At the turn of the millennium, the United Nations (UN) took grave note of the alarming fact that more than a billion people were still living in extreme poverty, that is, on less than US$ 1 a day. More than 800 million people were suffering from malnutrition and hunger. The number of children of primary-school age that were not learning to read or write came to 115 million and more than a billion people lacked clean drinking water.

Eight development goals

To combat global poverty and its consequences, all member states of the United Nations, thus including Austria, defined eight development goals in 2000 for joint achievement by 2015:

Goal 1: Halve extreme poverty and hunger

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other common diseases

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Goal 8: Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Diverse Austrian contributions

Austria makes a major contribution to attaining the Millennium Development Goals, on the one hand by raising the budget and on the other through specific programme and project work. By 2010, spending on development cooperation will be gradually raised to at least 0.51 per cent of gross national income (GNI). These funds will be put to specific use for programmes to reduce poverty in partner countries in Africa, Asia, Central America and South-Eastern Europe with the aim of improving the conditions of life for the poorest sections of the population.