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World Bank Sees Progress on Development Goals

September 9th, 2010 at 03:02am Under Development Report

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

The World Bank says most developing countries have made important progress toward the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

Last week the international lender released its yearly World Development Indicators. Hundreds of indicators are used to measure progress in areas such as education, health, poverty, the environment and trade.

One of the Millennium Development Goals is to reduce by half the number of people living in extreme poverty by twenty fifteen.

Out of eighty-seven countries with data available, forty-nine seem likely to reach that goal. “Extreme poverty” is defined as earning less than one dollar a day.

Another goal is to make education available to all young children. The report shows that in two thousand seven, seven out of ten children lived in developing countries that had met or were close to meeting that goal.

Also, thirty-nine countries have achieved or are likely to achieve the goal of reducing child death rates. The target is a two-thirds reduction by twenty fifteen.

And the report from the World Bank shows the first reduction in AIDS-related deaths.

But even with all the progress, there is still a long way to go to reach all eight goals approved by world leaders ten years ago. This is especially true in sub-Saharan Africa, which falls behind on all of the goals.

Eric Swanson is a program manager for the World Development Indicators.

ERIC SWANSON: “You have had a decade or more in Africa of very slow economic progress in the nineties. You’ve had civil war and other disruptions, you’ve had poor governance in many countries that has not allowed the economy to grow and, in particular, has not allowed poor people to share in the benefits of growth.”

Still, he points to some hopeful signs — including a large reduction in the child death rate in Malawi.

ERIC SWANSON: “Malawi is a landlocked state, it is one of the ones that we tend to worry most about, and yet it has demonstrated that when you focus attention on a problem you can make progress.”

Last week the World Bank also launched a new “open data initiative.” The bank will make its data on living conditions around the world publicly available. Officials say this will make it easier to measure the effects of policies and develop new solutions to help the world’s poor.

And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. You can comment on our programs and learn about other development issues at voaspecialenglish.com. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I’m Steve Ember.

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Rebalancing the World Economy

February 2nd, 2010 at 08:38am Under Economy Report

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Last week’s meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was the third Group of 20 summit in less than a year. Leaders of the major developed and developing economies discussed ways to fix the world financial system.

In April they had agreed to do everything necessary to prevent a collapse. This time they noted their success, but warned that the “process of recovery and repair remains incomplete.”

German Finance Minister Peer Steinbruk, left, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner at the G20 meeting

The presidents and prime ministers launched what they called a Framework for Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth. At the same time, they agreed to make the G20 the main group — the “premier forum” — to guide international economic cooperation.

For years that has been a job for the Group of 8: Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. But the G8 leaves out developing nations with big populations and growing economies like China, India and Brazil.

In Pittsburgh, rich nations agreed to also give up some of their representation in the International Monetary Fund. And they called for more voting power for developing nations in the World Bank.

Ghiyath Nakshbendi is a professor of international business at American University in Washington. He says the decision to cooperate on economic policy is important given how much Gross Domestic Product the G20 represents.

GHIYATH NAKSHBENDI: “They are going to work together in order to achieve the goals of the world — that really, when you talk about the G20, you are talking about nineteen countries plus the E.U. that produce ninety-five percent of the G.D.P. in the world.”

Martin Edwards is an assistant professor at Seton Hall University in New Jersey who has written about the I.M.F. He says increasing the influence of developing nations will increase the standing of the fund and the World Bank. But he notes that having more players at the table could also mean more disputes.

In terms of financial reforms, experts say there is widespread support for some proposals to control risks. But others are unpopular in America and Britain. These include linking the pay of bankers to their bank’s long-term performance.

G20 leaders plan to meet next in Canada in June and in South Korea next November. They face many hard choices in the coming months. Professor Nakshbendi says the biggest question is to what extent are they willing to follow their own advice.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I’m Steve Ember.

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