UN Human Rights Office Celebrates Kerala’s Extreme Poverty Eradication as Global Model of Dignity and Participation

New Delhi- The United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) has released a short video celebrating Kerala’s Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme, describing it as a pioneering effort rooted in human dignity, equality, community participation, and the right to development. The animated video, produced to mark the 40th anniversary of the UN Declaration on the Right to Development (adopted in 1986), was released at the UN Headquarters in New York and made available on the OHCHR’s YouTube channel.

The video underscores that poverty is “more than a statistic.” It notes that Kerala chose to “listen” through its People’s Plan Campaign and Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme, shaping development “not just for people but with people.” Poverty was approached multi-dimensionally, not merely as a lack of income, but as intersecting deprivations of capabilities and freedoms.

Local self-government institutions (panchayats and municipalities), civil society groups, and women’s organisations jointly identified households living in extreme poverty. Nearly one million citizens participated in identifying vulnerable families in their neighbourhoods using indicators that included homelessness, chronic illness, and absence of documentation. Beneficiary lists underwent transparent, locally led review and endorsement.

More than 64,000 households (officially recorded as 64,006 families) received tailored support through individual micro-plans designed around their specific needs. Local government departments coordinated existing resources to meet immediate requirements of food security and healthcare, while also creating longer-term pathways out of poverty through sustainable livelihoods and secure housing. The video states that within five years, Kerala had eradicated extreme poverty.

“Kerala’s experience shows the value of dialogue. Development responses that put people at the centre ensure equity, participation, and dignity. The right to development puts people at the centre of development,” the video concludes.

The OHCHR video has been welcomed by LDF leaders as international recognition of a people-centred model. Former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan described it as “a moment of pride for every Malayali” and credited the achievement to grassroots participation, while expressing concern that the current government should not allow the programme to lose momentum.

The video positions Kerala’s approach, grounded in local identification, customised support, and participatory processes, as an illustration of how the right to development can be operationalised by placing people, their dignity, and their agency at the heart of anti-poverty efforts.

How did the Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme (EPEP) work?

The Kerala model of extreme poverty eradication, formally known as the Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme (EPEP), was launched in 2021 by the Left Democratic Front government shortly after the assembly elections as one of its first Cabinet decisions.

It rested on a multi-dimensional and highly participatory approach. Local self-government institutions, Kudumbashree workers, ASHA workers and nearly one million ordinary citizens conducted intensive neighbourhood surveys to identify families living in extreme deprivation, those facing homelessness or inadequate housing, chronic illness, lack of regular income or livelihood, food insecurity, and absence of basic identity documents. After multiple rounds of verification and public endorsement in gram sabhas, 64,006 families were finalised.

For each of these households, customised “micro-plans” were prepared that addressed immediate needs (food, healthcare, documents) as well as medium- and long-term requirements (sustainable livelihoods and secure housing). Existing government schemes were coordinated and delivered through local bodies rather than creating parallel systems. By combining grassroots identification, transparent local validation, and tailored support, Kerala declared itself free of extreme poverty on 1 November 2025, making it the first Indian state to claim this milestone.