The United Nations Should Prioritize Global Poverty Reduction Over All Other Issues

Please conduct this debate in typical PF format, although we will not have a place for CX. Please ignore contextual anomalies like "My partner and i" or mentions to the judge, time keeper, or opponents. Intro Doctor Seuss once said, in Horton Hears a Who, that, "a person's a person, no matter how small". Seuss attaches, as he should, inherent and intrinsic value to the human person. Meaning that every human being has natural dignity, and should be treated with respect, fairness and equality. However, when one takes a look at our modern world, one quickly see's how the poor have been stripped of nearly every basic human and civil right. According to UNICEF, 25,000 children die each day due to poverty. And they "die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more invisible in death. " The Census Bureau estimates the current population of Gladstone to be approximately 26,000. So, nearly everyday the equivalent of the city of Gladstone is lost to childhood poverty. That is equivalent to: •1 child dying every 3.5 seconds (in the time it will take me to make my 4-minute speech 68 children will have died, by the time this debate round ends, 531 will have died) •17-18 children dying every minute •Over 9 million children dying every year •Some 70 million children dying between 2000 and 2007 This is completely unacceptable. Due to the fact that my partner and I believe that the dignity of the human person should be held over that of the protection of the environment, we stand in firm affirmation of the resolution: When in conflict, the United Nations should prioritize global poverty reduction over environmental protection. For the sake of clarity we offer the following definitions: Poverty: as defined by the UNDP as earning less than $1.5 a day Global Poverty Reduction: UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) Environmental Protection: UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) Prioritize: the status of being earlier in time or higher in degree or rank; precedence (BLD) Contention 1: Global Poverty is a violation of human rights PREAMBLE WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED • to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and • to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and • to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom, The only way that the United Nations can retain its purpose and credibility as an organization, is through poverty reduction due to the precise phrasing of the UN Preamble. In the Universal declaration of Human Rights it states: Article 1: "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. " Article 25: "consider Article 25: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. " Contention 2: Poverty reduction furthers Environmental Protection One cannot expect a poverty stricken nation to have significant enough resources to protect the environment, least of all mere survival. By raising those who are poor to a higher standard of living, one actually aids protecting the environment. What happens when people are more educated about farming, and have learned about sustainable agriculture? Well of course they will use it. But in order to get to that level of sophistication, in order to maintain an economy of the likes we are discussing, the UN must first act in reducing poverty, thereby setting the example for other nations, nations inside but not limited to the UN (charter). In developing countries some 2.5 billion people are forced to rely on biomass—fuelwood, charcoal and animal dung—to meet their energy needs for cooking. In sub-Saharan Africa, over 80 percent of the population depends on traditional biomass for cooking, as do over half of the populations of India and China (Millennium Development Goals Report 2007) Indoor air pollution resulting from the use of solid fuels [by poorer segments of society] is a major killer. It claims the lives of 1.5 million people each year, more than half of them below the age of five: that is 4000 deaths a day. To put this number in context, it exceeds total deaths from malaria and rivals the number of deaths from tuberculosis. (Ibid) The UN is not required to solve the problem of poverty, merely to prioritize the reduction of global poverty. Inequality is not just bad for social justice, it is also bad for economic efficiency (Growth with equity is good for the poor, Oxfam, June 2000) Oxfam = Oxford Committee for Famine Relief The priority of the issues is crystal clear, for "a person's a person no matter how small" and the UN must protect these people, but most of all these children, from the horrific fate that awaits them if change is not made.