According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty.

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Global Poverty Act of 2007 (H.R. 1302)

According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty.  For the 1.9 billion children from the developing world, there are 640 million without adequate shelter, 400 million with no access to safe water, and 270 million with no access to health services.

The Global Poverty Act calls for specific strategies that would implement the MDGs, including continued investment in existing U.S. initiatives to reduce global poverty, increasing overall U.S. development assistance levels and improving the effectiveness of such assistance, enhancing and expanding debt relief, and leveraging U.S. trade policy where possible to enhance the economic development prospects for developing countries.

The Global Poverty Act of 2007 (H.R. 1302) aims to require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day.

The Act hopes to achieve its goals by maintaining a continued investment in existing initiatives related to international poverty reduction, increasing overall assistance levels while at the same time improving the effectiveness of such assistance, enhancing and expanding debt relief, leveraging trade policy to enhance economic development prospects for developing countries, working in cooperation with developed and developing countries, international organizations, and mobilizing the participation of businesses, domestic and international nongovernmental organizations, civil society, and public-private partnerships, and integrating principles of sustainable development into the achieved policies and programs.

This legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) and Spencer Bachus (R-AL) on March 1, 2007. It was then referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Supporters of the bipartisan legislation include human rights organizations as well as several environmental organizations, as the reduction of poverty levels is integral to maintaining a sustainable environment.  Supporting organizations include the Sierra Club, United Nations Association of USA, National Wildlife Federation, Habitat for Humanity International, U.S. Fund for UNICEF, and Zonta International.