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This year's International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, celebrated annually on October 17th, aims to promote understanding and dialogue between people living in poverty and the wider society. It also calls for universal access to decent work and social protection to uphold human dignity and emphasizes that work must empower people, provide fair wages and safe working conditions, and recognize the value and humanity of all workers. Universal social protection is also urgently needed to guarantee income security for everyone, prioritizing society's most vulnerable members.
The world is at a crossroad, does it reposnd to crisis after crisis or invest in a structural change for a stronger, more sustainable future? Global crises have exposed how inadequate our resources are to prevent future emergencies. With 4 in 5 of the world’s poorest people living in rural areas, the road to a resilient future runs through rural communities. IFAD is investing in rural people for a sustainable future. By making the right choices and the right investments now, a new day—and a better future—is possible.
Dignity is not only a fundamental right, it also constitutes the basis of all other fundamental rights. Today, many people living in persistent poverty experience their dignity being denied and disrespected. Poverty and inequality are not inevitable. They are the result of deliberate decisions or inaction that disempower the poorest and marginalized in our societies and violate their fundamental rights. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. This Day recognizes the global solidarity and shared responsibility needed to eradicate poverty.
The devastating consequences of the war in Ukraine have spread far beyond the region’s borders. Fuel and food prices are skyrocketing. Initially, wheat prices went up by 62 percent, although they have fallen slightly. The slight decline in commodity prices has not meant lower inflation, which continues to accelerate. A recent UNDP report states 71 million people have already fallen into poverty in just three months—a rate much faster than during the pandemic. The Balkans, Caspian Sea, and sub-Saharan Africa Sahel are particularly affected.
In December of 2021, FAO published a report that introduced an innovative way of measuring poverty in rural areas, where the majority of the world's less well-off live, but for which reliable and harmonized data is difficult to come by. The idea is that a more precise identification of who the extreme poor are can help decision-makers shape more accurate policies to tackle rural poverty and hunger. This so-called Rural Multidimensional Poverty Index (R-MPI) was built on the widely accepted notion that household income alone does not fully capture a person's wellbeing.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder that poverty isn’t just about income. Within and across countries, poor and marginalized communities are disproportionately affected by the pandemic in terms of infection rates, economic losses and access to vaccines and other health care imperatives. Understanding the multidimensional nature of poverty can help us design a more resilient recovery that leaves no one behind. And UNDP’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) gives us a critical tool to measure and monitor poverty in all its forms.
After more than a decade of gains against poverty, the number of poor people in Myanmar could double as a result of the combined impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing political crisis, according to new research by the UNDP. The study, entitled “COVID-19, Coup d’état and Poverty: Compounding Negative Shocks and their Impact on Human Development in Myanmar” warns that, if unchecked, the combined effect of these two crises could push up to 12 million people into poverty.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact our lives, the World Bank provides an overview in 12 charts and graphics, of its research in the face of a truly unprecedented crisis.
For almost 25 years, extreme poverty was steadily declining. Now, for the first time in a generation, it is increasing. This setback is largely due to major challenges — COVID-19, conflict, and climate change — facing all countries. The increase in extreme poverty from 2019 to 2020 is projected to be larger than any time since the World Bank started tracking poverty globally in a consistent manner. A new World Bank report — Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020: Reversals of Fortune — sheds light on the threats to poverty reduction and provides recommendations to navigate this tough terrain.
The theme for this year’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (17 October) addresses the challenge of achieving social and environmental justice for all. The growing recognition of the multi-dimensionality of poverty means that these two issues are inseparably intertwined, and that social justice cannot be fully realized without aggressively rectifying environmental injustices at the same time. The participation, knowledge, contributions and experience of people living in poverty must be reflected in our efforts to build an equitable and sustainable world.
For almost 25 years, extreme poverty was steadily declining. Now, for the first time in a generation, the quest to end poverty has suffered its worst setback due to COVID 19, conflict, and climate change. Communities, countries and continents are facing these daunting challenges. A new World Bank report — Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2020: Reversals of Fortune — sheds new light on the threats to poverty reduction and provides recommendations to navigate this tough terrain.
World Bank: 2020 has brought an unprecedented challenge to the fight against poverty.
Out of 114 measured, 15 countries experienced the largest annual average percentage point declines in extreme poverty rate between 2000 and 2015. In each of these countries, an average of at least 1.6% of the population moved out of extreme poverty every year. Tanzania, Tajikistan and Chad top the list.