UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the International Day for the Eradication
of Poverty
(October 17, 2009) United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has called for accelerating
the progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals saying that investing
in children and securing their rights is one of the surest ways of ending poverty.
In a message for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty celebrated on
Saturday, 17th of October, the UN Chief said that in any recession, those
hurt first and the worst are the poor. The theme of this year’s observance, “Children
and Families Speak Out against Poverty”, coincides with the twentieth anniversary
of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Ban observed that despite our world
of plenty, children’s basic needs are still being sidelined. Millions of children
continue to be deprived of an education, with many more at risk of dropping out of
school. This is particularly true for girl children. Investments in meeting the Millennium
Development Goals can make a profound difference Ban said. He noted that in areas
where global investments have been scaled up such as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and
vaccine-preventable diseases we are seeing heartening progress. There has also been
notable success in reducing under-5 mortality. These gains suggest how we can accelerate
progress towards those MDG targets where the world is still far behind by investing
in key areas such as primary education, basic infrastructure and maternal health.
With the right investments and concrete action, we can build upon the gains, fulfil
our commitments, and ensure that every man, woman and child have the opportunity to
make the most of their potential, Ban Ki Moon concluded.