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2005 |
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HOPE 2005
International Conference on Alcohol/Drug Abuse, HIV/AIDS, Environment, Population and Human Rights |
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| Keynote address by Dr. Yusuf Merchant,
delivered on 3rd November 2005, at the plenary inaugural
session, of the Hope 2005 International Conference on
Alcohol/Drug Abuse, HIV/AIDS, Environment, Population and Human
Rights. |
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Distinguished guests, fellow crusaders and
friends,
I am overwhelmed with gratitude and respect, for all of you
gathered here, to address the 5 main issues that threaten the
survival of our planet.
I also take this opportunity to thank our main sponsor Indian
Oil Corporation, and our co-sponsors New India Assurance and
Mumbai Districts AIDS Control Society, for the gracious support
that they have extended to this conference.
This is a unique moment and an exclusive consortium, one which
perhaps may never be repeated, when professionals from 5
different spheres of expertise, have gathered under one roof, to
profess their joint concern and need for a holistic solution to
some of the world’s most serious problems.
The reverberations of the destruction caused in recent times by
the tsunamis, hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the floods and the
earthquakes abroad and in India, have affected the turnout of
this conference, as quite a few of our delegates have had to
cancel their plans, in order to attend to more serious issues at
home. We extend our prayers and sympathies to them, as well as
those among you who have been affected by these disasters.
Hope to the power of 2005, has been conceptualized as a fervent
call, for the alleviation of human misery on a global scale.
We have visualized a concept of our Mother earth, as a living
organism …..
One could say without any hesitation whatsoever, that we have
exploited this uncomplaining and ever giving mother, and reduced
her to the state of a diseased being,
Environment forms the lungs of this organism
Population are its limbs
Human Rights encompasses the soul
AIDS and Addictions are just two of the symptoms that serve to
indicate that all endeavors that are anti-nature, will always
lead to disastrous consequences.
Let me explain our stand ……
As all of you have read in your invitations, to the conference,
we have stated that ever since humankind has misused its
creative ability, and tried to tamper with natural perfection,
it has only succeeded in disturbing the extremely fragile
balance of nature, and this has led to the creation of a host of
human made miseries/diseases.
Global warming, Population explosion, over utilization of
natural resources, HIV and Substance Abuse are all the
consequences of human endeavors to tamper with natural
perfection. As if interfering with nature was not enough, we
then began using our power and our sick minds to dominate one
another, discriminate and infringe on basic human rights.
Isn’t it ironic that human rights violations are termed
‘animal/beastly behavior’ and yet there has never ever been a
case of human rights violations by an animal! In fact humans
could learn a lesson or two about peaceful and harmonious
coexistence from the animal kingdom itself!
Let me reiterate the facts that call for attention. |
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| Environment: |
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Thousands of the world's species of flora
and fauna, are extinct, today, or face extinction. Every
day, scores of species of plants and animals become extinct
as their habitats are destroyed by humans. |
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More than 20 percent of all freshwater fish
species are now threatened or endangered because dams and
water withdrawals have destroyed the free-flowing river
ecosystems where they thrive. |
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Fishing fleets are 40 percent larger than
the ocean can sustain |
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Global warming is reaching dangerous levels |
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Plastic wastes continue to stack up in
landfills |
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Ozone levels have reached far beyond
acceptable limits |
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Over 65,000 square miles of rainforests are
being destroyed each year |
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Approximately 4 billion tons of carbon
accumulates in the air each year, with almost 30% of this
coming directly from the continued burning of the
rainforests |
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Over half of the world’s tropical forests
have been lost, through logging and conversion |
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Soil degradation has affected two-thirds of
the world’s agricultural lands in the last 50 years |
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The human race is now so numerous and its
technological power so great that we are having an
unprecedented impact on the biosphere, the entire planet. |
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During the past hundred years, the natural
environment has borne the stresses imposed by a fourfold
increase in human numbers and an eighteenfold growth in
world economic output. |
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| Population: |
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50 years ago, there were 2.5 billion people
on earth. Today there are around 7 billion, with 85 million
being added every year. |
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Increase in population leads to increase in
needs and increase in consumption. The earth’s resources are
not increasing however |
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In today’s world, almost every problem is
being caused, or can be related to the population explosion |
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The population explosion has led to
environmental forcing |
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The surging populations throughout the
developing world are intensifying the pressures on limited
water supplies. |
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There is an irreversible decreases in the
abundance of habitats and degradation of their ecological
function |
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There has been overexploitation of the
earth’s resources |
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The amount of CO2 emissions worldwide
continues to rise, at an alarming rate |
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Despite our progress, half of the world’s
population still suffers from lack of adequate water
services |
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More than one billion people lack access to
clean drinking water; some two and a half billion do not
have adequate sanitation services. |
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Globally the number of older persons (60
years or over) will more than triple, increasing from 606
