By Gamal Nkrumah Never has there been so much uncertainty as to what, exactly, the United Nations is turning into. Hopefully, by December things may just become a little clearer. Economic insecurity for millions of human beings remains the most pressing issue facing mankind. The terror of poverty is exacerbated by hunger, disease, illiteracy and poor education in many parts of the world -- in the poorest of countries and even in some of the richest such as the United States. The Third World has understandably found it difficult to keep its footing in the shifting sands of the so-called new world order, one dominated by rampant capitalism and violence. Five years after the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals at the UN summit in 2000, the world is still as divided as ever. Typically, the US has brushed aside most of the Millennium Development Goals and has put forward instead its own proposals for UN reform. The South's reaction to these attitudes is growing animosity towards the North. The outward distrust hides a deeper hostility towards Western powers. However, the growing economic diversion between North and South is even more worrying for it bodes ill for world peace. The heated discussion continues unabated at the UN, but do these talks really do anything to bring justice to the world's poor? The rich, industrially advanced North and the poor, developing South have radically different hopes and aspirations. The world is a global village only in name. The reality is that the rich and the poor are, now more than ever, worlds apart. The 2004 aid effort averaged 0.25 per cent of the national income of rich nations falling well short of the UN target of 0.7 per cent. The debate on UN reform threatens to degenerate into a talk shop and the language used is calculated, carefully studied and considered. It is a kind of Ivy League patois: polished, erudite and exceptionally prolix. But, will it feed the hungry and help the poor? And quite frankly, what is there left to know about the world's poor? What more does one need to say? The peoples of the Third World look askance at the way in which promises were made only to be forgotten and overlooked. What they need most now is a radical reform of the unjust international trade system that keeps them poor. Talk about flogging dead scenarios... Every conceivable permutation of a development agenda has been contrived. And, as the Biblical adage states, the poor are here to stay with us.
