Rio Conventions Pavilion TV, CBD COP11 (17/10/2012) – Braulio Dias, Executive Secretary of the CBD, shares a message from the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, commemorating the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The Secretary General states in his message that poverty is easy to denounce but difficult to combat, asserting that concrete support is needed for measures to tackle poverty.

Ki-moon’s message argues that even as governments struggle to balance budgets, funding for anti-poverty programmes must be preserved. He asserts that it is in fact now even more important to provide the social services essential to building a stronger, more prosperous society.

Ki-moon in his message celebrates the international action galvanised by the Millenium Development Goals but is quick to recognise that one billion people still live in poverty, thereby denied rights to food, healthcare and education. He describes, in brief, some of the work now being done to develop the UN’s post-2015 programme.