In 1750s London, 33.6% of children died before their first birthday, 9% of survivors died in infancy - before they were 4 years old, 49.7% did not live to reach the age of 20 - the situation is similar in too many parts of the world today - Tom Lambert, Chairman ? International Centre for Consulting Excellence
At the very bottom, more than four billion people earn less than $1,500 in purchasing parity annually - Stuart Hart, Capitalism at the Crossroads
58% of the poor who borrowed from Grameen are now out of poverty. There are over 100 million people now involved with microcredit schemes. At the rate we're heading, we'll halve total poverty by 2015. We'll create a poverty museum in 2030 - 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammud Yunus - http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1546339,00.html
18,000 children are now dying every day from hunger and malnutrition - World Food Programme Director James T. Morris, In February 2007
As global population increases and people become wealthier, agricultural production will need to likewise increase, but food systems may become more stressed because of competition for water.
The 2010 Global Hunger Index (GHI) showed some improvement over the 1990 GHI, falling by almost one-quarter. Nonetheless, the index for hunger in the world remains at a level characterised as
Vaccines have saved the lives of millions worldwide, yet still, in 2009, in low-income countries, two out of five deaths in children under five were due to pneumonia or diarrhoea.
Global poverty reduction needs broad support across civil society as much as grand goal-setting, via an international social norm that sees the persistence of extreme poverty in as morally unacceptable.