UNIS/SGSM/1358
13 October 2023
In our world of plenty, poverty should have no home.
Yet, as we mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, nearly 700 million people are barely scraping by, living on less than $2.15 per day.
Over a billion people are deprived of basic needs like food, water, health care and education. Billions more lack sanitation and access to energy, jobs, housing and social safety nets.
Meanwhile, conflicts, the climate crisis, discrimination and exclusion — particularly against women and girls — are deepening the distress.
This is compounded by an outdated, dysfunctional and unfair global financial system that hinders developing countries from investing in alleviating poverty and achieving the SDGs.
At current rates, almost 500 million people will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030.
This is unacceptable.
At the SDG Summit in September, world leaders recognized the need to reform the international financial architecture and committed to a bold plan to rescue the Sustainable Development Goals and accelerate efforts to eradicate poverty everywhere.
This includes support for an SDG Stimulus of at least $500 billion per year in financing for investments to achieve this.
Leaders also agreed on targeted action aimed at alleviating poverty and suffering for all people — from transformed food and education systems, to decent jobs and expanded social protection, as this year’s theme highlights.
Ending poverty is the challenge of our time.
But it is a challenge we can win.
On this important day, let’s renew our commitment to a world free of poverty.
* *** *
"This year's International Day of Persons with Disabilities reminds us that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals requires living up to the promise to leave no one behind, especially the 1.3 billion persons with disabilities worldwide." — António Guterres
"World AIDS Day arrives at a defining moment.AIDS-related deaths have fallen by almost 70 per cent since their peak in 2004, and new HIV infections are at the lowest point since the 1980s." — António Guterres
"The Day of Remembrance for All Victims of Chemical Warfare is a solemn occasion to pay tribute to those killed or injured by these horrific weapons." — António Guterres
Addressing crimes that affect the environment is key to mitigating and adapting to climate change, highlighted the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at the start of the 28th session of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) (COP 28).
