Today is 17 October, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.  This day has a long tradition. It was first marked on 17 October 1987, when thousands of people gathered at the Trocadero in Paris to honour people affected by extreme poverty, violence and hunger. Since then, countries, international development organisations and NGOs observe the day every year.

Each year has a particular theme. The theme for 2022 is ‘Dignity For All in Practice.’ I find this theme to be very pertinent since human dignity is a fundamental human right.  Indeed, everyone has to live a dignified life! Such life is not (always) possible if one lives in poverty, as explained here and here. The 2022 theme brings to the fore the notion that poverty deprives people of their human dignity.

Having had firsthand experience of the realities of people living in poverty in our poverty studies in different countries, I strongly feel that they need to be treated with dignity. Terms such as ‘poverty’ and ‘poor’, for example, can affect one’s sense of dignity or sense of self-worth. You can learn more about this in our articles found here and here. This, as we observed in our studies and as  Keetie Roelen shared here, is common worldwide. The 2022 theme highlights the need for us to rethink the language of poverty.

On this International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, countries and development organisations take stock of their poverty eradication efforts and reaffirm their commitment to ending poverty. Thus, it is a day, too, for countries to learn lessons from countries that are making significant strides towards poverty eradication, such as China, as seen here, and Brunei Darussalam, as seen in my blog post here.

This day also reminds us of the need to believe that eradicating poverty is a definite possibility, something I already do, as seen in my blog post here!

#End Poverty Day