Calling for greater urgency to end extreme poverty, World Bank GroupPresident Jim Yong Kim announced on October 9 that the World Bank hasset an interim target to reduce global poverty to 9 percent in 2020,which, if achieved, would mark the first time the rate has fallen intothe single-digit level.
The milestone was based ona World Bank economic analysis of global poverty trends toward reachinga goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030. Living in extreme poverty isdefined as below 1.25 USD a day.
World Bank Groupeconomists found if developing countries continued their strong growthrates in the coming seven years – far from a given - the global ratewould dip below 10 percent for the first time since such figures werefirst reported in the World Development Report in 1990. Since 1990, when43 percent of the people living in developing countries lived inpoverty, global poverty has been in a steady retreat. An estimated 1.9billion people lived in poverty in 1990, and that number fell to 1.2billion in 2010.
Reaching 9 percent in 2020 wouldmean an estimated 690 million people would be still living in extremepoverty. If achieved, the world would have 510 million fewer peopleliving in poverty in 2020, compared to a decade earlier. That would bethe equivalent of half of the population of the continent of Africa, ormore than double the population of Indonesia.
“Setting this target reminds us we are on the cusp of something historic– ridding the world of the scourge of people living in such abysmalconditions,” Kim said on the eve of the opening of the 2013 AnnualMeetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.
“It also means that all of us – developing countryleaders and their partners, including the World Bank Group – need to uptheir game now in order to end extreme poverty. We need to helpdeveloping countries accelerate growth, attract private investment, andcreate good jobs,” Kim said.
Last April, theGovernors of the World Bank Group endorsed two goals for theorganization: end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost shared prosperity ofthe bottom 40 percent of the population in all developing countries.
This week, the Governors will consider a World BankGroup strategy that for the first time will unite all parts of theinstitution – the Bank, which works with governments; IFC, the privatesector arm; and MIGA, which issues political risk insurance – and alignthem toward meeting its two goals.
Kim citedresearch by the World Bank Group that showed if developing countriescontinued historic growth rates for the next two decades, global povertywould be reduced to 8 percent in 2030 – far from the target. The WorldBank Group has defined ending extreme poverty as reaching 3 percentpoverty globally, due to constant fluctuations of populations above andbelow the line because of conflict, disasters, loss of employment, andother factors.
In order to meet the 2030 target, Kimsaid, developing countries would have to match their growth during thefastest-growing period of the past two decades. That period varied percountry, and was caused by multiple factors.
“Endingextreme poverty is achievable in less than a generation’s time,” Kimsaid. “But we need strong growth, committed political leaders, and agrowing social movement that keeps pushing all of us to focus like alaser beam on the result all of us want.”. -VNA
The milestone was based ona World Bank economic analysis of global poverty trends toward reachinga goal of ending extreme poverty by 2030. Living in extreme poverty isdefined as below 1.25 USD a day.
World Bank Groupeconomists found if developing countries continued their strong growthrates in the coming seven years – far from a given - the global ratewould dip below 10 percent for the first time since such figures werefirst reported in the World Development Report in 1990. Since 1990, when43 percent of the people living in developing countries lived inpoverty, global poverty has been in a steady retreat. An estimated 1.9billion people lived in poverty in 1990, and that number fell to 1.2billion in 2010.
Reaching 9 percent in 2020 wouldmean an estimated 690 million people would be still living in extremepoverty. If achieved, the world would have 510 million fewer peopleliving in poverty in 2020, compared to a decade earlier. That would bethe equivalent of half of the population of the continent of Africa, ormore than double the population of Indonesia.
“Setting this target reminds us we are on the cusp of something historic– ridding the world of the scourge of people living in such abysmalconditions,” Kim said on the eve of the opening of the 2013 AnnualMeetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund.
“It also means that all of us – developing countryleaders and their partners, including the World Bank Group – need to uptheir game now in order to end extreme poverty. We need to helpdeveloping countries accelerate growth, attract private investment, andcreate good jobs,” Kim said.
Last April, theGovernors of the World Bank Group endorsed two goals for theorganization: end extreme poverty by 2030 and boost shared prosperity ofthe bottom 40 percent of the population in all developing countries.
This week, the Governors will consider a World BankGroup strategy that for the first time will unite all parts of theinstitution – the Bank, which works with governments; IFC, the privatesector arm; and MIGA, which issues political risk insurance – and alignthem toward meeting its two goals.
Kim citedresearch by the World Bank Group that showed if developing countriescontinued historic growth rates for the next two decades, global povertywould be reduced to 8 percent in 2030 – far from the target. The WorldBank Group has defined ending extreme poverty as reaching 3 percentpoverty globally, due to constant fluctuations of populations above andbelow the line because of conflict, disasters, loss of employment, andother factors.
In order to meet the 2030 target, Kimsaid, developing countries would have to match their growth during thefastest-growing period of the past two decades. That period varied percountry, and was caused by multiple factors.
“Endingextreme poverty is achievable in less than a generation’s time,” Kimsaid. “But we need strong growth, committed political leaders, and agrowing social movement that keeps pushing all of us to focus like alaser beam on the result all of us want.”. -VNA
