Earth Institute Poverty Quiz

1: Among the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), time-bound targets to accelerate the fight against poverty, a priority has been set to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate among children under five. How many children living in poor areas of the world die each year, largely from preventable causes?

2 million

7 million

10 million

14 million

 

2: Approximately how much has the U.S. government set aside for its 2005 defense budget, and how much does it spend on fighting global poverty?

$150 billion and $36 billion respectively

$350 billion and $100 billion respectively

$500 billion and $16 billion respectively

$750 billion and $200 billion respectively

 

3: The World Bank estimates that 1.1 billion people live in extreme poverty, defined as living on less $1 a day. Adding the number of people who live in moderate poverty, defined as living on $1 to $2 a day, what percentage of the world’s 6 billion people lives in poverty?

About 15 percent

About 20 percent

About 30 percent

About 50 percent

 

4: A key target of the MDGs is to halve the number of people living in poverty by 2015. In “The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time,” by what year does Jeffrey D. Sachs state that the world can end extreme poverty?

2025

2075

2100

2125

 

5: Which of the following sets of countries give the most to official development assistance (ODA)?

Norway, France, Finland and Sweden

The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Luxembourg

Germany, Norway, Sweden and France

Germany, the Netherlands, France and Norway

 

6: According to the UN Millennium Project, how much additional international aid is needed in 2006 to put the world on a path to achieve the MDGs by 2015?

$10 billion

$70 billion

$87 billion

$450 billion

 

7: True or False: The total number of people living in poverty fell from 1.5 billion in 1981 to 1.1 billion today.

TRUE

FALSE

 

8: True or False: The Caribbean has the second highest HIV prevalence rate outside of sub-Saharan Africa.

TRUE

FALSE

 

9: What percentage of the U.S. federal budget goes to development assistance?

More than 30%

Between 10% and 30%

Between 1% and 10%

Less than 1%