International
Don't ignore the poor: Annan
By Sridhar Krishnaswami
New York
FEB. 5.
The curtains came down on the five-day World Economic Forum meeting here with a sombre and blunt message from the United Nations Secretary-General that the international system should ignore the poor at its own risk.
"None of us, I suggest, can afford to ignore the condition of our fellow passengers on this little boat. If they are sick, all of us risk infection. And if they are angry, all of us easily get hurt," Kofi Annan said. Mr. Annan's reminder of global poverty and the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots was a fitting end to a conference that tried its best to stay away from an excessive emphasis on terrorism. In fact, over the last several days participants tried to turn the deliberations to any number of themes including poverty, disease, anger and hunger in the world. "The reality is that power and wealth in this world are very, very unequally shared and that far too many people are condemned to lives of extreme poverty and degradation," Mr. Annan remarked.
The Secretary-General also touched on a major criticism voiced at the World Economic Forum — that poverty was due to globalisation and caused by a handful of people. "The perception among many is that this is the fault of globalisation and that globalisation is driven by a global elite, composed of, at least represented by, the people who attend this gathering," Mr. Annan remarked.
The 32nd World Economic Forum held outside of Davos for the first time to show solidarity with the people of New York after the September 11 terrorist attacks has drawn mixed reviews. This year's deliberations by political, business and financial leaders were on a range of issues. Yet, there was criticism that the meeting continued to be elitist and the sole purpose of this annual get-together advanced corporate and personal interests. Mr. Annan said while the participants might not be as rich and powerful as made out to be, they were at least more privileged "compared to the great majority of your fellow human beings, both in your standard of living and in the power and influence that you wield".
With 4000 police officers providing protection, the WEF ended quite peacefully. Around 200 persons were arrested by the police for a variety of reasons. The city, barring one or two minor instances, was not witness to any large-scale destruction of property as was witnessed in Seattle during the ministerial meet of the World Trade Organisation in 1999.
Religious leaders meet
Forty-three religious leaders from around the world convened at the Annual Meeting 2002 of the World Economic Forum, emphasising the opportunity to bridge divides between the rich and the poor.
This is the second year that a group of religious leaders and experts have been invited to the Annual Meeting to discuss the role of moral values, religion and spirituality in economic development. "The World Economic Forum has defined itself as a platform for global constituents. In the first 30 years of the Forum, business representatives, media, politicians and Global Leaders for Tomorrow have always participated in the discussions. In the last two years, we have found that the integration of religious leaders is also essential. We will continue to emphasise the strong participation of religious leaders in the Annual Meeting," said Klaus Schwab, President of the World Economic Forum.
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