1 in 6 people in the world live in extreme poverty. As a result:

• 24,000 children under the age of 5 are dying every day from preventable poverty-related causes.

On AIDS, TB & Malaria

• 2 million people died of AIDS in 2007-2008
• Over 1.3 million people died of Tuberculosis in 2008
• Over 850,000 people died of Malaria in 2006-2008

On Education & Women

• 72 million children do not go to school
• The World Bank estimates that in 2007, almost half of the world’s out-of-school children lived in the world’s poorest places
• Half a million women die in pregnancy and childbirth every year. 99 per cent of these deaths occur in developing countries

Figures from Global Health Facts

Learn our Key Issues

The simple fact of the matter is poverty is not inevitable. International experts agree that the eradication of poverty in our lifetime is possible. Only the will to achieve it is required.

The Solution

In the words of the late James Grant, the former Director of UNICEF:

“Each of the great social achievements of recent decades has come about not because of government proclamation, but because people organized, made demands, and made it good politics for governments to respond. It is the political will of the people that makes and sustains the political will of governments.”

What do we need to end poverty?

Money – Yes, we can afford it!

In order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the UN Millennium Project estimates that all developed nations need to allocate, as a minimum, 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI) towards overseas aid by 2015.

Australia’s aid in 2008/2009 was $3.6 billion (or 0.32% of GNI) and is well below the 0.7 per cent GNI target and ranks us 15th out of the 22 OECD donor nations.

In comparison, Australians spend over $2 billion each year on pet care.

Political will – the missing ingredient

The political will of people and governments will make the end of poverty a reality.

The ability to create a worldwide commitment to end poverty resides within individuals. It is the ordinary citizen who will provide leadership required for governments to make the end of poverty their highest priority.

Generating the will to end poverty starts with you!