TOWARDS AN ALTERNATIVE/239threatening forms of malnutrition by half, cut in half the
mortality rate for children under the age of 5.
Each year, 10 million children die from easily curable
diseases or hunger before the age of 5.
Cost: $5-7 billion annually for ten years.- Guarantee universal access to drinking water.
1.3 billion people do not have access to safe water supplies.
Cost: SI0-15 billion over ten years. - Reduce adult illiteracy by half, guarantee universal primary
education, bring female illiteracy down to the rate found
among men.
Cost: S5-6 billion over ten years.
ON A WORLD SCALE
Guaranteed Employment for All
In the North, the debate over the reduction of working time is in full
swing. If carried out in a radical and generalised fashion, with no loss
in wages, such a reduction can be a powerful measure for providing
employment for all.
An explicit objective must be that of abolishing unemployment,
which is the main mechanism for social discrimination of the worst
sort. All the debates about the end of waged labour, and the
wonders of free time and a well-rounded lifestyle, are no obstacle
to this objective. Indeed, these matters cannot be properly
addressed as long as so many are excluded from the terms of the
debate. This is why a generalised reduction of working time is
pivotal for finding an egalitarian solution to the social crisis.
(Husson, 1996)This kind of project raises the need for workers' control to ensure
that such measures are applied in full and that the pace and organi
sation of work are not changed to the detriment of the workforce. This
means implementing a universal ban on overtime and work speed
up, and other restrictive measures.
In the South and East, the reduction of working time is also a
priority. Aside from making a step in the direction of social justice,