Towards the End of Child Poverty: A joint statement by partners united in the fight against child poverty

Child poverty is a challenge which should bind us globally. In almost every country in the world children are more likely to be living in poverty than adults, and compounding this, their particular life stage makes them more vulnerable to its devastating effects with potential lifelong consequences for their physical, cognitive and social development. While children themselves suffer the impacts of their poverty most severely and immediately, the harmful consequences for societies, economies and future generations can be felt nationally, regionally and even globally.

Despite the urgency, children have generally received relatively little attention in poverty reduction efforts. However, in the new Sustainable Development Goals, world leaders have now recognized the central importance of child poverty, with Goal 1 aiming to eradicate extreme poverty and halve the proportion of men, women and children living in poverty in all its dimensions. As the world starts the preparations for the implementation of this ambitious agenda, this joint statement aims to articulate the shared understanding of partners on the importance of child poverty, and some of the key responses that can help lift children and future generations out of poverty.