[Pak Daily Times] The United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society is ignoring the critical role of jobs and income equality in its 15-year strategy to fight world poverty and hunger - to the detriment of developing nations, the world body's own researchers said in a surprising critique released Friday.The UN says it is on track to halve the number of people living on less than $1 a day by 2015, and that the picture is mixed for other Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, in the fields of health, education and the environment.
But the plan agreed to by governments in 2000 has serious failings, the Geneva-based UN Research Institute for Social Development said in its report.
People need jobs to combat poverty, the report essentially argues, calling for a shift in focus away from safety nets and welfare programmes. It also urges new approaches to addressing rising income inequality. 'Despite an ambitious agenda, the MDGs nonetheless represent a cautious approach to social development,' the 360-page report says. 'A number of critical issues and obstacles to overcoming poverty have not been addressed.'
The criticism is surprising, given the United Nations' decade-long advocacy of the goals as the greatest hope for eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and disease around the world. Each UN agency contributes and, despite some unwillingness among governments to fund certain programs, there is no official opposition. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has summoned
| Kings summon. Secretaries invite, even Secretaries-General. Mr. Ban Ki-moon needs to remember his place. |