Responses on Jan Vandermoortele's Comments on the SG's Nelson Mandela Address : Steve Umemoto / Tom Olsen

Note: See  the SG's Nelson Mandela Address.



Jan Vandermoortele


Dear Colleagues,


Jim Grant had this to say on inequality, back in 1995: 'The struggle of the 20th century is to meet basic needs; the struggle of the next century will be for equity'.


Good the SG puts the emphasis on inequality; it would be even better if his speechwriter would talk to those who write his SDG-report. Issued in April 2020 and discussed at the High-level Political Forum, this is what is says about the inequality target: In 73 of the 90 countries with comparable data during the period 2012–2017, the bottom 40 per cent of the population saw its incomes grow. Moreover, in slightly more than half of those countries, the bottom 40 per cent experienced a growth rate in income that was higher than the overall national average.


A casual reader would think that everything is ok regarding that target, whereas more than half of those 90 countries are actually off-track. The word ‘moreover’ is particularly misleading. Great spin-doctor! This is disappointing for the objectivity and professionalism at the UN. The paragraph is probably based on World Bank inputs, yet it is the Secretariat that has the final say. As Richard Jolly documented in the UN History Project, it has often been UNICEF, together with UNCTAD and ILO, that have come to the rescue of professionalism and political courage at the UN.

Take care and stay safe, Jan