§ Mr. Russell BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress is being made in the Government's target to reduce the number of people worldwide living in extreme poverty by 2015.[12420]
§ Clare ShortThe goal of reducing by half the population of people living on less than $1 a day was recently endorsed by 147 heads of state at the UN Millennium summit, and the UN have stated a commitment to monitoring progress towards this, and the other Millennium development goals, on a regular basis.
The most recent published figures from the World bank show that in 1990 29.0 per cent. of the population of developing countries lived on less than $1 a day. By 1999 this had fallen to 22.7 per cent. World bank projections indicate that by 2015 the proportion living on less than $1 a day will fall further to 12.3 per cent. meaning that the 2015 target will be achieved overall but will be missed in some countries and some regions.