Letter to and from

 Mr. Kofi Annan,
General-Secretary of the United Nations,
United Nations Headquarters,
42nd, Street,
New York 10017,
USA
.......................................................................................................Saturday 1st January 2000
Dear Mr. Annan,

It is with great hope and joy that I write to inform you that there is a solution to the problem of poverty which, according to a talk you gave last Summer, condemns most of the citizens of the planet, to survive on less than $3 a day.

About 10% of our population (600 million people) subsist in deplorable circumstances, and each year approximately 5% of them (30 million) fail even to exist due to poverty related disease and malnutrition, that is 82,000 people, mainly children but also women and men, die each day simply because they are poor. Third world development agencies frequently point out that this represents one person dying every second as a result of poverty. This holocaust must end and can now be ended. It would be good for the people of the world to know that we now have the capacity to abolish, once and for all, the injustice of crippling poverty.

The phenomenal progress made in recent decades protects us against the injustice of sexism and racism, of colour and religious prejudice, and against many of the age-old injustices. In spite of this magnificent progress, humanity is still weighed down by an economic system that is inherently unjust as it creates massive poverty in conjunction with excessive wealth, it also creates unemployment and upholds the type of poverty mentioned above.

I wish you to be among the first to know that the economic system can be modified in a way that provides justice, and benefits all individuals, companies and governments throughout the world - abolishing unemployment and extreme poverty while advancing technology and reducing the time we spend at work. It sounds too good to be true, but when it is examined it becomes patiently clear that the proposed modification can work and will be desired by the overwhelming majority of our presidents, prime ministers and ordinary people, leading hopefully to its implementation. I am enclosing the proposed solution for you and a synopsis of it. I beg you to read it and I am hopeful that you will have the courage to be among the first of many world leaders to promote it.

Yours sincerely,

______________
Richard Bartley

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..............................UNITED NATIONS......................UNITED NATIONS

.................................................................................................................................2 February 2000

Dear Mr. Bartley,

Thank you very much for your letter dated 1st January 2000, which was addressed to The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, and the valuable Proposed Solution to the World-wide Problem of Unemployment and Extreme Poverty.

The objective of the World Summit for Social Development , held in Copenhagen in March 1995 was to enrich the international agenda and to raise awareness an major issues such as eradicating poverty, promotion of full employment and fostering of social integration through the cooperation of Member States and participation of other actors in development. One hundred and seventeen Heads of State and government supported by ministers representing another 69 countries adopted the Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development and the Programme of Action.

The General Assembly will hold a special session from 26-30 June in Geneva to review the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development, and also decide on further initiatives to advance the Summit goals. The Division for Social Policy and Development of Economic and Social Affairs is responsible for the preparatory work of the Special Session.
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