António Guterres is the ninth Secretary-General of the United Nations, who took office on 1 January 2017.
My dear friends, President Cyril Ramaphosa, Excellencies, outstanding guests, friends,
It is a privilege to subscribe to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela, an ordinary world leader, advocate and role model.
I thank the Nelson Mandela Foundation for this opportunity and salute their paintings to keep their vision alive. And I extend my deepest condolences to Mandela’s circle of family and to the Government and others in South Africa on the untimely passing of Ambassador Zindzi. Mandela earlier this week. May he rest in peace.
I had the opportunity to meet Nelson Mandela on several occasions. I will never know his wisdom, determination and compassion, which were obvious in everything he said and did.
Last August, I visited Madiba’s mobile on Robben Island. I stood there, through the bars, humbled by his enormous intellectual strength and incalculable courage. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison, 18 of them on Robben Island. But he never allowed this. enjoy to outline him or his life.
Nelson Mandela surpassed his captors to lose millions of South Africans and a global inspiration and fashion icon.
He has dedicated his life to fighting the inequalities that have reached critical proportions around the world in recent decades, and which represent a growing risk to our future.
And so today, on Madiba’s birthday, I’ll talk about how we can deal with the many threads and layers of inequality between us, before they destroy our economies and societies.
Dear friends,
COVID-19 highlights this injustice.
The world is in crisis. Economies are in free fall.
They brought us to our knees, through a microscopic virus.
The pandemic has demonstrated the fragility of our world.
It has laid bare what we have ignored for decades: insufficient fitness systems; gaps in social protection; structural inequalities; environmental degradation; the climate crisis.
Entire regions that had made progress in eliminating poverty and reducing inequality have done so for years, in a matter of months.
The virus poses the greatest threat to the most vulnerable: others living in poverty, the elderly and others with disabilities and pre-existing conditions.
Health workers are on the front line, with more than 4,000 people inflamed in South Africa alone. I pay tribute to them.
In some countries, fitness inequalities are magnified like personal hospitals, but businesses and even Americans collect valuable gadgets that everyone urgently needs. A tragic example of inequality.
The economic consequences of the pandemic are affecting those operating in the informal economy; small and medium-sized enterprises; and people with family responsibilities, who are basically women.
We are facing the innermost global recession since World War II and the collapse of the largest source of income since 1870.
Another hundred million people may be driven into extreme poverty. We have seen famines of historic proportions.
COVID-19 has been on an X-ray, revealing fractures in the fragile skeleton of the societies we have built.
He exposes errors and lies everywhere:
The lie that flexible markets can provide physical care for everyone;
The fiction that unpaid care paints is paint;
The ghost we are in a post-racist world;
That we are all in this together.
Because while we’re all on the same sea, it’s transparent that some are on superyachts while others cling to drifting debris.
Dear friends,
Inequality defines our time.
More than 70% of the world’s population lives with developing sources of income and wealth inequality. The other 26 richest people in the world have as much wealth as part of the world’s population.
But income, wages and wealth are not the only measures of inequality. People’s life chances depend on their gender, family circle and ethnicity, race, disability or non-disability, and other factors.
Multiple inequalities intersect with each other across generations. The lives and expectations of millions of other people are largely determined by their status at birth.
In this way, inequality goes against human progress, for all. We are all suffering its consequences.
High levels of inequality are linked to economic instability, corruption, currency crises, emerging crime, and poor physical and intellectual health.
Discrimination, abuse and lack of justice delineate inequality for many, especially indigenous peoples, migrants, refugees and minorities of all kinds. Such inequalities are a direct violation of human rights.
The fight against inequality has therefore been a driving story of social justice, labour rights and gender equality.
The vision and promise of the United Nations is that food, physical care, water and sanitation, education, decent paints and social security are not commodities sold to those who can afford them, but fundamental human rights to which we are all entitled.
We work to reduce inequality, every day, each and every place.
This vision is as vital today as it was 75 years ago.
