Top 55 Winnie Byanyima Quotes

If the civil society is not transparent, honest, and accountable, then you cannot be a champion of social justice.

The move to a zero-carbon future is unstoppable.

Global governance needs recalibrating so it works in the public interest of all the world’s citizens – not just for the few.

I grew up in a country that was in a civil conflict for most of my childhood and adolescence. I saw violence and lived as a teenager through the time of a brutal dictator called Idi Amin. I fled and became a refugee.

I believe we can build a human economy where people are the bottom line.

We don’t want to tell young girls and boys that the odds are stacked against them from the start. Instead, we could tell them that with passion, conviction, and determination we can build a better future. This future is possible by redesigning our economy to truly reward hard work rather than wealth.

I am still haunted by the memory of my Ugandan friends dying from HIV years ago because high prices kept the medicines they needed out of reach.

It’s happy and secure people who the are most creative.

Taxing companies, particularly successful multinational companies, is one of the most progressive forms of taxation.

Cutting down a forest for timber adds to GDP, but what we don’t record is the loss to our wealth in terms of natural resources.

Wealth is used to entrench inequality, not to trickle down and solve it.

Conflict and callous politics drive famine.

When men and women, boys and girls, are denied the right to education, the right to own land, the access to basic services like healthcare and clean water, a fair price for the crops they grow, a fair wage for the work they do, or the right to be part of making decisions that affect them, the result is poverty.

I grew up thinking the most decent job to do was to fight injustice.

Having an economy that works for the 99% is achievable.

The proud fight against colonialism is one that should be consigned to history.

Development cooperation between nations is very important because it is one of the building blocks of shared peace, prosperity, and human rights for all. It is one of the antidotes to the poison of xenophobia.

Billions of people are being left behind by economic growth.

Economic inequality is a corrosive force that undermines economic growth, puts a brake on the fight against poverty, and sparks social unrest.

That a country has a strong civil society is, I believe, particularly necessary for good development.

Crucially, African governments must ensure they prioritize the eradication of tax evasion and tax avoidance.

When we talk about women’s economic empowerment, we should be careful that we’re not just giving women more to do.

Here’s something we’re rarely told growing up: our world rewards wealth, not hard work or talent.

Inequality, climate change, and conflict are evicting millions from their homes. But these perils are being met with ‘anti-answers’ such as nationalism, closed borders, lies, and hatred.

Africa’s young population could be a huge economic asset if inequality were addressed.

The discrimination of women and girls goes to the core of any and all analyses of the world’s economic, political, and environmental problems.

Governments and civil society must step up to ensure inclusivity in the commissioning, design, delivery, and assessment of vital public services.

High corruption and the influence of big business and the wealthy elite keeps the poorest Nigerians trapped in poverty and cut off from the benefits of economic growth and basic services. Some people – searching for the means to survive – became vulnerable to groups like Boko Haram.

Progressive taxation can offset the effect of growing inequality.

Far too many governments are cutting back on their investment in human development.

The people standing up most strongly for our democracies should be celebrated, not prosecuted – be it those countless human rights defenders who defend all our rights or the brave whistle-blowers who expose tax dodging.

The struggles to overturn colonial rule were long and often bitter. But, over time, most were inevitably successful.

I don’t think it’s helpful to go dismantling the past, but you can refuse to honor aspects of it that you don’t believe in anymore.

Civil society space provides the oxygen for citizens to participate and meaningfully hold their governments and the private sector to account – and ensure that decisions are made in the interest of the majority and not the few. Without it, citizens have limited space to dissent and challenge the elites.

A global tax body would give all countries – not just the rich and powerful – an equal say in how the global rules on taxation are designed.

We have international organizations for health, trade, and football – even for coffee – but not tax. Why not?

You are not going to lift everybody out of poverty through the kindness of wealthy people.

Poverty is rooted in injustice.

Tax abuse is a scourge on our global community, but especially for Africa.

The Paris Agreement threw people of the world a lifeline, and the United States played a vital role in getting us there, not least by working closely with China to clear the decks to a global deal.

We treat a planet at crisis point as an externality that can be shunted into a future generation. We continue to act as if we had the natural resources of several planets, not one.

Developing countries are losing significant tax revenues through corporate tax dodging.

The conniving, rich oilmen that were so desperate to prevent and frustrate the Paris Agreement found cheerleaders in Mr. Trump and his party. They choose to protect their profits from a flailing fossil fuel industry over human lives and a clean, inclusive future for us all.

GDP excludes care work and other unpaid work, most of which falls to women and girls in rich and in poor countries alike.

The extremely wealthy have disproportionate influence on policies that impact us all. This corrupts our politics and leads to poorer people being denied the economic opportunity to flourish in life.

The importance of tackling inequality in Africa cannot be overstated.

Wealth does not trickle down to the poor. Oxfam knows this, the IMF knows this, the World Bank knows this. Poor people have always known this.

Inequality is inextricably linked with distribution of land and natural resources.

Governments, the investor and business community, and civil society organizations and public representatives need to work together to ensure the necessary foundations are in place to align private finance to guarantee sustainable and equitable development and poverty reduction.

The concentration of wealth in the hands of the few threatens the ability of ordinary people to raise their voices and have a say over how our societies are run.

Our economic system has enabled companies and individuals to use their power and influence to capture and retain an ever-increasing share of the benefits of economic growth while the benefits for the poorest in society have shrunk.

Global growth and development that is strong, sustainable, and inclusive requires the challenges of inequality to be met head-on.

We need to harness the boundless energy and creativity of our youth.

For me, growing up as an activist under an oppressive dictatorship in Uganda, the U.N. was a friend to those of us who fought our way to freedom, as it was for the millions who joined decolonization struggles in the African continent.

The high price of medicines is crippling healthcare systems and denying people access to the treatments they so desperately need.