Combating global poverty; President spot on

Global leaders have gathered in New York City for the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 74).

Every year in September, all the 193 member states of the organisation meet in the unique forum to discuss and work together on a wide array of international issues.

Covered by the Charter of the UN, dozens of world leaders scheduled to address the assembly discuss issues such as development, peace and security, international law, among others.

Taking his turn in the general debate yesterday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who is leading Ghana’s delegation to the assembly, made profound pronouncements that cannot be glossed over in national and global discussions.

The President was spot on about the need for world leaders to focus their energies and resources on combating global poverty.

Global poverty, in our opinion, is a real problem facing many nations, including Ghana, and our President could not have found a better time and place to highlight the global challenge.

For us, it is long overdue for global efforts to be made to end the poverty scourge.

That is why the Daily Graphic finds it most appropriate that our President raised the issue at the world forum.

“Poverty anywhere degrades us all,” President Akufo-Addo asserted, and observed that for those of us in Africa, “poverty is a daily reality that we live with and feel . . . and it robs us of the dignity that should be the inherent right of every human being”.
Clearly, the fight against global poverty cannot be won without collective action.

Moving a country out of the poverty cycle and placing it on the path of sustainable growth requires hard work.

It is worrying that billions of dollars in aid have been poured into developing countries but the results have been disappointing, as the right dividends have not been reaped.

The World Bank estimates that one billion people still live on less than $1.25 a day, while more than 800 million do not have enough to eat.

Although the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) attempted to apply a comprehensive approach to reducing poverty, they failed to address its underlying causes, which means that global efforts need to rethink the strategies currently being used to combat global poverty.

The President was equally visionary when he unequivocally indicated that wherever quality education was available, there was usually prosperity.

He mentioned the correlation between a skilled population and the ability to compete in the world economy, the reason for “taking the brave step of spending on education a substantial part of our national revenue; indeed, a third of our nation’s budget”.

Although critics have said the UN General Assembly has been a forum for lofty and audacious rhetoric, the Daily Graphic is convinced that declarations at the assembly had, over the years, made recommendations and initiated actions that have benefitted the lives of millions of people around the globe.

That is why we contend that the President’s observations will be taken seriously for global attention to be sought to help eliminate poverty in the world, leading to the creation of a robust system of property rights, and – crucially – private investment.

Clearly, to end poverty, we cannot downplay the role education plays, and sharing Ghana’s experience at the world forum, in our view, will help the world appreciate one of the surest avenues to reducing poverty.