On October 17th is International Day for the Eradication of Poverty - building forward together, ending persisting poverty, respecting all people and our planet.

This day presents an opportunity to acknowledge the struggle of people living in poverty and a chance for them to make their concerns heard. Participation of the poor themselves has been at the center of the Day's celebration since its very beginning. Today also reflects the willingness of people living in poverty to use their expertise to contribute to the eradication of poverty.

Building a sustainable future requires us to intensify our efforts towards eradicating extreme poverty and discrimination, and ensuring that everyone can fully exercise their human rights. As well as transforming our relationship with nature, dismantling structures of discrimination that disadvantage people in poverty and building on the moral and legal framework of human rights that places human dignity at the heart of policy and action.

Ending poverty in all its forms is the first of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. End poverty in all of its forms everywhere.

The SDGs’ main reference to combatting poverty is made in target 1.A: “Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions.”

The UN Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) makes public and private finance work for the poor in the
world’s least developed countries (LDCs).
With its capital mandate and instruments, UNCDF offers “last mile” finance models that unlock public and private resources, especially at the domestic level, to reduce poverty and support local economic development. The “last mile” is where available resources for development are scarcest; where market failures are most pronounced; and where benefits from national growth tend to leave people excluded.

By strengthening how finance works for poor people at the household, small enterprise, and local infrastructure levels, UNCDF contributes to SDG 1 on eradicating poverty with a focus on reaching the last mile and addressing exclusion and inequalities of access. At the same time, UNCDF deploys its capital finance mandate in line with SDG 17 on the means of implementation, to unlock public and private finance for the poor at the local level.

Read more about International Day for the Eradication of Poverty HERE.

Read how UNCDF supports the eradication of pvoerty in most recent news.