Over the years, we have been flooded with dire statistics of poverty around the globe - so much so that people have come to accept it as an unfortunate but irreversible condition. However governments, along with the international community, have made poverty alleviation a top priority in their development strategies. With the adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000, which set quantitative benchmarks to halve extreme poverty in all its forms by 2015, important progress has been started worldwide.

In 2009, we stand less than 6 years away from the target date for achieving the MDGs. According to the MDG Report 2009, in the period between 1990 -2005, the number of people living on less than $1.25 a day decreased from 1.8 billion to 1.4 billion. However the economic crisis that set in last year has chiseled away at that progress. An estimated 55 million more people will be living in extreme poverty than anticipated. The success in the hunger reduction rates worldwide is also likely to be reversed.  That having been said, there is reason to maintain cautious optimism. The number of people living in extreme poverty in the developing regions accounted for slightly more than a quarter of the developing world’s population in 2005, compared to almost half in 1990.

“We have been moving too slowly to meet our goals,” said Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon. “Yet the MDG report shows that when we have the right policies, backed by adequate funding and strong political commitment, actions can yield impressive results.” Efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger necessitate progress in a range of interlinked areas, such as social integration, employment and decent work, environmental sustainability and demographic issues. Nationally-owned development strategies and budgets should be supported financially within the global partnership for development, so that developed countries could reach the Official Development Assistance (ODA) target of 0.7 per-cent of gross national income by 2015.

In 1993, the General Assembly of the United Nations decided to observe 17 October as the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. All States were invited to devote the Day to presenting and promoting activities for the eradication of poverty and destitution, as appropriate in their national context.  In recognition of the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the 2009 observance of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty focuses on the plight of children living in poverty and the need to fulfill their rights in partnership with them and in keeping with the Convention. The observance will present an opportunity for children to speak out against poverty and dialogue with others. The voices of children, young people, parents, and people working with them will be heard on their actions to implement policies which strengthen both children and their families in tackling poverty and exclusion. The 2009 observance will take place on Monday, October 19 at United Nations Headquarters in New York.

In December 2007, The General Assembly proclaimed The Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (2008 -2017) aimed at supporting, in an efficient and coordinated manner, a broad framework for poverty eradication. It emphasizes the need to strengthen the leadership role of the United Nations in promoting international cooperation and mobilization of financial resources for development, which is critical for the eradication of poverty.

Due to the economic disruption, predictably the poor have suffered the most. The number of people living in extreme poverty and going hungry is much larger than they would have been if advancement had continued uninterrupted. Although the numbers are daunting, now is the time that constructive efforts need to be accelerated in order to achieve the goal by the target date. A strong and sustained effort now can mean the difference between the success and failure of our grand endeavor. Needless to say, millions of lives quite literally hang in the balance. “We can be the generation that no longer accepts that an accident of latitude determines whether a child dies or lives…”- Bono