POVERTY: Millennium Development Goal #1: The State of Poverty and Hunger Around the World

Meredith Slater
September 06, 2010
In the year 2000, 189 world leaders came together to make a historic promise: they would form a new global partnership to reduce extreme poverty through a series of eight targets, all to be achieved by the deadline of 2015. These targets, which have become known as the Millennium Development Goals, are in the words of United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon "ambitious but feasible." From promoting universal education, to combating HIV/AIDS and increasing environmental sustainability, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) embody a comprehensive set of human rights -- rights which every person on this planet should have the opportunity to enjoy by 2015.
In just a few weeks, world leaders will once again convene with the primary objective of accelerating progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). This upcoming meeting, called the Millennium Development Goal Summit, "is expected to undertake a comprehensive review of successes, best practices and lessons learned, obstacles and gaps, challenges and opportunities, 'leading to concrete strategies for action.'"
In advance of the MDG Summit, we at Change.org aim to provide in-depth analysis of each of the Millennium Development Goals, their progress and their shortcomings. So, without further ado, I present to you Goal #1.
GOAL #1: Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
Among the most daunting of all the goals, the first MDG is really two ambitions rolled into one. The three targets used to define this goal are:
1) Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day
2) Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people
3) Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
So what would the world look like if this first goal were achieved? According to the Millennium Project, which was commissioned by the United Nations Secretary-General in 2002 to develop a concrete action plan for the world to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the world would look, well, a lot better. If the first goal were achieved by 2015, 500 million people would be lifted out of extreme poverty and 300 million would no longer suffer from hunger. Lifting the burden of grinding poverty and hunger for so many would contribute to economic growth and renewal unlike any we have ever seen.
Though the scope of this goal and the number of people it has the potential to benefit seem daunting, we have made some real progress. According to the 2010 Millennium Development Goals Report, the proportion of people living on less than $1.25 a day (adjusted for purchasing power parity and measured for 2005 international prices) decreased between 1990 and 2005 from 46% of people in the world, to 27%. This dramatic drop shows just how achievable the first target of Goal #1 is. What's more, some regions have already achieved success in halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty. Southeast and Eastern Asia have achieved and even surpassed the goal, and Northern Africa is nearly there. While the global economic and financial crisis that began in 2008 slowed progress, the momentum continues.
Progress on Target #2 has moved more slowly. The bursting of the housing bubble in the U.S. in 2007 cascaded around the world, crippling economies and forcing millions out of work. Among those who are employed, too many are part of the ranks of the 'working poor' -- those who are part of households where members still live below $1.25 a day. Though most regions will likely not reach this target by 2015, coordinated efforts of countries to respond to the crisis have proved instrumental in averting even greater social and economic hardship.
When food prices spiked in 2008, Target #3 was similarly derailed. The number of hungry around the world was pushed to a record-breaking 1 billion, and those hardest hit were the already desperately poor. Though advances are being made, international food prices have not yet stabilized and progress is not fast enough. Before the food crisis, many regions were on track to achieving Target #3. To get us back on this track will require the commitment of global leaders, national governments and individual citizens alike.
http://humanrights.change.org/blog/view/millennium_development_goal_1_the_state_of_poverty_and_hunger_around_the_world