There are 1 billion impoverished people in the world. There are only 8 causes in this list. It will take you 2 minutes to read it, and 1 minute to share one of the links with your friends. Why wouldn't you act now and make a dent in the poverty problem?

[This post is part of Blog Action Day: Mashable proudly supports bloggers, readers and social media users taking action to eradicate poverty worldwide.]

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Founded by Microsoft's Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, the Gates Foundation's many aims include the elimination of poverty.

Why Promote It? Because you'd like to support healthcare in developing countries and equal opportunities for people in the United States.



Brooks World Poverty Institute - A section of the University of Manchester, the Brooks World Poverty Institute is a research institute dedicated to studying poverty, inequality and growth. The site has a lot of information about the actual program, but they also publish their findings here as well as maintain a blog for discussions.

Why Promote It? Because you know we can't fix the poverty issue until we understand it.

Chronic Poverty Research Centre - The Chronic Poverty Research Centre is a coalition of universities, research institutes and non-governmental organizations that are trying to educate people on the subject of chronic poverty while also trying to halve the estimated one billion impoverished people in the world by 2015.

Why Promote It? Because you want to stimulate debate about the poverty issue at both national and international levels.

Global Call to Action Against Poverty - GCAP is a coalition of trade unions, community groups, faith groups, youth organizations and non-governmental organizations that aim to hold politicians to their promises regarding poverty.

Why Promote It? Because you want to ensure world leaders meet their promises to end global poverty and inequality.

Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign - The Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign is built around the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which establishes the rights of every human being to necessities like food, housing, communication and a job.

Why Promote It? Because you believe everyone has the right to housing, health care, a living wage and an education.

RobinHood.org - The Robin Hood Foundation was founded in 1988 to help the poverty stricken residents of New York City. It is now considered a model for what organizations can do in other cities and has served as the inspiration for groups such as the Tipping Point Community in San Francisco.

Why Promote It? Because you want to fight poverty in New York, and inspire other US cities to do the same.

STEPS Centre (Social, Technological and Environmental Pathways to Sustainability) - STEPS is a research group studying the interactions between social, technological and environmental factors that lead to poverty, and how we need to get them all working together to solve the problem.

Why Promote It? Because you believe that environmental sustainability is the route to better livelihoods and health for those in poverty.

The ONE Campaign - ONE was formed by eleven non-profit organizations to raise awareness of poverty in the world. They are currently carrying out the "ONE Vote '08" campaign to engage presidential candidates with the issues of the world's poor. This campaign is co-chaired by former Senate Majority Leaders Tom Daschle (D-SD) and Bill Frist (R-TN).

Why Promote It? Because you'd like to join more than 2 million people dedicated to bringing education to young people in Africa, supplying life-saving medication against AIDs and preventing deaths from malaria, measles and malnutrition.