Social Justice is a Belief and Principle

Head of European University of Lefke (EUL) Faculty of Health Sciences Department of Social Services Prof. Dr. Şengül Hablemitoğlu made some statements on the Occasion of “February 20, World Day of Social Justice” and conveyed detailed information.

Hablemitoğlu: Social justice has a mission as both conceptual and action

Stating the aim of the World Day of Justice as ensuring that people can live a happy, peaceful, equal and prosper life without being exposed to discrimination, violence, exploitation, Hablemitoğlu said that “For this, we have to emphasize the inclusion of ’social justice in the focus of all our efforts in every field and we have to work in order to eliminate poverty ultimately”. She also emphasized the importance and underlying message in this year’s theme of the World Day of Justice determined by the United Nations which is “If You Want Peace & Development, Work for Social Justice. Social justice is an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and among nations”. Hablemitoğlu said that “At this point, social justice has a mission as both conceptual and action. This mission is to seek social justice for all, to achieve development without causing inequalities while maintaining human dignity and to ensure that all mankind has a fair share of the gains of development”.

Hablemitoğlu: Social justice is the basis for the peaceful and prosperous living of societies

Pointing out that social justice is both a belief and principle, Hablemitoğlu said that social justice is the basis for the peaceful and prosperous living of societies. She pointed out that social justice can only be maintained when gender equality, women, children, elderly and special individuals with special need, migrants and refugees are protected and added that “We must never forget that we also improve social justice while eliminating the discrimination, inequalities and exclusion that people face due to gender, age, race, ethnic origin, religion, culture or disability. For this, we can guarantee a fair life for all if we can adopt basic principles and rights on employment, social protection, aid and social support, regulations on work life”.

Hablemitoğlu: Social justice sets a roadmap for building societies that do not exclude anyone

Hablemitoğlu said that current data show that more than 2 billion people on earth today live a fragile life, and about 500 million of these people are young people and women and added that there are almost 200 million labor migrations in the world today, and that almost half of them are women. She further said that “At this point, Social justice sets a roadmap for building societies that do not exclude anyone. The basic philosophy here is to live a life worthy of human dignity so that people can meet their present needs without endangering the resources of future generations” and added that employment creation, better quality jobs and better access to these jobs, increasing revenues and managing the effects of poverty in a human way and preventing all conflicts are the operational side of social justice.

Hablemitoğlu: If we cannot achieve Social Justice we must accept that the societies will not have a future

Hablemitoğlu said that “The realization of all this is possible through the creation of partnerships, interdisciplinary and institutional cooperation” and expressed the need for effective participation of governments and parliaments globally and employers, employees, civil society, the private sector, education and other elements locally. Hablemitoğlu finally said that “If we cannot achieve social justice, we must understand that poverty will deepen and societies will not have a future”.