SDG 1 - End poverty in all it's forms everywhere

Exploring SDG 1: No Poverty

Today, we begin our journey to explore each Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in depth, starting with SDG 1: No Poverty. This goal seeks to end poverty in all its forms globally by 2030, ensuring access to resources and social protection for all.

You can follow or connect with us and see what we have to offer related to upskilling your change maker abilities (of tools and training) on our new SDG toolkit webpages ✔

What is SDG 1?

SDG 1 is one of the 17 goals established by the UN to create a sustainable future. It specifically aims to end poverty in all its forms (especially extreme poverty), protect people against poverty and make access to resources available for all by 2030.

Why SDG 1 Matters:

Like any of the SDGs, poverty is a complex global issue and even defining poverty is not a straightforward exercise because poverty is very context specific. Latest data show that around 8.5 %  (or approximately 700 million people) of the world's population lives in extreme poverty on less than $2.15 per day. One can say that:

• Global extreme poverty declined substantially over the last generation (from approximately 2 billion people in 1990)
• Hundreds of millions will remain in extreme poverty on current trends (more than 500 million people in 2030)
• The COVID pandemic pushed millions into extreme poverty (between 70-90 million)

But there is no single definition of poverty. Our understanding of the extent of poverty and how it is changing depends on which definition we have in mind. In particular, richer and poorer countries set very different poverty lines in order to measure poverty in a way that is informative and relevant to the level of incomes of their citizens.

For instance, while in the United States a person is counted as being in poverty if they live on less than roughly $24.55 per day, in Ethiopia the poverty line is set more than 10 times lower – at $2.04 per day. In that sense it is understandable that for example that around 17% of the population of a rich country like Austria live in poverty (including more than 20% of children). 

To measure poverty globally, however, we need to apply a poverty line that is consistent across countries. This is the goal of the International Poverty Line of $2.15 per day (which was still $1.25 when the Agenda 2030 was introduced but has been raised since) – 

We see that, in global terms, this is an extremely low threshold indeed – set to reflect the poverty lines adopted nationally in the world’s poorest countries. It marks an incredibly low standard of living – a level of income much lower than just the cost of a healthy diet.

Therefore poverty is very relative and at $5 a day there were still 40% of the world's population in poverty; at $10 a day it was 62% and at $30 it was 85%. 

This is why, like all SDGs, SDG 1 does apply to all countries and covers much more than extreme poverty (however we define it). This goal is fundamental to human well-being and is a building block for other SDGs.

• Extreme poverty levels returned to pre-pandemic levels in most countries by 2022, except in low-income countries where recovery has been slower. In 2022,
• The share of the world’s working population living in poverty has steadily decreased, from 8.4% in 2015 to 6.9% in 2023. However, nearly 241 million workers globally were still living in extreme poverty in 2023 and little positive change is expected in 2024.
• Given historical trends, less than 30% of countries worldwide will have halved poverty by 2030.
• In 2023, only 28.2% of children globally received child cash benefits, compared to 22.1% in 2015, leaving 1.4 billion children aged 0-15 without coverage. To guarantee at least a basic level of social protection for all children, upper- and lower-middle-income countries would need to invest an additional US$98.1 billion and US$88.8 billion, respectively, while low-income countries would require an additional US$59.6 billion.

Key Targets and indicators of SDG 1

SDG 1 includes seven targets, such as:

• Eradicating extreme poverty
• Reducing national poverty rates by 50%
• Strengthening social protection systems
• Ensuring equal access to economic resources and services
• Enhancing resilience to economic, social, and ecological shocks

Challenges and Opportunities

As statistics show progress on poverty has certainly been achieved, however it is also a matter of perspective on the issue and one could argue that at least more than half of the global population lives in some form or another in poverty (also beyond money and income). 

‘Poor is not only a person who needs to sleep in cardboard boxes at a railway station or stay on park benches during day times, but poor is anyone who cannot participate in everyday live'

Overall the latest UN SDG progress report on SDG 1 shows only marginal to moderate progress  with enormous regional differences, and significant acceleration is required, with for example only around 27% of people around the world have ‘adequate’ social protection.

