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Over the past 25 years the number of workers living in extreme poverty has declined dramatically, despite the lasting impact of the 2008 economic crisis and global recession. In developing countries, the middle class now makes up more than 34 percent of total employment – a number that has almost tripled between 1991 and 2015.

However, as the global economy continues to recover we are seeing slower growth, widening inequalities, and not enough jobs to keep up with a growing labour force. According to the International Labour Organization, more than 204 million people were unemployed in 2015.

The SDGs promote sustained economic growth, higher levels of productivity and technological innovation. Encouraging entrepreneurship and job creation are key to this, as are effective measures to eradicate forced labour, slavery and human trafficking. With these targets in mind, the goal is to achieve full and productive employment, and decent work, for all women and men by 2030.

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Between 1990 and 2010, the number of people with access to electricity has increased by 1.7 billion, and as the global population continues to rise so will the demand for cheap energy. A global economy reliant on fossil fuels, and the increase of greenhouse gas emissions is creating drastic changes to our climate system. This is impacting every continent.

Efforts to encourage clean energy has resulted in more than 20 percent of global power being generated by renewable sources as of 2011. But still one in five people lack access to electricity, and as the demand continues to rise there needs to be a substantial increase in the production of renewable energy across the world.

Ensuring universal access to affordable electricity by 2030 means investing in clean energy sources such as solar, wind and thermal. Adopting cost-effective standards for a wider range of technologies could also reduce the global electricity consumption by buildings and industry by 14 percent. This means avoiding roughly 1,300 mid-size power plants. Expanding infrastructure and upgrading technology to provide clean energy in all developing countries is a crucial goal that can both encourage growth and help the environment.

Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all

If you’ve ever experienced a power outage, you’ll know how challenging even the most simple tasks seem.

1.3 billion people live without any access to electricity at all. That means children struggle to find light to do homework, families cook food over smoky open fires, hospitals can’t power life-saving equipment or refrigerate medicines, and businesses can’t operate at full capacity.

Sustainable and reliable access to energy enables people to work their way out of poverty, and not just by powering basic services. It also allows people to connect to mobile networks and the internet, which unlocks many more learning and business opportunities.

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World Vision
Water is life's essential ingredient

We all need clean, fresh water to drink. We all need sanitary conditions so that human waste is safely disposed. Yet, water and sanitation facilities are often scarce or unreliable in many communities around the world.

This has a dire impact on the health of children and families. Poor water and sanitation is the leading cause of diarrhoea, which is the second biggest cause of death among children under five, killing 760,000 each year.

As well as directly causing death, poor water and sanitation can severely erode health and wellbeing gains made by food and nutrition programs. According to the United Nations World Health Organization (2014), every dollar invested in water and sanitation results in a $4.30 return in the form of reduced healthcare costs.

Illness and time spent collecting water also reduces school attendance and adults’ capacity to work and earn income. A 2012 World Bank study of 18 African countries found they lose 1-2.5 percent of GDP – around US$5.5 billion – every year due to poor sanitation.

780 million  people lack access to safe water

while 2.5 billion people live without improved sanitation.

80 percent of childhood disease

is related in some way to unsafe drinking water, inadequate hygiene and poor sanitation.

272 million school days

are lost each year due to water-related diseases.

Read more at https://www.worldvision.com.au/global-issues/work-we-do/water-sanitation#L8FzrB8ebifIXbcr.99

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Gender equality, also known as sex equality, gender egalitarianism, sexual equality, or equality of the genders, is the view that everyone should receive equal treatment and not be discriminated against based on their gender.This is one of the objectives of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which seeks to create equality in law and in social situations, such as in democratic activities and securing equal pay for equal work. In practice, the objective of gender equality is for people to acquire, if they so choose, equal treatment throughout a society, not just in politics, the workplace, or any other policy-designated sphere. To avoid complication, genders besides women and men will not be discussed in this article.There has been criticism from some feminists towards the political discourse and policies employed in order to achieve the above items of "progress" in gender equality, with critics arguing that these gender equality strategies are superficial, in that they do not seek to challenge social structures of male domination, and only aim at improving the situation of women within the societal framework of subordination of women to men, and that official public policies (such as sate policies or international bodies policies) are questionable, as they are applied in a patriarchal context, and are directly or indirectly controlled by agents of the male dominated system.One of the criticisms of the gender equality policies, in particular those of the European Union, is that they disproportionately focus on policies integrating women in public life, but do not seek to genuinely address the deep private sphere oppression.

