Aye Aye Win

President of the International Committee for October 17

Theme of 17 October 2023

Decent Work and Social Protection: Putting Dignity in Practice for All is the 2023 theme for the World Day for Overcoming Extreme Poverty. Very soon we will publish the international poster. The events map and toolkit will be updated to start publishing events and...

We all have something to pass on

Caroline and Annie, two young women – one a mother of three children and one a mother of four - were on their way home after buying “le pain couchée” or the “gone-to-bed bread”, as they say in the Ivory Coast. This day-old bread is sold at a low price in the...

Thydêwá, Hope of the Earth

I was born in Argentina but moved to Brazil when I was twenty-five. I was attracted to the wisdom and spirituality of the most wounded peoples. However, my life changed when Brazil and Portugal celebrated the 500th anniversary of the “discovery of the Americas”. Three...

Jeevan Verma, a rose among the thorns

My name is Jeevan Lal Verma. I was born in the village of Sunargaon, situated in the Kanda district in the foothills of the Himalayas (North India). My family, inhabitants of this region for generations, were jewellery makers. Our village, Sunargaon, derives from the...

I want to play a role in this Fourth World

My name is Susanne Privitera. I live in Switzerland, and I am a member of the Forum on Overcoming Extreme Poverty. I’m part of this network because of an “instinctive” feeling within me since I was a child. In Switzerland, we face long-term social injustice. For...

Joseph Wresinski – the inspiration behind October 17th

The inspiration behind October 17th He grew up in a family which suffered from chronic poverty and social exclusion. Joseph Wresinski was born to immigrant parents in a poor neighbourhood of Angers, France. He grew up in a family which suffered from chronic poverty...

International Committee for October 17

The International Committee for October 17th was launched on October 17th, 2008.The goals of the International Committee for October 17th are: To promote the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, which publicly unites all those who are striving together to...

Having no power is central to it all

Reading the report on the hidden dimensions of poverty made Sister Thérèse, a correspondent of the Forum on Overcoming Extreme Poverty in Lebanon, think about the bond she has created with Josianne. This article was published in a collection of reactions to the report...

“I Bear Witness to You”

Joseph Wresinski’s Address Text available in german, portuguese. Joseph Wresinski’s Address October 17, 1987 Human rights Plaza, Paris. You, the millions and millionsof children, women and fatherswho have died from misery and hungerand whose legacy we hold.It is not...