UN General Assembly
1993

certainly marked the beginning of a new era which, we trust, will witness the gradual elimination of the current international economic order, in which two thirds of mankind cannot meet their basic needs and in which 600 million human beings are living in almost absolute poverty. The elimination of such poverty is one of the basic objectives of Agenda 21. The establishment of an International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the first of which will be celebrated on 17 October next, is one step in this direction. We can never say often enough that the major ecological problems facing our countries today have a planetary dimension that requires a world-wide approach. This is why the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held in Rio in June 1992, made sustainable development one of the major concerns of the international community. That Conference marked a turning-point in the way that we look at our future. It must now be approached in an integrated manner as we work on our development policies. Agenda 21, the basic document that emerged from that