it is a moral issue; it is perhaps the greatest moral issue of our times. It is a test of the humanness and humane-ness of people and nations who can do something to alleviate poverty and yet do nothing because of miserliness, selfishness or self-interest.
Posted 10:58pm (Mla time) Feb 07, 2005
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A14 of the February 8, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
LAST Friday in London, on the eve of a meeting of the leaders of the world's richest nations, former South African president Nelson Mandela demanded freedom for the millions of "slaves" of poverty all over the world. He said, "Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural."
Mandela said poverty is man-made and can be eradicated by the actions of human beings. "And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice," he said.
To the credit of many of the world's leaders, they recognize that poverty is the No. 1 economic, social and political issue of our times. At the recent annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, for instance, nearly 65 percent of the 700 economic, political, intellectual and cultural leaders of the world chose to make poverty the No. 1 item on the agenda.
At the Global Town Hall that started this year's WEF meeting, participants said that the problem of poverty is fundamental to everything, and that alleviating poverty would reduce terrorism and instability. Indeed, if the poor nations could be put on the road to progress and prosperity, much of the instability that prevails in the world today could be reduced.
The talk at Davos, surprisingly, did not consist of glittering generalizations and empty rhetoric. In line with this year's motto, "Taking Responsibility for Tough Choices," the world leaders made concrete proposals. British Prime Minister Tony Blair committed the United Kingdom to treble its aid to Africa, the poorest continent in the world, and to insure that aid is more effectively administered.
President Jacques Chirac of France called on the developed countries to fulfill as soon as possible pledges made two decades ago to devote 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product to aid for poor nations.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that the single biggest contribution the developed world could make to poverty alleviation was to break down trade barriers. "Trade access is worth far more to underdeveloped countries than development assistance," he said.
Celebrity made its power felt in Davos, and not only did they focus attention on the problem of poverty, they raised funds to help alleviate it. For instance, there was Sharon Stone of "Basic Instinct" fame, who suddenly stood up during a discussion on the funding of the war on poverty to say that she was donating $10,000 to combat malaria in Tanzania whose president, Benjamin Mkapa, was one of the panel speakers.
Stone urged the participants to stand up and pledge donations. At the end of the discussion, organizers said they had raised $1 million in pledges. Previously, Bill Gates of Microsoft gave $750 million to vaccinate children all over the world against deadly diseases.
Before the meeting closed, it approved the creation of a fund to accelerate financial aid to the poorest nations and the removal of trade barriers that deprive poor countries of the dividends of global economic growth.
The recently concluded World Economic Forum at Davos stressed the need to address the problem of worldwide poverty before it explodes and causes greater misery and instability. The rich nations-the United States first among them-have to make hard decisions-decisions that will call for the expenditure of huge sums in aid and may work against their economic interests-to reduce the problem of poverty.
Right now, about 800 million people all over the world go hungry every day, according to the Global Governance Initiative Annual Report. We cannot imagine people of the rich nations going to bed every night without a twinge of conscience, without giving a thought to the 800 million of their fellow human beings who are hungry and destitute and deprived.
Unless the problem of poverty is relieved soon, the eventuality that President Jacques Chirac warned of in a special message to the Forum could come to pass. Chirac warned that the young people of the developing world could rise in revolt if the rich countries do not provide hope for a better future, by offering them a way out of the grinding poverty in which hundreds of millions live in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Which brings us back to Mandela, who said that "while poverty exists there is no true freedom." He said that overcoming poverty is an act of justice. But poverty is not only an issue that involves the economy, geopolitics, social classes or justice. Above all, it is a moral issue; it is perhaps the greatest moral issue of our times. It is a test of the humanness and humane-ness of people and nations who can do something to alleviate poverty and yet do nothing because of miserliness, selfishness or self-interest.
posted by Dante at 12:00 AM
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