million today to nearly 2 billion by 2050. |
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One can expect that by the middle of the
next century about 10 billion people will be placing
stresses on the natural resource base of the globe. These
stresses are sure to lead to further environmental problems. |
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| Human Rights: |
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The gap between the human rights’ vision of
an equal and just world and the actual state of inequality
in the ‘global village’ is creating feelings of humiliation
that are intensely wounding. |
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The world’s poor are facing a worsening
life-situation at the same time as they are learning that
such a situation ‘ought not’ to prevail. |
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Today, we have a long list of sources of
discrimination which have become socially illegitimate:
class, race, ethnicity, indigenicity, gender, age,
sexuality, disabilities. And this list is constantly being
augmented. |
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No country can claim a perfect human rights
record. |
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In 2000, there were 39 percent of the
world's population people living in Free societies, 26
percent living in Partly Free societies and 35 percent
living in Not Free societies. |
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There continues to be a serious gap between
words and actions in the field of human rights. |
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There is religious repression and
discrimination in every region of the world. |
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Violence against women remained a pervasive
problem, cutting across social and economic lines. Domestic
and sexual violence against women is found on every
continent. |
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Around the world, children face dangerous
and unhealthy conditions, working in factories, fields, and
sweatshops, as domestic servants, or, in some cases, as
prostitutes. The trafficking of children for forced labor,
prostitution, and pornography is a growing and lucrative
business for criminals. In many cities large numbers of
street children lack shelter, food, education, and support
and are vulnerable to many forms of abuse |
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The rapidly growing global problem of human
trafficking, affects countries and families on every
continent. Traffickers prey upon women, children, and men
from all walks of life, and of every age, religion, and
culture. |
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There are widespread violations of laws
relating to surveillance of communications, even in the most
democratic of countries |
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| HIV/AIDS: |
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According to estimates from the Joint United
Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health
Organization (WHO), 38.6 million adults and 3.2 million
children were living with HIV at the end of 2002. |
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During 2002, some 5 million people became
infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which
causes AIDS. The year also saw 3.1 million deaths from
HIV/AIDS. |
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With the HIV-positive population still
expanding the annual number of AIDS deaths can be expected
to increase for many years |
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Around half of all people who acquire HIV
become infected before they turn 25 and typically die of the
life-threatening illnesses called "AIDS" before their 35th
birthday. This age factor makes AIDS uniquely threatening to
children |
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In 2002, an estimated 800,000 children aged
14 or younger became infected with HIV. |
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The overwhelming majority of people with
HIV, some 95% of the global total, live in the developing
world. That proportion is set to grow even further as
infection rates continue to rise in countries where poverty,
poor health systems and limited resources for prevention and
care fuel the spread of the virus. |
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Around 5% - 10% of all HIV world-wide is
drug-related, that’s 2-4 million extra AIDS deaths as a
direct result, plus extending networks of sexual partners of
drug injectors at risk, as well as babies in the womb. |
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HIV/AIDS affects millions of people every
year whose lives depend on the productive capabilities, and
earnings of its victims. |
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| Substance Abuse: |
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International drug trade is a $500 billion
mega-industry. |
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Drug taking used to be confined to small
groups but is now a global obsession, almost beyond control
in many countries. |
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UNDCP estimates that around 6% of the
world’s adults use illegal drugs in a year. |
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Globalisation is making flow of drugs
easier, with non-existent border checks and unrestricted
money flows between many nations. |
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Armed conflicts around the world are also
powering the drugs trade as arms are often traded direct for
drugs. |
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Drug use by teenagers has rocketed by 70%
since 1992 |
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Alcohol abuse is also a major teenage
problem - often copied from parents. |
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Drug-related accidents and lost productivity
costs around $100 billion a year. |
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Drug addiction affects millions of people
every year whose lives depend on the skills and judgement of
others. |
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Over the next 3 days, we shall have the
privilege of experiencing some distinguished speakers in all
these 5 disciplines, and we hope that the deliberations of this
conference will serve to make a difference in our lives as also
the lives of our successive generations.
We have taken the first step. We pray that many will walk and
continue in our path!
With love, prayers and warm regards,
Dr. Yusuf Merchant
President
Hope 2005 and DAIRRC
Consultants to the United Nations
Economic and Social Council |
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| Registered Office:
H-1, Sitaram Building, Palton Road, Mumbai 400 001,
INDIA. |
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Office: 5-7, 2nd Floor, Raja Bahadur Mansion, Homi
Mody
Street, Fort, Mumbai 400 023, INDIA.
Tel:
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Mobile No: (98218 84813) |
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