Poverty

WHAT'S NEXT?: Due to a deteriorating global economic outlook, more than 130 out of 189 countries will experience reduced income growth, with the average global GDP growth rate falling from 4.1 percent to 3.1 percent between 2011 and 2030. Almost all of the countries with large numbers remaining in extreme poverty in 2030 will be in sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia.

• [New] Cutting extreme poverty to 14 per cent was a massive achievement, but with the global population expected to reach 8.5 billion in 2030, it leaves the prospect of 1.19 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day.
• The United Nations estimates that achieving its sustainable development goals for issues including poverty, clean water and gender equality by 2030 will require as much as $7 trillion a year, with an annual funding shortfall of $2.5 trillion in developing countries.
• While people in poverty are responsible for just a fraction of global emissions, they will bear the brunt of climate change and have the least capacity to protect themselves.
• Poverty is likely to endure in much of sub-Saharan Africa: Although absolute poverty will reduce, there are still likely to be substantial numbers of people who are very poor.
• The combined impact of the Desert Flower scenario drives a €416 billion (US$460 billion) cumulative increase in economic growth, and more than 29 million fewer people living in extreme poverty by 2040 in the G5..
• In next year, a record 168 million people will need humanitarian assistance and protection in 53 countries from Afghanistan to Zambia.
• 100 million people are already at risk of being pushed into poverty by climate change by 2030; particularly in sub Saharan Africa and South Asia.
• Implementation of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests by 2030 will reverse the loss of forests and increase them by 3% globally and will help eradicate extreme poverty for forest-dependent people.
• Throughout the year, UN and humanitarian partners have assisted about 900,000 people with food assistance and in 2020, the Humanitarian Response Plan seeks $365.6 million to assist nearly three million in urgent need.
• Poverty and vulnerability are especially pronounced in Northern and Eastern Uganda, which are home to the majority of people living in poverty.
• The estimate of 20.1 million encompasses the total number of people in need of urgent action in the absence of Humanitarian Food Assistance which will be used for the 2019 response planning purposes.
• Next year (2020), the Chinese people will build China into a well-off society, meaning the total elimination of poverty in China, and that 1.4 billion people will be living better-off lives.
• Achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals - which include clean water, clean energy, sustainable cities, climate action, responsible consumption, reduced inequality and more - could open a market opportunity of $12 trillion by 2030.
• The World Bank has recently set a goal to reduce extreme poverty around the world to under 3 percent by 2030.
• 15 million people in the UK are expected to be living in poverty in 2020 including 2 million pensioners and over 4 million children.
• The UK is scarred by poverty and the social security system is in crisis, with 15 million people expected to live in poverty next year.
• In Kenya and Tanzania, an additional 700,000 poor people would be expected to be lifted from extreme poverty by 2030.
• Argentina will end 2019 with an annual GDP decline of 3 pc, an annual inflation rate of 55 pc, and with 35 pc of Argentines living in poverty.
• Worldwide 100 million people are already at risk of being pushed into poverty because of climate change by 2030 - particularly across Sub Saharan Africa - and 720 million by 2050.
• In 2019, approximately 250,000 Afghans will need emergency medical treatment because of continued conflict, and approximately 1.8 million people live within one kilometer of polluted areas with explosive hazards.
• The pace of poverty reduction is slowing down and current projections suggest that 6% of the world's population will still be living in extreme poverty in 2030, missing the target of the first Sustainable Development Goal.
• Antimicrobial resistance is putting the achievement of the UN's sustainable development goals in jeopardy - by 2030, antimicrobial resistance could force up to 24 million people into extreme poverty.
• Extreme poverty will continue to decline, true, but the share of people still in extreme poverty will remain at 5.3% by 2030.

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Last updated: 14 February 2020