Extreme Poverty Falls To Record Low

Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest remaining instance of extreme poverty, with a few 35 percent of its population expected to be living below the poverty line by the end of 2015.

That number stood at 902 million, or about 13 percent of the world population in 2012 and at 29 percent in 1999.

The forecast uses a new global poverty line of 1.9 USA dollars a day, an upgrade from the previous line of 1.25 US dollars a day, which was set 10 years ago.

“Urban air pollution emerged as a leading cause of ill-health in developing countries-more than triple the impact of malaria, HIV and tuberculosis combined”, the bank said in its report.

The new line preserves the real purchasing power of the previous line (of $1.25 a day in 2005 prices) in the world’s poorest countries.

Republicans failed to “fully commit to the debate and take the case to the American people”.

Suffering is becoming increasingly concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa.

It also cautioned that reliable current data was not available in part of the Middle East and North Africa because of conflict.

“We are the first generation in human history that can end extreme poverty”, said World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.

The institution released its latest figures days after members of the United Nations adopted new measures aimed at ending global poverty by 2030.

“But it remains within our grasp, as long as our high aspirations are matched by country-led plans that help the still millions of people living in extreme poverty”, Kim added.

Philip Hammond blasted the Russians for misleading world players with their airstrikes.

The report, which cited the bank’s needs for more resources after an agreement last month on the Sustainable Development Goals, a set of 17 goals to combat poverty, inequality and climate change, did not specify how much Kim would be asking for. The first goal is to end global poverty, and the second is to promote global prosperty by “fostering the income growth of the bottom 40 percent for every country”.

However, Kaushik Basu, chief economist at the World Bank, sounded an alarm over a slowdown in emerging markets worldwide – with Latin America an emblem of the sputter.

Expects said the prospect of emerging economies losing steam could challenge promises to eradicate extreme poverty. “These are crucial for governments and policy makers when they are planning the programs that will improve lives, or the policies that will help bring the poorest in their country out of destitution”.