Maseru, Nov. 10 — South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa and host of the upcoming G20 Summit has called on world leaders to act now and tackle inequality saying if the G20 is going to live up to its mission to tackle pressing global economic and financial issues then it needs to significantly and urgently reduce inequality. He said in his statement from the President issued on Monday.
He said global wealth inequality is stark where the world’s richest 10 percent account for more than half of total global income saying these people account for a staggering 74 percent of total global wealth. He said the human cost of these inequalities is severe as one in four people globally face moderate or severe food insecurity.
He said, “when South Africa took over the Presidency of the G20 nearly a year ago, we identified ‘equality’ as one of the pillars of our term, alongside ‘solidarity’ and ‘sustainability. We chose to focus on equality because it is essential to a more stable, prosperous and sustainable world”.
He mentioned that these huge disparities are unjust and consign billions of people to poverty. He said inequality is bad for everyone, saying it makes the world less stable, fuels conflict and undermines democracy and stifles inclusive economic growth and prosperity.
Ends/AT/tl
