People Living in extreme poverty around the World propose to build forward and not a return to the past or “build back better” !*.    

Starting today and throughout the week up down the country many women and men of good will are taking action to raise awareness about the extent of poverty at home and abroad.  Culminating on the 17 October with the UN International Day or the Eradication of Poverty.   The B45 MCW group in Birmingham are some of these people, taking a number of local initiatives to mark this important date.

COVID-19 has resulted in over 3.7 million deaths globally, reversing decades of progress in the  fight  against poverty and extreme poverty.  The World Bank estimates  “Projected poverty impacts of COVID-19, ”between 71 to 100 million people pushed into poverty as a result of the crisis, the majority of the new extreme poor being found in South Asian and Sub-Saharan countries  

where  poverty rates are already high”. In 2021, this number is expected to rise to between 143 and 163 million.

The new poor’ will join the ranks of the 1.3 billion people already living in persistent poverty whose existing deprivations worsened during the global pandemic. The impact of COVID-19 has hit hardest

those who – for generations – have lacked equal access to public services, quality healthcare and strong social protection, making it harder to  cope with any shocks. The measures imposed to limit the spread of Covid often further pushed them into poverty – the informal economy which enables many people in poverty to survive was virtually shut down in many countries.

As we embark on the post-COVID recovery and getting back on track with the Sustainable Development Goals, * Many are talking of “building back better,” but the message from the worldwide Permanent Forum on Extreme Poverty, a network of people and organisations working to overcome poverty, made it clear that people living in extreme poverty do not want a return to the past nor to build back to what it was before. They do not want a return to the endemic structural disadvantages and inequalities. Instead, people living in poverty propose to build forward.

Building forward means transforming our relationship with nature, dismantling structures of discrimination that disadvantage people in poverty and building on the moral and legal framework of human rights that places human dignity at the heart  of  policy and action. Building forward means not only that no one is left behind but that people living in poverty are actively encouraged and supported to be in the front, engaging in informed and meaningful participation in decision making processes that directly affect their lives. In building forward, we need to let ourselves be enriched by the wealth  of wisdom, energy and resourcefulness that people living in poverty can contribute to our communities, our societies and ultimately to our planet.

https://www.un.org/development/desa/socialperspectiveondevelopment/international-day-for-the-eradication-of-poverty-homepage.html

https://challengepoverty.co.uk