Gathering on June 5 at the “Human Rights to End Poverty” Stone at Trocadero in Paris, the International Committee for the United Nations EndPovertyDay October17 launched the #VillarceauxDeclaration, framing the challenges of poverty eradication in the current global context. The Committee recalls the text engraved in 1987 on the Stone: “Wherever men and women are condemned to live in extreme poverty, human rights are violated. To come together to ensure that these rights be respected is our solemn duty.”
The Declaration emphasizes that
1. Poverty is produced and reproduced by policy choices,
2. Poverty persists, in rich and poor countries, and
3. Poverty can be overcome.
Further, the Committee calls to “ensure that austerity measures do not undermine the rights and dignity of people living in poverty” and expresses great concern about “the multiplication of brutal wars, plagued with war crimes and crimes against humanity” in “flagrant violations of the UN Charter”. It denounces that “often using wars as an excuse, countries far away from combat reallocate public funds from social services to military purposes and push millions of people into poverty”.
The Trocadero Stone has been reproduced in over 70 cities around the world and the International Committee promotes their conservancy, further dissemination and the observance of October 17 as International End Poverty Day.
