Non-violence in Action

Remarks at the Commemoration of International Day of Non-Violence - “Non-violence in Action”

October 2, 2018

 

As prepared for delivery.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Mahatma Gandhi was perhaps one of the greatest advocates and visionaries of sustainable development for humanity.     

He wrote,

“Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions? Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away."

I would like to believe that Mahatma Gandhi, a champion for uncompromising truth and non-violence in his time, would be a passionate proponent of sustainable development in our time.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has raised the bar for our aspirations and the scale of our required efforts. It is a plan of action for people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. It contains 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets to stimulate global action over the next 15 years on issues critical to humanity and the planet. India will play a leading role in determining the relative success of the SDGs. India has already played a leadership role in framing the contours of the 2030 Agenda.

Gandhi’s philosophy is reflected in the words – ‘leave no one behind’ – a central tenet of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The declaration for the 2030 Agenda commits us to “endeavour to reach the furthest behind first”.

According to estimates from the 2018 global Multidimensional Poverty Index, India has made momentous progress in reducing multidimensional poverty. The incidence of multidimensional poverty has almost halved between 2005-6 and 2015-16, decreasing from 54.7 percent to 27.5 percent. Despite the massive gains made in reducing multidimensional poverty, 364 million Indians continue to experience deprivations in key indicators such as health, nutrition, schooling and sanitation. Efforts to end poverty will need to be sustained across the next 15 years.

The Government of India is strongly committed to achieving the SDGs within a short period of time, through ambitious goals such as as universal rural electrification, road and digital connectivity for all, massive expansions of clean and renewable energy, sanitation and housing for all and universal elementary school education.

Mahatma Gandhi had said that, “Uncleanliness of the mind is more dangerous than that of the body. The latter, however, is an indication of the former.” Along with the struggle for India's independence, he led a continuous struggle for sanitation, cleanliness, and efficient management of waste throughout his public life, first in South Africa and then in India.

The Government of India has launched a ground-breaking flagship scheme, the Swachh Bharat Mission or the Clean India Mission, with an aim to build a clean and open-defecation free India by 2 October 2019, as a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary. The Secretary General of the United Nations is in India today, 2 October, where he is attending the launch of the extensive commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary, along with the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

The United Nations Development Programme is committed to continue supporting governments in implementing the SDGs. UNDP in India, through innovative partnerships which promote inclusive and equitable growth, will continue to support national programmes for vulnerable and marginalized population groups, improve livelihoods, and enhance skill-building for women. UNDP supports underprivileged Indian women to learn marketable skills and helps connect them with employment opportunities at the critical juncture of their education-to-work transition.

UNDP is also committed to promoting low carbon, climate resilient and inclusive development with a focus on natural resource management. Its key areas of intervention include climate change mitigation and adaptation, conserving biodiversity and addressing land degradation, and integrated chemical management through the phasing out of ozone depleting substances and reducing persistent organic pollutants. UNDP is also working with private sector partners to promote sustainable business practices through various initiatives such as the encouragement of the segregation, collection and recycling of plastic with the involvement of all stakeholders – waste pickers, urban local bodies and municipalities, state governments, consumers and producers.

These interventions are in line with Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible society, where he advocated for ‘Swaraj’ (self-rule) at the individual level and ‘Sarvodaya’ (universal uplift or progress of all) at the societal and global level. He believed that every member of society is the trustee of the wealth generated out of the collective efforts of all. Gandhi hoped that the trusteeship model will result in non-violent and non-exploitative socioeconomic relations in society and sustainable development models centred around the preservation of nature. At the 2016 United Nations Climate Change Conference, India invoked the principles of Mahatma Gandhi while encouraging sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Gandhi’s ideas for peace, communal harmony, non-violence, and equal rights for all, are an integral part of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In recognition of his philosophy, which continues to be relevant today as it was in his time, the United Nations declared 2 October as the International Day of Non-Violence.

Gandhi had said, “My mission is not merely brotherhood of Indian humanity. My mission is not merely freedom of India, though today it undoubtedly engrosses practically the whole of my life and the whole of my time. But through realization of freedom of India I hope to realize and carry on the mission of the brotherhood of man”.

Today, we are, as the international community of nations – 195 countries and 7 billion individuals – committed to securing our planet and its prosperity for generations to come. We are committed to the great ideal of Leaving No One Behind. We are still Gandhiji’s disciples.