Welcome to the first episode of our new series on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. For the next 17 episodes, we shall be diving into each of the goals, profiling individuals and organisations and learning about their work. 

In the first episode of the SDG series, we look at SDG 1- End Poverty in all its forms everywhere. In conversation with Professor Santiago Fiorio Vaesken, Head of Global Partnerships at Poverty Stoplight, which aims to eliminate poverty from a multidimensional perspective. Based out of Paraguay, he is an elected member of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and a university professor in international relations. He has a Masters degree in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Santiago is a specialist in human rights, international humanitarian law and international cooperation, with experience in humanitarian assistance, risk management and international relations.

In this episode, we discuss the vision, mission, and approach of Poverty Stoplight, how can interventions targeted at poverty elimination be made sustainable, working with multiple stakeholders, the impact of the pandemic that pushed an additional 119-124 million people back into extreme poverty in 2020 potential strategies to reverse the trend. We also talk about a human rights approach to poverty elimination, and whether we need to revisit target 2030. We conclude by hearing about Prof. Santiago's D-Dream. 

You can reach out to the team at Poverty Stoplight via- LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/poverty-stoplight/) and Instagram (@povertystoplight). Their website is https://www.povertystoplight.org/.