REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, NEW YORK -- "Ours can be the first generation to witness a world without extreme poverty," said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, while urging global action to fully implement the newly-adopted goals of the UN 2030 Agenda in his message to mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Saturday.
This year's observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty falls as the world embarks on a bold new path toward a future of dignity for all guided by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said Ban.
This year's theme -- "Building a sustainable future: Coming together to end poverty and discrimination" -- highlights the need to focus greater attention on the excluded and marginalized members of the human family, he said.
The target of halving extreme poverty in the world, set 15 years ago by the landmark Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), has already been reached in 2015.
"Spurred on by the global mobilization behind the Millennium Development Goals, the world has made extraordinary progress in reducing extreme poverty. Over the past 25 years, more than one billion people have been lifted above the poverty threshold," he said.
However, more than 900 million people continue to live in extreme poverty, and many more are at risk. "Climate change, violent conflict and other disasters threaten to undo many of our gains," he said.
Recalling that the 2030 Agenda 2030 aims to ensure a sustainable future to everyone, the UN chief said that: "Leaving no one behind means ending the discrimination and abuse targeted at one half of humankind -- the world's women and girls.
"Ours can be the first generation to witness a world without extreme poverty, where all people -- not only the powerful and the privileged -- can participate and contribute equally, free of discrimination and want," Ban said.
The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty has been observed every year since 1993, when the United Nations General Assembly designated Oct. 17 to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries. Poverty eradication remains at the core of the MDGs and the development of the new Sustainable Development Goals, according to the UN.
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