UN CHIEF: FIGHT POVERTY HARDER
Dec 3rd, 2009 by admin
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called yesterday for greater efforts to fight poverty and the social inequalities that leave people vulnerable to enslavement. His message marked the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, observed annually on 2 December. Poor and socially excluded groups, such as minorities and migrants, suffer most from new and old forms of slavery, according to the UN Secretary General. The UN Special Rapporteur for the issue, Gulnara Shahinian, stressed the plight of domestic workers around the world, describing them as overworked, underpaid and subject to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. The UN Board of Trustees of the Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery said that the day served as a reminder that slavery is not a “thing of the past” and urged all UN member states to ratify existing treaties targeting the issue.
