Francesca Green, Author at Poverty Child

The Sustainable Development Goals

This photo displays a group of children in Afghanistan waiting for a food distribution delivered by a charity as part of their effort to meet the Sustainable Development Goals

What are the Sustainable Development Goals?

In 2015, world leaders met to discuss an agenda for sustainable development. They came up with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to reach by 2030¹. These goals, that apply universally, are in place with the aim to end all forms of poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change, ensuring that no one is left behind.

The SDGs build on the success of the Millennium Development goals², which range from halting the spread of aids to providing universal primary education. They were very successful and a great blueprint for the sustainable development goals. The consequent new goals call for action from all countries to promote prosperity while protecting the planet.

Sustainable Development goals are not legally binding; however, the United Nations expect government to create plans and take responsibility to work towards the SDGs within their own countries. Success of these goals relies on countries own sustainable development plans.

How do the Sustainable Development Goals relate to poverty and what is being done?

Goal One

The first two goals in the list relate directly to poverty. They are difficult goals to achieve, however, it is important to try anyway.

Firstly, sustainable development goal number one is to “End poverty in all its forms everywhere”. Poverty is measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day³. Within this goal there are 7 targets⁴. These include implementing social protection systems as well as equal rights to economic resources. In the United Kingdom, the government has been focusing on reducing homelessness. They are doing this by increasing the help available to those at risk of homelessness, promoting a fairer labour market; supporting those who are disadvantaged and improving Universal Credit.

Between 2010 and 2015, poverty had decreased globally from 15.7% to 10%. However, since then it has slowed dramatically. In 2019, it was at 8.2%⁵. Since then, poverty has increased due to the many implications of the pandemic. COVID-19 caused the first increase in global poverty in decades. In 2020 over 71 million people have been pushed into extreme poverty⁶. Natural disasters are also continuing to exacerbate poverty. Many people see their homes, or their livelihood destroyed, and the economic loss has been high.

Goal Two

The second sustainable development goal is to “End hunger and achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.” across the world. In 2018, 26.4% of the population were affected by moderate or severe food insecurity⁷. In 2019, 144 million children under 5 were stunted (have been prevented from developing properly) and 47 million were affected by wasting (muscle and fat tissue ‘waste’ away)⁸. This again relates directly to poverty as it tends to be adults and children who cannot afford necessities who are suffering from hunger.

Some of the 8 targets⁹include addressing malnutrition in children, doubling agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers. They also include creating and implementing sustainable food production systems. In the United Kingdom, the government has created four general actions to achieve these goals¹⁰. For example, these includes a sustainable model of food production by working alongside the Food Standards Agency. Furthermore, promoting healthy lives and strengthening the Global Financing Facility. Recently, the pandemic has had implications on the progress of this goal. As well as this, conflict and climate shocks, many people have no access to food. Additionally, small-scale food producers are suffering. In developing regions, about 40-85% of all food producers have been compromised¹¹.

The total number of people suffering from severe food insecurity has been on the rise since 2015. Due to the pandemic, around 370 million schoolchildren are missing the free school meals that they rely on¹².

What is Poverty Child doing?

Our focus has always been on helping improve life for vulnerable children affected by urban poverty, delivering programmes aimed at getting poverty children to think differently about their life chances. However, we also recognise that the issue of poverty is complex and needs breaking down so that it can be more easily understood, which is why we also work on raising awareness of the wider issues here on our website.

To help the work that Poverty Child do, you can donate and/or volunteer. There are many ways to donate, including by recycling your unwanted items with us.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals are:

End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages.
Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.
Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation.
Reduce inequality within and among countries.
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

Footnotes:

Francesca Green In Programmes

What is Poverty?

Indian child in poverty looking through barbed wire

Poverty is a global issue that affects many people. Across the world there is thought to be 734 million people who live on less that $1.90 a day¹ (according to studies in 2015).

Poverty is the state of not having enough material possessions or income for a person’s basic needs such as food, clothing and shelter. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and exclusion, as well as the lack of participation in decision making. Pre-pandemic, around 10% of the world population were living in extreme poverty and struggling to fulfil basic needs², such as health, education and access to water and sanitation. It is a complex issue that may include social, economic, political and geographical elements. There is no single best measure of poverty, it does not mean the same thing for everyone.

In 2015, the United Nations Member States all agreed upon 17 Sustainable Development Goals to protect the planet and improve the lives and prospects of everyone, everywhere.

As part of the 15-year plan, the first goal is to end poverty³. The Sustainable Development Goals main reference to ending poverty is in target 1.A: “Ensure significant mobilisation 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.” Many charities, including Poverty Child, are working on this common goal. However, this is a large task and figures show that currently, we will not reach that target. The aftermath of the pandemic threatens to push a further 70 million people into extreme poverty⁴.

