U.N. foresees dramatic cuts in (global) poverty

[pampango]

Source: Washington Post

A decade ago, world leaders at the United Nations signed off on eight goals aimed at transforming the lives of the world's least fortunate - including cutting extreme poverty in half by 2015. Many Americans were skeptical; in a poll, only 8 percent thought that was possible. This week, as nations gather to assess the goals, the United Nations countered the skeptics with an announcement: The world is actually on track to halve the percentage of people on the lowest rung of the economic ladder.

Even with the brutal global recession, the ranks of the world's desperately poor are likely to shrink to 15 percent of the population by 2015, less than half of the original 42 percent, said a recent U.N. report. The World Bank, in a separate analysis, said the objective appears "well within reach."

Several of the original eight goals will probably not be met, including slashing the maternal and child mortality rate worldwide. Moreover,the progress on poverty comes with caveats: The absolute number of poor will shrink less than the percentage figure, because of population growth. Many note that the decline in poverty is due in large part to changes in a few big countries - in particular, China.

The U.N. goals are aimed at the dirt-poor, a different level of misery than what's measured in the United States. The U.S. census sets the poverty level at $22,000 a year for a family of four. The U.N. goal, in contrast, targeted people living on less than $1 a day (later raised to $1.25 to reflect inflation). Many of them live in mud huts and shanty towns, with little access to flush toilets, medicine or high school.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/20/AR2010092005974.html

[FirstLight]

1. you know,

I know poverty is relative, and that we are 'so much better off here' but it still doesn;t make me feel any better about foodstamps, hud housing and tanf life

[defendandprotect]

2. Wondering if the "shrinkage" will have more to do with "disappearing" and "death" than

it has to do with any real progress on increasing incomes?

[dkf]

3. I remember when we used to talk about the starving kids in China.

Maybe it is only fair that our jobs moved to China.