Today on International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we are invited to reflect on the pressing issue of poverty and its impact on others and humanity. This day serves as a reminder of our shared responsibility to combat poverty and its root causes, and for us to consider how we can contribute to eliminating this issue.
Poverty affects millions worldwide, limiting access to basic needs such as food, clean water, education, and healthcare. It is not merely an economic issue but also a multidimensional issue encompassing both social and institutional aspects. Social maltreatment creates a setting for institutional maltreatment, which includes not only negative attitudes but also controlling discriminatory policies and practices, denying people their fundamental human rights such as access to healthcare, education, housing, etc.
Social and institutional maltreatment interact and amplify each other. It fuels double-edged violence and injustice. Daily experiences of injustice and dehumanization undermine self-esteem, destroy personal agency, denies people their dignity and the chance of getting out of poverty. People living in poverty face stigma, discrimination, and harsh judgment, are blamed for their situation, and are treated with disrespect. Social and institutional maltreatment is a catastrophic loss of human potential to society and a moral outrage on a global level.
This year’s commemoration theme of “Ending Social and Institutional Maltreatment: Acting Together for Just, Peaceful, and Inclusive Societies” urges us to reflect and act on the systemic issues that perpetuate poverty and social injustice. Today, we are reminded of our collective responsibility to take action and contribute to eradicating this issue. To end global poverty, we are required to prioritize investments in decent work, learning opportnities, and social protection. Action such as philanthropy is a powerful tool for us to implement our shared vision to reform the global financial architecture and uplift poverty.
By making a Goodwill Vow and donating to initiatives dedicated to overcoming poverty either through addressing and reducing systematic inequality such as “Good+Foundation”, “World Literacy Foundation (WLF)”, and “Instituto Dara” or through innovation such as “BRAC”, “Kashf Foundation”, and “World Vision”, we help to dismantle poverty and alleviate others from social injustice.
Let’s make a Goodwill Vow and end poverty! Let’s create a better future where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.