Vatican envoy: a rising tide does not lift all boats
October 24, 2014
At a UN meeting devoted to poverty, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations said that “countries should develop evidence-based policies and strategies to combat extreme poverty,” rather than use “ready-made solutions from the outside, which are not always devoid of ideological colorings.”
“My delegation believes that our fight to eradicate extreme poverty should be inspired and guided by ground-based policies rather than ideology, by inclusion rather than exclusion, by solidarity rather than survival of the fittest,” said Archbishop Bernardito Auza. “Concrete cases of poverty, especially extreme poverty, tell us that the rising tide does not always lift all boats; often it only lifts the yachts, keeps a few boats afloat, sweeps away many, and sinks the rest.”
Archbishop Auza added that another “barrier to sustainable development is the exclusion of women from equal and active participation in the development of their communities. Excluding women and girls from education and subjecting them to violence and discrimination violate their inherent dignity and fundamental human rights.”
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