Economic Development

Productive & Resilient Livelihoods

Around the world, the impact of extreme poverty on children’s development is devastating.  Approximately 356 million children – 1 in 6 children – are living in extreme poverty with less than $1.90 a day. 

Child poverty has long-term implications for their overall well-being. These include poor psychosocial and physical health, malnutrition, lack of education, social exclusion, and limited future employment opportunities. Children may be exposed to more violence, such as child labour and child marriage, as families and caregivers face economic difficulties.  This is due to increased stress and pressure to make ends meet. 

Predictions suggest that climate and disaster risk will push an estimated 325 million poor people into extreme poverty over the next decade. Children in the poorest and most fragile contexts face the greatest risk. 

In alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), World Vision strives to end poverty in all its forms by 2030 to help the most vulnerable children to reach their full potential. We do this by:

• Graduating the most vulnerable families out of extreme poverty – so that very poor families become economically self-reliant and have the dignity and means to provide for their own children.
• Strengthening food production, resilience and access to markets / financial services – so that farmers can produce more, better and more sustainable nutritious food for household consumption and marketing purposes.
• Promoting sustainable employment opportunities and market systems – so that communities have access to goods, services and employment opportunities through private sector partnerships.
• Promoting women’s economic empowerment – so that through women's economic advancement, access to opportunities, services, resources, and agency, including decision-making ability in households and markets, manageable paid and unpaid workloads, and well-being. Finally, World Vision promotes equitable systems where women can benefit from equitable policies, laws, institutional practices, and social norms.

Learn more about World Vision's Livelihoods programmatic approaches,
visit our Livelihoods Technical Library,
or contact us at livelihoods@wvi.org.