The MDGs | Poverty, Trade and Debt

Focus on Goal 1
Focus on Goal 8

Focus on Goal 1

Target 1: Halve between 1990 and 2015 the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day (about 60p.)

What progress was made up to 2005?

Extreme poverty is a daily reality for more than 1 billion people who subsist on less than $1 a day. Hunger and malnutrition are almost as common: more than 800 million people have too little to eat to meet their daily energy needs. For young children, the lack of food holds back their physical and mental development and can threaten their very survival. More than a quarter of children under age 5 in developing countries are malnourished. Global poverty rates are falling, led by Asia in particular China and India. But millions more people have sunk deep into poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the poor are getting poorer.

Source: The Millennium Development Goals Report - 2005

Target 2: Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger.

What progress was made to 2005?

Progress has been made against hunger, but slow growth in agriculture and growing populations have led to setbacks in some regions. Since 1990, millions more people are chronically hungry in sub- Saharan Africa and in Southern Asia, where half the children under age 5 are malnourished.

Efforts to end poverty and hunger are frequently set back by conflict and natural disasters.

Out of 13 million deaths in large-scale conflicts from 1994 to 2003, over 12 million were in sub-Saharan Africa, Western Asia and Southern Asia. Not surprisingly, these regions are also home to three quarters of the world’s 37 million refugees and displaced persons and the areas where the number of hungry people is growing. In two of these regions — sub-Saharan Africa and Western Asia — poverty is also on the rise.

How are Young People affected by Poverty and Hunger?

The most effective way to help poor people lift themselves out of poverty is by creating jobs. Youth are particularly at risk of being unemployed. According to a recent International Labour Organisation survey:

• more than half of the world’s jobless are under the age of 24.
• In 2002, 74 million youth were out of work (up from 58 million in 1995).
• Up to 110 million young people are undernourished
• 238 million live on less than $1 a day

462 million live on less than $2 a day

• Of the 185 million jobless people worldwide, just under half are young people aged 15-24.
• In developing regions, young people are three times more likely than adults to be unemployed.
• The total number of young people has increased by over 115 million since 1990, to nearly 1.2 billion in 2004, and is expected to grow by an additional 64 million by 2015.
• In 6 out of 9 developing regions, unemployment rates are higher among young women than young men.

Youth unemployment is simultaneously a drag on national economies and a waste of a country’s most important resource. Moreover, young adults without jobs could create a scenario for crime, violence and social unrest.

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