Next Wednesday October 17 is International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, a day which has been observed since 1993 when the United Nations designated this day to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries, particularly in developing countries.

At the Millennium Summit, in September 2000, 189 nations adopted the UN Millennium Declaration which included the following 8 Millennium Development Goals, to be achieved by 2015:

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, including halving the proportion of people worldwide living on less than $1 per day
Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Goal 4: Reduce child mortality
Goal 5: Improve maternal health
Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

To meet these goals, Australia agreed to give 0.7% of its GNI in official aid by 2015. At present, the Australian government gives about 0.3% of GNI in Official Development Assistance, which places it equal 15th among the world’s richest 20 countries in terms of aid giving. The government aims to increase this to 0.35% by 2010, a target which the ALP also supports. The ALP further aims to increase ODA to 0.5% of GNI by 2015-16, but 0.7% remains an ‘aspirational’ target for both parties.

The Make Poverty History campaign is an Australian coalition that is part of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty. It is made up of over 60 partners including aid agencies, community groups and religious organisations. It aims to ensure that the government implements policies to reduce poverty and honour its commitment to the MDGs. Make Poverty History is currently organising a number of events centred on Anti Poverty Week (October 14th – 20th).

For more information about the Millennium Development Goals, the Make Poverty History campaign and information on how to get involved, you can visit the following websites:

www.makepovertyhistory.com.au
www.whiteband.org
www.undp.org/mdg
www.ausaid.gov.au/partner/millennium_development_goals.cfm

Click here for more information