AASU On The International Day For The Eradication Of Poverty

The World is endowed with adequate human and material resources to ensure that everybody enjoys some dignity and basic human rights. Unfortunately the majority of the people, particularly in developing countries, are mired in abject poverty, that is; lack of food, clothes and shelter. Poverty exists everywhere though very noticeable in Africa, a continent endowed with abundant human and natural resources. It is sad to note that while the situation of those who are already affected is worsening, poor people are emerging in every society due to economic crises and conflicts amongst others.

The increasing poverty situation in the world compelled over a hundred thousands of people to gather at Trocadero in Paris on 17^th October 1987 to express their discontent at the extreme poverty level, violence and hunger that some humans are enduring around the World. Trocadero is where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948. They proclaimed that poverty is a violation of human rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that these rights are respected. Hence, on the 22^nd of December 1992, the United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution 47/196 declaring October 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

Subsequently, people around the world have been gathering on October 17 to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor. Hereby, the 2016 theme is “Moving from humiliation and exclusion to participation: Ending poverty in all its forms”. Fighting poverty is not only to achieve the respect of human rights and dignity for the poor but also for security and peace to prevail in the world. Today the enrollment of many young people in terrorist groups, particularly in Africa, is partly attributed to their poor social background. They lack basic needs, adequate education and jobs, and they are mostly the breadwinners for their families.

Sustainable development, so cherished by everybody, will never be achieved if the current international unjust economic relations continue to exist. We live in a world where minority of the population, that are in the industrialized nations consume more of the world’s resources (about 70%) and enjoy a high standard of living and most of the world’s wealth (about 80%). Citizens of non-industrialized countries, constituting the majority of the world population, control and consume far fewer of the resources they need for survival and well-being. As a result, their lives are characterized by poverty and a low standard of living. Some of the consequences of this situation are the insurgence of extremism through the formation of terrorist groups.

Effectively fighting poverty is not going to be successful through adopting nice slogans, cosmetic policies and actions but rather adhering to conscious efforts to guarantee fairer international economic relations through sharing the world’s resources equitably. Equally, eradication of poverty will continue to be a mirage as long as corruption has become a norm in many parts of the world particularly in Africa where politics has become a shortcut for people to become the “nouveaux riches”.

In order to achieve the eradication of poverty and ensure a peaceful world, greed and selfishness must be consciously eradicated to the barest minimum and pave the way for selflessness, commitment and putting the interests of the people at the center of all decisions and actions. Guaranteeing the general interests of the people is the best way of protecting individual interests.

Long live the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty!

Awaah Fred
(Secretary General)
www.aasuonline.org ; [email protected]/[email protected] ; +233(0)243101626