It is a privilege to join you in honouring Nelson Mandela, an extraordinary global leader, advocate, and role model. I thank the Nelson Mandela Foundation for this opportunity and commend their work to keep his vision alive. And I send my deepest condolences to the Mandela family and to the Government and people of South Africa on the untimely passing of Ambassador Zindzi Mandela earlier this week. May she rest in peace.
Today, on Madiba’s birthday, I will talk about how we can address the many mutually reinforcing strands and layers of inequality, before they destroy our economies and societies. In some countries, health inequalities are amplified as not just private hospitals, but businesses and even individuals are hoarding precious equipment that is urgently needed for everyone.
People’s chances in life depend on their gender, family and ethnic background, race, whether or not they have a disability, and other factors. Multiple inequalities intersect and reinforce each other across the generations. The lives and expectations of millions of people are determined by their circumstances at birth. In this way, inequality works against human development – for everyone. We all suffer its consequences.
We work to reduce inequality, every day, everywhere. That vision is as important today as it was 75 years ago. It is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, our agreed blueprint for peace and prosperity on a healthy planet, captured in SDG 10: reduce inequality within and between countries.
These movements point to two of the historic sources of inequality in our world: colonialism and patriarchy. The Global North, specifically my own continent of Europe, imposed colonial rule on much of the Global South for centuries, through violence and coercion. Colonialism created vast inequality within and between countries, including the evils of the Transatlantic slave trade and the apartheid regime here in South Africa.
The nations that came out on top 70 years ago have refused to contemplate the reforms needed to change power relations in international institutions. The composition and voting rights in the United Nations Security Council, and the boards of the Bretton Woods system, are cases in point. Between 1980 and 2016, the world’s richest 1 per cent captured 27 per cent of the total cumulative growth in income. Low-skilled workers face an onslaught from new technologies, automation, the offshoring of manufacturing and the demise of labour organizations.
The heavily male-dominated tech industry is not only missing out on half the world’s expertise and perspectives. It is also using algorithms that could further entrench gender and racial discrimination. The digital divide reinforces social and economic divides, from literacy to healthcare, from urban to rural, from kindergarten to college.In 2019, some 87 percent of people in developed countries used the internet, compared with just 19 per cent in the least developed countries.
Confidence in institutions and leaders is eroding. Voter turnout has fallen by a global average of 10 per cent since the beginning of the 1990s. People who feel marginalized are vulnerable to arguments that blame their misfortunes on others, particularly those who look or behave differently. Education and digital technology must be two great enablers and equalizers. “Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.” As always, Nelson Mandela said it first.
The digital revolution and artificial intelligence will change the nature of work, and the relationship between work, leisure and other activities, some of which we cannot even imagine today. Dear friends, growing gaps in trust between people, institutions and leaders threaten us all. People want social and economic systems that work for everyone. They want their human rights and fundamental freedoms to be respected. They want a say in decisions that affect their lives.
We need affirmative action programmes and targeted policies to address and redress historic inequalities in gender, race or ethnicity that have been reinforced by social norms. Dear friends, let’s face facts. The global political and economic system is not delivering on critical global public goods: public health, climate action, sustainable development, peace.The Covid-19 pandemic has brought home the tragic disconnect between self-interest and the common interest; and the huge gaps in governance structures and ethical frameworks.
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