International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
Today, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, my thoughts are with the 1.2 billion people still living in extreme poverty. Overcoming poverty is a key objective of EU development policy and remarkable progress has been achieved. The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing extreme poverty by half has already been achieved, ahead of the 2015 deadline.
The EU is making an important contribution to this progress - over 46 million people have been assisted through social transfers for food security over the last decade and almost eight million people have received some education and training to allow them to make a living. We are currently discussing a global agenda after 2015 and the aim should be to deliver a worthy successor to the MDGs, which will guide us towards a decent, and poverty free, life for all by 2030.
For more information: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-13-887_en.htm