It is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, our agreed plan for peace and prosperity on a healthy planet, enshrined in SDG 10: inequalities within and between countries.
Dear friends,
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, many others around the world understood that inequality undermined their possibilities and opportunities in life.
They are an unbalanced world.
They felt abandoned.
They saw economic resources channeled to a privileged few.
Millions of people from every continent took to the streets to make their voices heard.
High and developing inequality is not an unusual factor.
The anger fueling two recent social movements reflects the general disillusionment with the quo.
Around the world, one of the most egregious examples of social inequality has ended: violence perpetrated by tough men just looking to do their jobs.
The anti-racist movement that has spread from the United States to the world in the wake of the murder of George Floyd is yet another sign that others have had enough:
No more inequality and discrimination that treats other people like criminals based on the colour of their skin;
Enough of the structural racism and systematic injustice that deprives others of their fundamental human rights.
These point to two of the ancient resources of inequality in our world: colonialism and patriarchy.
The Global North, especially my own European continent, has imposed colonial rule over much of the Global South for centuries, violence and coercion.
Colonialism created great inequalities within and between countries, adding to the ills of the transatlantic slave industry and the apartheid regime here in South Africa.
After the Second World War, the creation of the United Nations was based on a new global consensus around equality and human dignity.
A wave of decolonization swept the world.
But let’s fool ourselves.
The legacy of colonialism resonates.
We see it in economic and social injustice, hate crimes and xenophobia; the patience of institutionalized racism and white supremacy.
We see it in the global trading system. Economies that have been colonized are in greater danger of being trapped in the production of raw fabrics and low-tech goods, a new form of colonialism.
And we see it in the balance of power.
Africa has been a double victim. First, as an objective of the colonial project. Second, African countries are underrepresented in foreign establishments that were created after World War II, before most of them gained independence.
The nations that prevailed more than seven decades ago have refused the reforms needed to replace power relations within foreign institutions. The composition and voting rights in the United Nations Security Council and the governing forums of the Bretton Woods formula are a good example.
Inequality starts at the top: in global institutions. The fight against inequalities must begin by reforming them.
And we are not going to another wonderful source of inequality in our world: millennia of patriarchy.
We are in a male-dominated world with a male-dominated culture.
Everywhere, they are worse off than men, simply because they are ArrayInequality and discrimination are the norm. The violence opposite to the matrix adding femicide, is reaching epidemic levels.
Globally, they are still excluded from leadership positions in governments and boards. Less than one in ten world leaders is a woman.
Gender inequality hurts everyone because it prevents us from reaping the benefits of the intelligence and fun of all humanity.
That’s why, as a proud feminist, I’ve made gender equality a very sensible priority, and gender parity is now a true in UN positions. I urge leaders of all kinds to do the same.
And I’m pleased to announce that Siya Kolisi from South Africa is our new world champion of the United Nations-European Union Spotlight Initiative, which engages other men in combating the global scourge of violence against girls.
Dear friends,
The latter have created new tensions and trends.
In fact, globalization and technological upgrading have driven huge gains in the source of income and prosperity.
More than a billion people have been lifted out of extreme poverty.
But expanding industry and technological progress have also contributed to an unprecedented shift in the source of income distribution.
Between 1980 and 2016, the world’s richest 1% captured 27% of the overall cumulative source of income growth.
Low-skilled workers are beset by new technologies, automation, offshoring of production and the demise of industrial unions.
Tax benefits, tax evasion and widespread tax evasion. Corporate tax rates have fallen.
This has fewer resources to invest in what can reduce inequalities: social protection, education, health care.
And a new generation of inequality goes beyond the source of income and wealth to surround the wisdom and skills needed to succeed in today’s world.
Deep disparities begin before birth and mark life and premature death.
More than 50% of 20-year-olds in countries with very high human progression are in tertiary education. In countries with low human progression, the figure is 3 consistent with percent.
Even more shocking: 17% of young people born twenty years ago in countries with low human progression have already died.
Dear friends,
Looking ahead, two seismic shifts will shape the twenty-first century: the climate crisis and virtual transformation. Both can further widen inequality.