How do you measure poverty?

There is not one distinguished measure of poverty, it is a complex issue that has many dependents. Poverty can mean something different to a lot of people. The UK measures poverty in different ways, two commonly used measures⁵ are:

People in relative low income (living in households with income below 60% of the median that year).
People in absolute low income (living in households with income below 60% of (inflation-adjusted) median income in the same base year – usually 2010/11).

Absolute low income looks at whether living standards at the bottom of the distribution are improving over time. Income can be measured before or after housing costs are deducted (BHC or AHC). Poverty levels tend to be higher after housing costs as poorer households tend to spend a higher proportion of their income on housing.

According to a House of Commons Library report, 11 million people were living in relative low income BHC (UK) in 2018/19. This was 17% of the population. Of that, 2.8 million children were living in poverty⁶. Another measurement is destitution, this is where someone is not able to afford basics such as shelter, heating and clothing and is the lowest level of poverty.

What causes poverty?

There are many causes of poverty, these can vary across the world. Some of the major causes in the UK include:

Low pay.
72% of children living in poverty have at least one parent in work⁷. However, the long-term effects of being in the lowest paid 20% of the UK labour market has been a major cause of enduring poverty in the UK. Often in the case of low paid jobs, there are not opportunities for promotion and the hours are unpredictable.
Worklessness.
Since 2006, there has been a 60% rise in the number of people moving repeatedly between work and unemployment⁸.
68% of children in families with no working adults are in poverty⁹. Often people want to work but they are not able to due to different barriers to work. This is heightened during the pandemic when many businesses are having to close and subsequently workers are being let go.
Inadequate benefits.
Currently, in-work benefits are not sufficient to overcome labour market challenges and keep people out of poverty. Not only that but housing and childcare costs are constantly increasing, this increases families risks of poverty. The social security system should provide a safety net to prevent people falling into poverty – this is not the case for most.

There are many other causes for poverty, such as discrimination, abuse and trauma, and weak relationships. These causes could be a consequence of a random life event or moment, that then catches people in a trap and keeps them in a cycle that they cannot escape. This could simply be getting sick and not being able to work for a while.

The effects of poverty can be severe. They can lead to homelessness, health issues, family issues, drug or alcohol abuse and lower educational achievement, to name a few. It has a huge impact on the community and those surrounding it. Poverty affects more than one in four children in the UK today. Children who grow up in poverty miss out on what many of us take for granted, clothing, three meals a day, even a school trip. It is often found that students who are in poverty are less likely to be successful at school and then earn less as adults. This cycle is vicious but not inevitable. If we work together, it will be possible to have a stronger economy and a fairer society that will help everyone.

What does Poverty Child do?

Poverty Child is part of that movement to help the children who are living in poverty¹⁰. We are a charity that is dedicated to improving the life for street and slum connected children. Our mission is to empower them to achieve their true potential. Anyone could fall on hard times and find it difficult to make ends meet. It is important to be there to help everyone when they do.

Some of the work that we offer includes:

Mobile clinics.
These provide basic healthcare to children in poorer areas.
Street schools
A cordoned street that becomes a classroom for learning basic literacy and numeracy.
Day Centres
A safe place for children to get a meal, wash, counselling and basic schooling.
Night Centres
A safe place for a child to sleep at night.

This work is currently focused abroad.

Please look through our blog to see more information on ways you can help our charity. This can include donating directly or volunteering. It is also possible to recycle coins and currency, mobile phones, cameras and other gadgets, old jewellery, stamps and ink cartridges. Please visit our homepage for more information.

Bibliography

1,2,4

Nations, U., 2021. Ending Poverty | United Nations. [online] United Nations. Available at: <https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/ending-poverty> [Accessed 3 April 2021].

Nations, U., 2021. Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere. [online] United Nations Sustainable Development. Available at: <https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/poverty/> [Accessed 3 April 2021].

5, 6

Francis-Devine, B., 2021. Poverty in the UK: Statistics. [online] Commons Library. Available at: <https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn07096/> [Accessed 3 April 2021].

7,8,9

CPAG. 2021. Child Poverty. [online] Available at: <https://cpag.org.uk/child-poverty> [Accessed 3 April 2021].

Poverty Child. 2021. Poverty Child – empowering street and slum connected children. [online] Available at: <https://povertychild.org> [Accessed 3 April 2021].

Additional Resources:

JRF. 2021. What is poverty?. [online] Available at: <https://www.jrf.org.uk/our-work/what-is-poverty> [Accessed 3 April 2021].

United Nations Sustainable Development. 2021. Take Action for the Sustainable Development Goals. [online] Available at: <https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/> [Accessed 3 April 2021].

Francesca Green