Goal 1: End Poverty & Hunger

People live in poverty in both developed and developing nations throughout the world. HOWEVER, extreme poverty is a problem concentrated almost exclusively in the developing world—Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, most of Asia, and Southeastern Europe.

To be in “extreme poverty” means living on less than $1.25 a day (defined by the value of the US dollar in 2005). In 2005, an estimated 1.4 billion people were living in such extreme poverty in the developing world—over a fifth of the world’s population!

Millennium Development Goal 1 aims to reduce radically the extent of extreme poverty and hunger in the world. Although progress has been made in recent years, current rising food prices and the recent global economic downturn have slowed progress and jeopardize future success.

Significant investment and public donations will be needed to meet Goal 1 by 2015.

Learn how you can help.

TARGET 1: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day

Extreme poverty hampers all aspects of growth. Families living in extreme poverty struggle for basic necessities such as food and clean water, and they frequently cannot pay for basic education and health care. Rates of hunger remain high in these regions, and labor productivity remains low.

1 IN 4 PEOPLE LIVE IN EXTREME POVERTY IN DEVELOPING NATIONS. This represents a significant improvement since 1990, when over 40% of the developing world population lived in extreme poverty.

MOST PROGRESS HAS BEEN LIMITED TO A FEW NATIONS. The rapid economic development of China and India during the last several decades has helped hundreds of millions of people in Eastern and Southern Asia escape extreme poverty. Similar trends have occurred in Southeast Asia.

BUT SOME REGIONS HAVE HAD VERY LITTLE PROGRESS. In sub-Saharan Africa and Latin-America, rates of extreme poverty have dropped only slightly in nearly two decades. Over half of all people in sub-Saharan Africa still live below $1.25/day. In Western Asia, rates of extreme poverty have actually increased since 1990, largely due to ongoing political turmoil.

TARGET 2: Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people

In order to escape extreme poverty, people must have jobs. But having a job itself is not always sufficient. Jobs must be productive—meaning they must produce goods or services with significant value to others. A nation with jobs that are not productive in this way will have persistent poverty.

ACROSS ALL DEVELOPING NATIONS, OVER 1 IN 4 JOBS DON’T PAY ENOUGH EVEN TO ESCAPE EXTREME POVERTY. In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly two thirds of all employed men and women still do not earn enough to lift themselves and their families out of extreme poverty. In Southern Asia and the Pacific Islands, over one third of all employed people do not get paid enough to escape extreme poverty.

WOMEN REMAIN UNDEREMPLOYED. Women continue to have substantially lower employment rates in all developing regions, particularly in Northern Africa and Western Asia, where less than 25% of women are employed.

PROGRESS HAS OCCURRED IN SOME COUNTRIES. In East and Southeast Asia, increases in job productivity have lead to improving wages and decreased extreme poverty among employed people. Similar progress has occurred in India and Southeastern Europe, but elsewhere minimal progress in productivity has been made.

THE RECENT ECONOMIC DOWNTURN WILL SEVERELY HURT PROGRESS. Millions of people worldwide are losing jobs, and millions more who have jobs will still not earn enough to counteract rising costs of basic necessities.

TARGET 3: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

Proper nutrition is vital for health. When people are malnourished, they cannot fight infections or respond to injuries or illnesses as easily, and they will have less energy to carry out daily work. Children especially need proper nutrition for physical and intellectual growth and development.

ONE IN FIVE PEOPLE SUFFERS FROM HUNGER IN DEVELOPING NATIONS. The percentage of people who suffer from hunger in developing nations has not dropped significantly since 1990. Rates of hunger are worst in rural regions.

SOME COUNTRIES HAVE IMPROVED SINCE 1990. Improvement has largely occurred in China and India due to their rapid development during the past several decades. Southeast Asia has also seen significant improvements.

BUT HUNGER REMAINS A SIGNIFICANT PROBLEM IN MOST PLACES. Nearly 30% of all people still suffer from hunger in sub-Saharan Africa. Aside from India, nearly half of all children living in Southern Asia are undernourished, and rates of hunger have actually increased since 1990 in Eastern Asia when excluding China.

AND RISING FOOD PRICES MAKE MATTERS WORSE. Food prices have increased in recent years, largely due to increasing demand worldwide without corresponding boosts in supply. The increase in food prices has been devastating to the world’s poorest people, which means that millions more will continue to suffer from hunger than previously expected.