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William Chen 

Mr. King  

English 1 Honors 

05 March 2019 

UN Goal: End Poverty  

Approximately 837 million people are currently living under poverty(below $1.90 a day). (Goal) 

Mostly occurring in developing countries, poverty that is more than a lack of resource to live a sustainable life, 

instead it forms in “hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social 

discrimination and exclusion as well as the lack of participation in decision-making.”(Goal) Overall meaning 

that it’s harder for them to find their way in society. (Zerial) The UN goal:”End poverty in all forms 

everywhere” is important for that matter, because it helps people in poverty find a chance to benefit their 

families and communities, and hopefully help them struggle less.  

The UN planted the goal to end poverty because of the way poverty affects people(shown above), an 

example of this is how underdeveloped childrens are in these poverty conditions due to poor nutrition and 

environment, it is shown that developmental problems in childhood affects psychological and cognitive 

thinking resulting in lower education levels(providing that they can get education).(Van) It is also shown to 

affect the height development, which can happen in 2 ways, one is before birth if the mother has poor health 

and nutrition coupled with bad environment, it leads to poorer birth outcomes(shorter at birth, as well as other 

consequences such as premature birth, decreased weight, etc), and the second during early childhood bad 

nutrition and environment play a hand in reducing development.(Van) 

The plan for the goal is to eradicate poverty everywhere by 2030.(Goal) The UN tackles this plan by 

promoting investments and investing in business to provide jobs that must follow UN guidelines, aid for 
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disasters and funding for foundations that support basic services. (Zerial) It is shown that high inequality in 

income and opportunities pose a threat to the plan, but the UN’s investment on business that follow UN’s 

guideline( respects human rights, equal opportunity and wages, etc) fixes that in a capitalist society and helps 

with nation-building by building up the markets. (Overview) And in terms of discrimination it fixes that as 

well in the free market. This is partly due to the fact that price discrimination is absent in the competitive free 

market, so by funding for non-discriminatory practices it encourages other business to do the same. (Ci) For 

example in terms of jobs, a business hires a person entirely because of their race or have a difference in pay 

gap between races, then another business comes in and in this scenario, a business following UN guidelines, 

and hires the skilled people that couldn’t work in the first business and in turn the second business gains profit, 

leaving the first business to either reconsidered their hire option or go bankrupt to the second business because 

they produce better products as they hire on skill. This applies to consumers as well, as if one business doesn’t 

sell to a certain group and the next business does, then the next business makes more money and because of 

that they can make better products, resulting in the first business going to dry.  

Foundations such as Aga Khan helps provide people with basic services and resources each year. 

Helping financially by funding 9000 building projects each year, creating money saving communities, 

investing in opportunities to provide jobs and providing loans. (Financial) The perception of Africa as poor, 

although stereotypical, also helps as it gets people to donate to foundations such as Aga Khan which helps 

people in need of basic services.  

Overall poverty can be a devastating condition to live in, dramatically affecting one’s role to benefit 

themselves and their family. Coming in consequences such as underdevelopment, lack of education, etc. 

Which is why the UN chose the goal “End poverty in all forms everywhere”. The UN’s goal of ending poverty 
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helps not only the person in poverty, but also supports the society, by providing jobs and relief for people in 

need. 

Work Cited 

Van Rossem, Ronan, and Isabelle Pannecoucke. "Poverty and a child's height development during early  

childhood: A double disadvantage? A study of the 2006-2009 birth cohorts in Flanders." ​PLoS ONE,​  

vol.  

14, no. 1, 2019, p. e0209170. ​Academic OneFile,​   

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A568068798/AONE?u=ncowl&sid=AONE&xid=9d7a80fc​. 

Accessed  

5 Mar. 2019. 

Ci, Jiwei. "Justice, Freedom, and the Moral Bounds of Capitalism." ​Social Theory and Practice​, vol. 25, no. 3,  

1999, p. 409. ​Academic OneFile,​   

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A59535458/AONE?u=ncowl&sid=AONE&xid=677ea88a​. 

Accessed  

5 Mar. 2019. 

“Goal 1: End Poverty in All Its Forms Everywhere - United Nations Sustainable Development.” ​United  

“Nations​, United Nations,​www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/poverty/​. Date accessed Feb 27 2019 

Zerial, Natalie. “Poverty.” ​Global Corporate Sustainability Report 2013 | UN Global Compact,​    

www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/our-work/social/poverty​. Date accessed Feb 27 2019 

“Overview.” ​World Bank​, w

​ ww.worldbank.org/en/topic/poverty/overview#1​. ​Date accessed 3/5/19 
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“Financial Inclusion.” ​AKDN​, ​www.akdn.org/what-we-do/financial-inclusion​ ​Date accessed 3/5/19