Millennium Development Goal #1
Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
"I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me."
- Matthew 25:31-46
The Prayer
Let us pray for the poor, hungry and neglected all over the world, that their cries for daily bread may inspire works of compassion and mercy among those to whom much has been given.
Almighty and most merciful God, you command us to offer food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted: Grant that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart; that, following in the steps of your blessed Son, we may give of ourselves in the service of others until poverty and hunger cease in all the world, and all things are reconciled in the reign of Christ. God of love, in your mercy, hear our prayer.
See also:
An Evening Prayer service for MDG #1 from St. Paul's Cathedral, London
The Challenge
1.2 billion people live on less than $1 per day.
800 million people go to bed hungry every day.
More than 6 million children under five die each year from malnutrition.
Cut in half the proportion of people (starting at the 1990 proportion) whose income amounts to less than a dollar a day and who suffer from hunger.
Click here for targets and progress indicators.
No more empty tummies, everyone can have what they need.
There is plenty of food for everyone to have enough.
Source: Kenyon Conference 2007 Children's Program - Experiencing the MDGs
El objetivo en Espanol
Reducir a la mitad entre 1990 y 2015 el porcentaje de personas con ingresos inferiores a un dolar y que padecen hambre.
Metas e indicadores
Are we on track to meet MDG #1 by 2015? Find out at:
MDGMonitor - basic, easy to navigate
GapMinder MDG Charts - This site is great ... moving graphics show how the development of all countries by the indicators you choose. You can even get country-specific charts (for your companion diocese, for example)
Human Development Trends Movable Charts -- More from gapminder, see graphic demonstrations of MDG trends past, present and future.
UN Human Development Report - much more detailed, looks at MDGs through lens of climate change.
Printable Progress Chart on all 8 MDGs
Did You Know...
One third of deaths – some 18 million people a year or 50,000 per day – are due to poverty-related causes. That’s 270 million people since 1990, the majority women and children, roughly equal to the population of the US. (Source: Reality of Aid)
Every year more than 10 million children die of hunger and preventable diseases – that’s over 30,000 per day and one every 3 seconds. (Source: Bread for the World)
Organizations that support MDG #1:
Episcopal Relief and Development - Learn about ERD's work with MDG #1 here.
The Hunger Project - THP a global, strategic organization committed to the sustainable end of world hunger. In Africa, Asia and Latin America, The Hunger Project empowers millions of women and men to end their own hunger. The Hunger Project has pioneered low-cost, bottom-up, gender-focused strategies in each region where hunger persists. These strategies mobilize clusters of rural villages to create and run their own programs that achieve lasting progress in health, education, nutrition and family income. See CharityNavigator's Rating Page on THP - 4 stars (highest rating)
Oxfam America - Oxfam America is an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Together with individuals and local groups in more than 120 countries, Oxfam saves lives, helps people overcome poverty, and fights for social justice. It is an affiliate of Oxfam International. See CharityNavigator's Rating Page on Oxfam America - 4 stars (highest rating)
Lutheran World Relief - LWR works with partners in 35 countries to help people grow food, improve health, strengthen communities, end conflict, build livelihoods and recover from disasters. A primary area of focus is sustainable rural development. See CharityNavigator's Rating Page on LWR - 4 stars (highest rating)
Use CharityNavigator to search for and vet organizations that work toward this goal.
What One Can Do - Preach
Scripture that references our call to heal the brokenness of hunger and poverty:
Leviticus 9:9-10 - "When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest. You shall not strip your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the alien: I am the Lord your God."
Psalm 146:5-7 - "Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith for ever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry."
Isaiah 58:6-7 - "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?"
John 6:1-15 - Feeding of the Five Thousand.
Galatians 2:10 - "They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was* eager to do."
For scriptural foundations for all 8 MDGs, click here for "The MDGs - Straight From Scripture"
For a comprehensive list of Peace and Justice related scriptures, click here.
What did we miss? Email us your scriptural references to our call to heal the brokenness of hunger and poverty.
Sermons about eradicating hunger and poverty:
A sermon by Njongonkulu Ndungane on Isaiah 65:20-22
Submit your sermons about eradicating hunger and poverty here.
What One Can Do - Activities
Ways you can make MDG #1 come alive for your congregation:
Hold a "Hunger Banquet" -- Demonstrate the inequalities of wealth around the world by this meal where different tables get different amounts and qualities of food. Click here for how-to resources from UNICEF and more instructions from NetAid Oxfam
Submit your activities about eradicating hunger and poverty here.
What One Can Do - Children/Youth Activities
Ways you can make MDG #1 come alive for children and youth:
Gleaning -- Go to a local field and experience gleaning; hear the Bible story about Ruth and Naomi. (Page 5 - Kenyon Conference Children's Conference: Experiencing the MDGs)
Famine -- Create a drama about Joseph and his brothers in famine (Page 5 - Kenyon Conference Children's Conference: Experiencing the MDGs)
Many, Many Other Activities -- The Hunger No More website has a wealth of great hunger-related educational activities for children and youth.
Submit your children's activities about eradicating hunger and poverty here.
Books about eradicating poverty and hunger.
