by Leela Ramdeen, Chair, CCSJ and Director, CREDI
As we prepare for the coming of the birth of Jesus, let us see Him in the faces of our “neighbours”. Amidst the splendour of the decorations in the malls and the “goodies” in our stores and supermarkets, spare a thought for Jesus who lives among us and who is hungry. See Jesus in the homeless, the destitute, and those in need. He came so that we may have life, and have it to the full. Yet thousands in T&T and millions around the world live like Lazarus, waiting for the crumbs to fall from the table of the rich.
We will never prosper as a nation if we ignore the plight of those who suffer among us. Today, December 15, the world buries Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (July 18, 1918 – December 5, 2013). Let us pray for the repose of his soul and for his family who, like all of us, mourn his passing.
I recall what he said about poverty as he addressed more than 22,000 people who had gathered in Trafalgar Square, London, on 3February 3, 2005 as part of The Campaign to Make Poverty History. He had a message especially for finance ministers from the G7 countries (the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan) who were to meet on the following two days. Inter alia, he said: “…as long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest…Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings…Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom…
“Massive poverty and obscene inequality are such terrible scourges of our times – times in which the world boasts breathtaking advances in science, technology, industry and wealth accumulation – that they have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils…I say to all those (G7) leaders: do not look the other way; do not hesitate. Recognise that the world is hungry for action, not words. Act with courage and vision… Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom. Of course the task will not be easy. But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up.”
Mandela also spoke directly to the ministers at a meeting with them on February 4 2005.
Read the facts about world hunger and poverty (www.worldhunger.org). “The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that nearly 870 million people of the 7.1 billion people in the world, or one in eight, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2010-2012. Almost all the hungry people, 852 million, live in developing countries, representing 15 per cent of the population of developing counties. There are 16 million people undernourished in developed countries.”
On October 10, 2013 the World Bank issued a press release reporting, inter alia, that 400 million children are living in extreme poverty. And, at the same time that crippling poverty affects the lives of many, corruption thrives. As Pratibha Patil, former President of India, said: “Corruption is the enemy of development, and of good governance.”
On December 5, the CCSJ issued a media release calling for more concerted action on the part of all citizens to promote Human Rights. Human rights issues were discussed at CCSJ’s Panel Discussion at the UNDP Office on World Human Rights Day (Dec 10).
The US State Department’s 2012 Human Rights Report on T&T (see: http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/204692.pdf ) listed a number of “human rights problems” in T&T which we have obviously not addressed with the urgency required, e.g. poor prison conditions, high-profile cases of alleged bribery, violence and discrimination against women, and inadequate services for vulnerable children.
T&T’s global ranking on Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index 2013 continues to decline steadily – from 31 in 2001 to 80 in 2012 to 83 in 2013 – with a corresponding drop in the score from 39 to 38. As Deryck Murray, chairman of the T&T Transparency Institute (the local chapter of TI), said on December 3: “The lower the score is the higher the perception of corruption.” Barbados is at number 15 out of 177 – the least corrupt in the Caribbean and among the least corrupt in the world. Corruption is a key human rights issue that T&T must address.
