By René Wadlow

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly by Resolution 62/10 set February 20 of each year as the World Day of Social Justice. Today, as Citizens of the World, we can highlight world-wide gains in education, the reduction of extreme poverty, and the reduction of child labor.

Nevertheless, there are strong threats to social justice with inaction and apathy toward human misery. There is famine in parts of the world, armed conflicts, and uprooted and displaced populations.

The UN system is called upon to respond to these very diversified situations, often involving provisions of crucial direct aid to people in deep distress. At the national level, there is a need to place social justice at the core of policy making and to provide universal social protection.

A particular aspect of the lack of social protection is the fate of small rural farmers. There is an increasing amount of rural productive land that is falling under the control of urban elites, sometimes urban elites in other countries. Land ownership inevitably involves the distribution of power within a society. One answer to why the rural poor stay poor is that they are rarely well organized. The least powerful among the rural poor – the tenant farmers, the landless laborers, the members of tribal societies – are the least well organized, the most easily divided and blocked.

Thus, there is a need for renewed efforts for social justice carried out by persons with a long-range holistic vision able to see trends and the links between different social situations. There is a need for long-term cooperation among universities, religious groups, and Nongovernmental Organizations. The World Day of Social Justice is a time for a rededication for positive action.

Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.

Of related interest: Celebrating Social Justice: The People’s Revolution is On the March (February 22, 2015)