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Poverty and the millennium development goals.

Poverty has been defined variously at different times in different countries. An early attempt in 1899 in Britain was based on resources necessary for survival. This subsistence standard definition has been used as a measuring rod in one form or another in different countries. For example, less than half the average income has been used as a measure in Britain, and minimum wage or multiples of it in Latin America, and so on. Unless a proper definition of poverty can be agreed attempts at its alleviation can have no target to aim for. Alleviation of poverty, though championed by political leaders of all types has proven to be difficult because equitable division of the national budget requires consensus which is not always forthcoming when the "haves" control the levers of power and the "have nots" must make do with what they get. Measuring collective poverty on a global scale has been attempted by several international agencies. The definition used by the World Bank is stark - "people who live on US $1 per day". According to this definition in the Year 2001 one billion people lived in poverty with consumption levels of US $1 or less per day, and 2.7 billion on less than US $2 per day. Now that more than half the world's population is living in cities, urban poverty is presenting a challenge in most developing countries. Within the physical environment of deprivation there develops a culture of poverty with its prevalence of disease, social disruption, violence in the home and outside, and dependence on drugs and alcohol. In the mind set of the urban poor risk taking behaviour is common. The main victims of deprivation are women and children, the aged and the infirm. Evidence is presented to show the stultifying effects on children growing up in poverty. Remedial action is an uphill task, expensive and not always successful. An awakening of social conscience globally brought about by the stark realities of the urban poor living cheek by jowl in close vicinity of affluence and conspicuous consumption has led enlightened world leaders and economists to mobilise public opinion. A meeting of world leaders held at UN headquarters in the Year 2000 proposed and agreed Millennium Development Goals. The goals address not only poverty per se but also its effects. The target date for achieving the Millennium Development Goals is set at Year 2015.Progress towards the target has been patchy and depends upon national political maturity.