Russian Federation Communist Party endorses U.N. Agenda 21/2030 SDGs to stick it to capitalism
D.G. Novikov: "Elimination of poverty. Sustainable development. Responsibility of the parties"
On October 11-12, at the initiative of the CPC Central Committee, an international conference on sustainable human development and poverty eradication is being held. At the time of the solemn start of the conference, the greetings of Chinese President Xi Jinping and a number of other heads of state were presented to the participants.
More than 100 representatives of political parties of the world, more than 30 heads of diplomatic missions working in China, as well as many representatives of state bodies, scientific and expert institutions of the Celestial Empire participate in the international forum via video link.
On the Central Committee of the Central Committee of the Central Committee of the Russian Federation, the Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Party, First Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on International Affairs D.G. took part in the conference. Novikov. We bring to your attention the text of his speech.
- Good afternoon, dear participants of the conference! Let me welcome you on behalf of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Chairman of its Central Committee G.A. Zyuganova.
Poverty is one of the most acute and dangerous problems of mankind. With the advent of the coronavirus pandemic, it began to grow rapidly. But the "root of evil" is not in the pandemic. Poverty is a direct consequence of capitalism. Poverty can be defeated only by defeating capitalism as a system. That is why the countries of socialism achieved the greatest success in solving the problem of poverty: in the 20th century - the Soviet Union, today - the People's Republic of China.
The destruction of the USSR was a temporary triumph of neoliberalism. Capital has dramatically increased exploitation - within its states and between countries. Even before the coronavirus, half of the world's population lived below the international poverty line of $5.5 a day. At the same time, a quarter of humanity was in extreme poverty. The expenses of these people are no more than $1.9 per day. Today, 690 million people on the planet are starving, 800 million are illiterate, more than 2 billion are deprived of access to clean drinking water.
Crisis phenomena are escalating. In this regard, the UN declared sustainable development as the main goal. Back in 1992, the UN conference in Rio de Janeiro was dedicated to this. In 2015, 193 countries approved the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. They include 17 global goals and 169 objectives. These include: eradicating hunger and poverty, universal access to health care, inclusive and quality education for all, reducing inequality, promoting economic growth.
However, achieving these goals is impossible without the elimination of capitalism. And the coronavirus has proved it once again. According to World Bank forecasts, the number of people living in extreme poverty will increase by 150 million by early 2021. This is the biggest failure in 20 years.
According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the number of children living in poverty has increased by 150 million to 1.2 billion since the beginning of the pandemic.
The International Labour Organization notes massive losses of labor income. The Americas were the hardest hit.
According to the laws of capitalism, the impoverishment of some enriches others. According to Oxfam's analytical materials: 1% of the richest people in the world have twice as many funds as 6.9 billion people. According to the Swiss bank UBS, in the midst of the "coronavirus crisis", from April to July, billionaires of the planet increased their fortune by 27.5% - to 10.2 trillion dollars. This is a record total wealth in the history of mankind.
As Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz emphasizes, poverty and inequality in the world are the main enemies of freedom. They interfere with people's self-realization, form feelings of alienation from the country and society. American scientist Richard Wilkinson proved that countries with high levels of inequality have more problems with life expectancy, children's literacy rate, newborn mortality, murders, number of prisoners...
In Russia, almost one in seven residents has incomes below the subsistence minimum. Real disposable cash income for the year fell by 8%. But the problem is even deeper. For example, statistics do not take into account family expenditures. And some families spend most of their income not on current consumption, but on mortgage payments.
The task of overcoming poverty requires comprehensive solutions. The Communist Party of the Soviet Union gave a successful example of defeating poverty. In the first half of the twentieth century, it more than doubled the average life expectancy in the country.
Today, the Communist Party of China has achieved great success. During the policy of reform and openness, more than 700 million people of China have been removed from poverty. And this is over 70% of the total number of people who have emerged from poverty around the world. Last year alone, almost 350 counties of China lost their poor status.
The secret to the success of the CPC is that the fight against poverty is considered by the ruling party as one of the main aspects of development. The full power of China's economy is aimed at eradicating poverty. This work is planned. Reducing urban-rural differences, improving education and health care, transport and infrastructure construction in poor areas, and improving housing conditions play an important role. At the expense of the state, 26 million apartments have been reconstructed in a few years.
The coronavirus pandemic did not force the CPC to abandon the goal of eliminating extreme poverty by 2021 - the 100th anniversary of the party's formation. UN Secretary-General António Guterres naturally calls China a record holder in poverty eradication. The same was said recently at the symposium "UN Sustainable Development Goals until 2030 and Chinese experience in poverty reduction". China's achievements are recognized by all participants.
In general, the world importance of China in solving global problems is increasing. At the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, Chinese President Xi Jinping confidently called for increased attention to sustainable development and poverty alleviation.
Vietnam has also achieved success under the leadership of the Communist Party. Compared to the 1980s, the poverty rate here has decreased from 70 to 5 percent.
Cuba is one of the world leaders in the availability and quality of health care and education. In terms of life expectancy, it is ahead of the United States and most other countries in the world.
The Communist Party of the Russian Federation has developed its strategy to combat poverty in Russia. The program of the Russian Communists involves: a transition to planning in the development of the socio-economic life of the country, the nationalization of strategic sectors of the economy, the revival of industry and agriculture, a new social policy, the introduction of a progressive scale of taxation and other measures.
In April 2019, speaking on poverty at a round table in the State Duma, Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation G.A. Zyuganov emphasized that in order to defeat poverty, the Russian budget should be subordinated to solving the problems of economic and social development of the country. He stressed that the set of measures developed by the CPRF allows to increase the budget of the Russian Federation from 16 to 25-27 trillion rubles, which will create conditions for sustainable human development, victory over poverty and solving other problems.
The CPRF's approaches were embodied in its policy documents in the presidential and parliamentary elections. Our set of proposals confidently relies on world and Soviet experience. It provides an effective mechanism for ensuring sustainable development and overcoming poverty in Russia. We are convinced that by confidently solving these tasks, our country will be able to make an important contribution to the creation of humanity of a common destiny.