UN warns most countries are off track to halve poverty by 2030

The United Nations says only one in five countries is on track to halve national poverty rates by 2030, as officials warned that poverty remains a major obstacle to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

At a meeting of the General Assembly’s Second Committee on 14 October, UN officials said one in 10 people worldwide still lived in extreme poverty. Children make up more than half of those living in multidimensional poverty, according to Charles Katoanga, a senior official in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, who presented a report on the UN’s current decade for poverty eradication. [1]

The report also points to pressure from conflict and shrinking development finance. Katoanga said 61 active conflicts involving at least one state were recorded in 2024, the highest number since 1946. He said the annual funding gap for the Sustainable Development Goals exceeds $4 trillion, while official development assistance fell by 23.1 per cent in real terms in 2025, its largest annual contraction on record. [1]

Rural poverty featured prominently in the meeting. Máximo Torero, chief economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization, said an estimated 826 million people would be living in extreme poverty in 2026, with three-quarters in rural areas. He also said 83.5 per cent of the 1.1 billion people living in multidimensional poverty were rural residents. [1]

Torero called for more secure land rights and fairer access to land, particularly for women, young people, small-scale producers and Indigenous peoples. The UN account said 85 per cent of the world’s 570 million farms are smaller than two hectares and account for 9 per cent of agricultural land; 91 per cent of agricultural employment remains informal. [1]

Member states and regional groups raised concerns ranging from food affordability and barriers to decent work to the effects of conflict and sanctions. Speaking for the Group of 77 and China, Uruguay’s representative warned that 2020–2030 risked becoming “a lost decade for poverty reduction”. ASEAN’s representative from Viet Nam said about 14 per cent of people in the region experienced food insecurity and nearly one-third could not afford a healthy diet. [1]