Since 1945, the UN has made great strides in helping lift people out of poverty — but future progress is at risk in 2020.

In June 1945, Europe was reeling from a deadly, devastating world war. Peace had been achieved in the west, but world leaders knew that they had to take immediate action to build a better world and prevent another deadly conflict.

So, delegates from 50 countries gathered in San Francisco and committed to working towards progress by signing the UN Charter. Since that day, there have been tremendous gains: global life expectancy is now 72, global hunger has decreased, and before the pandemic, global extreme poverty was the lowest in recorded history.