At the start of the 21st century more than a billion people are trapped in a situation of abject poverty and gross inequality. 70% of them are women. We face an AIDS and Malaria emergency, with 40 million people infected by the disease. 104 million children are denied access to school and 860 million adults. (70% of them women) cannot read or write.  Millions of people are unemployed or working in precarious jobs with deteriorating conditions of labour. Neither have a secure income to sustain their families. Children and young people make up half of the world’s population and suffer from the lack of inclusion and provision of basic services. Hunger is a daily reality for many.  In parts of the world, the death of mothers in childbirth and infant children are still routine - deaths that could be prevented by the availability of simple healthcare. 1.4 billion people don’t have access to safe water. We draw inspiration from their persistent daily struggles to realise their rights to livelihoods, resources, assets and basic services. Today the world has enough resources, knowledge and technology to eradicate poverty. 

This poverty is a violation of human rights on a massive scale. Poverty continues to intensify due to increasing militarism, environmental degradation, the lack of democratic governance and processes and the exclusion of groups of people on the basis of class, caste, gender, disability, age, race and religion. 
Armed conflicts, wars and their consequences destroy livelihoods, undermine democratic processes, human rights including the right to self determination – and divert resources that should be directed to development and social equity. Investing in human security best prevents conflict and builds peace. The protection of people is a universal obligation of all states and international democratic institutions. Growing militarism and rearmament reduces political space and public accountability of states, diverts development financing and ultimately, renders lasting peace illusive and unrealisable. War and conflict disproportionately affects the security, dignity and future of women and children.

Overcoming poverty will not be possible without challenging patriarchy, capitalism and the current model of development, which puts profits before public goods, human security and welfare. Furthermore, implementation of a fairer distribution of land is necessary to overcome rural poverty.

International human rights instruments protect the rights of all people to an adequate standard of living and well-being, including food, clothing, housing, clean water and medical care.  Unjust governance, debt and aid conditionality and trade practices are undermining these rights.

To date, the pledges required to meet the Millennium Declaration efforts to tackle poverty, inequality, injustice and deliver sustainable development have been grossly inadequate.  Governments too often fail to address the needs of the people within their territory, the quantity and quality of aid from rich countries is inadequate and promises of debt cancellation have not yet materialized.  Rich countries have yet to act on their repeated pledges to tackle unfair trade rules and practices.  We have the means to turn this situation around. It is high time governments took action. 

Galvanised by this imperative, a group of civil society actors including NGOs, international networks, social movements, trade unions, women’s organisations, faith based groups and other civil society actors met in Johannesburg in September 2004. They launched the Global Call to Action Against Poverty which targeted 2005 as the year when governments could take decisive action to deliver on their promises of the Millennium and make poverty history.

Preamble, GCAP Beirut Platform, March 2006