New York  - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Friday social justice is denied to too many people around the world as the UN celebrated its first World Day of Social Justice.

"Tragically, social justice still remains an elusive dream for an appallingly large portion of humanity," Ban said in a message.

"Extreme poverty, hunger, discrimination and the denial of human rights continue to scar our moral landscape," he said. "The global financial crisis threatens to worsen these ills further still."

He stressed the importance of providing human rights to all people as those principles remain the core of the UN programmes upholding development and human dignity.

The UN General Assembly has declared February 20 of each year as World Day of Social Justice and Friday's was the first observance. Low-key seminars were held at UN headquarters in New York to debate the importance of the event.

The UN and World Bank estimated that more than a billion people around the world still live on with less than 1.25 dollars a day, measured as the purchasing power by each individual. (dpa)