What Can One Person Do: Faith to Heal a Broken World, by Sabina Alkire and Edmund Newell. - The best primer on the MDGs. A great mix of information, stories, statistics, prayers, resources, practical ideas and discussion questions. Perfect for individual or group study.
The Bottom Billion, by Paul Collier. - Accessible economics that explains how poor countries got there and are staying there.
The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, by Jeffrey Sachs. - Economist Sachs outlines the various issues that contribute to the poverty trap of the one billion people that live on less than $1 a day as well as some cheap and easy solutions to address the problem.
The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good, by William Easterly - Easterly's response to Sach's ideas. A good book to read to learn the arguments against blindly throwing money at the world's poor and for carefully targeting bottom-up approaches.
Ending Global Poverty: A Guide to What Works, by Stephen C. Smith. - Smith outlines the issues related to poverty and what readers can do to help overcome the crisis.
Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty, by Muhammad Yunus. 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner's memoir about his experiences with microcredit with the Grameen Bank.
Movies/video about eradicating poverty and hunger
Small Fortunes: Microcredit and the Future of Poverty - a one-hour PBS documentary describing the impact that microcredit is having throughout the world through the stories of eleven microentrepreneurs. Produced by award-winning filmmakers Sterling Van Wagenen and Matt Whitaker, Small Fortunes explores the issues of poverty and microcredit as it features interviews with numerous recipients of small loans in locales ranging from India to the Philippines to New York City. The documentary tells the stories of how short-term loans of even a few dollars have resulted in dramatic changes in lifestyles for families who otherwise would have no means of lifting themselves out of their poverty. Find out more, watch a video preview and order it here. Small Fortunes was produced by KBYU-TV, who also created a related site, www.small-fortunes.com.
Hunger No More: Faces Behind the Facts - produced by Mennonite Media for the National Council of Churches, looks at advances in fighting world hunger over the last 25 years, emphasizing how faith groups can work to further reduce food scarcity domestically and internationally. (2005). Find out more information and order it here. Download copies of the study guide (in handy, bulletin insert form) here.
The Girl in the Cafe (2005) - A sweet romance set at a G8 Summit with the subtext being conversation and debate about the Millennium Development Goals. A good combination of passion and impassioned approaches tied up in a moving and entertaining package. A beautiful movie. (Some brief nudity - if you're showing this to a youth group, be aware)
Submit your books and movies about eradicating hunger and poverty here.
Click here for the reading list for the Rev. Ian Douglas' EDS course Contemporary Issues in World Christianity, which includes readings on globalization/international debt, the environmental crisis, HIV/AIDS and women's empowerment, the effect of colonialism and neo-colonialism and more.
Websites with more resources/activities about MDG #1
endpoverty2015.org - The Millennium Campaign's MDG #1 page
http://www.povertymap.net/ - great library of poverty maps and other useful resources
http://www.netaid.org/ - Focusing on wealthy countries, Netaid raises awareness about extreme poverty and promotes activities that empower and make a meaningful difference in the lives of the world’s poorest people.
http://www.oxfam.org/ -- Working in both advocacy and grassroots development, Oxfam works to find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering.
http://www.bread.org/ - Bread for the World – resources and advocacy opportunities
www.borgenproject.org -- poverty reduction through political accountability. Great eye-opening statistics and studies.
Submit your website suggestions about eradicating hunger and poverty here.
What One Person Can Do
Stories about One Person working to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty
Submit your One Person stories about eradicating hunger and poverty here.
What One Congregation Can Do
Stories about One Congregation working to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty
Submit your One Congregation stories about eradicating hunger and poverty here.
What One Diocese Can Do
Stories about One Diocese working to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty
Bread for Itipini -- The Diocese of Maryland's 2008 Lenten project ... 4 weeks of multigenerational education and fundraising activities to help make the MDGs happen in Itipini, a slum community of 2,500 in South Africa located literally on top of a garbage dump. For each Sunday in Lent, Bread for Itipini includes a brief lesson plan, with information, photos, prayers, and scripture. The lesson can be used for a brief Sunday School program or a children’s sermon. Bread for Itipini can also be a parish-wide project.
Submit your One Diocese stories about eradicating hunger and poverty here.
What One Church Can Do
Stories about The Episcopal Church working to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty
Submit your stories about The Episcopal Church eradicating hunger and poverty here.
Other Resources
Information and resources about eradicating extreme hunger and poverty
What it's like to live on less than $1 a day - An excellent piece from the Christian Science Monitor
The MDGs: They Are About Children - information about how this MDG (and others) effects children
What One Has Said
Quotes about eradicating hunger and extreme poverty
"The forgotten world is made up primarily of the developing nations, where most of the people, comprising more than fifty percent of the total world population, live in poverty, with hunger as a constant companion and fear of famine a continual menace." - Norman Borlaug
"If you can't feed a hundred people, then just feed one." - Mother Teresa
"America is an enormous frosted cupcake in the middle of millions of starving people." - Gloria Steinem
"The fact the world's poor are calling upon us to help is a marker, in my view, of the limitless potential of human solidarity." - Paul Farmer
Submit your favorite quotes about eradicating hunger and poverty here.
