[afro-nets] Report on the World Social Situation (RWSS) 2005

[Claudio Schuftan <claudio@hcmc.netnam.vn>]

Report on the World Social Situation (RWSS) 2005
------------------------------------------------
The Inequality Predicament

PEOPLE POORER TODAY THAN 10 YEARS AGO A THREAT TO STABILITY - UN
REPORT

The Report sounds alarm over persistent and deepening inequality
worldwide,

Website: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/rwss/rwss.htm

To download:
Table of Contents
Preface
Executive Summary
Tables and Graphs
Highlights
Main Press Release
On Inequality in Asia
On Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean
go to
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/rwss/media%2005/cd-docs/media.htm

UN Press Release New York, August 25 2005

Division for Social Policy - Development of the Department of
Economic and Social Affairs.

Increasing poverty and a growing schism between the "haves" and
the "have nots" continue to pose a major threat to developing
democracies around the world, and the resulting economic and so-
cial inequality will continue to breed violence and terror if
the trend is not reversed, a United Nations report said today.

The report entitled "The Inequality Predicament", the UN Depart-
ment of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) warned of growing
"violence associated with national and international acts of
terrorism," which are the result of stark economic and social
inequalities, and competition over scarce resources.

Solutions to inequality outlined in the report include address-
ing economic asymmetries not just within countries but also be-
tween them: 80 per cent of the world's domestic product belongs
to 1 billion people living in the developed world, while the re-
maining 20 percent is shared by 5 billion people living in de-
veloping countries.

"This is an especially important because it concentrates on ine-
quality of income as well as inequality in access to basic so-
cial services, as well as decision-making," Under-Secretary-
General for the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Jose
Antonio Ocampo said today as he introduced the report.

Noting that he report comes 10 years after the 1995 Copenhagen
World Summit for Social Development -- where world governments
pledged to confront profound social challenges and to place peo-
ple at the centre of development - he said some decade-old so-
cial gaps had actually widened, particularly gender disparities.

Although more women and girls were being educated, formal em-
ployment figures for women had stagnated or even decreased in
some parts of the world. Even more troubling was the sharp in-
crease of women being employed by the informal sector, he added.

The modest gains made in gender equality, education and other
areas proved that social mobilization, particularly civil soci-
ety engagement, can help raise awareness to social problems and
spur action at national and regional levels, he said, noting
that the report also stresses the critical importance of boost-
ing access to basic services as one of the most important in-
struments States had to impact inequities.

The report notes that in a world of increasing development when
societies should be reaping the economic benefits of progress,
instead many are experiencing alarming increases in the discrep-
ancies between rich and poor.

The United States, Canada and Britain have not escaped this dis-
turbing trend, it said, seeking to nudge both developed and de-
veloping countries to take more vigorous steps in the direction
of assuring equality while responding to the economic urgency
for growth.

In a summary of the report, Mr. Ocampo said that "failure to ad-
dress this inequality predicament will insure that social injus-
tice and better living conditions for all people remain elu-
sive," and that this trend will continue to lead to social in-
stability in the world.

Socioeconomic strategies should focus on access to resources,
social services and the markets that must be incorporated along-
side economic development programmes. Economic stimulation with-
out the associated social programmes, is inadequate to eradicate
the cycle of poverty: "Focusing exclusively on economic growth
and income generation as a development strategy is ineffective,
as it leads to the accumulation of wealth by a few, and deepens
the poverty of many,.and does not acknowledge the intergenera-
tional transmission of poverty," says the report.

In the final word of his report, Jose Antonio Ocampo says, "The
failure to pursue a comprehensive integrated approach to devel-
opment will perpetuate the inequality predicament, for which
everyone pays the price."