World Social Report 2020: PROMOTING EQUALITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN A CHANGING WORLD

Equality is a bedrock of the rule of law. Item 10 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) stands for "reduced inequalities" because the reduction of inequalities in an evolving world will ensure social justice. 

FROM NIGERIA- Social justice is not vague. It rests on the equitable distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges. When this is achieved, the goodness of social equality will spread through time, seasons, and continents. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) provides that 

"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood"

Some believe equality can never be attained because ‘all fingers are not equal.’ Most times, this is as a result of different worldviews born out of exposures to different conditions of life. However, such views become stronger because, world leaders, institutions, societies, families, and individuals have either conceded to this view or have tilted towards inaction. Equality precedes innovation and knowledge. Such innovation will be advantageous in various sectors of the economy and areas of human endeavor. 

Implications of Inequalities
● Social Tension 

A world developing rapidly will be the worst hit with implications inequality yields. These implications limit substantial progress as a result of the social tension it creates nationally and internationally. For example, the ‘Stay at Home Order’, triggered by the pandemic Covid-19, saw developed countries provide adequate financial support to her citizens, tax reductions, and debt payment extension plans. On the other hand, developing countries could only afford to provide palliatives in the form of foodstuffs to less than half of her populace. For developing countries, staying at home made for little or no income for the majority. This evidenced hunger, depression, and civil unrest.

● Debilitates Against Progress
Progress is hindered when a segment of a populace, with value and potential, are prevented/secluded from adding value to the economy, at the instance of their sex, color, and nationality. For instance, having policymakers, with men in the majority, exempt women from contributing to making policies that will directly or indirectly affect women and the girl child. 

Where We Are
The world is developing fast on the wheels of inequalities in Science, Technology, Finance, Health, Education, and other sectors of the economy and areas of human existence. International and national commitments against inequalities are being challenged with the intensity of rapid development in technology and climate change. Developed countries are developing fast every day. This makes it difficult for developing countries to catch up. This gap leads to disparities, thereby preventing and/or limiting developing countries from having access to opportunities and social benefits arising from technology and climate change. At this core, some State governments currently allocate a considerable sum of their GDP on social protection while others allocate very little on social protection. In 2015, Brazil, Egypt and Mongolia spent 18%, 15%, and 11% respectively, of their GDP, on social protection. The right to social security is clearly highlighted in Articles 22 and 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Fortunately, Stakeholders are galvanizing efforts to develop mechanisms in which to promote equality and social justice in a rapidly developing world. 

Challenges and Recommendations
● Prejudice Against Women
According to the World Bank, 104 countries have laws restricting the types of jobs women can perform. This goes against the letters of Articles 23 and 24 of the UDHR. Women are also forced into marriages and blackmailed by partners/spouses contrary to the spirits of Articles 12 and 16 of the UDHR. As a result, women are prevented from harnessing the benefits that come with being able to choose the life they will like to lead. Stakeholders need to redouble efforts to ensure gender equality.

● Corruption
With particular emphasis on politics and governance, inequality in the area of development and social security is triggered by financial corruption and nepotism by political leaders. This has widened the development index between developed and developing countries. As evidenced in Articles 25(1) of the UDHR and playing out in the way different governments carter for their citizens as the pandemic Covid-19 ravages States. To move from rhetorics to results, obstacles to financial transparency must be removed.

● Racism
Concerted efforts to end racism have been on the front burner. This gives life to the provisions of Article 5 and 7 of the UDHR. Discrimination goes to preventing a segregated class from having access to opportunities, scholarships, and loans because of the bias ascribed to skin color. International students are the worst hit. Concerted efforts must make for punitive and preventive measures to curb this menace.

● Bias Against Migrants
Article 13 of the UDHR enables individual migration between States. Upon entry into a host nation, they are met with stiff opposition as a result of their status. Opportunities and social security are not adequately presented to them. In order to survive, this condition pushes them into servitude, contravening Articles 3 and 4 of the UDHR. A more liberal approach should be adopted in engaging migrants seeking a better life.

● Inaction
This stems from factors ranging from inadequate finance, stiff opposition, lack of will power from families, societies, institutions, government, and individuals. It has resulted in the world moving farther away from equality and social justice. Stakeholders need to be encouraged to further this just cause by having the understanding that Article 19 of the UDHR protects them regardless of frontiers and oppositions.

● Unhealthy Competition
Prominent in technology and finance, this has enhanced the implication of inequality disproportionately. Start-ups are being swallowed by multinational companies. The competitive economy has been taken over by a monopolistic one. The quest for financial domination debilitates against equal and shared prosperity. As a result, developing countries become victims of this greed. The World Bank and the IMF, in their lending and supervisory capacity, can come up with structures to mitigate the harshness of this brand of inequality - a specie of torture which is in conflict with Article 5 of the UDHR.

● Weak Justice System
At this critical time, the legal profession has a role to play in upholding social justice. Everyone is equal before the law. The perception that the poor, vulnerable, and disadvantaged cannot get justice need to be eroded justly. Articles 8, 9,10, and 11 of the UDHR strengthen judicial institutions to be blind while balancing the scale of justice.

● Rapid Urbanization
This triggers climate change where individuals and societies make nature run faster than it should, thereby making cities vulnerable to the impact of climate change. People living in rural areas, with little or no resources to combat the effect of environmental disasters, will be left to their fate. This will then prevent rural communities from environmental benefits that accrue to them naturally and by implication. So, transitioning into urbanization ought to be gradual. Recourse is to be made to Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) at each step of the way.

● Education’s Bottle Neck 
In as much as UNICEF and sister agencies are doing the needful in promoting equality and social justice through education. Poverty, the quest for survival and social vices triggered by different stages of depression widens the gap in attainment of social equilibrium in education. This affects learning outcomes. The reality of slow learners and the absence of mechanisms to bridge the gap also widens the gap. Putting Article 26 of the UDHR in perspective, strategic initiatives with direct impact need to be employed in order to bridge the gap. This comes with its costs and benefits.

What’s more, the essence of equality and social justice is to promote shared prosperity in a dynamic and evolving world. Without a doubt, the interests of some individuals, institutions, and States will be affected. However, commitments to promote equality and social justice must continue in order to level the playing ground.

By Chukwunonso N. Ogbogu

Chukwunonso N. Ogbogu, aged 27, is a Nigerian lawyer. He is a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, where he studied Law and graduated (LLB Hons) in 2017. He graduated from the Nigerian Law School (Augustine Nnamani Campus, Enugu State) and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2018. He is passionate about leadership and good governance, with a bid to ensuring societal growth and development. He is interested in Foreign Policy, International Law and Diplomacy, International Arbitration, and Municipal & International Politics.