On the occasion of World Day to Overcome Extreme Poverty, France welcomes the adoption by the UN Human Rights Council of the guidelines on extreme poverty and human rights drafted by Ms. Magdalena Sepúlveda, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty.
Indeed, France, which actively participates in the fight against poverty led by the international organizations, had raised the issue of extreme poverty at the UN, in conjunction with ATD Fourth-World.
Poverty eradication is the first of the Millennium Development Goals; poverty prevents the most vulnerable from enjoying their fundamental rights. It constitutes a violation of human dignity. We must ensure that sustainable development policies prevent social exclusion and incorporate the fight against poverty; we must combat it by making existing rights - to which everyone is entitled - effective.
To celebrate this World Day, France is co-hosting numerous poverty eradication–related events in Paris and at the UN in New York.
France will spare no effort to ensure that further progress can be made in the fight against poverty within the multilateral forums and in particular at the UN which has just started work on developing a post-2015 international framework for development