SDG 1: No Poverty
There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 targets - check out my video explaining the SDGs to understand the framework and what it is trying to achieve. SDG 1 is focused on eliminating poverty across the globe. It is comprised of 7 targets, 5 of which explain what we want to achieve and 2 that explain how to achieve it, these types of targets are referred to as Means of Implementation.
There is no single cause of poverty, it is attributed to many causes including unemployment, social exclusion, lack of safety nets, and vulnerability of certain populations to disasters, diseases and other phenomena which prevent them from being productive (UN). While monetary measures of poverty (i.e. living on less than $1 per day) are easy to understand, many experts feel it is crucial to look at multidimensional poverty, which encompasses poor health, lack of education, inadequate living standards, disempowerment, poor quality of work, the threat of violence, and living in areas that are environmentally hazardous, among others (OPHI). Having a more holistic view can help to address the issue more systemically.
Poverty can be measured both in absolute and percentage terms - absolute being the total number of people living in poverty and percentage being the share of the population.
Target 1.1
By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day.
What it means
The international poverty line represents extreme poverty by global standards. It was first introduced in the 1990 World Development Report by the World Bank and was at that time “$1 per day.” Over time the $1 poverty line has increased due to inflation and changes to purchasing power parity. The current international poverty line is $1.90 per day, which was updated in 2015.
Where we are currently
According to the most recent data, 10% of the world’s population or 734 million people lived on less than $1.90 a day. That’s approximately 1 in 10 people on the planet. The majority of people living on less than $1.90 a day live in sub-Saharan Africa. 4 out of 5 people below the international poverty line lived in rural areas. Globally, the number of people living in extreme poverty had declined from 36 per cent in 1990 to 10 per cent in 2015. Unfortunately, extreme poverty is expected to rise in 2020 for the first time in over 20 years due to COVID-19, data is still being calculated on the exact impact. Some believe it could be as much as half a billion people or 8% of the total global population.
Target 1.2
By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
What it means
The poverty line varies country-to .ountry because money is not worth the same in every country and cost-of-living varies a great deal. This target goes beyond the global extreme poverty line to look at poverty according to national contexts.
Where we are currently
Because there is so much variance it is hard to give aggregate numbers here. Currently, 2/3 of the world population live on less than $10 per day. Here are some indications of the poverty lines and percentage of the population living in poverty for countries but keep in mind there can be a great deal of variance in the measurements based on how the country sets their poverty line and that this can be quite a political determination - in other words some of this data is apples to oranges. This tracker provides more detail on a county-by-country basis, this one from the OECD is also good for comparing high-income countries.
USA - 17.8% - poverty line of $12,880/year for one person, $26,500/year for a family of 4
Canada - 11.9% - poverty line of $18,771/year for one person, $37,542/year for a family of 4
UK - 12. 4% - poverty line of £8,112/of year for one person, £19,812/year for a family of 4
Switzerland - 9.2% - poverty line of 27,348CHF/year for one person, 47,712CHF/year for a family of 4
Target 1.3
Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable
What it means
Social protection is the system that provides income security in cases of old age, unemployment, sickness, invalidity, work injury, maternity or loss of a main income earner. However, according to the World Bank and the ILO, social protection goes beyond just income support to also include programs that provide access to healthcare, link individuals to jobs, improve productivity, invest in children’s well-being and education, and protect the aging population.
I know it’s not the best source but, Wikipedia provides a good breakdown of the most common types of social protection:
Labor market interventions are policies and programs designed to promote employment, the efficient operation of labor markets, and the protection of workers.
Social insurance mitigates risks associated with unemployment, ill-health, disability, work-related injury, and old age, such as health insurance or unemployment insurance.
Social assistance is when resources, either cash or in-kind, are transferred to vulnerable individuals or households with no other means of adequate support, including single parents, the homeless, or the physically or mentally challenged.
In this target, you will see reference to “social protection floors” (ILO) this refers to a basic, minimum number of supports the government should provide and includes:
access to essential health care
basic security of services for children, including nutrition, education, care
basic income security for persons at active age who are unable to earn sufficient income, in particular in cases of sickness, unemployment, maternity and disability;
basic income security for older persons
Where we are currently
According to the ILO, only 27% of the world’s population has adequate social security coverage and more than half lack any coverage at all. Only 22% of unemployed workers are covered by unemployment benefits.
Target 1.4
By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance.
What it means
This target is made up of two big components - basic services and tenure.
Basic services refers to the proportion of the population living in households with access to basic services - water, sanitation, condition of dwelling, overcrowding, level of education of the head of the household.
The tenure component can be tricky to explain. For many people, especially poor women and men, indigenous peoples, and local communities, access to land, property, and other natural resources is often at jeopardy. This issue is often rooted in inequality and unequal rights for certain groups but also has to do with land acquisitions by foreign and domestic investors for agribusiness, forestry, extractive, or other large-scale projects (SDSN). For those who rely on land and natural resources for their well-being and livelihoods, having legal rights and tenure to these things is fundamentally important to alleviating poverty.
Where we are currently
Some of the indicators in the SDG framework are not fully developed, this is the case for this target so it was difficult to find relevant information. The only statistic I could find was that the proportion of population with unmet basic needs was 8.7% in 2012 (not current information). This is another criticism of the Agenda, as some pieces currently are not measurable.
Target 1.5
By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters
What it means
This target is specifically pointing to a sad fact - that those who are poor are the most vulnerable when there is a disaster or shock. The pandemic was a health shock that pushed millions back into extreme poverty. Climate and weather-related disasters wreak havoc on communities with increasing frequency. This target makes the link between poverty and these issues and calls for building resilience in these communities.
Where we are currently
In 2018, 23,458 deaths and 2,164 persons missing were attributed to disasters in 80 countries. This led to economic losses of $23.6B, reported by 63 countries. Least developed countries (LDCs) are disproportionately affected in this data. The Sendai Framework monitoring process found that while the LDCs made up 14% of the population they monitored, LDCs reported 29% of the deaths. Similarly LDCS made up just 2% of the GDP of all countries reporting, but suffered 10% of the total direct economic losses.
Means of Implementation
Target 1.A Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions
Target 1.B Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions
Keep Learning
Here are a few great resources for further reading and learning:
Goal 1 Overview (2020, United Nations)
Statistics for SDG 1 (2020, United Nations)
Global Extreme Poverty (2021, Our World in Data)
Social Protection (2021, ILO)