Poverty Eradication Day, Saturday, Oct. 17

On Poverty Eradication Day, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2.6 billion people will wake up wondering how they’re going to feed, clothe and house their families on less than $2 a day. On that day, like everyday, 25,000 children — or one child every 3.5 seconds – will die due to poverty.

This is not an issue of skipped meals: a child dies of hunger-related causes every 10 seconds.

It doesn’t have to be this way.  If we prioritise hunger and re-think the way we grow food we can create a HungerFREE world.

What’s the problem?

• Over one billion people are going hungry right now.
• That’s nearly a sixth of humanity.
• Last year, a food price crisis pushed 100 million more into hunger.  Poor people ate less frequently and cut back on the nutrient-rich food they need most. 
• Local food prices remain much higher than before, so hungry families have to make a horrible choice between buying food and doing without healthcare or school for their children.
• There is enough food in the world to meet everyone’s needs, but not everyone gets a fair share.

Who is suffering most?

• The problem is worst in rural areas, home to 75% of the world’s poor. 
• Poor people lack control over land and access to other basic farming resources like water.
• Women are particularly disadvantaged. While women in poor countries grow more than 60% of the food, they own less than 1% of the land.
• Climate change, high prices, trade barriers and agro-fuel production are all hitting the poorest people hardest.
• Poor people in rural communities can feed themselves if they have the right support, but the current system isn’t working.

What’s the solution?

• There is enough food in the world to feed everyone – the problem is political. And that means it can be fixed.
• Low-impact farming by small-holder farmers is the best way to tackle hunger.
• A UN study found sustainable agriculture increased crop yields in Africa by an astonishing 116%.

What can I do?

• We need all world political leaders to demonstrate international leadership in improving the way the global food system is managed.
• We need all governments to be monitored and held to account for eradicating hunger.
• We need all governments to support small scale, sustainable farming of the kind that can best support women farmers.

Are you willing to make a stand and be a part of the solution to end global poverty?
http://www.oct17.org/en

About International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been celebrated on 17 October each year, ever since thousands people from all walks of life gathered in 1987 at the commemorative stone to honour the victims of poverty at the Trocadero Human Rights Plaza in Paris. This initial stone was inaugurated on 17 October 1987 by Father Joseph Wresinski in the presence of 100,000 defenders of human rights from all countries, backgrounds and creeds.
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/social/intldays/IntlDay/index.html

Father Wresinski (1917 – 1988), who was himself born into extreme poverty, was the founder of the International Movement ATD Fourth World. In 1957, he went to serve as a priest among families in an emergency housing camp in Noisy Le Grand (France), before going on to help other families living in poverty around the world. On 17 October 1987, Father Wresinski watched as Simone Veil unveiled the Commemorative Stone to honour the victims of poverty. “Through this commemorative stone,” said Father Wresinksi, “humankind is asked to remember the great witnesses of history: the common people, the little people, the nobodies who, one day at a time, try to live by values which they might never have been taught, but which they have nevertheless discovered through their own lives, hearts and intelligence.”

Since the inauguration of the first commemorative stone in Paris, 25 replicas have been laid at symbolic sites in 10 countries across 4 continents. One such stone lies at the foot of the steps at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg; other international institutions to have laid stones include the United Nations in New York, the European Union in Brussels and the International Labour Office in Geneva.

Each commemorative stone for the eradication of poverty is:

• a homage to the very poor from every era and every continent,
• a repudiation of poverty as an unacceptable human condition, and
• a rallying point where people can renew their commitment to ensuring that everyone’s human rights are respected.
Since 1987 and in particular since the UN General Assembly resolution of December 1992, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been celebrated each 17 October. It provides an opportunity for the general public to hear what those living in extreme poverty have to say, and to ask ourselves what we, as citizens, can do to eradicate poverty.

The message proclaimed on 17 October is as follows: “Wherever men and women are condemned to live in poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty.”
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/social/intldays/IntlDay/index.html