Staff Reporter
South Africa will present a draft resolution to the United Nations General Assembly later this year to establish an International Panel on Inequality, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday.
Speaking at the In Defence of Democracy Initiative in Barcelona, Ramaphosa said inequality was a central threat at a time when progressive leaders have gathered to push back against far-right gains, democratic strain and growing attacks on multilateral institutions.
The summit, co-hosted by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, comes amid rising concern over polarisation, disinformation and pressure on the liberal international order.
“South Africa, during its G20 Presidency, commissioned the first-ever global inequality report from a committee of independent experts led by Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz,” Ramaphosa said.
“Having received the endorsement of the African Union, South Africa will present a draft resolution on the establishment of the International Panel on Inequality for adoption by the United Nations General Assembly during its 80th resumed session in 2026.”
Ramaphosa said the proposed body, inspired by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, would track inequality trends, examine their causes and consequences, and assess policy options for governments and the international community.
“This will ensure that inequality is placed as a critical issue on the global agenda that requires the ongoing attention of world leaders and the broader United Nations system,” he said.
“South Africa is possibly the most unequal society in the world, having inherited this from our history of Apartheid,” Ramaphosa said. “We have the determination and the means to end inequality. Now we must act.”
Ramaphosa urged governments to rally behind the proposal.
“We call on all UN Member States, on all leaders across society, to lend their support to this initiative to ensure that we take forward the struggle to end inequality.”
“This is the time for us to lead the world to address inequality,” he said.
INSIDE POLITICS