Bill Gates: 'By 2035, there will be almost no poor countries left in the world'

[pampango]

97. The liberal Center for American Progress: Ending World Poverty in a Generation

The Millennium Development Goals were clear and measurable, easy to understand, and came with a deadline—December 31, 2015. They sought, among other achievements, to halve the rates of hunger and extreme poverty; to achieve universal primary education, and eliminate the gender gap in primary and secondary education; to reduce the maternal mortality rate by three-quarters; and to halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Not all of these goals will be achieved by the end of 2015, but we’ve made considerable progress in most areas and have reached some targets ahead of schedule. For instance, the very first goal—to halve the rate of people living in extreme poverty by 2015—was met five years before the deadline, mainly thanks to efforts in China, India, and Brazil. But it’s important to note that poverty rates have continued to fall in all regions despite the global recession. The world is also on track to halve the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by 2015.

In our report, the High-Level Panel tried to make these five transformative shifts more tangible by providing a list of illustrative goals and targets, including:

Increasing land tenure rights
Ending child marriage
Ensuring that every child leaves primary school able to read, write, and count
Guaranteeing sexual and reproductive health and rights
Reducing bribery and corruption
And doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix, among many other

Finally, and though this may prompt some resistance from our own government, I think it’s essential that the universality of the post-2015 agenda be maintained. Climate change, social and economic inequality, and the process of creating sustainable, shared economic growth are challenges we face as keenly in the United States as developing countries do abroad. We can continue to lead the world only if we acknowledge our own shortcomings and prove ourselves equal to the task of overcoming them.

It’s always been easy to grow cynical about the state of the world, and cynicism has perhaps never been an easier or more natural response than it is today. But as I said in the beginning of my remarks, I’m hopeful for the future. The experience of being on the High-Level Panel, I must say, played no small part in making me as hopeful as I am.

http://www.americanprogress.org/projects/ending-global-poverty/view/