Poverty drives instability, conflict - UN chief

“Poverty breeds despair. Despair fuels unrest. And unrest tears at the fabric of societies,” said the UN chief, as he warned the Security Council that underdevelopment and inequality are inextricably linked to rising violence and instability.

Briefing the Council on conflict and human development, Guterres said it was “no coincidence that nine of the ten countries with the lowest Human Development Indicators are currently in a state of conflict.” He noted that “forty per cent of the 700 million people living in extreme poverty live in conflict-affected or fragile settings,” and added that “the situation is only getting worse.”

With the Fourth Conference on Financing for Development set to begin next week, Guterres urged countries to confront the drivers of instability. “We must renew domestic and global commitments to get public and private finance flowing to the areas of greatest need,” he said.

“We need to provide urgent debt relief for countries drowning in unsustainable debt service. And we must reform the global financial architecture to reflect today’s realities and the urgent needs of developing countries.”

Guterres also said, “Peace is not built in conference rooms. It is built in classrooms, in clinics, in communities. Peace is built when people have hope, opportunities, and a real future in their hands. Investing in development today is investing in a more peaceful future.”

African Union Commission chief Mahmoud Youssouf said Africa was committed to addressing the socioeconomic and political drivers of conflict.

“Wherever the guns are allowed, the human development is weakest. In turn, the poverty and exclusion persist, peace remains elusive.” He highlighted the AU’s flagship initiative, Silencing the Guns, as “a comprehensive agenda for elimination of the socioeconomic and governance conditions that fuel violence,” he said.