International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, October 17th: an unrealistic prospect?

Opinion Analysis by Cherly Abou Chabke, Staff Writer

October 17th, 2020

“Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty,

human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these

rights be respected is our solemn duty.” – Joseph Wresinski. 

If there’s one thing that 2020 taught us, it is that no one should be left behind: the fight against destitution is an ongoing battle that has molded our world’s prosperity and growth, affecting the most vulnerable everywhere and particularly in developing countries. With extreme poverty killing more children, youngsters and adults, than any other war, it is vital to address this matter today, and acknowledge its urgency in the context of COVID-19, that will push 176 million more people into extreme poverty.

Being the first objective of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, the fight against extreme poverty and hunger, remains at the core of the UN 2030 Agenda, that aims to eradicate destitution in all its forms, everywhere in the world: a lot has been made over the past decade, but there is still a lot left to do. 

2020 marks the 28th anniversary of the declaration by the United Nations of 17 October as the “International Day for the Eradication of Poverty”. It is a time to reflect on the numerous inroads that have been made to try to end the scourge of poverty. The observance of this day can be traced back to 17 October 1987 at the Trocadéro in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered, to honor the victims of extreme poverty, hunger and violence. Since then, individuals of different backgrounds, have assembled yearly on October 17th to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor. This year’s theme is “Acting together to achieve social and environmental justice for all”, and in order to celebrate this day during these exclusive circumstances, an online global commemoration will take place featuring various guests such as UN Secretary General, Mr. António Guterres, and will address the issue at hand, and its consequences . 

The harsh reality behind October 17th, should not be overlooked by the commemoration of this day, that has been taken advantage of to praise the success of some world leaders. 

It seems as though, that all the efforts made in favor of the battle against poverty, went up in smoke with the upsurge of COVID-19. In fact, the global pandemic “has pushed more than 250 million people to the brink of starvation and dashed hopes of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030”. If things hadn’t taken an unexpected turn this year, the “work invested” in the past decade to fight poverty, would have probably always been eulogized. While the UNDP confirmed in 2019 that there has been “a massive drop in global extreme poverty rates from 36 per cent in 1990 to 8.6 per cent in 2018, immensely increasing social and economic opportunities for many across the world”, a UN report recently published, showed evidence to the contrary, by criticizing world leaders who have promoted “a self-congratulatory message" and declared progress -where is none-  against poverty to be “one of the greatest human achievements of our time”.  "The reality is that billions face few opportunities, countless indignities, unnecessary hunger and preventable death, and do not enjoy basic human rights." In too many cases, the promised benefits of growth either don't materialize or aren't shared, the report says. "The global economy has doubled since the end of the Cold War, yet half the world lives under $5.50 a day, primarily because the benefits of growth have largely gone to the wealthiest." 

Growth alone, without robust equal redistribution of wealth, is not enough, to efficiently tackle poverty. Fighting poverty, entails building inclusive societies, that shift from a charity approach to a rights-based empowering approach. A genuine mobilization, accountability, innovative strategies need to be implemented to “avoid sleepwalking towards assured failure while pumping out endless bland reports” the report further outlines.. 

 According to Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights “it would take 200 years to eradicate poverty under a $5 a day line and would require a 173-fold increase in global GDP." That, he added, is an entirely naive prospect, “not least since it does not take into account the environmental degradation associated to the economic growth, or the impacts of climate change on poverty itself". 

The pandemic has led to the rise of “the new extreme poor”, of which a large share will be concentrated in countries that are already struggling with high poverty rates and figures of poor. In fact, nearly half of the projected new poor will be in South Asia, and more than a third in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Not to mention, that COVID-19 will dramatically amplify inequalities, by plunging the most vulnerable into poverty, and specifically, women, and children. 

The pandemic will indeed reverse decades of progress to minimize the gap between men and women who live in poverty,  by pushing 47 million more girls and women below the poverty line, according to new data released by UN Women and the United Nations Development Programme . The poverty rate for women which was expected to decrease by 2.7 per cent between 2019 and 2021, will most likely today increase of 9.1 per cent due to COVID-19 and its fallout. Therefore, it is expected that by 2021, for every 100 men aged 25 to 34 living in extreme poverty (living on $1.90 a day or less), there will be 118 women, a gap that is estimated to increase by 2030, to 121 women per 100 men.

As for children, not only are more of them experiencing poverty than before, but the poorest children are getting poorer as well. According to a new UNICEF and Save the Children analysis, due to the pandemic, the number of children living in multidimensional poverty - without access to health education, nutrition, housing, sanitation, or water-  has soared to approximately 1.2 billion;  “This is a 15 per cent rise in the number of children living in deprivation in low- and middle-income countries, or an additional 150 million children since the pandemic hit earlier this year”. It is therefore crucial for the international community to step up, and soften the blow, in order to avoid letting a whole generation of children become victims of this pandemic, by letting them lose out on education, making them more prone to be forced into child labor, and early marriage. 

As we can clearly notice, the international community's abysmal record on tackling poverty and inequality, far precede this pandemic.  Putting an end to destitution is not just helping the poor – it is giving every woman, man and child the chance to live with dignity. By eradicating poverty, all humanity will be transformed. It is something to be remembered, not only on October 17th , but everyday.