hunger

United Nations (UN) secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, has warned that failure to meet global poverty-reduction goals by a 2015 deadline will spawn increased instability, violence, epidemic diseases and overpopulation.

In an address to the UN General Assembly, Ban urged adoption of a global action plan for faster progress toward achieving the so-called Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at a UN world summit on the issue, scheduled for 20-22 September 2010.

Social Development Minister, Edna Molewa, has defended the government’s track record on welfare grants as a job ‘well done’, but insisted that the grants are not intended to be a permanent feature of South Africa’s social development geography.

Molewa’s remarks followed economist, Mike Schussler’s comments that the country is the largest welfare state in the world and that the current rate of three people on grants for every taxpayer is unsustainable.

The United Nations (UN) and its agencies will use the 2010 World Cup to highlight Africa's slow progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of halving poverty by 2015.

UN under-secretary-general for communications and public information, Kiyo Akasaka, says that the UN is concerned that sub-Saharan countries are significantly behind schedule in realising some of the key development goals agreed to by more than 189 countries in Johannesburg in 2000.

The Black Sash welcomes Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s steady leadership and courage to forge ahead with social spending during this economic crisis. We applaud his recognition that our futures are bound together and that social solidarity is essential if we are to give meaning to our Constitutional commitment to social and economic justice for all.

The 2010 budget speech by Minister Gordhan did not specifically address financing for social development services, which is seen by many as a disappointment and in reality, it is. The other reality is that neither the NGO sector nor the Department of Social Development have made any serious and sustained effort to examine how the bid process can be used to get the best out of the Treasury nor have we managed to link the work of the sector and the department to stated government goals or the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF).

Rescuers, doctors and soldiers are rushing to Haiti by air and sea in a sweeping global response to the devastating earthquake feared to have killed more than 100 000 people.

Governments and aid organisations around the world unlocked relief funds, despatched experts to claw through the debris for survivors and promised help to reconstruct shattered homes, schools and hospitals.

Nearly 200 million children in developing countries suffer from stunted growth and health problems due to poor nutrition in their early years. This is according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

In its report, UNICEF says however, the percentage of children with retarded growth in Asia fell to 30 percent last year from 44 percent in 1990, and in Africa to 34 percent from 38 percent over the same period.