INEQUALITIES, ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS
ISTANBUL, MARCH 22, 2012
(PHNO FEATURE) PRESS RELEASE FROM THE U.N. DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME -
[PHOTO -UNDP LOGO]
Urgent international action needed to combat social inequalities and
environmental risks, UN Secretary-General tells Istanbul Forum.
UNDP's first Global Human Development Forum starts today in Istanbul
Istanbul, 22 March 2012—Social justice and environmental protection are
equally urgent and intrinsically linked universal goals, with coordinated
global action needed on both fronts at the UN's 'Rio+20' Conference on
Sustainable Development in June, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a
message to an audience of development experts, civil society leaders and
government officials at the first Global Human Development Forum here today.
"The world stands at a crossroads," the Secretary-General said in his
message to the Istanbul Forum, convened by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Turkey.
"We need everyone – government ministers and policymakers, business and
civil society leaders, and young people – to work together to transform our
economies, to place our societies on a more just and equitable footing, and
to protect the resources and ecosystems on which our shared future depends."
UNDP's 2011 Human Development Report —"Sustainability and Equity: A
Better Future for All," which argued that social inequalities and
environmental hazards must be combated together for the sake of future
generations— provided the framework for the two-day Istanbul dialogue.
[PHOTO - New nets help fishermen in Gaza become self-reliant:
Fishermen haul in their catch with the new nets provided by the DEEP
project. Photo: Tanya Habjouka/UNDP-PAPP]
The Global Human Development Forum was organized to examine the critical
social, economic and environmental challenges facing the world today,
including better approaches to assessing national and global progress.
"The concept of human development originated in well-founded
dissatisfaction with using only gross domestic product as a measure of human
progress," the Secretary-General noted in his statement today.
"Though this understanding has become something of a benchmark in our
thinking about development, there remains a need to dramatically change the
way we value and measure progress."
UNDP Associate Administrator Rebeca Grynspan and Deputy Prime Minister
Ali Babacan of Turkey opened the Forum today by stressing the importance of
collective global action at the "Rio + 20" conference three months from now.
"This Forum is particularly timely and important," Grynspan said. "It
provides a unique opportunity to debate the messages we want to take to
Brazil, reflecting on what we have learned since the Stockholm Conference in
1972 and the Earth Summit in 1992."
More than a hundred heads of state will be leading
their national delegations to the June Conference on Sustainable
Development, making it one of the largest such high-level gatherings in
recent times.
"We must recognize that high-carbon; unequal growth
will undermine itself by breeding social unrest and violence, and by
destroying natural habitats critical for livelihoods," added Grynspan. "We
need a new paradigm of growth and a new approach to the political economy of
sustainable development."
[PHOTO - Zambia: Villagers turn their backs on
overfishing: Sebi Nafukwe, who never had any agricultural experience before,
is busy harvesting rice for the first time in Mbete village, on the shores
of Lake Tanganyika in Zambia. She is one of 700 women who have turned their
backs on fishing from the lake after overfishing made it difficult to turn a
profit. Photo: Patson Mwasila/UNDP By Ville
Saikku]
The Global Human Development Forum will culminate
Friday with an "Istanbul Declaration" articulating the participants' jointly
proposed goals and priorities for the "Rio+20" summit.
"Sustainable development recognizes that our
economic, social and environmental objectives are not competing goals that
must be traded off against each other, but are interconnected objectives
that are most effectively pursued together in a holistic manner," the
Secretary-General said in his message today.
"We need an outcome from Rio+20 that reflect this
understanding and that relates to the concerns of all."
Deputy Prime Minister Babacan, a member of the
Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability, urged the
adoption of new 'Sustainable Development Goals' to guide global priorities
following the 2015 conclusion of the UN's 15-year Millennium Development
Goals campaign. Cevdet Yilmaz, Turkey's Minister of Development, who
moderated the Forum discussion on the "Social Contract: Building Equity and
Sustainability", said: "The Forum provides a solid platform to share
different viewpoints on the universal goal of having resilient people and a
resilient planet."
Tarja Halonen, the former president of Finland and
co-chair of the High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability Panel, will speak
today in a special Forum session devoted to the Panel's recommendations.
Forum discussion topics today and Friday also include: "A New Deal on
Sustainable Development"; "Innovative Financing for Sustainable Future";
"Assessing Human Progress"; and "Building Coalitions for Change". The Forum
will feature the launch Friday of a major new report by the U.N. Economic
Commission for Europe: "From Transition to Transformation: Sustainable and
Inclusive Development in Europe and Central Asia".
Other leading government officials and development
experts participating in the Istanbul discussions include Kandeh K. Yumkella,
Director-General, United Nations Industrial Development Organization; Thakur Singh Powdyel, Minister for Education
of Bhutan; Brian Atwood, Chair, Development Assistance Committee, the OECD;
Gunilla Carlsson, Minister for Development Cooperation, Sweden; Wycliffe
Ambetsa Oparanya, Minister of Planning, Kenya; and Senator Cristovam Buarque
of Brazil.
The Global Human Development Forum was
organized jointly by UNDP with support from the Turkish Ministry of
Development and the Government of Denmark.
For more information please contact: In Istanbul, Faik Uyanik, Tel.:
+90 312 454 1105, faik.uyanik@undp.org;
Stanislav Saling, +1 917 346 1955,
stanislav.saling@undp.org. In
New York, William Orme, Tel.: +1 212 906 6763,
william.orme@undp.org;
Chief News Editor:
Sol Jose Vanzi
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