Progress in achieving UN anti-poverty goals for 2015 under new threat

Ashley Tyner

The world has make strong sustained progress in reducing the extreme poverty rate, but due to high prices in food and oil, this is now being undercut. Many developing countries are now facing higher import bills which jeopardizes their growth as a whole.

Estimates from the World Bank show that the number of poor in the developing world is larger than predicted: 1.4 billion people. Newer estimates confirm that between 1990 and 2005 the number of people in extreme poverty fell from 1.8 billion to the current 1.4 billion and the 1990 poverty rate is very likely to be cut almost in half by 2015. A great deal of the decline took place in Eastern Asia (China). In less fortunate countries such as, Sub-Saharan Africa had an increased rate of poor people between the 1990 and 2005 period.

With food prices continuing to rise with so signs of slowing down, it is expected to send many more people into poverty, especially Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, who already have the largest numbers of people living in poverty. These rising food prices will be the main theme to focus on for the incoming president of the general assembly, Miguel d'Escoto Brockman of Nicaragua, on September 16.