Today, on the inaugural World Day of Social Justice, The Equal Rights Trust (ERT) wrote to Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, welcoming the event as an important step to raise awareness on social inequality, poverty and the widening gap between the most and the least advantaged globally. In the letter ERT appealed to the Secretary-General to promote the Declaration of Principles on Equality and to recommend it to relevant UN organisations and agencies. 

The World Day of Social Justice was declared by the UN General Assembly through Resolution A/RES/62/10 adopted on 19 November 2007. The resolution invites member states to promote, at the national level, concrete national activities in accordance with the objectives and goals of the World Summit for Social Development (the World Summit for Social Development and Beyond: Achieving Social Development for All in a Globalizing World).

In the letter to the Secretary-General ERT highlights the unique contribution the Declaration makes to combating inequality and promoting social justice. The Declaration integrates the notion of status-based equality such as gender or race and equality based on factors such as income and socio-economic status.

To read the full letter to the Secretary-General, click here.

To read and endorse the Declaration of Principles on Equality, click here.