SDG #1 – No Poverty

Video

In this 12-minute video made available from the SDG Academy, Jeffrey Sachs (Director of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network), looks at SDG#1 – ending extreme poverty. He discusses the resources available and how a lack of income distribution creates vast inequalities.

Analysis

Eradicating poverty in all its forms remains one of humanity’s greatest challenges. Poverty forces individuals to make difficult choices, often between paying for necessities such as shelter, healthy food, clothing and medication, and causes food insecurity, social exclusion, inadequate housing, lack of access to services and other hardships. Poverty’s multidimensional nature means that governments need to respond to both its causes and its consequences by addressing the various deprivations faced by those living in poverty^[1].

Globally, more than 700 million people, or 10% of the world population, live in extreme poverty – meaning they struggle to fulfil the most basic needs like health, education, and access to water and sanitation, to name a few. The international poverty line, currently set at $1.90 a day, is the universal standard for measuring global poverty. This line helps measure the number of people living in extreme poverty and helps compare poverty levels between countries. As the cost of living increases, poverty lines increase too. Since 1990, the international poverty line rose from $1 a day, to $1.25 a day, and most recently in 2015 to $1.90. This means that $1.90 is necessary to buy what $1 could in 1990^[2].

Nationally, in Canada, 3.7 million people or 10.1% of the population were living below the poverty line in 2019^[3]. This includes 9.7% or 1 in 10 children under the age of 18 were living in poverty.  Canada’s official poverty line was defined in 2019 based on the Market Basket Measure (MBM), defined by people who do not have enough income to purchase a specific basket of goods and services in their community³.

Regionally, in Niagara, 64,000 people or 14.2% of the population were living below the poverty line in 2016^[4]. This includes 1 in 7 children under the age of 18 were living in poverty, which is 4.5% more than the national statistic (4). Niagara has one of the highest youth poverty rates in all of Canada^[5].

For those who work, having a job does not guarantee a decent living. In fact, 8% of employed workers and their families worldwide lived in extreme poverty in 2018². Ensuring social protection for all children and other vulnerable groups is critical to reduce poverty².

Why it matters

Why should I care about other people’s economic situation? There are many reasons, but in short, because as human beings, our well-being is linked to each other. Growing inequality is detrimental to economic growth and undermines social cohesion, increasing political and social tensions and, in some circumstances, driving instability and conflicts. As we have seen with COVID-19, we are ALL connected. What happens globally affects us all.

Targets and Indicators for Canada

As an example of a country level approach, below we will look at Canada’s way of measuring progress on SDG #1 – No Poverty. Note the targets and indicators chosen^[6].

In comparison we will now look at the UN agreed upon SDG targets and indicators. You will see through Canada’s example above, how an individual country can choose to implement the SDGs while benchmarking to the globally agreed 2030 Agenda targets and indicators.^[7]

1. By 2030, eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than US $1.90 a day
   1. Proportion of population below the international poverty line, by sex, age, employment status and geographical location (urban/rural)
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. Proportion of population living below the national poverty line, by sex and age
   2. Proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions
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. Proportion of population covered by social protection floors/systems, by sex, distinguishing children, unemployed persons, older persons, persons with disabilities, pregnant women, newborns, work-injury victims and the poor and the vulnerable
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. Proportion of population living in households with access to basic services
   2. Proportion of total adult population with secure tenure rights to land, with legally recognized documentation and who perceive their rights to land as secure, by sex and by type of tenure
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. Number of deaths, missing persons and persons affected by disaster per 100,000 people
   2. Direct disaster economic loss in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP)a
   3. Number of countries with national and local disaster risk reduction strategies
6. 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. Proportion of resources allocated by the government directly to poverty reduction programmes
   2. Proportion of total government spending on essential services (education, health and social protection)
7. 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
   1. Proportion of government recurrent and capital spending to sectors that disproportionately benefit women, the poor and vulnerable groups

Recommended Reading

• United Nations. (2021). The Sustainable Development Goal Report, 2020. End poverty in all its forms everywhere.