Focus on world's poor at General Assembly (AP) Updated: 2005-09-19 19:25
On Saturday night, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf addressed the
American Jewish Congress, saying his country could establish full diplomatic
ties with Israel if it grants Palestinian statehood. He got a standing ovation,
further evidence of thawing relations between Israel and the Arab world after
the Israelis ended their 38-year Gaza occupation.
Underlying many global problems is the widening gap between rich and poor in
many parts of the world — and the inability of the poorest to escape the poverty
trap.
The 2005 U.N. Human Development Report, released Sept. 7, said more than 1
billion people still survive on less than $1 a day, and 2.5 billion live on less
than $2 a day — about 40 percent of the world's 6.2 billion population.
The 35-page document adopted Friday by world leaders dropped a call for
countries that haven't done so — including the United States — "to make concrete
efforts" to earmark 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product to development
assistance.
"Our second millennium faces the reality of growing poverty in two-thirds of
the planet," Ecuador's President Alfredo Palacio said Sunday. "Entire nations
are condemned to wander as disinherited immigrants, mortal illnesses hover over
humanity, and terrorism lurks."
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