“We can’t turn our backs when 10 million children die every year from poverty-related preventable diseases and 70 million primary school children are missing out on education,” Kinnock said.
She said in Papua New Guinea, over the past 10 years, there had not been any progress and what was worse was an increase in maternal deaths.
The deaths caused by the lack of simple and affordable assistance for women continued, she added.
“The global world faces a ‘perfect storm’ of ecological, financial and social pressures. “Credit conditions, weakened growth, a decline in investment, falling commodity prices and lower remittance revenues will stymie efforts to meet the millennium development goals,” she said.
Kinnock said people in the poorest countries should not pay the highest price for the profligacy of others.
“Too many of our people feel isolated, powerless and threatened by ethnicity, class, gender and disability. These threats can be dealt with if we have the strength of our convictions. The cost of neglecting our duties will be high and will be measured in precious lives lost,” she said. “Let’s declare our shared vision of a world where there is education and health for all, and where people have dignity and rights.
“Let’s have no more of a world of ‘insiders and outsiders’ of ‘haves and have-nots,’ ” she said. Kinnock also said Papua New Guinea had a justifiable interest in the effects of climate change.
She said the effects of climate change included unpredictable crop yields in Africa, hurricanes and tropical storms in the Caribbean and Pacific Island people leaving their homes for other places due to rising sea levels and the growing threat from malaria and dengue fever
Kinnock suggested that in the forthcoming high level meetings on climate change, small, vulnerable island states’ position should be given priority as they would be hardest hit.
“We urgently need collective action and we need leadership. Those responsible must make amends for the damage caused. The polluter must pay,” she said.
