Edmund Rice Justice Bulletin

The UN General Assembly proclaimed Feb 20th to be the World Day of Social Justice which aims at addressing poverty eradication, the promotion of full employment and decent work, gender equity and access to social well-being and justice for all.

The message of this day is more relevant than ever given the ever widening gap between the poorest and wealthiest in our world. As the recent Oxfam report indicates, if present trends continue 1% of the world’s population will own as much as the combined wealth of the other 99% by 2016!

Oxfam is calling on government to adopt a seven point plan to tackle inequality:
- Clamp down on tax dodging by corporations and rich individuals
- Invest in universal, free public services such as health and education
- Share the tax burden fairly, shifting taxation from labour and consumption towards    capital and wealth
- Introduce minimum wages and move towards a living wage for all workers
- Introduce equal pay legislation and promote economic policies to give women a fair deal
- Ensure adequate safety-nets for the poorest, including a minimum income guarantee
- Agree a global goal to tackle inequality.

Pope Francis has repeated the calls of his predecessors and regularly spoken of the need to address inequality.