A further criticism is that a focus on the situation of women in non-Western countries, while often ignoring the issues that exist in the West, is a form of imperialism and of reinforcing Western moral superiority; and a way of "othering" of domestic violence, by presenting it as something specific to outsiders - the "violent others" - and not to the allegedly progressive Western cultures. These critics point out that women in Western countries often face similar problems, such as domestic violence and rape, as in other parts of the world. They also cite the fact that women faced de jure legal discrimination until just a few decades ago; for instance, in some Western countries such as Switzerland, Greece, Spain, and France, women obtained equal rights in family law in the 1980s. Another criticism is that there is a selective public discourse with regard to different types of oppression of women, with some forms of violence such as honor killings (most common in certain geographic regions such as parts of Asia and North Africa) being frequently the object of public debate, while other forms of violence, such as the lenient punishment for crimes of passion across Latin America, do not receive the same attention in the West. In 2002, Widney Brown, advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, pointed out that "crimes of passion have a similar dynamic [to honor killings] in that the women are killed by male family members and the crimes are perceived [in those relevant parts of the world] as excusable or understandable". It is also argued that the criticism of particular laws of many developing countries ignores the influence of colonialism on those legal systems, especially of the French Napoleonic Code,which was extremely powerful in its influence over the world (historian Robert Holtman regards it as one of the few documents that have influenced the whole world) and which designated married women a subordinate role, and provided for leniency with regard to 'crimes of passion' (which was the case in France until 1975).

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VVOB’s Definition of Quality Education

A good quality education is one that provides all learners with capabilities they require to become economically productive, develop sustainable livelihoods, contribute to peaceful and democratic societies and enhance individual well-being. The learning outcomes that are required vary according to context but at the end of the basic education cycle must include threshold levels of literacy and numeracy, basic scientific knowledge and life skills including awareness and prevention of disease. Capacity development to improve the quality of teachers and other education stakeholders is crucial throughout this process.

VVOB believes that education leads to empowerment: a process of strengthening individuals, organisations and communities so they get more control over their own situations and environments. Quality education is a crucial factor in combating poverty and inequality in society. In quality education, VVOB distinguishes six dimensions that all interventions of the organisation need to meet.

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By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births

By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births

By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases

By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being

Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol

By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents 3.7

By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes

Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all

By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination

Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate

Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and noncommunicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health, and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all

Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing States

Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks

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World hunger refers to the second definition, aggregated to the world level. The related technical term (in this case operationalized in medicine) is malnutrition.1. Malnutrition is a general term that indicates a lack of some or all nutritional elements necessary for human health.
1. Sustainable Food

Heifer International is an organization that helps transform agriculture. They fund projects so people can provide food for themselves in a sustainable way. This is very powerful, because ultimately we would like to see many impoverished areas not reliant on aid from foreign countries (which often causes debt) and able to create their own, steady, supply of food.

2. Access to Credit

Many organizations are helping people in poor countries to gain access to credit. Most of these credit loans are repaid, and they have created many industries, such as farms, that help create a sustainable provision for people and also develop nations economically. If these people do not have access to credit, they cannot start up industries that combat poverty.

3. Food Donations

Although ideally it would be better to get the entire world to a place of self-sustainability, it is not something that will happen overnight. In the meantime it is important to lend a helping hand. The impact of donations, both cash and food, have had an immense impact on world hunger. Organizations such as Food for All have customers donate $1-5 when checking out. Last year they raised a whopping $60 million to fight world hunger.

4. Transitioning

Many families dealing with poverty need help transitioning into a state of self-dependance. 15 Feeds Family is an organization that helps with this transition. They start by providing families with food, but then slowly find solutions to empower families to be self-sufficient. This is important, because self-sufficiency allows for a certain food income, when relying on donations does not always guarantee food.

5. Urban Farming

Almost one-quarter of undernourished people live in an urban environment. Recently, there has been a big push for urban farming. Urban farming empowers families to gain control over their own food source.

6. Access to Education

Education is the best weapon against poverty and hunger. It is especially powerful in underdeveloped countries. Education means better opportunity and more access to income and food. Additionally, some countries have food-for-education programs where students are given free food for coming to school. This may seem like a basic idea in the United States, but it is life saving in many under developed nations.

7. Social Change

This is extremely hard and will not take place overnight. However, many social issues, such as war, pose a fundamental problem to halting world hunger. Ideally, this will happen when world powers, such as the United States and many western European nations, choose to focus on solving these issues instead of exacerbating them. However, this can only start when people in developed nations begin to care about those issues as well and pressure their governments to be productive in ending conflict.

