Poverty has many different social, economic, political and structural causes. The only way of reducing global poverty is through efficient cooperation between the industrialised and developing countries and a binding commitment on the part national governments to implement practical strategies. The members of the United Nations, including Austria, know this, which is why they adopted the Millennium Development Goals in 2000. One of these is halving the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.

Global aim: eradicating poverty

We face a major challenge: About a billion people worldwide still live in extreme poverty, obliged to live on less than 1,25 US dollar a day. Poverty is not just about income, though. It means deprivation of the right to food, education and health. It means the inability to participate in policymaking or to decide on the course of personal life and it means total vulnerability to illnesses, natural disasters or violence.

This is why reducing global poverty is one of the three prime objectives of Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC). Many of Austria's projects and contributions help reduce poverty or are aligned as closely as possible with this aim. Particularly frequent victims of poverty are underprivileged sections of the population, such as indigenous peoples, minorities or socially marginalised groups, refugees, displaced persons and those with disabilities or infected with HIV/AIDS. Women and children are especially vulnerable as well. The causes of poverty are not just the extremely inequitable distribution of sources of livelihood, such as land or income; more so are social, ethnic or religious discrimination and political neglect. The pro-active integration of poor and underprivileged groups in decision-making and equal access to social and economic services aim at narrowing these gaps. This is why poverty reduction measures are always attended by efforts towards the conservation and equitable use of natural resources and democratisation and general participation, good governance at national and local level as well as respect for human rights.

Succeeding together

Poverty reduction is only effective when it helps countries and regions and above all the people concerned to mobilise their own development resources. This is the reason why all programmes that contribute to poverty reduction are drafted by the development partners together with the stakeholders. The countries and municipalities themselves decide on the direction and pace of their development.