UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- A United Nations report Thursday said inequality between the world's richest and poorest has grown in the last 10 years.
"In political terms, it means access to power, to decision making" are lost to the disenfranchised, Undersecretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Jose Antonio Ocampo told reporters at U.N. World Headquarters in New York as he introduced the 160-page document.
The report said the world must address inequalities within and between countries.
Some 80 percent of the world's domestic product belongs to 1 billion people living in the developed world, while the remaining 20 percent is shared by 5 billion people living in developing countries, the report said.
"This is especially important because it concentrates on inequality of income as well as inequality in access to basic social services, as well as decision-making," Ocampo said.
The report comes 10 years after the 1995 Copenhagen World Summit for Social Development. Ocampo said economic gaps like those between men and women have gotten wider since governments pledged to confront profound social challenges and to place people at the center of development.
