The implementation of the right to social protection through the adoption of social protection floors 2014, para. 48

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Paragraph text: This reading is reinforced by the fact that the earlier provisions of Goal 1 seek to resolve the competition between the two ways of measuring poverty by endorsing both, but in very different terms. Target 1.1 follows the World Bank by calling for the eradication, by 2030, of "extreme poverty for all people everywhere, currently measured as people living on less than $1.25 a day". Given that this is a very low standard, the aspiration is a limited one. But when it comes to "men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions", the aim in target 1.2 is only to "reduce at least by half the proportion" by 2030. In other words, that target implies acceptance that as many as half of those currently living in extreme poverty, as measured by the multidimensional approach described above, will continue to do so beyond 2030. For a planet with immense wealth and one that is able to mobilize vast resources very rapidly for projects that further the interests of the elites, that is a shameful goal and one that is clearly inconsistent with the recognition that all persons are entitled to at least the minimum core of economic and social rights.

Body: Special Procedures: Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

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Person(s) affected