Poorest States benefit least from globalization by United Nations News 2:34pm 10th Jul, 2007   9 July 2007    Senior UN official urges rights-based approach to achieving anti-poverty targets, by Louise Arbour.    The United Nations human rights chief has called on States to ensure that strategies to achieve the world’s shared anti-poverty goals be grounded in the internationally recognized human rights to which all countries have subscribed.    UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour made her call in a statement released on Saturday, the mid-point between the adoption in 2000 of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the 2015 deadline for achieving them.    She cited sobering statistics on child mortality, saying it remains “deeply troubling” in parts of Africa, while the number of people dying of HIV and AIDS worldwide increased to 2.9 million in 2006. In addition, sub-Saharan Africa is presently not on track to achieve any of the global anti-poverty targets, known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), she noted.    “The disturbing midpoint snapshot must serve as a call to action on behalf of us all,” Ms. Arbour said. “Despite progress in some areas and in some parts of the world, it appears that governments are not honouring the commitments they have made.”    Ms. Arbour noted that while high economic growth rates drive overall gains in some regions, “the rising tide doesn’t lift all boats – not everyone is benefiting,” adding that in many cases entire communities and populations are sidelined.    She warned that gross inequalities often not only fuel violent conflict and frustrate the prospects for sustainable development, but frequently constitute a violation of fundamental human rights.    Poverty is frequently a cause, as well as consequence, of human rights violations, she added. “A focus on global average progress glosses over entrenched patterns of discrimination and inequality that can sentence communities to generations of poverty.”    She called for data that is disaggregated to capture disparities and patterns of discrimination, and effective redress for those whose rights are ignored or violated.    Ms. Arbour also stressed that more must be done globally, including increasing international aid and strengthening development partnerships.    “Citizens in developed countries must understand that global injustices are cause for common concern, that development, security and human rights are indeed inextricably linked, and they must pressure their politicians to respond,” she said.    9 July 2007    Poorest States benefit least from globalization’s advantages, by Sheika Haya.    The world’s poorest countries have benefited the least from globalization and yet suffered the most from the phenomenon’s downsides, the General Assembly President said today at the opening of a conference convened to help those States make lasting economic gains.    Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa told the ministerial conference of the world’s 50 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), held in Istanbul, that globalization has had an extremely uneven impact on the lives of the world’s people.    “The paradox is evident when some in the world are waiting in line to buy new consumer technologies at a cost almost equal to the annual per capita income of hundreds of millions of people,” she said.    “Mahatma Gandhi once said that in poor places, people see God in a piece of bread. This still holds true after many decades. LDCs have found themselves in an unfortunate situation. They have benefited least from globalization, and have been affected most by its negative impact.”    9 July 2007    Central America behind in regional effort against hunger, says UN agency chief, by Jacques Diouf.    South America and the Caribbean have made substantial progress towards eliminating hunger, but Central American States are lagging behind in the same fight, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) told a meeting in Brazil today.    Director-General Jacques Diouf told a conference on food and nutritional security in Fortaleza that the number of people across the whole region suffering from hunger fell from 59 million in the early 1990s to 52 million in 2001-03.    But that sharp drop was confined to South America and the Caribbean, whereas in Central America the progress was not as positive, either in the number or proportion of victims of hunger and malnutrition, Dr. Diouf said.    He called on those countries to take notice of successful campaigns such as Zero Hunger, a programme launched in Brazil in 2003 that has since spurred similar schemes in Nicaragua and Colombia.    “FAO has learned very important lessons from this experience in Brazil. These lessons can be applied in other countries engaged in combating hunger,” he said, stressing that any programmes to improve food security must consider factors such as the rapid urbanization of much of the developing world.    Insufficient access to land and water, a lack of available credit for the rural poor and the impact of climate change on farming land are also affecting the capacity of poorer nations to reduce hunger, Dr. Diouf said.    July 2007    Anti-poverty goals achievable, but greater effort needed, by Ban Ki-moon.    The world’s shared goals for fighting poverty and other economic and social ills remain achievable in most countries, but only if political leaders in rich and poor nations take urgent and concerted action, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today.    Addressing the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in Geneva, Mr. Ban said the mid-point progress report on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which was released today – contained encouraging messages.    “Countries in Africa and elsewhere are demonstrating that rapid and large-scale progress on the MDGs is possible,” Mr. Ban said, referring to the set of eight development objectives which world leaders have agreed to work towards by the target date of 2015.    This week’s ECOSOC meeting is focusing on two of the objectives: cutting extreme poverty and hunger in half, and building the global partnership for development.    The Secretary-General urged a “strong and sustained effort” towards the targets. “Advancing on these two items is essential for human uplift, and it underpins our entire UN development agenda… Needless to say, millions of lives quite literally hang in the balance.”    He called on the leaders of poor States to ensure they have national development strategies in place that focus on job creation, productivity, practical steps for increasing investments in key areas and improving access to markets.    But “all of this will simply not occur without adequate financing, much of which has to flow from a strengthened global partnership for development,” the Secretary-General warned, noting that progress towards the Goals has so far been too slow in some countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.    Mr. Ban said wealthy nations must keep their promises to eventually spend 0.7 per cent of their gross national product (GNP) on official development assistance (ODA) to poorer countries and “address the disparities in the global trade regime which handcuff so many developing nations.”    He stressed the importance of a successful conclusion to the current so-called Doha round of trade negotiations.    “Existing trade barriers, agricultural subsidies and restrictive rules on intellectual property rights reinforce global inequities – and they make a mockery of our tall claims to eliminate hunger and poverty from our world.”
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