*{Addressing the Challenges of Unequal Distribution [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/Addressing%20the%20Challenges%20of%20Unequal%20Distribution?open&topic_id=300250000&theme_id=300] 29.01.2001 Annual Meeting 2001} Prospects for economic development are encouraging for the Asian continent, but absolute poverty in Africa is set to increase in the next decade. How can the international community reach its stated goal of halving worldwide poverty by 2015? "The problem is not the scale of poverty but rather the lack of solutions," said Mark Malloch Brown, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. Approximately 1.2 billion people live on less than one dollar a day, 800 million in Asia who stand a real chance of eventually pulling out of the poverty cycle. "Between 1990 and today, the proportion of people living in absolute poverty in this region declined from 28% to 15%," he said. The bad news is Africa. There are currently 300 million Africans living in extreme poverty and this number is expected to grow. To reverse this trend, the international community needs to reduce debt repayments and ensure access to markets. Brown called for a system of international benchmarking to provoke competition among developing countries for the provision of social services. "We have the means to end the scourge of poverty. What is needed is the skill and application to get there," he said. According to René Cortázar, Director of the Alberto Hurtado Centre for Labour Studies, Chile, all countries that have succeeded in reducing poverty have done so by increasing their growth rates. While growth is a necessary condition, it is not enough. Setting higher standards for education and training is key. "We need higher quality rules of the game," Cortázar said. These rules must be defined in the political, rather than economic sphere, he noted. Besides education, health was the other major component of poverty alleviation cited by panellists. "The health divide is even more dramatic than the education divide because it affects so dramatically young lives," said Gro Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization. Brundtland said that most diseases in the developing world can be prevented or even cured provided there is political commitment. Partnerships between the private and international health sectors are examples of how businesses might get more involved in closing the health gap. These include Rotary International’s work with polio, Novartis’ support of leprosy programmes and Merck’s efforts to eradicate river blindness. For George Soros, Chairman of Soros Fund Management, USA, there must be a better balance between wealth creation and wealth distribution. But, he pointed out, the developing world is trading on an unfair playing field. He called for a new agreement for a restructuring of the global financial architecture. He also encouraged Western governments to provide more support for the developing world. "If all countries would provide 1.5% of their GDP for the provision of global goods then this would make a tremendous difference," he said. Soros also said it would be a mistake to extend the World Trade Organization (WTO) because it is solely devoted to increasing trade. Instead he called for a strengthening of the International Labour Organization and other international institutions. Brundtland argued that there is probably no alternative to having the next round of the WTO, but added that governments should pursue social and environmental issues in addition to trade. "If we take too narrow a trade perspective, it won’t work," she said. The aim of reducing poverty by half in 2015 isn’t just about increasing income levels for the world’s poor. The quality of life must also improve. According to Brown, this means ensuring that the transition from a rural existence to urban jobs doesn’t result in slum dwelling, or that the environment isn’t destroyed in the development process. But he remains optimistic: "Far from being an idle wish, the goal of halving poverty really is within the realm of possibilities." The question remains, however, whether there is truly a commitment on the part of the international community to reach this goal. *{Contributors: Brundtland Gro Harlem Cortázar René Malloch Brown Mark Smadja Claude Soros George}