The International Day for the eradication of poverty is an annual reminder that ending poverty is not only about low income, but also about dignity, justice, and belonging.

With Resolution 47/196 of December 22, 1992, the United Nations General Assembly designated October 17 as the International Day for the eradication of poverty.

The focus of this day in 2025 is a powerful theme: “Ending social and institutional abuse by ensuring respect and effective support for families.”
The goal is simple yet urgent: to build institutions that help families stay together, thrive, and shape their own futures. Families living in poverty often face immense challenges, confronting stigma, control, and systems that punish rather than support. Around the world, parents—especially single mothers, Indigenous families, and those from historically discriminated groups—report daily experiences of judgment and surveillance in places meant to help them: schools, clinics, child protection offices, and social welfare agencies. These interactions often erode trust, undermine agency, and can even result in family separation due to poverty, causing lasting emotional and social harm to both children and parents.

The 2025 theme is based on global consultations with people who have lived experience of poverty and with organizations working alongside them. It calls on all of us—policymakers, practitioners, and communities—to listen to families, recognize their efforts, and transform support systems so that they are built on trust, respect, and collaboration.

How can “abuse” be ended?

Social and institutional abuse is not limited to the actions of a few individuals; it is often embedded in rules and routines. Examples include intrusive monitoring of households, burdensome eligibility checks, humiliating encounters with service providers, or under-resourced programs that routinely fail to provide adequate support. The result is a climate of fear and shame that can discourage families from seeking help at all. To change course, the theme of the Day calls for three key shifts:

1. From control to care: Design trust-based services. Reduce punitive conditionalities, simplify paperwork, and prioritize person-centered, respectful interactions.
2. From surveillance to support: Rebalance investments away from monitoring and removal toward family-strengthening services—income support, quality childcare, adequate housing, mental health care, parenting support, and access to justice.
3. From top-down to co-created solutions: Involve families living in poverty at every stage—assessment, design, budgeting, implementation, and evaluation—so that policies reflect the real needs of families.

Supporting families is essential to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• No Poverty (SDG 1);
• Zero Hunger (SDG 2);
• Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3);
• Quality Education (SDG 4);
• Gender Equality (SDG 5);
• Decent Work and Social Protection (SDG 8);
• Reduced Inequalities (SDG 10); and
• Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions (SDG 16).

Coherent policies across social protection, education, health, housing, and employment—designed and implemented together—create conditions in which families can stay together and children can thrive. This year’s observance takes place just weeks before the Second World Summit for Social Development (Doha, November 4–6, 2025), where governments, civil society, and partners will focus on people-centered development and practical solutions to accelerate social progress. The Day’s call for respect, protection, and support for families is a vital contribution to that agenda—helping turn commitments into concrete and measurable change.