WASHINGTON - Some developing countries appear to have already met a United Nations goal to halve extreme poverty in the world's poorest countries by 2015, thanks mainly to China's economic boom, the World Bank says
The Washington-based development lender said preliminary data showed developing countries as a group reached the goal - the first of eight UN Millennium Development Goals - in 2010.
The goals are a set of targets adopted by world leaders at the UN in 2000 to fight poverty, hunger and disease in poor countries.
The progress is mainly due to China's rise, which has helped to lift many of its people out of poverty.
Excluding China, however, the number of people in the developing world living in extreme poverty was about the same in 2008 as in 1981 at around 1,1-billion, the World Bank said.
"We are now confident that the developing world as a whole has reached the first of the Millennium Goals and reached that goal in 2010 despite the crisis," said Martin Ravallion, director of the World Bank's research group and lead author of the report. A breakdown by region, however, shows that just Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia and the Pacific - which includes India and China - achieved the poverty goal.
Africa and Latin America are not there yet, the World Bank said.
At the current rate, the World Bank estimates that by 2015 there will still be about 1-billion people living in extreme poverty, internationally defined as those living on less than about R10 a day.
While the poor have benefited from higher growth in developing countries, many are still mired in a poverty trap due to a lack of jobs, basic health and education services.
In China, World Bank data shows there were 660-million fewer people living under about R10 a day in 2008 than in 1981. In Africa, for the first time since 1981, less than half the population now lives on below R10 a day, the World Bank said. It estimated that 9-million fewer people in Africa were living below the poverty line in 2008 than in 2005. - Reuters
China's boom lifts poverty - but Africa and Latin America lag behind target
WASHINGTON - Some developing countries appear to have already met a United Nations goal to halve extreme poverty in the world's poorest countries by 2015, thanks mainly to China's economic boom, the World Bank says
The Washington-based development lender said preliminary data showed developing countries as a group reached the goal - the first of eight UN Millennium Development Goals - in 2010.
The goals are a set of targets adopted by world leaders at the UN in 2000 to fight poverty, hunger and disease in poor countries.
The progress is mainly due to China's rise, which has helped to lift many of its people out of poverty.
Excluding China, however, the number of people in the developing world living in extreme poverty was about the same in 2008 as in 1981 at around 1,1-billion, the World Bank said.
"We are now confident that the developing world as a whole has reached the first of the Millennium Goals and reached that goal in 2010 despite the crisis," said Martin Ravallion, director of the World Bank's research group and lead author of the report. A breakdown by region, however, shows that just Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia and the Pacific - which includes India and China - achieved the poverty goal.
Africa and Latin America are not there yet, the World Bank said.
At the current rate, the World Bank estimates that by 2015 there will still be about 1-billion people living in extreme poverty, internationally defined as those living on less than about R10 a day.
While the poor have benefited from higher growth in developing countries, many are still mired in a poverty trap due to a lack of jobs, basic health and education services.
In China, World Bank data shows there were 660-million fewer people living under about R10 a day in 2008 than in 1981. In Africa, for the first time since 1981, less than half the population now lives on below R10 a day, the World Bank said. It estimated that 9-million fewer people in Africa were living below the poverty line in 2008 than in 2005. - Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos