On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) renews its resolve to eradicate poverty and advance shared prosperity. This year’s theme, “Ending social and institutional maltreatment by ensuring respect and effective support for families”, reminds us of the need to uphold the dignity of every family.

The 2025 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) by UNDP and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative reveals that nearly 80 percent of the world's multidimensionally poor people - 887 million individuals - now live in areas exposed to at least one major climate hazard: high heat, drought, floods, or air pollution. Some 650 million poor people face two or more hazards at the same time.

This new MPI matters because it allows us to see poverty as people live it: income poverty and lack of choices compounded by climate risk and inequality. Poverty is about more than not having enough money. It also means not having access to basic services or support systems. Therefore, UNDP works with countries to build institutions that people can trust and that help families through social protection, quality services, and climate action. 

Ending poverty in all its forms, everywhere, remains a defining promise of our time. It is one we can keep by ensuring that every family can live with dignity, security, and the power to shape its own future.