Bac G1 - G2 2009 Oral Exam: The United Nations and Economic Development

The World has witnessed enormous economic development in recent decades, but the generation of wealth and prosperity has been very uneven; so uneven that economic imbalances are seen to exacerbate social problems and political instability in virtually every region of the world. The end of the cold war and the accelerating integration of the global economy have not solved persistent problems of extreme poverty, indebtedness, and underdevelopment and trade imbalance.

One of the founding principles of the United Nations is the conviction that economic development for ail peoples is the surest way to achieve political, economic and social security. It is a central preoccupation of the Organization that nearly half of the world's population, most of them in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, still has to live on less than $ 2 per day. Nearly one billion people are illiterate, and over one billion people lack access to safe water. Worldwide, some 140 million workers are out of work altogether and at least 750 million individuals are underemployed.

The United Nations continue to be the single institution dedicated to finding ways to ensure that economic expansion and globalization are guided by policies aimed at ensuring human welfare, sustainable development, poverty alleviation, fair trade, and the reduction of crippling foreign debt.

The United Nations urges the adoption of macroeconomic policies that address current imbalances, particularly the growing gap between the North and the South, the persistent problems of the least developed countries, and the unprecedented needs of the countries in transition from centralized to market economies. Ail over the world the United Nations' assistance program promote poverty reduction, child survival, environmental protection, women's progress, and human rights.

Adapted from Basic Facts about the United Nations