The president of the World Bank Group,Jim Yong Kim said the world is capable of ending global poverty in the next 15 years if countries make tough decisions. He said that decisions by countries to enact reforms will spur growth which will end poverty.Nations must also invest in their people and provide insurance so citizens don’t fall back into poverty. He said the World Bank wants to improve the lives of people around the world. The goals they have are end poverty by 2030 and to boost shared prosperity for the bottom 40 per cent of the population in developing countries.
They announced that the Global poverty is now below 10 percent. This is the first time that the percentage of those living in extreme poverty has fallen into the single digits. He said their goals at the World Bank Group have given a clarity of purpose and forced to align their work to supporting the poor and the vulnerable.However, he cautioned that reducing poverty by 2030 will be extraordinarily difficult, especially during the time of low global economic growth, low commodity prices and pending interest rate hikes.
A positive sign is that the number of people who earn less than $1.90 a day is likely to fall below 10 per cent this year to 9.6 per cent, he said. Poverty in sub-Saharan Africa has fallen from 56 per cent in 1990 to a projected 35 per cent in 2015, according to World Bank figures. In just 20 years, Ghana has cut its poverty rate by more than one half, from 52 percent in 1991 to 21 percent in 2012.
School enrollments are now at 74 percent across the continent, up from 55 percent in 1990. Life expectancy has risen six years in the last decade. Since 2000, the number of children dying from malaria has been reduced by 40 percent; and the number and under-five deaths from tetanus, pertussis and measles have declined by 75 percent.
Kim also said global transparency was needed to fight the trend of illicit flows of money that affect poverty. Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama, who is meeting with Kim, said transformation programs are needed on a continental level to develop agriculture, creating jobs and providing food for the people in Africa.
