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Social Justice to me means a basic human right that we have a collective responsibility to
uphold and to defend. A human right that leads to everyone having opportunities the same
way, equality of opportunity, attention to addressing the inequalities that come from
the unequal world we live in. Inequalities that have to do with income, but also and
perhaps even more importantly in the context of social justice, inequalities that come
from discrimination, from exclusion, from not everyone being allowed to play as best
as they can, a constructive engage role in society. Indeed to me, social justice comes
very closely connected with the concept of social inclusion, with participation, with
citizensí engagement in the lives of their communities, of their countries. An opportunity
therefore for everyone to respond to what is, to my mind, a really immediate expression
of our common humanity, the desire to work for the common good, the desire to engage
and to do it voluntarily because of the beliefs we carry.
When we talk about Social Justice we talk about doing away with barriers of discrimination.
Arguably, women in all countries in the world, still do face to a greater or smaller extent
barriers to their full participation. And to benefiting in society from all the skills,
experiences and competencies that they bringÖso when we talk about Social Justice, this Justice
has to obviously include women, and it has to allow them to be those contributing actively
engaged members of society that they have the right to be.
I think economic growth and Social Justice must coexist, because if you donít have Social
Justice, you do not have long-term sustainable economic growth, even less do you have economic
development.
To me, if you want to achieve a long-term sustainable economic development, Social Justice
is essential.
Social Justice is a matter of policies, itís a responsibility of governments as duty-bearers,
because we recognize Social Justice as being a basic human right. But at the same time
there is a lot that civil society can, and is already doing to ensure that this responsibility
that governments have is met, to ensure that there where resources are -as they unfortunately
are these days: extremely tight - they are allocated in the way that promotes the maximum
access to Social Justice.
Social Justice is a basic requirement for any society that can look with optimism to
its future, and I believe that civic engagement as well as voluntary contributions play an
important role in the context of Social Justice and social inclusion by allowing broad-based
participation of all citizens.