The World Bank Group will focus its financial and technical resources to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity in a sustainable manner, especially in fragile states, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia. To this end, it is pulling its specialized agencies (IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA) to...

The World Bank has recently defined two strategic goals: ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. Shared prosperity is measured as income growth among the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution in the population. The two goals should be achieved in a way that is sustainable...

Five years ago the Millennium Declaration recorded the commitment of the members of the United Nations to eliminate poverty and to build a secure and peaceful world conducive to human development. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) embocdy that commitment and set quantified targets for...

This report focuses on the dimensions of poverty, and how to create a better world, free of poverty. The analysis explores the nature, and evolution of poverty, and its causes, to present a framework for action. The opportunity for expanding poor people's assets is addressed, arguing that major...

The Annual Report is prepared by the Executive Directors of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)—collectively known as the World Bank—in accordance with the by-laws of the two institutions. The President of the...

Inequality in South Asia appears to be moderate when looking at standard indicators such as the Gini index, which are based on consumption expenditures per capita. But other pieces of evidence reveal enormous gaps, from extravagant wealth at one end to lack of access to the most basic services...

The Global Monitoring Report 2014/2015 will, for the first time, monitor and report on the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity, while continuing to track progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This Global Monitoring...

The purpose of this study is to provide in one place a set of papers that were written at various points in time over the last four years on poverty and the response to the recent economic crisis in Liberia. More precisely, the objective of the study is twofold. First it is to provide a basic...

This brief includes the following headings: How did the 2009 economic crisis affect poverty in Latin America? Why did poverty rise by less than predicted in 2009? Why did the links between poverty and growth fray during this crisis? Resilient markets buoyed labor incomes during the crisis and...

Strong poverty reduction in Latin America resumed with the growth rebound in 2010, as both moderate and extreme poor households benefitted from the recovery, accelerating poverty reduction to rates similar to those witnessed between 2003-2006 despite a 2.8 percent decline in Gross Domestic...