Priority Initiatives and Strategic Action Plans for Advancing SDG 1

SDG 1 - "End poverty in all its forms everywhere"

Status Overview

Global poverty reduction is virtually at a standstill. Around 9% of people worldwide lived in extreme poverty in 2022. Working poverty affected 244 million workers in 2024. While social protection coverage has reached a milestone of covering half the world's population, low-income countries have shown almost no improvement since 2015. Inequality within and between countries continues to hinder poverty reduction, with the poorest often left behind in periods of recovery. Inclusive and sustained economic growth, particularly in low-income and fragile settings, remains critical to reversing current trends. Accelerating progress towards a poverty-free world will require strengthening social protection systems and mobilising greater international resources to help countries recover from the stalled progress of recent years. The UN, in collaboration with the World Bank and other partners, works to address structural inequalities, reduce poverty and increase social protection coverage. The UN hosts and supports the G20 Alliance on Hunger and Poverty, launched in 2024 under Brazil’s G20 presidency, to mobilise coordinated global action and investment in support of poverty reduction in the most vulnerable countries.

Report of the UN Secretary-General, May 2025

Proposed Initiatives and Action Plans Across SDG 1 Target Areas

To support accelerated progress toward SDG 1, this section presents a set of evidence‑based initiatives, followed by tailored recommendations and action plans presented by country context, i.e., countries classified by the World Bank as low‑income, middle‑income, high‑income, and fragile/conflict‑affected states (FCAS). These key recommendations recognise that countries face different constraints and opportunities, and therefore require differentiated policy and financing approaches.

Understanding SDG 1 as an Integrated Poverty‑Reduction System

SDG 1 is often treated as a set of separate commitments, yet the seven sub‑targets reveal a design that functions as a single integrated system for reducing poverty across all country contexts. The targets show that poverty is shaped by interconnected structural conditions that include income insecurity, limited access to financial and digital services, weak land and housing rights, exposure to climate and disaster risks, constrained fiscal capacity, and uneven opportunities for political participation. When viewed together, the action plans demonstrate how governments, UN agencies, development banks, donors, and civil society can coordinate across these layers to build institutions that stabilise households, expand access to economic resources, strengthen resilience, mobilise sustainable financing, and support inclusive governance. This synthesis provides the conceptual foundation for the detailed systems narratives that follow for each country group and establishes SDG 1 as a unified framework for constructing societies capable of protecting people, enabling economic participation, and sustaining progress over time.

Country‑Level Priority Profiles for SDG 1

The country priority profiles summarise the most relevant SDG 1 actions for each national context, reflecting differences in income level, institutional capacity, exposure to shocks, and the structure of poverty. They translate the SDG 1 framework into country‑specific needs by identifying the core areas where social protection, access to economic resources, livelihood security, and resilience measures can have the greatest impact. These profiles support governments, development partners, and humanitarian actors in aligning national strategies with SDG 1 by highlighting the interventions most likely to reduce poverty, strengthen household stability, and expand inclusive access to essential services. The five tables that follow present these priorities for low‑income, lower‑middle‑income, upper‑middle‑income, high‑income, and FCAS‑designated countries.

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