''Poverty fight must unite us all'', says LI President on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
Lord Alderdice LI President, Lord Alderdice, joins world leaders in support of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
"These are not only days of global financial crisis for the world of the relatively well-off." said Lord Alderdice. ?Dire poverty in many parts of our world has been ringing the alarm bells for far too long, and this crisis could make things much worse. While I acknowledge the continuing initiatives and efforts by many people, NGO's and governments worldwide, it remains simply unacceptable that over 100 million children are deprived of the basic right to education and 650 million people have to get by on less than $2 a day, and we must not turn a blind eye to the plight of the 1.4 million children who die each year from lack of access to safe drinking water."
Lord Alderdice called on leaders and citizens of the world, regardless of political affiliation, to come together and make common cause in the eradication of poverty: "We must remove the barriers that prevent us from working together to build a world where everyone can at least have their most basic human needs met. The fight against poverty must unite us all. There was an urgency and determination in dealing with the current global financial crisis that is strikingly less evident in dealing with global poverty. MDGs are there to be implemented not just proclaimed."
At the 55th Congress of the Liberal International, held in Belfast last May, the implications of soaring food costs were discussed and a resolution (link) was passed on the issue. While only a part of the larger issue of growing poverty, the implications of this global resolution are that liberal parties around the world should push to make the resolution a reality in parliaments worldwide.
