Global Poverty Will Hit New Low This Year, World Bank Says

Introduction by Raymond Brimble

These days, it’s easy to think that the world is going to hell in that hand basket. Yet, all around us are true accomplishments, both personal and collective.

If you asked anybody if global poverty is growing or shrinking, I would guess most would say "growing.” Would you?

Yet that is not the case, as per the following article. Same goes for crime, active war, teen pregnancies, smoking, cancer deaths… the list goes on and on. What is it about this era that we lack confidence in humankind's ability to do good and prosper, in spite of such evidence of our positive headway?

I hope you will choose to read this article. When you do, would you please take note of your own attitude toward this news. Are you skeptical? Do you react with a "yes, but…”? Or can you allow yourself to give this world just a little bit of credit for the positive steps mankind can make. This examination of your own consciousness may be more informative than any information the article contains.


Global Poverty Will Hit New Low This Year, World Bank Says

by Lydia O’Connor

This article was originally published on The Huffington Post on October 10, 2015. Read the full article here.

Less than 10 percent of the world’s population will be living in extreme poverty by the end of 2015, the World Bank forecast on Sunday. 

The Washington-based institution’s latest projections expect the number of people who survive on $1.90 a day to drop from 12.8 percent of the human population in 2012 to 9.6 percent this year. That means 702 million people still struggle to survive.

But that’s a stunning decline from the numbers reported over the last 25 years. According to the World Bank, 37.1 percent of the world’s population lived in extreme poverty in 1990. In 2015, that number is estimated to drop to 9.6 percent.

WORLD BANK - Ending Extreme Poverty and Sharing Prosperity: A Snapshot

WORLD BANK - Ending Extreme Poverty and Sharing Prosperity: A Snapshot

“This is the best story in the world today — these projections show us that we are the first generation in human history that can end extreme poverty,” World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a press release. “This new forecast of poverty falling into the single digits should give us new momentum and help us focus even more clearly on the most effective strategies to end extreme poverty.”

Read the full article over at The Huffington Post