Poverty in the World: a Challenge to Globalization

October 25, 2004

22-23 October 2004
Stresa

The major part of the world’s population live in unfit conditions for human existence. Furthermore, despite the accelerated development of the world economy in the age of globalization and the impressive achievements of modern science and technology, this problem has not become less severe in recent years. Unless the current trends of development are reversed or corrected, not only huge numbers of people in vast regions of the world, but entire generations still unborn will be doomed to miserable existence and degradation in zones of social, health and environmental disasters.

The negative political impact on international stability as a whole is easy to predict. Poverty, perceived as an injustice, not only gives rise to social tensions, but also serves as breeding ground for political extremism, religious and ethnic intolerance and causes new conflicts and escalation of the old ones.

To raise awareness of the urgency of the problem, the World Political Forum organized the International Conference “Poverty in the World: a Challenge to Globalization” in Stresa to gather experts who are concerned with the problem and have accumulated valuable experience in addressing it, i.e. prominent world political figures, heads of international and non-governmental organizations, experts and activists engaged in various international, national and local projects.