World Bank: Extreme poverty here to stay
5/10/2022: The World Bank reports that extreme poverty increased by 71 million in 2020, the biggest single-year leap in more than 30 years. COVID-19 has ended years of progress. Without a massive hike in economic growth, some 574 million people — roughly 7% of the global population — will remain in extreme poverty in 2030.
Source: DW
Global cost-of-living crisis sending tens of millions into poverty
7/7/2022: 71 million people in the developing world have fallen into poverty in the last three months as a direct consequence of global food and energy price surges. A UN report finds that cash transfers targeted to poor households are more equitable and cost-effective than blanket subsidies.
Source: UN Development Programme
Pandemic creates new billionaire every 30 hours
23/5/2022: For every new billionaire created during the pandemic, nearly a million people could be pushed into extreme poverty, reveals a new Oxfam brief published at the World Economic Forum. Oxfam says that the super-rich have seized a shocking amount of the world’s wealth, whilst gutting regulation and workers’ rights.
Source: Oxfam International
Three key questions for understanding shifts in global poverty
9/2/2022: Experts on global poverty data consider the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic and the failure to conduct household surveys in India where poverty numbers represent a significant proportion of the global total.
Source: Inter Press Service
When will countries learn how to do fuel subsidy reforms?
28/1/2022: Developing countries are under pressure to increase social safety nets for the poor by eliminating fuel subsidies for the rich. Precedent suggests this is easier said than done.
Source: Inter Press Service
We can afford to reverse poverty and climate breakdown
24/1/2022: A former chief executive of Save the Children warns that the financial response to the pandemic has widened global inequality. Vulnerable populations in low income countries have been unprotected and economies trapped in a downward spiral.
Source: The Guardian
Ten richest men double their fortunes in pandemic
17/1/2022: The first two years of the pandemic have seen the incomes of 99 percent of humanity fall and over 160 million people forced into poverty. Meanwhile the world's ten richest men more than doubled their fortunes.
Source: Oxfam International
World Inequality Report 2022
15/12/2021: The latest World Inequality Report reveals that the richest 10% of the global population currently takes 52% of global income, whereas the poorest half of the population earns 8% of it. Addressing the challenges of the 21st century is not feasible without significant redistribution of income and wealth inequalities.
Source: FP2P
Poverty in Nigeria linked to fuel subsidies
25/11/2021: The World Bank has urged Nigeria to increase its revenue streams by removing subsidies on petroleum products. The poorest Nigerians do not benefit from the subsidy regime.
Source: The East African
More than 4 billion people still lack any social protection
1/9/2021: A new report by the International Labour Organization finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the social protection gap between countries with high and low income levels. Currently, only 47 per cent of the global population are covered by at least one social protection benefit. The rate in Africa is 17 per cent.
Source: International Labour Organization