Sustainable Development Goals | SDG 1: End Poverty
Sustainable Development Goals | SDG 1: End Poverty. More than 700 million people (10% of the world’s population) still live in extreme poverty
In 2015, all United Nation Member states adopted ‘The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’. At the heart of the Agenda are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and its 169 targets. By implementing the SDGs, the United Nation Members envisioned a world free of poverty, hunger, disease, fear, and violence. A world with access to quality education, social protection, a world, “… where human habitats are safe, resilient and sustainable and where there is universal access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy” and more. The SDGs are ambitious and balance the three dimensions of sustainable development: the economic, social and environmental. The Goals and targets, according to the UN, will stimulate action over the next fifteen years (i.e. from 2015 to 2030) in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet: People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace, and Partnership.
You can access information on SDGs anytime through the United Nation’s website by clicking here.
Sustainable Development Goal 1, also known as Goal 1 is labeled as “NO POVERTY”. Its goal is to end poverty in all its form everywhere.
Let’s first look at the facts and figures given by the United Nations:
More than 700 million people (10% of the world’s population) still live in extreme poverty and are struggling to meet the basic needs including health, education, and access to water and sanitation.
Having a job does not guarantee a decent living. In fact, 8 percent of employed workers and their families worldwide lived in extreme poverty in 2018.
Globally, there are 122 women aged 25 to 34 living in extreme poverty for every 100 men of the same age group.
The majority of people living on less than $1.90 a day live in sub-Saharan Africa.
High poverty rates are often found in small, fragile and conflict-affected countries.
Poverty affects children disproportionately. One out of five children lives in extreme poverty.
As of 2018, 55% of the world’s population has no access to social protection.
In 2018, only 41% of women giving birth received maternity cash benefits.
Poverty can be caused by many things, it can be caused due to unemployment, social exclusion, high vulnerability of disasters, diseases and other phenomena.
The below targets to end poverty are bold:
1.1 By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day
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
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
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
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
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
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
You may not be someone who lives in poverty, but you should still take part in ending poverty. When someone lives in poverty, they are not the only ones that are affected, their family, neighbors, community and us as humans are all affected. According to the UN, “Growing inequality is detrimental to economic growth and undermines social cohesion, increasing political and social tensions and, in some circumstances, driving instability and conflicts.”
Progress:
The United Nations ‘publishes’ progress on the SDGs. According to the recent deceleration, the world is not on track to achieve end poverty by 2030. People living in extreme poverty, “… face deep, entrenched deprivation often exacerbated by violent conflicts and vulnerability to disasters.” You can learn about SDG 1 here:
Here at Gallant, we are actively committed to achieving Goal 1. We work closely with farmers who grow our organic cotton and workers who make our Fair Trade products. We help farmers and workers make a consistent living, helping them lift themselves out of poverty. Through Fair Trade and GOTS, workers are paid legal wages or above, benefiting themselves, their families, and boosting their communities. If you have any questions about GOTS certified custom printed tote bags and accessories, please feel free to contact us at gallant@gallantintl.com
