The article presents an analytical study of the problems of poverty and quality of life of the poor and the poorest of our planet. Basic information database of the research are materials of the UN and its constituent units. This article discusses and clarifies the concept of absolute and relative poverty, and presents an approach to the definition of deprivation poverty. The main indicators of poverty, according to the report of the UN World Development, are highlighted. The author links the indicators of availability of services with the provision of basic human needs according to Maslow´s theory. The article also examines the main economic causes of poverty, including in a number of Third World countries. Further, the author shows the contribution of the United Nations and the developed countries in addressing the problem of poverty and absolute poverty. In this regard, suggested is the poverty reduction strategy, the implementation of which should lead to the achievement of the goals by 2015, that is, to the present time. Almost all of the goals are related to the availability of socially important services for the poor and the poorest. It is proved that a regulatory role in this process should be undertaken by the state, and the process should be based on the mechanism of social partnership between government, service providers and major consumer groups. In the final part of the article highlighted are criteria for selecting suppliers and funding mechanisms for services for the populations concerned.