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Extreme poverty is defined as surviving off of $1.25 per day — 50 cents less than a small cup of coffee at Starbucks. One billion of the world's people live on this meager amount, according to the World Bank. That's why the United Nations has made ending extreme poverty by 2030 one of its central goals.
Collectively, these 17 goals are known as the Sustainable Development Goals (or SDGs). They follow the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were established in 2000 and will end on December 31, 2015.
The MDGs fell short in three major areas, the U.N. reported: women's and girls' equality, environmental issues, and poverty eradication. The new plan promises to do better.
“Following profound and consistent gains, we now know that extreme poverty can be eradicated within one more generation," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a press release on July 6. “The MDGs have greatly contributed to this progress and have taught us how governments, business, and civil society can work together to achieve transformational breakthroughs."
Global Citizen is the advocacy platform of Global Poverty Project (GPP), an NGO that's partnered with the U.N. You've probably seen the organization's name on Facebook — it's hosting Global Citizen Festival, a concert in NYC, on September 26. Like the SDGs, Global Citizen's No. 1 ambition is to end extreme poverty, in part by encouraging young people to commit their time and attention to taking action by way of social media.
By now, opportunities to score tickets to Global Citizen Festival have all but expired. But opportunities to counteract extreme poverty aren't going anywhere.
Ahead, find 12 easy, everyday ways you can make a difference, courtesy of Justine Lucas, global director of programs for GPP.
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