PROSPERITY FOR ALL: Ending Extreme Poverty
A Note for The World Bank Group Spring Meetings 2014
April 2014 30 pages

“Economic growth has been vital for reducing extreme poverty and improving the lives of many poor people,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “Yet, even if all countries grow at the same rates as over the past 20 years, and if the income distribution remains unchanged, world poverty will only fall by 10 percent by 2030, from 17.7 percent in 2010. This is simply not enough, and we need a laser like focus on making growth more inclusive and targeting more programs to assist the poor directly if we’re going to end extreme poverty…To end extreme poverty, the vast numbers of the poorest – those earning less than $1.25 a day – will have to decrease by 50 million people each year until 2030. This means that 1 million people each week will have to lift themselves out of poverty for the next 16 years. This will be extraordinarily difficult, but I believe we can do it. This can be the generation that ends extreme poverty.”

:: Overview
In 2013, the Board of Governors endorsed two new goals for the World Bank Group
(WBG). First, the WBG would commit its full energies to bringing an effective end to extreme poverty by 2030. This means reducing to no more than 3 percent the fraction of the world’s population living on less than $1.25 per day. Second, the WBG would focus on ensuring that the benefits of prosperity are shared by shifting from a focus on average economic growth to promoting income growth amongst the bottom 40 percent of people. Critically, the goals need to be achieved in a sustainable manner, thus helping secure the long-term future of the planet and its resources, ensuring social inclusion, and limiting the economic burdens of future generations.
This short note begins by looking at progress to date in reducing global poverty and discusses some of the challenges of reaching the interim target of reducing global poverty to 9 percent by 2020, which was set by the WBG President at the 2013 Annual Meetings. It also reports on the goal of promoting shared prosperity, with a particular focus on describing various characteristics of the bottom 40 percent. A more detailed report with policy recommendations in the areas of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity is due for release at the Annual Meetings later this year.

:: Report Excerpt
…In conclusion
The World Bank Group’s ambition is to connect its vast knowledge, resources, and partnerships to provide solutions to country-specific development constraints. Helping accelerate progress toward the twin goals demands a new form of problem-solving engagement by the WBG, which has a more explicit focus on being a “solutions bank.” Defining and mapping the poor will be an important part and inform the World Bank Group’s strategic thinking for achieving its goals. It will also help policymakers throughout the world craft the policies needed to achieve more inclusive growth and to implement programs and strategies that will assist the bottom 40 percent to engage and benefit to the fullest in the welfare gains of their societies, while preserving the planet.
The newly created Global Practices (GPs) and Cross-Cutting Solution Areas (CCSAs) that will operate across the World Bank Group put the WBG in a better position to address the identified challenges to ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Indeed, the reforms aimed at creating a more nimble global structure, integrating the three main pillars of the institution—the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and International Development Association (IBRD/IDA), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)—in combination with the GPs and CCSAs, will allow the WGB to assist client countries in addressing their development challenges in a unified manner and ultimately through that assistance support the implementation of the WBG twin goals.
Full report: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPROSPECTS/Resources/334934-1327948020811/8401693-1397074077765/Prosperity_for_All_Final_2014.pdf