VIVAT International participates actively in UN efforts to eradicate extreme poverty, improve the living standard and human dignity of all impoverished people, and address the many effects of poverty.

“ In the light of the International Bill of Rights, poverty may be defined as a human condition characterized by sustained or chronic deprivation of the resources, capabilities, choices, security and power necessary for the enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and other civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights. While acknowledging that there is no universally accepted definition, the Committee endorses this multi-dimensional understanding of poverty, which reflects the indivisible and interdependent nature of all human rights.”  (Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: E/C.12/2001/10)

Poverty affects every aspect of life.

“A sustained or chronic deprivation of the resources, capabilities, choices, security and power necessary for the enjoyment of an adequate standard of living and other civil cultural, economic, political and social rights.” (Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: E/C.12/2001/10)

More than one billion people live on less than a dollar a day.  Another 2.7 billion people survive on less than two dollars a day.

• Annually, six million children die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday.
• More than 2.6 billion people do not have basic sanitation, and more than a billion people do not have safe sources of drinking water.
• One third of deaths, about 18 million people a year or 50,000 per day, are due to poverty-related causes.
• Every year more than 10 million children die of hunger and preventable diseases: that is one child every 3 seconds.

Women are particularly affected by poverty.

• More than 80% of farmers in Africa are women.
• More than 40% of women in Africa do not have access to basic education.
• Around the world, 584 million women are illiterate.

(Facts from the UN Millennium Project)

Ending hunger and extreme poverty is Goal #1 of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. Join the campaign to end poverty by 2015 at http://www.endpoverty2015.org

Resources

• The Commission on Human Rights’s Independent Expert on extreme poverty
• The Sub-Commission on Human Rights’s Ad hoc Working Group on the implementation of existing human rights norms and standards in the context of the fight against extreme poverty
• United Nations Development Group
• UNESCO Poverty Eradication
• Make Poverty History Campaign
• Millennium Campaign
• Picture the Homeless

How can I help?

• Celebrate the International Day for the Poverty Eradication on October 17 in your school, place of work or community.
• Join the Millennium Campaign and educate yourself about the issues.
• Contribute examples of best practices for VIVAT International’s poverty eradication program.
• Conduct research and provide grassroots input to prepare for upcoming UN commissions.
• Team up with VIVAT to put on a workshop, roundtable, etc. centered on poverty eradication.
• Partner with UN agencies on poverty reduction projects.
• Advocate at the national level for poverty eradication programs.
• Invite speakers to your prayer group, classroom, church, community centre, etc.
• Find local development projects in your area to support tutoring centers, healthcare centers, housing development, etc.
• Mobilize communities to advocate that governments:
  • help establish MDGs at the core of national poverty reduction plans;
  • integrate MDG financing in national budgets;
  • provide technical support to governments;
  • increase public investment in long term MDG plans;
  • plan across all sectors and integrate human rights.
• Write your local papers about the Millennium Development Goals and projects that your community has undertaken to complete them.
• Write songs and poetry about the Millennium Development Goals for magazines, etc.
• Check out the MDGs Youth Action Guide