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By Trend

From an economic point of view, there is a high rate of income inequality, which affects, first of all, the economic growth of any country, team leader of the sustainable development cluster of the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub for Europe and Central Asia George Bouma said.

Bouma made the remarks in Baku during the high-level meeting of representatives of international organizations dedicated to “Building the partnership for the Sustainable Development Goals” within the 5th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, Trend reports on May 2.

He stressed that the principle of the Sustainable Development Goals “No one will be left behind” has helped to single out the countries that are actively working in this direction and those that are lagging behind in the Sustainable Development Goals.

Bouma added that inequality of opportunities most likely concerns national development rather than any global sphere.

"We are working on the factors that can help solve the problem of inequality,” he added. “The first factor is socio-economic status, the second factor - discrimination, the third factor - geography, location, the fourth factor - management, the fifth factor - vulnerability to shocks.”

“The responsibility of governments in terms of ensuring social tasks that are decisive in terms of the sustainable development of any country is more important in addressing all these factors," he said.

Bouma stressed that many countries have big external debts, big fiscal burden.

“Taking into account this important fact, we are considering the potential of the private sector, the way of its involvement in this process,” he said. “We think that the role of the private sector is very important for achieving positive results in the direction of sustainable development. This opportunity should be used by the countries in which social inequality is observed.”

“I think that one of the key problems is the inequality of opportunities,” Bouma said. “We see that the public deviates from political systems. Therefore, we think that much should be changed in political systems to eradicate social inequality in the region and in the world.”

The 5th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue under the motto "Building dialogue into action against discrimination, inequality and violent conflict" kicked off in Baku on May 2.

The forum, which is being held May 2-3 in Baku, hosts more than 20 events with the participation of high-ranking officials from over 105 countries and more than 35 international organizations. The event is being broadcast by the UN on its official website.

The event has been organized by the Azerbaijani government and the Ministry of Culture, and the partners are UNESCO, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations, the World Tourism Organization, the Council of Europe and ISESCO.

During the event, exhibitions and music programs will be organized for guests.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ghana Shirley Botchwey, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay Rodolfo Nin Novoa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Gambia Mamadou Tangara, Minister of Culture of Montenegro Aleksandar Bogdanovic, Minister of Culture of Mali Ramatoulaye Diallo, Minister of Culture of Algeria Meriem Merdaci, Head of Organization for Culture and Islamic Relations of Iran Abouzar Ebrahimi Torkaman, Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism of Kyrgyzstan Azamat Zhamankulov, Minister of Information and Youth Affairs of Kuwait Mohammad Aljabri, Minister of Internal Affairs of Montenegro Mevludin Nuhodzic and Minister of Education of Myanmar Myo Thein Gyi are participating in the forum.

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