Brussels, 03/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - The huge rise in the number of people living in extreme poverty with 1.3 billion people now living on less than one dollar a day is a real threat to work peace and to deal with it, the Swedish ambassador to the United Nations Pierre Schori called for a "global solidarity initiative", warning that "without action, the number of people on the 'dollar-a-day' poverty line with double to 2.6 billion within thirty years". Mr Schori (who used to be an MEP) told the 6th Summer University held by the Party of European Socialists in Reggio Emilia (Italy): " Europe will never achieve sustainable progress and peace if misery and injustice are allowed to continue to plague untold millions in the rest of the world."
Speaking on "Global Responsibilities for the EU and the Role of the UN", Mr Schori said: "Development aid is not charity but solidarity and enlightened self-interest". He added: "Globalisation is a positive force but the current policies are no. Speaking of the growing role of the EU in world affairs, he said this was linked to the Bush administration's "partial absence" from the world scene during its first six months in power which "opened a space for other concerned actors". EU enlargement, he said, would increase the global impact of a Europe "increasingly prepared to shoulder its responsibility in a changing world".
Paying tribute to EU support for the United Nations, Mr Schori felt that the UN and the EU were vital in this era of globalisation and the new economy in order to "master the negative effects of globalisation".