ERADICATING POVERTY IS A MORAL IMPERATIVE, A PUBLIC GOOD

VATICAN CITY, FEB 12, 2005 (VIS) - Made public today was the speech given yesterday at the United Nations to the 43rd session of the Commission for Social Development by Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

  Addressing the commission in French, he noted that, almost ten years ago at the summit for development in Copenhagen, the final Declaration underscored the "commitment to promote a concept of social development that is 'political, economic, ethical and spiritual'."  Since then, he said, this concept "has lost the quality of being an all-embracing idea. Leaders of nations and specialists have turned to an approach of eradicating poverty that is based rather on the realization of measurable economic results."

  Acceleration in uprooting poverty is necessary, stated Bishop Crepaldi, for many peoples and nations are living this scourge. "For their development to be finally able to take off, they are undergoing what has been defined as 'a big push' in public investment." He gave several examples of innovative mechanisms employed by some countries and groups and added: "In effect, this big push, urgently needed by the economies of poor countries, must be additional, concessionary, sure and regular, four inescapable exigencies respected by the mechanisms I have just mentioned.

  The true challenge we now face," he went on, "is that of working concretely for the realization of positive economic results to eliminate poverty and to safeguard, at the same time, the concept of social development as expressed in Copenhagen. ... In addition, if it is true ... that the eradication of poverty has become a moral imperative,  we could arrive, with its realization, at effectively considering it as a primary global public good." He said "this challenge can only be met if a moral condition is fulfilled: the creation, at an international level, of the sense of social justice which seems at the moment to be lacking."
DELSS/ERADICATION POVETY/UN:CREPALDI        VIS 20050214 (310)