Malta
Page 1 of 8
INTERACTIVE
DIALOGUE
–
“ENDING
POVERTY
AND
HUNGER”
AT
THE
UN
SUMMIT
ON
THE
POST-‐2015
DEVELOPMENT
AGENDA
25
SEPTEMBER
2015
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The struggles against poverty and hunger are truly
ongoing struggles as with the struggles for democracy,
greater social justice and better education and health
services.
The struggle against widespread poverty and hunger
remains urgent. It is here that all nations represented
in this institution in various capacities must combine
their efforts to engage in an ongoing fight against those
myopic polices, for which some of us are responsible,
that compound the situation of poverty and hunger.
SOT: Poverty is not a matter of individual, family or
community choice or deficiency.
Page 2 of 8
It is, on the contrary, rooted in political, social and
economic injustices.
It has been said that there are enough resources on
Planet Earth to feed and provide shelter and clothing
for around 12 billion people when the population stood
at approximately 7 billion in 2011 and is expected to rise
to just over 9 billion by 2050!1
And yet the statistics concerning people caught in the
poverty trap are shocking, more so in the continents of
Africa and regions of Latin America and the Caribbean
than in say the perceived ‘affluent’ Continent of Europe
from where I come.
And yet, according to the previous European
Commission President, Josè Manuel Barroso, the
amount of people caught in the poverty trap, within the
European Union, is expected to reach a hundred million
1 Jeremy Gernand, ‘The Earth Can Feed, Clothe, and House 12 Billion People’ in Progressiprocity, 4th
February 2011, http://true-progress.com/the-earth-can-feed-clothe-and-house-12-billion…-
306.htm
Page 3 of 8
by 2020 (the figure stood at 80 million by October
2014).
Swathes of poverty therefore exist everywhere and, if
anything, the shocking European Union statistic makes
one wonder what the figure, based on similar
calculations, would be for countries in Africa and other
continents.
The well documented facts represent the stark, bleak
reality of the current state of our civilisation.
I am under no illusion that poverty can be readily
solved, given the society in which we live, the policies
that inform it, and the economic interests that drive
these policies.
It is quite common to come across policymakers who
are mainly preoccupied with overarching economic
concerns and devise policies on these grounds.
Many a time, these policies serve the people who
influence the very same policy-making process. These
Page 4 of 8
strategies condition people’s lives, and the various social
systems that govern them.
One of the signs of poverty is the inability to participate
effectively in social and political life.
Furthermore, knowledge about poverty and its related
conditions (illiteracy, greater propensity for contracting
diseases, lack of formal education, lack of control over
one’s own life, lack of access to basic goods in a marketdriven
soulless economy, risking life and limb to escape
conditions resulting in human migrant tragedies) can
never be static. After all, the world is not static but in
flux.
New issues arise, including issues concerning old and
new forms of poverty, stark or relative.
I believe that in order to combat poverty effectively, we
constantly need to refine and update our understanding
of the nature of this scourge.
The current socio-economic scenario has demonstrated
how this type of economic and social thinking has
Page 5 of 8
created greater disparities in access to resources and
therefore decent living, hence increasing poverty and
hunger.
This concept has induced some governments to
withdraw their safety nets and provision of social
programmes which would otherwise have allowed a
greater number of people to gain access to those goods
that we associate with decent living: pensions, health
care, education. In some countries, these are now being
presented as consumer goods operating according to the
luxury of the market.
But we know that the market lacks the human face that
is required to save people from falling into destitution.
The market has proved time and time again that it
requires regulation to safeguard the interests of the
vulnerable.
The market cannot be left to its own devices. One of the
most insidious aspects of the current and predominant
mode of thinking is that it accentuates the role of the
Page 6 of 8
individual as being solely responsible for her or his own
welfare or wellbeing.
While I am not playing down the issue of personal
responsibility, a good free education, accessible to all,
can help instil the self-discipline required for this,
however I am concerned about the overemphasis on this
to the detriment of others.
Overemphasis on the personal can simply serve as a
pretext to give the possibility for states to withdraw
from their responsibilities and shred the ‘social
contract’, that ‘contract’ which was the result of
democratic struggles over the years.
I urge governments to attach greater importance to
meaningful, integrated and inclusive social policies.
This would include greater investment in a broad
holistic concept of education, community development
and a decent public health care system.
All these are to be seen as matters of social and not
simply individual responsibility.
Page 7 of 8
Furthermore, I call on many countries represented
here, especially those belonging to economic power
blocs, to revise their ‘fortress’ economic and agrarian
policies because of the way these polices impinge
negatively on economic development in Africa and
other continents or regions.
Moreover, I appeal to all countries not simply to sign
but to closely observe environmental accords. Failure
to do so will have a negative effect on climate change
with disastrous effects in the form of droughts that
increase impoverishment and hunger in several parts of
the world.
I also appeal to governments to engage in collective
efforts to shackle the arms industry. Policies shackling
this industry can help countries stricken by poverty and
unequal resource distribution to spend more on
educational programmes and less on repressive
measures.
Page 8 of 8
On concluding, I would like to echo the words of the
much revered Nelson Mandela. I share the view that
overcoming poverty and hunger is not a matter of
charity but one of social justice. Poverty and hunger are
human - induced.
I therefore believe that, as with all things humaninduced,
we can collectively help overcome this malaise
that hinders humankind from enjoying what is rightly
theirs that is dignity, safety and wellbeing.
