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iN THis issUe - PoVerTY

miLLeNNiUm DeVeLoPmeNT GoAL #1

erADicATe exTreme PoVerTY AND HUNGer

scic

miLLeNNiUm DeVeLoPmeNT GoAL #1

erADicATe exTreme PoVerTY AND HUNGer

miLLeNNiUm DeVeLoPmeNT GoAL # 1 : eradicate extreme Poverty and Hunger

WHAT is exTreme PoVerTY AND HUNGer AND WHY is iT FUNDAmeNTAL To erADicATe iT?extreme poverty is officially defined as living on less than a dollar (Us) a day. Because a dollar a day is not

enough to live on no matter where you live, it means people living in extreme poverty are hungry and can get

sick easily. ending extreme poverty and hunger is really important and is the base for achieving all the

other millennium development goals. Treating girls fairly, helping kids go to school, fighting HiV AiDs and

protecting the environment can all help to reduce poverty and likewise, reducing poverty can help to meet

these other goals.

Poverty and hunger go together. Getting enough to eat and being healthy lets you work, go to school, and feed

and support your family. This goal aims to get rid of the cycle of poverty and hunger by cutting in half the

proportion of people living in hunger and the the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day by 2015.

QUick PoVerTY FAcTs

saskatchewan council for international cooperation

scic

• •more than 800 million people go

to bed hungry each day.

• 1 in 6 people live on less than a

dollar U.s .a day

• •The poverty rate for First

Nations children in canada is at

least double the national average

• •every 3.6 seconds a person dies

from starvation

• •seven out of every ten people

in the world’s poorest countries

are employed in agriculture

• •over 2.5 billion people depend on

agriculture for their livelihood

• •The three richest people in the

world control more wealth than

600 million people living in the

world’s poorest countries

• •The world produces enough food

to feed everyone. The problem is

in the distribution of food and

resources needed to access it

soUrces: www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/sep/07/millennium.internationalaidanddevelopment10

www.endpoverty2015.org/ www.who.int/mdg/goals/goal1/poverty_and_health/en/index.html

WAYs To mAke A DiFFereNce

iN YoUr commUNiTY:

rAise AWAreNess iN YoUr scHooL: Hungry4change

is just one great way to learn about food issues

and poverty in the world. oxfam offers organizing

toolkits, fact sheets, and plenty of ideas on how

to hold a hungry4change banquet or fast in your

school or community to raise awareness about the

link between poverty and hunger and world trade.

Visit www.oxfam.ca

TAke AcTioN:

• •sign on to the make Poverty History campaign

at www.makepoverthistory.ca

• •even if you’re too young to vote, email your

politician to let them know you care about

poverty at home and abroad and let them know

they should too

• •Wear a white band to support the campaign

and spread the word

FUNDrAise:

organizing a small or large-scale fundraiser in

your school or community (even if it is just

convincing your friends and/or siblings to donate

their allowance to a project) can go a long way!

Here are some ideas of projects for which other

student groups have fundraised:

• •Buy livestock for families in low income

communities through organizations like Heifer

international’s Passing on the Gift campaign or

oxfam Unwrapped.

• •sponsor a child through Foster Parents Plan’s

Plan international

• •Look into local anti-poverty initiatives that

you would like to whom you would like to

contribute money

some orGANizATioNs AND cAmPAiGNs THAT Work To eND exTreme PoVerTY AND HUNGer:

cANADiAN HUNGer FoUNDATioN-PArTNers iN DeVeLoPmeNT (cHF):

cHF is a non-profit canadian organization whose mission it is

to address the persistent cycle of rural poverty. They have

over 800 projects in over 40 countries around the world. They

are committed to a world where people can help themselves

through access to land, water, technology, and energy to

improve their lives.

mAke PoVerTY HisTorY cANADA: make Poverty History is a

global campaign that aims to end poverty in the world by

engaging people to get involved, take action, and add their voice

to the millions of people in the world making a difference. The

canadian campaign has three aims that are at the heart of

poverty and hunger: more and better aid, trade justice, debt

cancellation, and an end to child poverty in canada.

sAskATcHeWAN coUNciL For iNTerNATioNAL cooPerATioN

(scic): scic is an umbrella organization for groups working on

international development issues in saskatchewan. We

educate others on the millennium Development Goals and other

international issues through our youth program and other public

engagement initiatives. We also contribute to poverty

eradication through our funding programs which support our

member agencies who do great international development work

overseas and here in canada! Please visit our website to find

out more about us and about our many members and partners

who are working on poverty eradication: www.earthbeat.sk.ca

LocAL FooD BANks: Food banks offer not only food but also

self-help programs. They may not be long-term solutions but

are essential for helping people right now to get a good meal

while the big issues that cause poverty are being resolved.

contact them to find out how to donate food or volunteer!

saskatchewan council for international cooperation

scic

THe miLLeNNiUm DeVeLoPmeNT GoALs At the United Nations millennium summit in 2000, 189 Governments

signed the millennium Declaration on behalf of the countries they

represented. eight millennium development goals were adopted,

committing rich and poor countries to work together in a global

partnership to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, ensure that all

boys and girls complete primary school, promote gender equality, improve

the health of mothers and children, reverse the spread of HiV/AiDs and

other diseases, and protect the environment—all by 2015.

1. erADicATe exTreme PoVerTY AND HUNGer

2. AcHieVe UNiVersAL PrimArY eDUcATioN

3. PromoTe GeNDer eQUALiTY AND emPoWer WomeN

4. reDUce cHiLD morTALiTY

5. imProVe mATerNAL HeALTH

6. comBAT HiV/AiDs, mALAriA AND oTHer DiseAses

7. eNsUre eNViroNmeNTAL sUsTAiNABiLiTY

8. DeVeLoP A GLoBAL PArTNersHiP For DeVeLoPmeNT

UN TArGeTs For mDG #1 :

erDicATe PoVerTY AND exTreme HUNGer:

• reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a

dollar a day.

• reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from

hunger.

Credits:

Comic art work:

heather hale

Comic Storyline:

allan Dotson

This comic is part of an

ongoing project of SCIC

Youth. Comics will be

produced for each of

the UN Millennium

Development Goals.

Please watch for future

issues with new characters

in the coming months!

Please contact us for

more information or

to order copies:

scic

2138 McIntyre St.

Regina, SK.

S4P 2R7

Ph: (306) 757-4669

scic@web.ca

scic saskatoon

#501, 230 22nd St.E.

Saskatoon, SK

S7K 0E9

Ph: (306) 956-0622

scicyouth@earthbeat.sk.ca

saskatchewan council for international cooperation

scic