Some of the advances in today’s generation and innovation centers are cause for concern.
The heavily male-dominated tech industry not only loses some experience and perspective on the world, but also uses algorithms that can increase racial and gender discrimination.
The virtual divide reinforces social and economic divisions, from literacy to physical care, from urban to rural, from kindergarten to university.
In 2019, around 87% of other people in developed countries used the internet, compared to just 19% in less developed countries.
We are in a two-speed world.
At the same time, by 2050, we estimate that accelerated climate will replace millions of people through malnutrition, malaria and other diseases, migration and extreme weather events.
This creates serious threats to intergenerational equality and justice. Today’s young climate activists are at the forefront of the fight against inequality.
The countries most affected by climate change are those that have contributed the least to global warming.
The green economy will be a new source of prosperity and jobs. But let’s not let other people lose their jobs, especially in our world’s post-industrial rust belts.
That’s why we only call for climate action, but also for climate justice.
Political leaders will have to raise their ambition, companies will have to raise their views, and others will have to speak out.
There is a path, and we have to take it.
Dear friends,
The corrosive effects of existing inequality are clear.
We are told that an emerging tide of economic expansion lifts all boats.
But in reality, emerging inequality is sinking all boats.
Trust in leaders is eroding. Voter turnout has fallen on average by 10% internationally since the early 1990s.
People who feel marginalized are vulnerable to arguments that blame their misfortunes on others, especially those who look at or behave differently.
But populism, nationalism, extremism, racism and scapegoating will create new inequalities and divisions within and between communities; between countries, between ethnicities, between religions.
Dear friends,
COVID-19 is a human tragedy. But it created a generational opportunity.
And to rebuild a more equal and sustainable world.
The reaction to the pandemic and the widespread discontent that preceded it must be based on a new social contract and a new global contract that creates equal opportunities for all and respects the rights and freedoms of all.
This is the only way to achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, agreements that in particular address the disorders revealed and exploited by the pandemic.
A New Social Contract within societies will enable other young people to live with dignity; ensure that women have the same opportunities and opportunities as men; and the sick, the vulnerable and minorities of all kinds.
Education and the virtual generation will have to be two wonderful catalysts and equalizers.
As Nelson Mandela said, and I quote, ‘education is the hardest weapon we can use to replace the world. ‘As always, Nelson Mandela said it first.
Governments should prioritize equivalent access, from early learning to lifelong learning.
Neuroscience tells us that education in the early formative years changes the lives of Americans and contributes much to communities and societies.
Thus, when the richest young people are seven times more likely than the poorest to attend preschool, it is unexpected that inequality is intergenerational.
To deliver quality education for all, we want to more than double education spending in low- and middle-income countries by 2030 to $3 trillion consistent with the year.
Within a generation, all young people in low- and middle-income countries will need to receive quality education at all levels.
It’s possible. We just have to do it.
And as generation transforms our world, learning facts and skills is not enough. Governments should prioritize investments in literacy and virtual infrastructure.
Learning to learn, adapt and gain new ones will be fundamental.
The virtual revolution and synthetic intelligence will replace the nature of paintings and dating between paintings, recreational activities and others, some of which are not even today.
The Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, launched at the United Nations last month, promotes an inclusive and sustainable virtual long-term vision by connecting the remaining 4 billion people by 2030.
The United Nations has also unveiled “Giga,” an ambitious mission to connect around the world.
Technology can drive recovery from COVID-19 and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Dear friends,
The development of acceptance as a reality with a gap between people, establishments and leaders threatens us all.
People need social and economic systems that work for everyone. They need their human rights and basic freedoms respected. They need to have a voice in the decisions their lives make.
The new social contract, between governments, citizens, civil society, business and more, must integrate employment, sustainable progression and social protection, based on equal rights and opportunities for all.
Labour market policies, combined with constructive discussion between employers and workers’ representatives, can improve wages and operating conditions.
