Message from Donald Lee, President of the International Movement ATD Fourth World for the annual report 2025

There are growing concerns that support is weakening for development cooperation at the United Nations. This retreat threatens to derail progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2030.

The United Nations must ensure that its efforts to achieve social development and human progress are based on a human rights approach, and that the commitment to “leave no one behind” guides all initiatives aimed at eradicating poverty in all its dimensions and forms. People living in poverty must be able to participate effectively at the local, regional, and international levels, and their contributions should always be recognised and valued.

On the occasion of the Second World Summit for Social Development, convened by the United Nations in Doha, Qatar, and marking the thirtieth anniversary of the 1995 Copenhagen World Social Summit, ATD Fourth World issued a position paper. This document calls for global and national action to end extreme poverty by prioritising the multidimensionality of poverty, the meaningful participation of people experiencing poverty, and the right to legal identity.

During the summit, ATD Fourth World organised a webinar on the IDEEP tool that grew Abraham of the Central African Republic observed that not having a birth certificate is like not existing as a child, as a human being. out of our participatory research on the hidden dimensions of poverty. This tool should be widely implemented by governments and development agencies because it helps ensure the meaningful participation of people living in poverty in the design, implementation, and assessment of programmes and policies that have an actual or potential impact on their lives.

A fundamental component in working to overcome extreme poverty and ensure human rights is guaranteeing that every person has a legal identity. An absence of legal identity offends human dignity and creates serious social and institutional barriers for people striving to escape extreme poverty. ATD Fourth World hosted three webinars on legal identity in partnership with the African Child Policy Forum, Child Identity Protection, and UNICEF. They aimed to raise public awareness of the importance of universal legal identity — particularly birth registration — as the gateway to other rights, such as health and education.

Abraham of the Central African Republic observed that not having a birth certificate is like not existing as a child, as a human being.

In this annual report 2025, you will see highlights of ATD Fourth World’s activities around the world for ensuring respect and effective support for families. These efforts are conceived and developed in safe spaces that are provided for thinking, acting, and advocating together, which become real meeting points for mutual learning grounded in equal dignity — an indispensable starting point for new knowledge, capable of providing lasting solutions to the great challenges of our time.