People in extreme poverty, absent partners in the Millennium Development Goals
ATD Fourth World appeals to the UN and to governments world-wide.
The « Summit against poverty » will take place in New York from 20th to 22nd September just before the UN Annual General Meeting.
This summit will produce an intermediary status report on the achievement of the Millenium Development Goals and will determine the next steps to follow up this process. This timing is important particularly in the present context which is causing an increase in world poverty and inequality.
To prepare this summit, the UN began consulting NGOs in June. The international movement ATD Fourth World will be represented by its Vice President, Marco Ugarte Ochoa.
A document entitled “People in extreme poverty, absent partners in the Millennium Development Goals ” has been produced for this purpose. It illustrates the reality of the massive exclusion of the very poor from the programmes set up for the Millenium Goals, and formulates four main actions to undertake to correct this:
- Reaching out to the very poor and not forgetting anyone
Policies must give greater priority to the most vulnerable so that extreme poverty does not simply affect fewer people if those who are affected are even poorer than before, since this would leave the problem unsolved. Experience shows that policies which first address the most dynamic populations who are simply near the poverty line, never get to benefit the destitute hard core. - Human Rights for everyone
The Human Rights Council is presently studying a project to determine the guiding principles on extreme poverty and human rights (Resolution A/HRC/RES/12/19 Sept 2009). The idea of these guiding principles is that the MDG should be based on human rights, in order to identify those who do not have access because of their extreme poverty and to promote effective access to human rights for everyone. - Ensure everyone’s participation
Excluded people have an essential contribution to bring. Often without civil status, misrepresented politically, they need new forms of governance and participation at local, national and international levels. - Evaluate the impact of the MDG with populations
It should be compulsory for financial backers and states to consult underprivileged populations on the benefits which they reap from development policies, since growth rates and quantity indicators are not enough to know what they have gained or lost in terms of freedom and dignity.