The worker is also key to managing the demanding situations posed by jobs through the generation and structural transformation, adding the transition to a green economy.
The labour movement has a proud history of fighting inequality and fighting for the rights and dignity of all.
The slow integration of the casual sector into social coverage frameworks is essential.
A changing world requires a new generation of social policy policies with new defense networks, adding the politics of universal fitness and universal fundamental income.
It is essential to identify minimum degrees of social coverage and in the face of chronic lack of investment in public services, adding education, physical care and access.
But this is not enough to address entrenched inequalities.
We want affirmative action systems and specific policies to address and correct long-standing gender, race or ethnic inequalities that have been reinforced by social norms.
Taxes also have a role in the new social contract. Everyone, Americans and businesses, will have to pay their fair share.
In some countries there is room for taxes that recognize that the well-connected have benefited greatly from the state and their fellow citizens.
Governments also shift the tax burden from wages to carbon.
Taxing carbon instead of other people will increase production and jobs, while reducing emissions.
We will have to break the vicious circle of corruption, which is cause and effect of inequality. Corruption reduces and wastes the budget for social protection; It weakens social norms and the rule of law.
The fight against corruption is based on responsibility. The guarantor of accountability is a multifaceted civil society, which aggregates loose, independent media and guilty social media platforms that inspire healthy debate.
Dear friends,
Let’s face the facts. The global political and economic formula does not provide global public goods: public health, climate action, sustainable development, peace.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the tragic disconnect between self-interest and usual interest; and massive gaps in governance structures and moral frameworks.
To close those gaps and make the new social contract possible, we want a Global New Deal so that power, wealth and opportunities are shared more broadly and equitably internationally.
A new style of global governance must be based on full, inclusive and equivalent participation in global institutions.
Without it, we face even greater inequalities and solidarity gaps, such as those we see in the fragmented global reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Developed countries are heavily invested in their own survival in the face of the pandemic, but they have not provided enough to help the world ahead in those difficult times.
A New Global Deal, based on a fair globalization, on the rights and dignity of each and every human being, on living in balance with nature, on taking into account the rights of generations in the long term and on good fortune measured in human rather than economic terms, is the most productive way to replace this.
The global consultation procedure around the 75th anniversary of the United Nations made it clear that other people need a global governance formula that works for them.
The global future will need to have a much stronger voice in global decision-making.
We will need to work together to integrate the principles of sustainable progression into financial decision-making. Financial markets will have to be full partners in shifting resources from brown and grey to green, sustainable and equitable.
Debt architecture reform and access to affordable credit will have to create fiscal space for countries to direct investments in the same direction.
Dear friends,
As Nelson Mandela said: “One of the demanding situations of our time. . . It is to re-inculcate in the consciousness of our other peoples this sense of human solidarity, of being global for one and by others and through others. »
The COVID-19 pandemic has this message stronger than ever.
We belong to others.
We either combine or collapse.
Today, at demonstrations for racial equality. . . in campaigns against hate speech. . . in the struggles of other peoples who claim their rights and protect future generations. . . We see the beginnings of a new movement.
This motion rejects inequalities and divisions and unites young people, civil society, industry, cities, regions and others around policies for peace, our planet, justice and human rights for all. It already makes a difference.
The time has come for world leaders to decide:
Will we succumb to chaos, department and inequality?
Or will we correct the mistakes of the afterlife and move forward together, for the good of all?
We are at the breaking point. But we know which of the story we are in.
Thankbyou
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Nelson Mandela International Day
The Manguinhos Ballet, named after its favela in Rio de Janeiro, returns to the level after a long absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has as interpreters 250 young people and adolescents from the favela. The ballet organization provides social assistance in a network where poverty, hunger and teenage pregnancy are ongoing problems.
The pandemic has put many other people to the test, and news hounds are no exception. The coronavirus has waged war not only against the lives and well-being of others, but has also generated countless deceptions and clinical lies.
The pandemic has shown how vital it is that the right of access to data is reliable and that reliable and accurate data is freely available for government and citizen decision-making – a win-win situation.