- Mouvement ATD Quart Monde

Statement of M Eugen Brand for the International Forum for social Development, United Nations, New York 5-6 October 2004, in Theme 3 : Contribution of the United Nations to the research for equity in an interdependent world

Introduction
In thinking about this morning’s theme, I wanted to put before you the thoughts of a woman in Ireland. She said this :
“I want to speak to you on behalf of the homeless. I have been on the streets half of my life and before me, my father and mother were homeless too. You have to have lots of strength, especially if you are a homeless family, to look after your kids, to keep them clean and nice. You have to walk the streets day and night. You are not considered a human being. No one wants to know you. We are families that are being swept under the carpet. Sometimes we bend under the heavy burden of poverty. But like the bamboo tree, we force ourselves to stand up again, to share again our hope so that our neighbor who is at the bottom can stand up again. All that suffering is hidden, as if it never happened. It needs to be said. It has to change.
The first thing we are saying is that poverty is an abuse of human rights and that it is important to recognize that people who struggle against poverty in the street, in their own homes, in their own lives, their own communities, are the first defenders of Human Rights.”

That thought could have come from any country. There are men and women, children and young people all over the world who are huddled on a bit of sidewalk, crowded into abandoned neighborhoods or isolated in countryside who all tell us :
“You are looking for peace. This is where it starts. You talk about the importance of sustainable development. It begins with us. You are concerned about human rights. Know that our desire for education is as fierce as our hunger.”

Because of them, the United Nations must make a contribution to the research for equity, first of all on an ethical level (part 1). But this research must extend to fundamental rights and liberties (part 2) and finally to a plan to mobilize civil society (conclusion).