Welcome to the United Nations
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty (IDEP) is a global call to action, a day to reaffirm the world’s shared responsibility to end poverty in all its forms and dimensions, everywhere. Recognized by the United Nations since 1992, this observance brings together people, communities, and institutions to reflect on the lived realities of those furthest behind and to advance policies that restore dignity, equality, and opportunity.
A Focus on Families
The 2025 theme, “Ensuring Respect and Effective Support for Families,” highlights one of the least visible but most pervasive aspects of poverty — the social and institutional maltreatment that families in poverty face in their daily lives.
Too often, parents and caregivers are judged for circumstances beyond their control. Economic hardship, discrimination, and lack of access to quality services leave millions of families struggling to meet basic needs. These struggles are sometimes misinterpreted as neglect, leading to punitive interventions instead of support. In some cases, poverty results in family separations that cause long-lasting harm to both parents and children.
This year’s commemoration seeks to challenge these misconceptions and call for policies that keep families together, strengthen community bonds, and ensure that all children grow up in safe and nurturing environments.
Poverty Is Not Neglect
Poverty is not the result of individual failure, but of systemic exclusion. Families living in poverty are often caught in a web of discrimination and institutional distrust that limits their access to education, health care, housing, and social protection. In many countries, limited resources are directed towards surveillance and investigations rather than the provision of real support.
Recognizing this reality means shifting from a culture of control to one of respect and cooperation — one that acknowledges parents’ efforts to provide for their children despite immense challenges.
Families at the Centre of Sustainable Development
Supporting families is central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Family-oriented policies are key to progress on poverty eradication, education, health, gender equality, decent work, and social protection. Effective family support requires coherence across policy sectors — ensuring that social, economic, and institutional frameworks work together to lift people out of poverty.
Governments, civil society, and international organizations are called upon to design policies and programmes that strengthen family resilience, respect human dignity, and empower communities to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
Working Together for a Future Without Poverty
Despite ongoing global challenges, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is a reminder of hope and shared humanity. By putting the furthest behind first, by fostering understanding instead of stigma, and by supporting families with compassion and evidence-based action, societies can build a future where everyone — especially children — has the opportunity to thrive.
Learn more:
UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, 17 October 2025
ATD Fourth World
Forum for Overcoming Extreme Poverty