INTERACTIVE
DIALOGUE
–
“ENDING
POVERTY
AND
HUNGER”
AT
THE
UN
SUMMIT
ON
THE
POST-‐2015
DEVELOPMENT
AGENDA
25
SEPTEMBER
2015
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The struggles against poverty and hunger are truly
ongoing struggles as with the struggles for democracy,
greater social justice and better education and health
services.
The struggle against widespread poverty and hunger
remains urgent. It is here that all nations represented
in this institution in various capacities must combine
their efforts to engage in an ongoing fight against those
myopic polices, for which some of us are responsible,
that compound the situation of poverty and hunger.
SOT: Poverty is not a matter of individual, family or
community choice or deficiency.
Page 2 of 8
It is, on the contrary, rooted in political, social and
economic injustices.
It has been said that there are enough resources on
Planet Earth to feed and provide shelter and clothing
for around 12 billion people when the population stood
at approximately 7 billion in 2011 and is expected to rise
to just over 9 billion by 2050!1
And yet the statistics concerning people caught in the
poverty trap are shocking, more so in the continents of
Africa and regions of Latin America and the Caribbean
than in say the perceived ‘affluent’ Continent of Europe
from where I come.
And yet, according to the previous European
Commission President, Josè Manuel Barroso, the
amount of people caught in the poverty trap, within the
European Union, is expected to reach a hundred million
1 Jeremy Gernand, ‘The Earth Can Feed, Clothe, and House 12 Billion People’ in Progressiprocity, 4th
February 2011, http://true-progress.com/the-earth-can-feed-clothe-and-house-12-billion…-
306.htm
Page 3 of 8
by 2020 (the figure stood at 80 million by October
2014).
Swathes of poverty therefore exist everywhere and, if
anything, the shocking European Union statistic makes
one wonder what the figure, based on similar
calculations, would be for countries in Africa and other
continents.
The well documented facts represent the stark, bleak
reality of the current state of our civilisation.
I am under no illusion that poverty can be readily
solved, given the society in which we live, the policies
that inform it, and the economic interests that drive
these policies.
It is quite common to come across policymakers who
are mainly preoccupied with overarching economic
concerns and devise policies on these grounds.
Many a time, these policies serve the people who
influence the very same policy-making process. These
Page 4 of 8
strategies condition people’s lives, and the various social
systems that govern them.
One of the signs of poverty is the inability to participate
effectively in social and political life.
Furthermore, knowledge about poverty and its related
conditions (illiteracy, greater propensity for contracting
diseases, lack of formal education, lack of control over
one’s own life, lack of access to basic goods in a marketdriven
soulless economy, risking life and limb to escape
conditions resulting in human migrant tragedies) can
never be static. After all, the world is not static but in
flux.
New issues arise, including issues concerning old and
new forms of poverty, stark or relative.
I believe that in order to combat poverty effectively, we
constantly need to refine and update our understanding
of the nature of this scourge.
The current socio-economic scenario has demonstrated
how this type of economic and social thinking has
Page 5 of 8
created greater disparities in access to resources and
therefore decent living, hence increasing poverty and
hunger.
This concept has induced some governments to
withdraw their safety nets and provision of social
programmes which would otherwise have allowed a
greater number of people to gain access to those goods
that we associate with decent living: pensions, health
care, education. In some countries, these are now being
presented as consumer goods operating according to the
luxury of the market.
But we know that the market lacks the human face that
is required to save people from falling into destitution.
The market has proved time and time again that it
requires regulation to safeguard the interests of the
vulnerable.
The market cannot be left to its own devices. One of the
most insidious aspects of the current and predominant
mode of thinking is that it accentuates the role of the
Page 6 of 8
individual as being solely responsible for her or his own
welfare or wellbeing.
While I am not playing down the issue of personal
responsibility, a good free education, accessible to all,
can help instil the self-discipline required for this,
however I am concerned about the overemphasis on this
to the detriment of others.
Overemphasis on the personal can simply serve as a
pretext to give the possibility for states to withdraw
from their responsibilities and shred the ‘social
contract’, that ‘contract’ which was the result of
democratic struggles over the years.
I urge governments to attach greater importance to
meaningful, integrated and inclusive social policies.
This would include greater investment in a broad
holistic concept of education, community development
and a decent public health care system.
All these are to be seen as matters of social and not
simply individual responsibility.
Page 7 of 8
Furthermore, I call on many countries represented
here, especially those belonging to economic power
blocs, to revise their ‘fortress’ economic and agrarian
policies because of the way these polices impinge
negatively on economic development in Africa and
other continents or regions.
Moreover, I appeal to all countries not simply to sign
but to closely observe environmental accords. Failure
to do so will have a negative effect on climate change
with disastrous effects in the form of droughts that
increase impoverishment and hunger in several parts of
the world.
I also appeal to governments to engage in collective
efforts to shackle the arms industry. Policies shackling
this industry can help countries stricken by poverty and
unequal resource distribution to spend more on
educational programmes and less on repressive
measures.
Page 8 of 8
On concluding, I would like to echo the words of the
much revered Nelson Mandela. I share the view that
overcoming poverty and hunger is not a matter of
charity but one of social justice. Poverty and hunger are
human - induced.
I therefore believe that, as with all things humaninduced,
we can collectively help overcome this malaise
that hinders humankind from enjoying what is rightly
theirs that is dignity, safety and wellbeing.
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