International Day for Eradication of Poverty
Restoring dignity and justice in the fight against poverty
Poverty is often measured in terms of key indicators, including income levels, access to food, housing, and employment. Yet, actual poverty reduction must go beyond economics. It must also restore what poverty takes away most deeply: dignity, justice, and a sense of belonging. For millions of people across the continent, poverty is not only about lacking material resources but about being unseen, unheard, and excluded from shaping their own lives.
To live in dignity means more than having enough to survive. It means being able to make choices, to work without exploitation, to have one’s voice respected in family and community life. Justice, likewise, is not just a legal principle. It is about fair access to opportunity, education, and protection. Belonging, finally, is what ties people to their communities. When poverty isolates people from these human foundations, it erodes the very fabric of society.
Unfortunately, social and institutional systems often deepen this exclusion. Poverty is made worse when schools fail to reach marginalised children, when courts are inaccessible to the poor, or when public offices treat people with bias or neglect. In some places, welfare systems meant to support families can become sources of stigma, reinforcing feelings of shame or dependence. Addressing poverty, therefore, requires more than charity or financial aid. It needs reforming the very institutions that shape daily life, so that they uphold fairness, respect, and accountability for everyone.
Families are at the heart of this process. For example, in the African context, societies, families are the first safety net, raising children, caring for older individuals, and sharing resources in times of crisis. When families are separated by conflict, migration, or poverty itself, communities lose stability. Yet policy responses often overlook this. Instead of strengthening families, economic or social policies can sometimes divide them, for instance, when education costs force children out of school, or when job scarcity pushes breadwinners to migrate for long periods. Building resilient families means designing systems that allow them to stay together, access basic services, and support one another without facing impossible trade-offs.
By way of a second example, in many parts of Africa, local initiatives already show what this looks like in practice. Community savings groups help families pool resources for school fees or healthcare. Grassroots organisations promote women’s economic empowerment through cooperatives that restore both income and confidence. Social protection programmes that prioritise mothers and caregivers have proven more effective at reducing hunger and keeping children in school. These examples demonstrate that when people are trusted and included as partners in development rather than passive recipients of aid, progress is more sustainable.
Equity also means focusing on those furthest behind. Too often, development programmes concentrate on areas that are easiest to reach or populations already better connected to opportunity. Yet the most transformative impact comes from investing in marginalised groups such as people with disabilities, rural women, displaced families, and informal workers. By prioritising the most disadvantaged individuals, this approach reduces inequality, strengthens social cohesion, and enables entire communities to move forward together.
The path to poverty eradication must therefore blend economic inclusion with social transformation. This integrated approach means investing in education that nurtures potential, in governance that listens and responds, and in institutions that value every person equally. It also means reimagining growth models, from extractive industries to inclusive enterprises that create decent jobs and community wealth.
It is essential to recognise that ending poverty is not solely about increasing incomes. It is about ensuring that every person can stand with dignity, access justice, and feel they belong. The real test of progress lies not only in how much wealth is created, but in how societies treat those who have the least, whether systems lift them up or leave them behind. When dignity and justice become the measure of development, poverty will no longer define people’s lives, and will reflect the strength and inclusion of all its people.
