“Never in the history of this organization has something really substantial been done for the benefit of the poor,” said President Andrés Manuel López Obrador last Tuesday when referring to the UN during his speech before the representatives of the 15 member countries of the Council. of Security of the United Nations and the Secretary General of the UN, the Portuguese António Guterres.
This assertion was not well received by the representatives of countries and NGOs that each year contribute to various anti-poverty programs of the UN, nor by the thousands of people who work in the various projects and programs of the organization whose objective is to alleviate poverty, combat hunger, eradicate disease and promote education, among other things.
The reason for the discomfort? That it is not true what AMLO said, who apparently forgot or ignores that there are several UN agencies whose main objective is to combat poverty. Between them:
United Nations Development Program (UNDP): “present in some 170 countries and territories, where it works to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and promote resilience. It plays a key role in helping countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals ”. In 2020, it had a budget of $ 5.6 billion and helped hundreds of millions of people.
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF): “works in 190 countries and territories to save children’s lives, to defend their rights and help them develop their full potential.” His 2020 budget was $ 7.219 million, which he used to improve the quality of life for hundreds of millions of children; 30.5 million babies were born in health centers that receive their support.
World Food Program (WFP): “It is the largest humanitarian agency in the world. Every year, it feeds nearly 100 million people in some 88 countries through food or cash distributions and more. WFP received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2020 ”. The budget that it has exercised during 2021 is 7.484 million dollars.
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which “leads international efforts in the fight against hunger.” Its 2022-2023 budget is $ 3.25 billion.
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), which “has focused solely on reducing rural poverty, working with poor rural populations in developing countries to eliminate poverty, hunger and malnutrition; in increasing their productivity and income and in improving their quality of life ”. In 2020 it exercised a budget of 7.5 billion dollars to support 123 million farmers.
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), which “is the specialized agency that promotes industrial development and seeks to reduce poverty, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability.” In 2021 it is supporting 695 projects with a total value of 1,327 million dollars.
And there are others, including the World Bank.
Regarding the UN and its actions to eradicate poverty, the data that I have is different from what Andrés Manuel has.
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Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx