Who is poorest in the world

It is critical to forge implementation strategies that can rapidly and flexibly respond to close the gaps. Enhancing learning, improving data Much about the novel coronavirus remains unknown.

The speed and scale with which it has affected the world has overwhelmed response systems in rich and poor countries alike. Innovative responses often come from communities and firms, which may have a better sense of the problems that should be prioritized and may enjoy greater local legitimacy to convey and enforce difficult decisions such as stay-at-home requirements. The faster everyone learns from each other, the more useful it will be.

Prevention measures often have low political payoff, with little credit given for disasters averted. Over time, populations with no lived experience of calamity can become complacent, presuming that such risks have been eliminated or can readily be addressed if they happen.

COVID, together with climate change and enduring conflicts, is reminding us of the importance of investing in preparedness and prevention measures comprehensively and proactively. Expanding cooperation and coordination Contributing to and maintaining public goods requires extensive cooperation and coordination. This is crucial for promoting widespread learning and improving the data-driven foundations of policymaking, and for forming a sense of shared solidarity during crises and ensuring that the difficult policy choices by officials are both trusted and trustworthy.

The World Bank Group works to end poverty in several ways: Funding projects that can have transformational impacts on communities Collecting and analyzing the critical data and evidence needed to target these programs to reach the poorest and most vulnerable Helping governments create more inclusive, effective policies that can benefit entire populations and lay the groundwork for prosperity for future generations.

Some examples: Grow Cambodia has achieved remarkable progress in reducing poverty and boosting shared prosperity, but key reforms are needed to sustain pro-poor growth. Mexico has experienced high income inequality and concentration of poverty in a few states.

Invest A pilot program in Ecuador used text messages to relay information and encouragement to caregivers in an impoverished region of the country and saw a significant improvement in the nutrition and health of children.

Since , a team of experts from the World Bank has been helping Kenya strengthen statistical capacity by reshaping its National Bureau of Statistics. In-depth maps in countries such as Afghanistan , Bangladesh , Croatia , Republic of Serbia , and Vietnam show where economic diversity and gaps in services exist within a country. This, as part of the poverty assessment process, helps policymakers better target policies and programs to reach and benefit the poor.

The Emergency Crisis Response Project gives pregnant women and women with children under the age of five money to buy food and teaches them about child nutrition. It has been able to reach more than , pregnant or lactating women and , children so far. Conflict-affected communities in Mindanao are among the poorest in the Philippines, suffering from poor infrastructure and lack of basic services.

The World Bank along with other partners have aimed to enhance access to services and economic opportunities and build social cohesion. These projects have help build water systems, community centers, sanitation facilities, access roads, post-harvest facilities, and farming and fishing equipment, benefiting , people in villages in a decade. An innovative series of rapid survey methodologies were pioneered in Somalia, one of the poorest countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The surveys overcame significant security and implementation obstacles to yield the most comprehensive analysis of the welfare of the Somali people in decades and is now being used in other countries. Nearly 1. Number of people who have escaped extreme poverty since Source. In Depth. Poorest Countries In The World Poorest Countries. Show Sources. Human Development Report. Saint Vincent And The Grenadines. Political instability, endemic corruption and now the coronavirus pandemic continue to frustrate that potential.

Adding to these factors, new cases of Ebola resurfaced in the northeast of the country last February, less than a year after another outbreak claimed the lives of more than two thousand people.

As a result, while living standards in urban areas are broadly improving, food insecurity in rural parts is extremely high. Malawi is a generally peaceful country that has had stable governments since gaining independence from Britain in However, disputed poll results are far from being an anomaly. Theologian and politician Lazarus Chakwera, who was sworn in his place, declared that he wanted to provide the kind of leadership "that makes everybody prosper.

Rich in gold, oil, uranium and diamonds, the Central African Republic is a very wealthy country inhabited by very poor people. However, after claiming the title of the poorest in the world for the best part of the decade, this nation of just 4. Yet, while his successful election has been seen as an important step towards national reconstruction, large swaths of the country remain controlled by anti-government and militia groups. Despite these problems and incidents, in recent years growth has somewhat picked up, driven by the timber industry and a revival of both agricultural and mining sectors.

The economy is also benefitting from the partially resumed sale of diamonds, which were found to be funding inter-religious armed groups and placed under international embargo in To make matters worse, lockdowns and other measures taken by the government to limit the spread of the coronavirus forced many families to stay home, leaving them unable to earn an income.

Three decades of internal violence and conflict, frequent droughts and floods followed by food insecurity and displacement of people, lack of access to health services coupled with the rapid spread of communicable diseases, massive levels of unemployment among especially young people —Somalis are growing hopeless.

This country of 16 million on the Horn of Africa never seems to catch a break. The power grab triggered a political crisis and rival factions clashed in the capital Mogadishu. Ultimately, Mohamed bowed to the growing opposition and called for a new presidential election. Yet, experts say, there is still room for trouble. South Sudan is the newest nation in the world. It was born on July 9, , six years after the agreement that ended the conflict with Sudan, Africa's longest-running civil war.

However, violence has continued to ravage this land-locked state of roughly 11 million. Formed by the 10 southern-most territories of Sudan and home to around 60 indigenous ethnic groups, a new conflict broke out in when president Salva Kiir accused his former deputy, rebel leader Riek Machar, of staging a coup. As a result, it is estimated that as many , people were killed in clashes and nearly 4 million have been internally displaced or fled to neighboring countries.

South Sudan could be a very rich nation, but with oil accounting for almost all of its exports, falling commodity prices and rising security-related costs hammered the country's economy. Outside the oil sector, the majority of the population is employed in traditional agriculture, although violence often prevents farmers from planting or harvesting crops.

Will the people of South Sudan ever have a real shot at living more prosperous lives? After signing a ceasefire and a power-sharing agreement in , last year government and opposition parties formed a unity cabinet led by president Kiir and Machar as first vice president.

The accord has proved fragile—yet, to a certain extent, it helped in reducing politically motivated conflicts. It has been less effective in countering the pandemic-related oil price shock and the effects of the most severe series of floods the country has experienced in 60 years—since last summer, they have killed livestock, destroyed crops and displaced thousands of families.

The small landlocked country of Burundi, scarred by Hutu-Tutsi ethnic conflict and civil war, has the rather unenviable distinction of topping the world's poverty ranking. All these problems, needless to say, have been exacerbated by the pandemic. How have things come to this, despite the civil war formally ending 15 years ago?

Lack of infrastructure, endemic corruption, security concerns: the ingredients leading to extreme poverty are often the usual suspects. Pierre Nkurunziza, the charismatic former Hutu rebel turned president in , had initially managed to unite the country behind him and to start rebuilding the economy. In , however, the announcement that he would run for a third term—which according to the opposition was in violation of the constitution—reignited old disputes.

A failed coup attempt followed, hundreds of people died in clashes and tens of thousands were displaced internally or abroad. Just 55, Nkurunziza died last summer—officially for cardiac arrest, although it is widely suspected the real cause was Covid Evariste Ndayishimiye, an ex-general who was handpicked by Nkurunziza to succeed him at the end of his mandate, was sworn days later.

So far his record has been, to say the least, mixed. While, like his predecessor, he has downplayed the severity of the virus, he made an effort to relaunch the economy and repair diplomatic relationships with his African neighbors and, especially, the EU. Concerns regarding the persistence of human rights abuses perpetrated by the government against its citizens might get in the way of his wishes.

Values are expressed in current international dollars, to the nearest whole dollar, reflecting a single year's currency exchange rates and PPP adjustments.

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