"Number of extreme poor in the world: unacceptably high"
"Number of extreme poor in the world: unacceptably high"
Although the number of extremely poor decreases, many people still live in poverty
The new report on global poverty and shared prosperity of the World Bank Group was presented yesterday in the auditorium of the University of Azuay (UDA); publication every two years.
Actually we have very good news: when we look over time, from 1990 to 2015, extreme poverty at the global level has decreased 25 points; it has gone from an 36% of the population to an 10% in 2015, says María Ana Lugo, senior economist of Global Poverty and Equity Practice of the World Bank Group.
However, he points out that, what is being seen is that in recent years this decline has been slowing down and, in part, this has to do with what is happening in terms of the composition of poverty, where the poor are most extremes, which are located in Africa and countries in conflict.
As for Latin America? Lugo explains that, in reality, most countries have managed to reduce extreme poverty to very low values, below the 5%, and that is part of a general progress that the region has experienced, from 2000 in particular.
"As Latin Americans we define poverty, poverty is a little higher, it reaches 10% at a regional level, one in four Latin Americans is poor with slightly higher measures, which are the typical measures of countries like Ecuador, of high average income, "he says.
Processes
Poverty is increasing in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in fragile and conflict-affected states.
In many countries, the poorest 40% of the population is falling behind, in some countries the standard of living of the poorest 40% is, in fact, declining.
To achieve the goal of reducing extreme poverty to less than 3% for the 2030 year, the poorest countries in the world must grow at a rate that far exceeds their historical experience.
There is no room for complacency, says the World Bank. Efforts must be intensified to promote economic growth in countries that are lagging behind and to ensure that economic progress benefits the poorest 40% of the population.
"Reducing extreme poverty to less than 3% for 2030 is still a considerable challenge and will remain our goal," said Jim Yong Kim, president of the World Bank Group.
The majority of the world's poor now live in middle-income countries and in these countries the picture of poverty tends to be more complex.
Taking into account national poverty lines, this Bank presents poverty comparisons based on two higher poverty thresholds (USD 3,20 and USD 5,50 per day), which are typical of the existing standards in low middle income countries. and of high median income.
In the course of the past 25 years, the world has made remarkable and unprecedented progress in reducing poverty.
The fight against extreme poverty is still far from over and, in some respects, it is becoming more difficult.
The number of extreme poor in the world remains unacceptably high, and it is becoming increasingly clear that the benefits of economic growth have been unevenly distributed across regions and countries.
For the most part, poor households are located in rural areas, have a large number of children and lack education. (ACR) - (I)
RESULTS
1 Year 2015: 736 millions of people lived in extreme poverty, which represents a decrease from the almost 2000 million registered in 1990.
2 Despite the slowdown in global growth over the past few years, between 2013 and 2015 the total number of people living in extreme poverty decreased by more than 68 million.
3 Since 1990, tens of millions of people have escaped poverty each year, which has generated between 1990 and 2015 an average decrease of one percentage point per year in the global rate of extreme poverty.
4 Much of the progress of the past 25 years was recorded in East Asia and the Pacific, where China's economic boom has allowed millions of people to rise out of poverty.
5 Looking ahead to 2030, forecasts indicate that the world should grow at an unusually steady pace to reach the 3% goal.
6 In an alternative scenario, in which all countries grow at the same rate as the average of their regions over the last ten years, World Bank forecasts indicate that the global extreme poverty rate would exceed 5% in 2030.
7 This scenario leads to a bifurcated world, where more than a quarter of the inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa live in extreme poverty, while poverty amounts to less than 2% in most of the rest of the world.
8 These contrasting regional trends in poverty have implications.
9 The Bank's forecasts indicate that the reduction rate slowed further between 2015 and 2018, less than half a percentage point per year. (I)
MORE INFORMATION
We must not forget -save the World Bank Group- the hardships suffered by the billions of people living with more than USD 1,90 and still very poor by the standards of their own societies.
It must be recognized that societies have not stopped thinking about poverty or worrying about it, even if its extreme forms are now much less evident. Poverty is a complex multifaceted problem.
Stronger economic growth and additional efforts to resolve violent conflicts are critical to accelerating the pace of poverty reduction in Africa and other regions, the Bank notes.
In the struggle to end poverty, it must also be borne in mind that being poor does not only mean lacking income. Other aspects of life are essential for well-being, including education.
As prosperity in the world increases and extreme poverty is disappearing, it is legitimately posed that the USD 1,90 line could be too low to define if someone is poor in all countries of the world.