A STEP Towards Human Rights and Peace for All
On October 17, 1987, this declaration (see reverse side) - engraved on the Plaza of Human Rights and Liberties (Paris, France) - inaugurated the first World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty, recognized by the United Nations as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty in 1992.
In 2006-2007, over 150,000 people signed the "Call to Action" through the campaign "Ending Extreme Poverty, a Road to Peace", thus revealing a social movement of diverse individuals and groups around the world who agree that extreme poverty is a violation of human rights, and who want to come together to ensure that these rights be respected.
This social movement has led to an ongoing mobilization to strive together to end poverty, an essential step towards human rights and peace for all.
Each year, October 17th will be an opportunity to make public - locally, nationally, and internationally - the growing number of people around the world who agree with this declaration and who work in their own way towards its realization.
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If you signed the Call to Action, it is not necessary to sign this declaration because your voice has already been counted. However, please do distribute it as widely as possible! It can be signed online sent by post to: October 17th Team, ATD Fourth World, 107 Avenue du Général Leclerc, 95480 Pierrelaye, France.
Let’s STEP up to the challenge together!
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“Thousands of people have united with those living in extreme poverty, and together they struggle silently to end it. It’s time for the world to know that we need the poorest people too.”
"Nobody knows the potential of a society of individuals who are really equal in rights, but I believe that its creation would be an extraordinary step in the right direction!"
“[I believe] that the advancement of a human being should be seen as the fulfillment of his or her potential. Let’s bury the gap between the rich and the poor.”
“[We must] consider the poorest people as the first to take action, as human beings and not as objects of charity.”
“If I don’t start to fight against poverty myself, why will my neighbor do it? I can’t demand that the state work with the poorest people if I don’t start to do it at my own level.”
"We are perhaps not directly to blame for the exclusion of millions of human beings, but we can become the agents of their inclusion."
"The sea bed consists of millions of little grains; without their unity the sea would not be as it is. We must unite our forces."
English
From 155 countries
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