October 17, International Day for The Eradication of Poverty

The day is observed to spread awareness among people about the issue related to poverty, to know the effort made for the eradication of poverty, to give scope to the people suffering from poverty, to make their concerns heard, to recognize what progressive steps should be taken to fight against poverty, and to give honours to the millions of people who are suffering from poverty.  

The footprints of this day began as "World Day to Overcome Poverty" in the year 1987 in Paris, France where about 100,000 people gathered on the Human Rights and Liberties at Trocadero to honour the victims of poverty. And later in 1992, the United Nations officially designated October 17 as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. 

In 2008, an International committee was organised with a spirit to recognize the struggles of the impoverished and to make their voices heard by governments and citizens. The composition of the committee includes members who have lived experience of extreme poverty. Every year the committee through the forum on overcoming poverty, select a theme for the annual observance of October 17 by the United Nation. 

The theme of 2022 of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is “Dignity for All on Practice”.  

In the occasion of International Day for The Eradication of Poverty, let us analyse the progress of the observance of the Day, causes that widen the gap of the poverty, the introduction of multidimensional poverty and other related issues. 

Progress up to the Third Decade for the eradication of poverty:  

As the international community embarks, significant achievements have been recorded in areas such as job creation, gender equality, education, health care, social protection measures, agriculture and rural development, climate change adaptation and mitigation.  

As per estimation in 2013, 783 million people lived on less than $1.90 per day as compared to 1.867 billion people in 1990.  

Since 2000, the economic progress in developing countries are remarkably increasing. 

Despite so much effort why People Still live in Poverty  

As per the current reality about 1.3 billion people still live in multidimensional poverty. There is sharp rise in inequalities of opportunities and income. Every year the gap between the rich and the poor are widening. Erosion of workers’ rights made millions of people to struggle with poverty.  

Causes that widen the gap of poverty  

Social exclusion, structural discrimination and deliberate decisions against poverty disempower the marginalized people of our societies and violate their fundamental rights.  

The covid19 pandemic has further deepened and perpetuate poverty.  The economic prosperity has dropped sharply during the period 2020-21, which increase the poverty by 8.1% in 2020 as compared to 2019. It further pushed about 143 to 163 million people into poverty in 2021.  

The climatic conditions, frequent occurrence of natural disasters and environmental degradations which lead to the destruction of homes, crops and livelihood further aggravated the situation of the people coming under poverty line.  

The year 2022 presents Multidimensional Poverty Index, which shows how people experience poverty in very different ways.  

What is Multidimensional Poverty Index?

Persons living in poverty suffer from many interrelated problems such as improper work conditions, unsafe housing, inadequate nutritious food, unequal access to justice, lack of political power, limited access to health care, child mortality, at least six years of education, lack of access to drinking water, electricity, cooking fuel etc.  

These deprivations that prevent them from realizing their rights and perpetuate their poverty.  

People who are deprived in at least a third of these weighted indicators are classified as multidimensional poor. The objective of Multidimensional Poverty Index is to understand how people experience poverty in various overlapping ways by interrogating poverty from different dimensions.  

No two people suffer from poverty in the same manner. It may differ from one region to other. For example, in South Asia, a multidimensional poor person more likely deprived of nutrition, sanitation, cooking fuel and housing. While in sub-Saharan Africa, a multidimensional poor person is often suffering from improved source of drinking water and electricity.  

Introduction of Deprivation Profile.  

The 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) introduces “Deprivation Profile” by analysing the patterns and interlinkages of poverty dimensions to achieve the goal of eradication of poverty.  

The 2022 MPI Index covers 6.1 billion people across 111 countries which represents about 92 percent of the developing world’s population. As published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative report, around 1.2 billion people of 111 developing countries live in multidimensional poverty and half of them are children.  

Conclusion 

As many people living in persistent poverty experience their dignity being denied and disrespected, therefore “Dignity for All in Practice” is the umbrella theme of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2022-23. This theme is based on the dignity of the human being, which is not only a fundamental right but it is the basis of all other fundamental rights.  

The objective of the theme is to 

Provide a zero tolerance of all forms of abuse  

Support every person with the same respect you would want for yourself and for your family members. 

Respect every people’s right to privacy and not to interfere on their independence and decisions. 

Assist people to maintain self-confidence. 

Assist people to complain about their issues without fear of retribution.