Global Monitoring Report

Charting a Course for a More Equitable WorldThe Global Monitoring Report 2014/2015 details progress toward the World Bank Group's twin goals: ending extreme poverty by 2030 and promoting shared prosperity. This report assesses policies and institutions vital for achieving these ambitious objectives. For policymakers, development practitioners, and researchers, this report offers: - Insightful analysis of global poverty trends and economic growth patterns. - Examination of human capital, social safety nets, and environmental sustainability's role in development. - Strategies for promoting inclusive and sustainable economic growth in developing and high-income countries. - A framework for international cooperation and aid effectiveness. This report is your guide to understanding the challenges and opportunities in building a more equitable and prosperous world for all.

The Global Monitoring Report 2015/2016: Development Goals in an Era of Demographic Change details the progress toward the global development goals and examines the impact of demographic change on achieving these goals. Part I examines global development progress, the unfinished development agenda, and the policy opportunities ahead. The report assesses progress toward ending extreme poverty by 2030 and in promoting shared prosperity, and it outlines the measures necessary to scale up impact over the horizon of the Sustainable Development Goals. The report unveils the new poverty line of $1.90 a day and provides updated estimates for the number of people living in extreme poverty, which shows further declines. In 2015 the global poverty rate is forecast to decline to 9.6 percent of the world's population, the first time it has reached single digits. At the same time, the report makes the case that the depth of remaining poverty, the unevenness in shared prosperity, and the persistent disparities in non-income dimensions of development call for urgent action. Part II analyzes how profound demographic shifts could alter the course of global development. Global demography is at a turning point: The world's population is growing m ore slowly, while it is aging at an unprecedented rate. Within these broader global trends considerable diversity can be found across regions and countries. While the higher-income countries that drive global growth are rapidly aging, the lower-income countries comprising the centers of global poverty are much earlier in their demographic transition and continue to grapple with high fertility rates and rapid population growth. Demographic changes bring both opportunity and risk; the report argues for demography-informed policy approaches to tilt demographic change in favor of achieving the development goals. With the right policies, demographic change can become one of the most consequential development opportunities of our time. The Global Monitoring Report 2015/2016 is written jointly by the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, with substantive inputs from the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

What is the human cost of the global economic crisis? This year's 'Global Monitoring Report, The MDGs after the Crisis', examines the impact of the worst recession since the Great Depression on poverty and human development outcomes in developing countries. Although the recovery is under way, the impact of the crisis will be lasting and immeasurable. The impressive precrisis progress in poverty reduction will slow, particularly in low-income countries in Africa. No household in developing countries is immune. Gaps will persist to 2020. In 2015, 20 million more people in Sub-Saharan Africa will be in extreme poverty and 53 million more people globally. Even households above the $1.25-a-day poverty line in higher-income developing countries are coping by buying cheaper food, delaying other purchases, reducing visits to doctors, working longer hours, or taking multiple jobs. The crisis will also have serious costs on human development indicators: • 1.2 million more children under age five and 265,000 more infants will die between 2009 and 2015. • 350,000 more students will not complete primary education in 2015. • 100 million fewer people will have access to safe drinking water in 2015 because of the crisis. History tells us that if we let the recovery slide and allow the crisis to lead to widespread domestic policy failures and institutional breakdowns in poor countries, the negative impact on human development outcomes, especially on children and women, will be disastrous. The international financial institutions and international community responded strongly and quickly to the crisis, but more is needed to sustain the recovery and regain the momentum in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Developing countries will also need to implement significant policy reforms and strengthen institutions to improve the efficiency of service delivery in the face of fiscal constraints. Unlike previous crises, however, this one was not caused by domestic policy failure in developing countries. So better development outcomes will also hinge on a rapid global economic recovery that improves export conditions, terms-oftrade, and affordable capital flows-as well as meeting aid commitments to low-income countries. 'Global Monitoring Report 2010', seventh in this annual series, is prepared jointly by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. It provides a development perspective on the global economic crisis and assesses the impact on developing countries-their growth, poverty reduction, and other MDGs. Finally, it sets out priorities for policy responses, both by developing countries and by the international community.