United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has backed South Africa’s efforts to establish an International Panel on Inequality, warning that widening inequality is eroding trust, deepening polarization and destabilizing economies around the world.
In a message to a meeting in Johannesburg on Friday, Guterres commended South Africa’s leadership in highlighting what it calls a global “inequality emergency.” The gathering, hosted at the University of the Witwatersrand, is the second meeting of the founding committee tasked with shaping the new panel.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to address the meeting, which brings together representatives from Brazil, Spain and Norway, along with leading inequality experts. The initiative was proposed during South Africa’s G20 presidency and is modeled on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
A report commissioned for the presidency and chaired by economist Joseph Stiglitz warned that the world is facing an inequality emergency, noting that one in four people globally regularly skip meals while billionaire wealth has reached record highs.
The African Union also endorsed the proposal in February, adding momentum to a push that has already attracted support from leaders at last year’s G20 summit in Johannesburg. Among those backing the initiative were the leaders of Spain, Norway and Brazil, alongside European Council President António Costa.
The founding committee will discuss the proposed panel’s composition and mandate. Its members include UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, Global Fund for a New Economy Director Dr Adriana Abdenur, and professors Jayati Ghosh, Imraan Valodia and Wanga Zembe-Mkabile.
Byanyima said the panel is intended to turn the G20 commitment into action at a time when multilateral cooperation is under strain. She said inequality is driving health crises, increasing climate vulnerability and keeping millions trapped in poverty.
In his message, Guterres said inequality is not only about income, but about power, access and opportunity. He said unfair global rules continue to lock countries into cycles of vulnerability and dependence, while emerging technologies are widening the divide.
“It does not have to be this way,” Guterres said. “We can – and we must – confront the injustice of inequality.”