Poverty and inequality lead to cultural segregation into different classes of privileged elites and underprivileged disenfranchised people. This erodes cultural cohesion and community resilience (SDG11), causing ill-health (SDG 3) and the risk of societal breakdown (SDG16), something which is very prevalent at the moment, with the rich getting richer and the poor poorer and is the main known factor for the demise and collapse of past civilisations.
Poverty cannot be eradicated. It is not an illness, but the result of a structurally dysfunctional economic and social system. To address poverty without addressing inequality (SDG 5 and SDG 10) and the economic system is self-defeating as it addresses symptoms and not causes. Access to quality education (SDG 4), access to clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), sustainable energy (SDG7), adequate housing, access to micro-finance and global fair-trade schemes networks (SDG 8), have proven to at least alleviate some poverty related issues.

Furthermore, the basis of all wealth are healthy ecosystem functions (SDG13 to SDG15) that, apart from the intrinsic value of all life, also provide vital ecosystem services and the bio-productivity on which all life depends and thrives. 

If you would like to know more about where your country currently stands with SDG 1 (and all other SDGs), you can check out the latest Sustainable Development Report - Country Profiles (as well as Rankings, Interactive Maps and a Data Explorer) and additional visual presentations available on Our World in Data.  

How can we achieve an end of poverty in all its forms everywhere?

Like any other SDG, also SDG 1 would require a multifaceted and multi-dimensional approach, but in general SDG 1  is one of the more complex and large and tightly interconnected (with other) SDGs to tackle. Some of the more higher level (and often global to national) aspects of achieving SDG 1 could possibly include in summary (but not be limited to) something like the following:

• Universal Basic Income (UBI) -  Implement a UBI program to provide all individuals with a guaranteed income, helping to ensure a minimum standard of living and alleviate poverty. This may be supported by guaranteed access to Universal Basic Services (related to housing, healthcare, education, mobility, etc. )
• Microfinance expansion - Expand micro-finance services to low-income populations, enabling them to start or grow small businesses, which can create jobs and stimulate local economies
• Improved social protections - Enhance social protection systems, including cash transfers, food assistance, and healthcare, to support vulnerable groups and provide a safety net during crises
• Affordable Housing Development - Invest in the construction of affordable housing and provide rental assistance to ensure that low-income families have access to safe and stable living conditions
• Investment in education and skills training - Increase investment in education and vocational training programs to equip individuals with skills for better-paying jobs, promoting economic mobility and reducing poverty

Gaia Education SDG tools

The SDG Flashcards are used in the SDG Training of Multipliers (online and face-to-face). Check out the freely downloadable SDG Training of Multipliers Handbook for a detailed description of how to prepare, promote, and how to use these cards more easily to promote community activist training, in various settings (e.g. local public bodies, communities, schools, universities, business etc.) as well as many other tools from our SDG webpages.

There are of course many examples of working on SDG 1 and poverty in all its forms sometimes also in a systemic way, and sources where to find such examples from different contexts were provided in one of the previous posts (Post 0). 

Community-Based Solutions

Gaia Education has and is also not only involved in educational and training offerings which support the implementation of the SDGs including SDG 1, but is part of projects and initiatives where at least one, mostly several SDGs are targeted. Examples of project involvement with a focus on SDG 1 are:

Local, participatory approaches are crucial. Tools like Gaia Education’s SDG Flashcards enable communities to design context-specific solutions, fostering ownership and systemic thinking. Examples of impactful projects include:

ZYCALA (Zambia) project

Gaia Education, WWF Zambia and the Young Emerging Farmers Initiative (YEFI) conducted a 3-year project (2017 - 2021) in the districts of Chitambo, Serenje and Mkushi in Central Province, Zambia. The project built the capacity of 420 majority-female local youth leaders to become active and effective change agents in campaigning on social and environmental issues, sustainable income generation and food security actions. The youth change agents have reached out to over 300,000 youth to raise awareness of the need for innovative social and natural systems management through multiplier actions on ecosystems regeneration and advocacy campaigns.

Building Capacity & Empowering Communities in Bangladesh

In 2013 the Bangladesh Association of Sustainable Development (BASD), Gaia Education and CIFAL Scotland launched a four year project Building Capacity and Empowering Communities funded by the Scottish Government. The project set out to improve sustainable food security and livelihoods of 42 vulnerable communities of Khulna and Bagerhat in southern Bangladesh, through capacity-building programmes and effective climate change adaptation strategies.

This project based learning aimed to build the capacity of community leaders to manage sustainable village development, horticulture and organic vegetable production, and canal fisheries projects.

Get Involved!

Discover your country’s progress with the Sustainable Development Report and Our World in Data. To deepen your understanding, join the online SDG Multipliers course starting February 17, 2025

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