Globalization has improved the lives of people throughout the world, but it has also widened the gap between rich and poor. Half the world lives on less than $2 a day and 30,000 children die each day because of poverty. Even in America, 36 million people are poor. Poverty affects families, communities and nations. When people are not able to get the food and shelter they need, conflicts arise. Working to end poverty will make the world safer.

At the United Nations Millennium Summit in the year 2000, the leaders of the world pledged to help end poverty as the first of 8 Millennium Development Goals. The rest of these goals address many avenues to eliminate poverty such as ensuring education for children, improving health and empowering women. Many campaigns are working with the UN's Millennium Campaign to pressure governments to live up to their promises, such as Britain's Make Poverty History Campaign and the ONE Campaign in America. 2005's global Live 8 concert, organized by Bob Geldof and U2's Bono, helped to bring worldwide attention to the end poverty movement, and the White Band Campaign makes it easy for everyone to show their support.

End Poverty Day, officially the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, is an opportunity to mobilize to remind governments about their pledge to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, and to inspire individuals to see that together we can end poverty.