The world’s governments are falling far short of the pledges they made in 2015 to eradicate extreme poverty and create a world with “zero hunger” by 2030 – the first and second Sustainable Development Goals. On current trends, the poverty goal will be missed by a wide margin. Progress on hunger has stalled. These failures have acted as a brake on progress in other areas, contributing to a wider crisis in attaining the SDGs. António Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, has warned that “the 2030 Agenda could become an epitaph for a world that might have been.” Avoiding that outcome requires urgent action to roll back poverty and hunger.

Behind the raw numbers of the SDG data, millions of people are living with avoidable poverty and preventable hunger. In response, the Brazilian Presidency of the G20 has proposed a Global Hunger and Poverty Alliance to galvanise change. The Global Alliance would seek to mobilise political leadership and financial resources to support policies with a proven potential to accelerate progress on SDGs 1 and 2, working through governments and their partners across the international community. Success would have transformative effects. Getting back on track to meet the 2030 goals would ease the suffering of millions of people, unlock their potential, and transform their prospects for human development. It would also renew the ambition of the SDGs. With the 2030 deadline looming and the SDG deficits mounting, it is imperative to scale up and accelerate our efforts.

This ODI report, prepared at the request of the G20 Presidency, highlights the potential for more rapid progress. It focuses on the international financing landscape for supporting SDGs 1 and 2 in low-income countries (LICs) and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs). These countries account for the bulk of extreme poverty and hunger – and a large (and rising) share of the SDG delivery shortfall. We trace the current trajectory of LICs and LMICs against the SDG targets. We then provide a detailed mapping of the official development finance (ODF) available to LICs and LMICs for policies geared towards eradicating poverty and attaining zero hunger.

Report by the Overseas Development Institute

The report was commissioned by the Brazilian G20 presidency as an input to the task force, but its contents are full responsibility of the authors, and do not necessarily represent views by G20 or the Presidency. Also this is a draft, not final form and is still under discussion and review in G20.