Inequality is one of the biggest obstacles to sustainable development. In view of the multiple crises of recent years, the importance of this cross-cutting issue has increased more and more. Therfore, Parliamentary State Secretary Dr Bärbel Kofler of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) presented the first BMZ position paper on reducing inequality. Around 90 interested participants took part in yesterday’s dialogue event on reducing inequality at GIZ’s representative office in Berlin.
Parliamentary State Secretary Kofler said: “High inequality leads to less development, a worse human rights situation and more poverty. It also endangers social cohesion and the functioning of democracies worldwide. At the moment, the social gap is widening. While millions of people have slipped into poverty as a result of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the consequences of the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine, the income of the richest has risen. A few are able to equip themselves against crises, but it is precisely the poorest who are hit the hardest. Reducing inequality is therefore a central concern of our development policy. In doing so, we are concentrating on structural changes in our partner countries, such as progressive tax systems, the fight against corruption, the expansion of social security systems and equal political representation of all population groups, especially women.”
For all those interested, here is the link to the official press release of BMZ (in german): Parlamentarische Staatssekretärin Kofler stellt Positionspapier des BMZ vor | BMZ
You can find the english version of the paper here: Less inequality | BMZ