8. Government Intervention

Aid to foreign nations needs to be more focused on government intervention, like programs that provide food to mothers and their children in poor areas. This is not much different from many programs available in the United States.

9. Empowering Women

There is a direct correlation with hunger and gender inequalities. Empowering women to gain access to food, be providers, and lead their families has had a major impact on food access and ability to change financial situations.

10. Birth Control Education

High birthrates pose a problem when trying to solve hunger. Many people are not educated on reproduction or do not have access to contraceptives. Gaining access to contraceptives allows for family planning and economic freedom.

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Poverty
Poverty is epidemic dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. It is a multifaceted concept, which includes social, economic, and political elements. Poverty may be defined as either absolute or relative.
Ways to STOP POVERTY!

1. Quality education provides children with the knowledge and life skills they need to realize their full potential, and is essential to creating change in a child’s life. Plan International helps by training teachers, building new schools and breaking down barriers that prevent many children – and girls in particular – from attending school.

2. Access to health care is essential. Plan International helps communities build health clinics, train health care workers and invest in equipment and medicine, so children can grow up healthy and strong.

3. Water and sanitation are also essential for every child’s survival. Each year, Plan helps communities build school latrines, community water points and helps to establish organizations to ensure the continued management and maintenance of water points.

4. Economic security: Plan works to overcome poverty by helping communities around the world gain the economic security they need to thrive. Plan International is training people living in poverty to acquire the skills and knowledge they need to secure a livelihood, and support their families.

5. Child participation: Plan helps children learn their rights and take active roles within their community. Child participation helps children engage in citizenship, express their views and make decisions that will shape their future and influence the people around them.

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Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light. Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants.
Ways to improve our environment
- Conserve energy – remember to turn off lights, computers, and electric appliances when not in use.

- Use energy efficient light bulbs and appliances.

- Participate in your local utility’s energy conservation programs.

- Limit driving by carpooling, using public transportation, biking and walking.

- Combine errands for fewer trips.

- Keep your automobile well tuned and maintained. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on routine maintenance, such as changing the oil and filters, and checking tire pressure and wheel alignment.

- Avoid excessive idling of your automobile.

- Use electric or hand-powered lawn care equipment.

- Be careful not to spill gasoline when filling up your car or gasoline powered lawn and garden equipment.

- Run dishwashers and clothes washers only when full.

- Choose environmentally friendly cleaners.

- Use water-based or solvent free paints whenever possible and buy products that say "low VOC".

- Seal containers of household cleaners, workshop chemicals and solvents, and garden chemicals to prevent volatile organic compounds from evaporating into the air.

- Purchase and use low-polluting outboard marine engines and personal watercraft (4-stroke and direct fuel injection 2-stroke outboard marine engines).

- Advocate for emission reductions from power plants and more stringent national vehicle emission standards.

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When forests are cut down the salinity of the soil can greatly increase, as a result saline water draining from such areas can affect downstream or down slope water quality.
Deforesting ruins so many habitats for the wildlife they will end up with no habitat and have to relocate.
We must find a cleaner, healthier and more substantial way to use the forests resources. Without destroying the habitats. While there are no silver bullet solutions, these approaches can make a big difference to save our forests.
Promoting Sustainable Choices

You can make a difference in the fight to save forests by making informed daily choices.

By using less stuff, eating sustainable food, and choosing recycled or certified sustainable wood products, we can all be part of the movement towards zero deforestation.

Using your voice to speak for forests matters, too. When people join together and demand forest conservation, companies and governments have to listen.
Changing the Politics

If deforestation is going to stop , we need governments to do their part.

That starts with cracking down on corruption and ensuring fair enforcement of forest conservation rules. Corruption fuels illegal logging and unsustainable forest management, which in turn can fuel organized crime or even armed conflict.

Beyond the rule of law, we need world leaders to embrace ambitious domestic and international forest conservation policies based on the latest science.

In the United States, laws like the Endangered Species Act, the Wilderness Act, the Lacey Act and the Roadless Rule help protect our forests and stop illegal wood products from entering the U.S. marketplace. We also support and use regional rules like the Amazon Soy Moratorium and global treaties like the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to protect forests and the endangered species that rely on forest habitats.

Globally, we need commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation in developing nations, especially those with tropical forests. Forests for Climate is one way to make that happen.

Forests for Climate is an innovative proposal for an international funding mechanism to protect tropical forests. Under this initiative, developing countries with tropical forests can make commitments to protecting their forests in exchange for the opportunity to receive funding for capacity-building efforts and national-level reductions in deforestation emissions. This provides a strong incentive for developing countries to continually improve their forest protection programs.