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<DIV><B>From:</B> <A title=ruglucia@PAHO.ORG
href="mailto:ruglucia@PAHO.ORG">Ruggiero, Mrs. Ana Lucia (WDC)</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"> </DIV>
<DIV class=Section1>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><A
name=rep></A><STRONG><B><FONT face=Arial color=maroon size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 13.5pt; COLOR: maroon; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Report on the World
Social Situation (RWSS) 2005<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></STRONG></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><B><FONT face=Arial
color=maroon size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: maroon; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The
Inequality Predicament<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">PEOPLE
POORER TODAY THAN 10 YEARS AGO A THREAT TO STABILITY – UN
REPORT<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><SPAN class=style51><FONT
face=Arial color=#333399 size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399">The Report sounds alarm over persistent
and deepening inequality worldwide, <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><SPAN class=style51><FONT
face=Arial color=#333399 size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><SPAN class=style51><FONT
face=Arial color=#333399 size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399">Website: <A
href="http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/rwss/rwss.htm"><FONT color=#333399><SPAN
style="COLOR: #333399">http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/rwss/rwss.htm</SPAN></FONT></A>
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face=Arial color=#333399 size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><B><FONT face=Arial color=#333399 size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></SPAN></FONT></B> </P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><B><FONT face=Arial color=#333399 size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">UN
Press Release <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">New
York</st1:State></st1:place>, Aug 25 2005
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><SPAN class=style51><B><FONT
face=Arial color=#333399 size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399">Division for Social
Policy - Development of the Department of Economic and Social
Affairs</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT color=#333399><SPAN
style="COLOR: #333399">.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><SPAN class=style51><FONT
face=Arial color=#333399 size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Increasing poverty
and a growing schism between the “haves” and the “have nots” continue to pose a
major threat to developing democracies around the world, and the resulting
economic and social inequality will continue to breed violence and terror if the
trend is not reversed, a United Nations report said
today.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The
report entitled “The Inequality Predicament”, the UN Department of Economic and
Social Affairs (DESA) warned of growing “violence associated with national and
international acts of terrorism,” which are the result of stark economic and
social inequalities, and competition over scarce resources.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Solutions to
inequality outlined in the report include addressing economic asymmetries not
just within countries but also between them: 80 per cent of the world’s domestic
product belongs to 1 billion people living in the developed world, while the
remaining 20 percent is shared by 5 billion people living in developing
countries. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">“This
is an especially important because it concentrates on inequality of income as
well as inequality in access to basic social services, as well as
decision-making,” Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Economic and
Social Affairs, Jose Antonio Ocampo said today as he introduced the
report.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Noting
that he report comes 10 years after the 1995 Copenhagen World Summit for Social
Development -- where world governments pledged to confront profound social
challenges and to place people at the centre of development – he said some
decade-old social gaps had actually widened, particularly gender disparities.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Although more women
and girls were being educated, formal employment figures for women had stagnated
or even decreased in some parts of the world. Even more troubling was the sharp
increase of women being employed by the informal sector, he
added.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The
modest gains made in gender equality, education and other areas proved that
social mobilization, particularly civil society engagement, can help raise
awareness to social problems and spur action at national and regional levels, he
said, noting that the report also stresses the critical importance of boosting
access to basic services as one of the most important instruments States had to
impact inequities. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The
report notes that in a world of increasing development when societies should be
reaping the economic benefits of progress, instead many are experiencing
alarming increases in the discrepancies between rich and poor.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">The
United States, Canada and Britain have not escaped this disturbing trend, it
said, seeking to nudge both developed and developing countries to take more
vigorous steps in the direction of assuring equality while responding to the
economic urgency for growth. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">In a
summary of the report, Mr. Ocampo said that “failure to address this inequality
predicament will insure that social injustice and better living conditions for
all people remain elusive,” and that this trend will continue to lead to social
instability in the world.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Socioeconomic
strategies should focus on access to resources, social services and the markets
that must be incorporated alongside economic development programmes. Economic
stimulation without the associated social programmes, is inadequate to eradicate
the cycle of poverty: “Focusing exclusively on economic growth and income
generation as a development strategy is ineffective, as it leads to the
accumulation of wealth by a few, and deepens the poverty of many,…and does not
acknowledge the intergenerational transmission of poverty,” says the report.
<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.5in"><FONT face=Arial color=#333399
size=2><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: #333399; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">In the
final word of his report, Jose Antonio Ocampo says, “The failure to pursue a
comprehensive integrated approach to development will perpetuate the inequality
predicament, for which everyone pays the price.”<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoPlainText><FONT face=Arial color=black size=2><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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