Last week, on 17 October, the annual International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, adopted by the UN in 1992, was observed under the 2026-2028 theme, ‘United for Peace and Human Rights’. The specific 2026 theme was ‘Safe Homes for All’, highlighting adequate housing as a foundation for security, participation and a life of dignity. “Without a safe and stable home, access to health care, education, employment and participation in community life becomes far more difficult”, the UN message said, adding that “Poverty is not solely an economic issue, but a multidimensional phenomenon that encompasses a lack of both income and the basic capabilities to live in dignity.”Among the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the first one, SDG 1, is about ‘ending poverty’, and SDG 2 is ‘zero hunger’, followed by SDG 3, ‘good health and well-being’, SDG 4, ‘quality education’, SDG 5, ‘gender equality’ and SDG 6, ‘clean water and sanitation’, plus all the other goals, which were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, with a target of being reached by 2030.The latest 2024 figures from the World Bank show that roughly 10% of the world’s population lives in extreme poverty, about 800-850 million people. While the numbers have gone down since 1990, when there were 1.5 billion people living in extreme poverty, they have again begun to increase in recent years due to several factors, including the effects of the COVID pandemic, global inflation and regional wars and conflicts, also affecting many children and youth. The numbers have gone up in some areas in South Asia, including Pakistan, where prices and living costs have become higher.The updated 2026 World Bank statistical report, which will be released shortly, will show the most recent trends, well, probably not the very recent ones caused by higher oil and gas prices,........

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