Over the past two decades, it can be said that the world has made significant progress in overcoming global poverty. Today, more than a billion people have risen out of extreme poverty.
However, according to the UN, the COVID-19 crisis threatens to push over 70 million people into extreme poverty, causing the first increase in global poverty in over 20 years and subsequently reverse decades of progress.
Developing countries have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic as it did not simply manifest as a health crisis, but triggered devastating social and economic impacts such as income loss and could potentially impact human rights and nutrition.
Some factors such as unemployment, social exclusion, exposure and vulnerability of certain communities to disasters and diseases result in poverty. It must be noted that growing inequalities and discrimination is detrimental to economic growth and social cohesion and often leads to political and social instability.
The five "outcome targets" of goal 1 are:
eradication of extreme poverty by 2030;
reduction of all 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;
implementation of social protection systems and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable;
ensuring that all men and women have equal rights to ownership, basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance;
and the building of 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