In 1996, the OECD/DAC adopted a set of international development targets to guide the efforts of a global development partnership between development agencies and their developing country partners. These targets focused on raising the standard of living, human development and well-being in developing countries. A major target was to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. Extreme poverty refers to the percentage of people living on less than $1 dollar a day, using 1985 purchasing power parity exchange rates to convert the dollar into local currency.

Will extreme poverty be halved? This paper presents the results of recent ODI research commissioned by the Department for International Development on prospects for all developing countries. The results point to some major challenges.