International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

                                       

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is celebrated every year on October 17 throughout the world. It was officially recognized by the United Nations,but the first commemoration of the event took place in Paris, France, in 1987 when 100,000 people gathered on the Human Rights and Liberties Plaza at the Trocadéro to honour victims of poverty, hunger, violence and fear.It promotes people’s awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution worldwide, particularly in developing countries.

At the Millennium Summit, world leaders committed themselves to cutting by half by the year 2015 the number of people living in extreme poverty - people whose income is less than one dollar a day.

The theme for this year’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty -- “Working together out of poverty” -- highlights the need for a truly global anti-poverty alliance, one in which both developed and developing countries participate actively.