International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2004

17 October 2004

Collage for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

Events at Headquarters

The twelfth observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty will be held on Thursday, 14 October, and is sponsored jointly by the ATD Fourth World Movement, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), the Department of Public Information (DPI) and the NGO Sub-Committee for the Eradication of Poverty. The Day seeks to promote increased awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and serves to remind all people that sustained and concerted effort is vital to achieve the millennium development goal (MDG) of halving the number of people living in poverty by 2015.

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Press Conference [archived video - 45 minutes]
Participants: Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town (South Africa);
Ms. Marilyn Gutierrez, author of a study on the Philippines;
Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere of France;
and Ms. Joan Burke, Chair of the NGO Committee for Social Development
Theme: Successful efforts to reduce poverty around the world

"Ten years from the target date, the goals remain feasible and affordable. But we need a quantum leap in aid, debt relief and trade concessions on the part of developed countries as expressed in goal number eight. And we need similarly dramatic changes on the part of developing countries to retool their development programmes."

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan

About the observance:

The Day was first observed in 1987. The General Assembly proclaimed the observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty in 1992, in Resolution 47/196

Background information:

Reports of the Secretary-General on Poverty Eradication: A/56/229 [Add.1, Corr.1], A/57/137, A/57/211

Related Observances and Conferences:

More resources:

UN Documents:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Article 25 (1)