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Tag Archives: Poverty

March 2020 global poverty update from the World Bank: New poverty estimates for 2018

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The March 2020 global poverty update added more than 200 new surveys to PovcalNet,

figure 1.2

Table 1. Poverty estimates for reference year 2018, different poverty lines

bringing the total number of surveys to more than 1,900. New poverty estimates for the reference year 2018 are now included for some regions, and the previously published global and regional estimates from 1981 to 2015 have been revised, reflecting data revisions and the availability of new data. More details on the revisions can be found in Atamanov et al. (2020).

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Fragility and Conflict: On the Front Lines of the Fight against Poverty

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • A new report estimates that by 2030 up to two-thirds of the global extreme poor will Imagebe living in FCS, making it evident that without intensified action, the global poverty goals will not be met.
  • The new report, “Fragility and Conflict: On the Front Lines of the Fight against Poverty” notes that the 43 countries in the world with the highest poverty rates are in FCS and/or Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • The number of people living in proximity to conflict — defined as within 60 kilometers of at least 25 conflict-related deaths — has nearly doubled since 2007.

Globally, the prevalence of fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS) continues to rise. The number of forcibly displaced people worldwide has more than doubled since 2012, exceeding 74 million in 2018. A new report estimates that by 2030 up to two-thirds of the global extreme poor may be living in FCS, making it evident that without intensified action, the global poverty goals will not be met.

The new report, “Fragility and Conflict: On the Front Lines of the Fight against Poverty,” notes that the 43 countries in the world with the highest poverty rates are in FCS and/or Sub-Saharan Africa.  Economies facing chronic fragility and conflict have had poverty rates stuck at over 40 percent in the past decade, while countries that have escaped FCS have cut their poverty rates by more than half. Today, a person living in an economy facing chronic fragility and conflict is 10 times more likely to be poor than a person living in a country that hasn’t been in conflict or fragility in the past 20 years.

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Developing countries want more action on climate: The World Bank is stepping up

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By Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Managingfloods.jpgDirector of Operations

I have read the many reports that summarize the dire state of the climate and our planet’s worsening prospects. I know the hard statistics docum

enting rising temperatures, the increasing intensity of natural disasters and warmer seas. I have been meeting with representatives from developing countries who have one request: we need less talk and more action on climate.  

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Year in Review: 2019 in 14 Charts

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As this decade comes to an end, the world has seen progress on many fronts. The poorest countries have greater access to water, electricity, and sanitation (i.e., a toilet). Poverty and child mortality have fallen. Technology has spread far and wide so that there are now more mobile phones than people. But we’ve also broken some of the wrong kinds of records. In 2019, more people were forcibly displaced than any other time in history. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit an all-time high and biodiversity is declining at an accelerating rate. These charts highlight some remarkable achievements and the serious challenges that remain as we head into 2020.

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The learning crisis requires a new approach

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For most children, turning 10 is an exciting moment. They’re learning more about the untitled.pngworld and expanding their horizons. But too many children – more than half of all 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries – cannot read and understand a simple story. We are in the middle of a global learning crisis that stifles opportunities and aspirations of hundreds of millions of children.   That is unacceptable.

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To balance debt and development, transparency and purpose are key

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Unsustainable debt. Debt distress. Debt trap. These dire terms are once again back in theindex headlines, just a decade after the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.

In the past five years alone, public debt in the poorest countries has increased from 36 percent of GDP to 51 percent of GDP.  In addition, debt-service ratios in some countries are rising at an alarming pace, threatening countries’ ability to invest in much-needed infrastructure, education, health and many other needs crucial for lifting their citizens out of poverty and achieving the international community’s Sustainable Development Goals by their 2030 deadline.

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Some reflections on pathways out of poverty

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Take two numbers: 1 in 3 young people worldwide are not in education, employment or World Bank buildingtraining, and over 875 million people are expected to migrate by 2050.

These figures often reflect unfulfilled aspirations and lack of opportunity.

People are often in jobs with below poverty-line pay; others have no prospects for a raise and professional advancement; for some others, it is hard to re-enter the job market after a period of unemployment; and, among the youngest, many face daunting obstacles in joining the workforce.

Fair Progress? Economic Mobility across Generations Around the World

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If you are born into a low-income family, what are the chances that you will rise higher Fair-Progress-Pictureregardless of your background? The ability to move up the income ladder, both in one’s lifetime and with respect to one’s parents, matters for fighting poverty, reducing inequality, and even for boosting growth. Yet, mobility has stalled in recent years in large parts of the world, with the prospects of too many people across the world still too closely tied to their parents’ social status rather than their own potential, according to the findings of a new World Bank report launched today. Mobility is also much lower, on the average, in developing economies than in high-income economies. The developing world accounts for 46 of the bottom 50 economies in terms of mobility in education from the bottom to the top.

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The State of Social Safety Nets 2018

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safety-nets-2018-report-cover-1Safety nets protect vulnerable households from impacts of economic shocks, natural disasters, and other crises

  • An estimated 36 percent of the very poor escaped extreme poverty because of social safety nets, providing clear evidence that social safety net programs are making a substantial impact in the global fight against poverty.
  • In developing and transition countries, 2.5 billion people are covered by safety net programs. Of these, 650 million people are from the poorest quintile.
  • Yet, in low-income countries, only 1 in 5 of the poorest are covered by safety net programs.

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eC2: Regional households survey on poverty and health in Senegal

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Deadline:  09-Apr-2018 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time – Washington D.C.) medical-appointment-doctor-healthcare-clinic-health-hospital-medicine[7]

Objective:  The Household Survey: Building on the questionnaire already developed for the forthcoming LSMS survey in Senegal (shortened version), the household survey will collect comprehensive and multi-purpose household data, including specific modules on health (health expenditures, financial protection, as well as a short module on adolescent health). Administering this survey tool through the CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) software developed by the World Bank (Survey Solution), the survey is expected to cover approximately 2100 households distributed across three regions and representative at the departmental level.

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