Social development requires more serious economic activity

Egypt's permanent delegate to the UN Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Tuesday that social development requires not only serious economic activity but also reduction in the inequality in the distribution of wealth and more equitable distribution of the benefits of the economic growth and globalization.

Addressing the UN General Assembly Human Rights Committee, Abul Gheit said many obstacles still hinder the ability of developing countries to develop their economies and contribute to an increasingly globalized economy, such as barriers imposed on the transfer of technology and non-tariff barriers impeding the accessibility of products and services of developing countries to international markets and economic unilateral measures.

"In addressing Social Development, we have to mention a principle human right that was enunciated in four different spots in the declaration on the right to Development, that is the right of all peoples to self-determination and to live free of all forms of foreign domination and occupation," he said.

The Declaration stresses the right of peoples to self-determination by virtue of which they have the right freely to determine their political status and to pursue their economic, social and cultural development, he added.

Furthermore initiatives for social development document stated that foreign cooperation continues to adversely affect the economic and social development of the people living under occupation and called for effective measures to be taken to remove such an obstacle, he added.

The developing countries face grave difficulty in transfer of technology they also face obstacles in exporting goods to the international markets, said Abul Gheit.