Ending poverty is the key to stability
James D. Wolfensohn IHT
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
World Bank meeting
WASHINGTON The big issue of our time is global security. At present, we view it mostly through the lens of Baghdad or Beslan. While we certainly have to deal with these and other immediate concerns, we must not lose sight of the longer-term security issue that confronts us all. By far, the greatest potential source of instability on our planet today is poverty, and the hopelessness and despair that it brings to so many in our world.
Sixty years ago, the world recognized the need to bring hope to the millions of people left in shattered nations after World War II, and the World Bank was created to help them rebuild their lives. Its mission today remains as critical as it was then, if not more so.
It is in all our best interests to help countries that struggle with crushing poverty to take basic steps, such as getting boys and girls into school; preventing diseases like H.I.V./AIDS, malaria and diarrhea; protecting our forests and oceans; and removing obstacles to trade so that poor farmers can get their products to market.
Helping poor countries develop in this way is not merely the right thing to do ( though, of course, it is): 70 percent of U.S. export growth in recent years has been due to these emerging markets. Investing in development is the safe thing to do. It makes America and the world more secure to increase global economic and social stability and decrease frustrations that can lead to violence.
My generation did not grow up thinking this way. We thought there were two worlds - the haves and the have-nots - and that they were, for the most part, quite separate.
That was wrong then. It is even more wrong now. The wall that many of us imagined as separating the rich countries from the poor countries came down on Sept. 11, 2001. We are linked now in so many ways: by economics and trade, migration, environment, disease, drugs and conflict.
In our world of six billion people, one billion have 80 percent of the world's GDP, while the other five billion have the remaining 20 percent. Nearly half this world lives on less than $2 per day. One billion people have no access to clean water; over 100 million children never get the chance to go to school; and more than 40 million people in the developing countries are H.I.V.-positive, with little hope of receiving treatment.
Recent research suggests that a lack of economic opportunity, and the resulting competition for resources, lies at the root of most conflicts over the last 30 years, more than ethnic, political and ideological issues. This research supports the intuitive idea that if people have jobs, and if they have hope, they are less likely to turn to violence.
Over the next three decades, more than two billion people will be added to the planet's population, 97 percent of them in the poorer nations, and all too many will be born with the prospect of growing up into poverty and disillusioned with a world that they will view as inequitable and unjust. Instability is often bred in places where a rapidly increasing youth population sees hope as more of a taunt than a promise.
What must be done?
First, developing countries have to help themselves, particularly by tackling corruption more vigorously and focusing more on the basic needs of poor people. At the same time, the wealthier nations need to support them by offering more aid, by dismantling trade barriers, and by relieving the debt burdens of countries that are delivering on reform.
Between 1980 and 2001, the proportion of people living in poverty in the developing world fell by half, from 40 percent to 21 percent. Meanwhile, life expectancy in developing countries has increased by 20 years during the past few decades, while adult illiteracy has been halved to 25 percent. So we know that development aid can work. The challenge is to scale up the effort.
Improving stability in countries emerging from conflict, and in poor countries racked by hopelessness and frustration, is as important now as it was 60 years ago when the world was struggling to restore peace and rebuild the lives of millions. Stronger support globally for the fight against poverty is the best investment that can be made in building a more peaceful world and a safer future for our children.
James D. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, will be addressing the annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank Group this weekend.
James D. Wolfensohn IHT
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
World Bank meeting
WASHINGTON The big issue of our time is global security. At present, we view it mostly through the lens of Baghdad or Beslan. While we certainly have to deal with these and other immediate concerns, we must not lose sight of the longer-term security issue that confronts us all. By far, the greatest potential source of instability on our planet today is poverty, and the hopelessness and despair that it brings to so many in our world.
Sixty years ago, the world recognized the need to bring hope to the millions of people left in shattered nations after World War II, and the World Bank was created to help them rebuild their lives. Its mission today remains as critical as it was then, if not more so.
It is in all our best interests to help countries that struggle with crushing poverty to take basic steps, such as getting boys and girls into school; preventing diseases like H.I.V./AIDS, malaria and diarrhea; protecting our forests and oceans; and removing obstacles to trade so that poor farmers can get their products to market.
Helping poor countries develop in this way is not merely the right thing to do ( though, of course, it is): 70 percent of U.S. export growth in recent years has been due to these emerging markets. Investing in development is the safe thing to do. It makes America and the world more secure to increase global economic and social stability and decrease frustrations that can lead to violence.
My generation did not grow up thinking this way. We thought there were two worlds - the haves and the have-nots - and that they were, for the most part, quite separate.
That was wrong then. It is even more wrong now. The wall that many of us imagined as separating the rich countries from the poor countries came down on Sept. 11, 2001. We are linked now in so many ways: by economics and trade, migration, environment, disease, drugs and conflict.
In our world of six billion people, one billion have 80 percent of the world's GDP, while the other five billion have the remaining 20 percent. Nearly half this world lives on less than $2 per day. One billion people have no access to clean water; over 100 million children never get the chance to go to school; and more than 40 million people in the developing countries are H.I.V.-positive, with little hope of receiving treatment.
Recent research suggests that a lack of economic opportunity, and the resulting competition for resources, lies at the root of most conflicts over the last 30 years, more than ethnic, political and ideological issues. This research supports the intuitive idea that if people have jobs, and if they have hope, they are less likely to turn to violence.
Over the next three decades, more than two billion people will be added to the planet's population, 97 percent of them in the poorer nations, and all too many will be born with the prospect of growing up into poverty and disillusioned with a world that they will view as inequitable and unjust. Instability is often bred in places where a rapidly increasing youth population sees hope as more of a taunt than a promise.
What must be done?
First, developing countries have to help themselves, particularly by tackling corruption more vigorously and focusing more on the basic needs of poor people. At the same time, the wealthier nations need to support them by offering more aid, by dismantling trade barriers, and by relieving the debt burdens of countries that are delivering on reform.
Between 1980 and 2001, the proportion of people living in poverty in the developing world fell by half, from 40 percent to 21 percent. Meanwhile, life expectancy in developing countries has increased by 20 years during the past few decades, while adult illiteracy has been halved to 25 percent. So we know that development aid can work. The challenge is to scale up the effort.
Improving stability in countries emerging from conflict, and in poor countries racked by hopelessness and frustration, is as important now as it was 60 years ago when the world was struggling to restore peace and rebuild the lives of millions. Stronger support globally for the fight against poverty is the best investment that can be made in building a more peaceful world and a safer future for our children.
James D. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, will be addressing the annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank Group this weekend.
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