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Yesterday, October 17, was the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The observance of this day can be traced back to October 17, 1987. On that day, over a hundred thousand people gathered at the Trocadéro in Paris, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed in 1948, to honour the victims of extreme poverty, violence and hunger.

They proclaimed that poverty is a violation of Human Rights and affirmed the need to come together to ensure that these rights are respected. Since then, people of all backgrounds, beliefs and social origins have gathered every year on October 17 to renew their commitment and show their solidarity with the poor.
Working, as we do, with some of the poorest people in the world, Mumbai Smiles is in a daily, lifelong mission to eradicate poverty from Mumbai. And, on this day, we underscore our commitment to continue this struggle until there is nothing left to fight against anymore.

Mindful of the terrible consequences of poverty, not only in Mumbai, but also in other countries, even ‘developed’ one, we believe that everyone (leaders, institutions and individuals) can contribute in different ways to make a real difference.

In the words of Muhammad Yunus: ‘Poverty does not belong in civilised human society. Its proper place is in a museum. That’s where it will be.’

We dream of the day when we can walk into that museum and point out an exhibit to our kids and say, ‘Do you see that? That’s poverty, it used to be everywhere but it has become extinct now.’

It’s been six years since we made our commitment to fulfill that dream. What about you?