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SDG 1 confidential

Consigning poverty to history

October 11^th, 2023

We are halfway to the deadline set by the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals, our best and only chance of leaving the world better than we found it.

While decades of progress have lifted more than a billion people out of poverty, COVID-19 and a series of geopolitical shocks have resulted in serious setbacks. But there’s still time to finish strong—if we course correct.

SDG 1, eliminating poverty in all its forms, is the all-access key.

This year, as we mark the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we look at what poverty tells us about the state of the world and what it means for human dignity, and with a focus on decent jobs and social protection.

But first, let’s strip 'no poverty'—the bedrock of all the SDGs—down to its basics.

“What IS poverty in all its forms?”

Poverty isn’t just lack of money. It’s a trap. It’s poor health, sub-standard or no education, and lack of political power.

It’s dangerous – it often comes with unsafe housing and perilous working conditions.

It’s unfair. The poor aren’t treated equally under justice systems and their healthcare is inferior.

Poverty steals dignity and hope. It deprives us of one of our most basic desires—to see our children have a better life.

This relentless cycle condemns billions, through no fault of their own, and often just by accident of birth and place of living, to hopelessness and insecurity.

But having a job is not a guarantee of being out of poverty. According to the International Labour Organization, 13 percent of the world’s workers are moderately poor and 8 percent are in extreme poverty.

Simply put – one in five of the global working population are the ‘working poor’.

And poor people are often treated unfairly in justice systems. UNDP supports justice for all, particularly for those living in poverty and the disadvantaged, including women, children, minorities, people with disabilities and those living with HIV/AIDS.

In 34 countries, 32 million people have now realized their legal rights and protections.

How does poverty harm the human family?

Poverty is a dragging anchor that holds entire countries back, and worse. It weakens the social fabric. History provides plenty of examples of how quickly unequal societies flail and fall, often violently.

One of the great changes in mindsets of recent decades is that we have recognized that poverty is not ‘natural’ or an inevitable fact of life. It’s the very unnatural outcome of failing to truly recognize, or care, that every human is equal in dignity and deserves the same opportunities. It is a byproduct of unjust biased laws, policies or institutions that deepen marginalization, which can also be based on race, disability and gender.

In more than 30 countries, women and girls do not have the rights to inherit or own land.

The World Bank says about 90 percent of the land in sub-Sahara Africa is undocumented. With about 80 percent of poor people living in rural areas, land titling could have a significant impact on poverty levels and food security.

We built the systems that created poverty, which means we can also take them down.

What is the quickest way to do this?

Spoiler alert: It’s not rocket science. We know what works and we have done for a while.

One thing we learned during the COVID-19 pandemic is that economic priorities are not set in stone. During the global health emergency, resources were quickly re-deployed to support social protection programmes that kept families and businesses afloat.

At least in the countries that could afford it.

In the last three years alone, more than 190 countries rolled out more than 3,333 social protection measures, with 73 percent of low-income countries and 66 percent of lower-middle-income countries relying on social assistance measures, mainly cash transfers.

But many social protection measures are not designed as long-term solutions.

UNDP advocates for a Universal Basic Income, which has the potential to restore dignity and create a cushion against future shocks.

“A new social contract needs to emerge from this crisis that rebalances deep inequalities that are prevalent across societies. To put it bluntly: The question should no longer be whether resources for effective social protection can be found – but how they can be found.” – Kanni Wignaraja, UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Director for Asia and the Pacific

Countries will need to grow to pay for social benefits. But economic growth is failing to significantly reduce poverty. Since 2020 one third of the 160 countries in a UNDP study have had notable increases in extreme poverty.

And the burden of debt servicing is redirecting funds from healthcare, education, social protection and jobs creation, which is why UNDP has called for a Debt-Poverty Pause. Building public trust is also essential, and can be done by tackling corruption, inequality and political polarization.

What does UNDP do?

Ending poverty is at the top of UNDP’s priorities, and we look at the big and small picture.

UNDP has long recognized the multidimensional aspects of poverty. For decades we have dug into the data to understand where people are poor and why.

Our Multidimensional Poverty Index Report regularly updates data from 110 developing countries, with the aim of improving the lives of 6.1 billion people.

Poverty gaps between women and men are particularly acute between the ages of 25 and 34, as women struggle to combine paid work with an unequal burden of care for families. For every 100 men in this age group who are poor, there are 122 women.

UNDP’s Gender Equality Strategy shows that since the COVID-19 pandemic, women have been nearly twice as likely to lose their jobs than men. Yet fewer than 20 percent of policy responses across the world have addressed women’s economic insecurity.

We know that no country has achieved full gender parity and less than 1 percent of women and girls live in a country with high women’s empowerment.

“At a time when progress towards achieving gender equality is often stalling or even reversing, this ambitious new Gender Equality Strategy will guide UNDP in its efforts to assist countries to move beyond piecemeal efforts towards portfolio approaches that shift power structures and the economic, social, and political systems that perpetuate discrimination.” – Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator

We also know that small interventions can have a big effect, which is why we work with small business owners all over the world on almost every kind of issue.

Whether it's seabuckthorn berry harvesting in the Himalayas, creating alternative energy grids in sub-Saharan Africa, or working on land rights issues in Colombia, we create conditions that ensure women have the skills, resources and infrastructure to create their own wealth and to build businesses that benefit not just themselves but their communities and their natural environment.

What does a world with no poverty look like? Let’s find out!

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein

The greatest human minds have always been able to rise above the stale status quo to achieve true transformation in the way we see ourselves and our world.

And we are at one such point in history where change is imperative.

The SDGs are our big idea. Achieving each requires a shift in attitudes and priorities. The entire UN family is doubling down on its commitment to bring all of them across the finish line by 2030.

“This is not a time for incrementalism, this is a time for transformation with all hands on deck. Let’s get the SDGs back on track.” – António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General