Extreme poverty, deep poverty, abject poverty, absolute poverty, destitution, or penury is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services" Historically, other definitions have been proposed within the United Nations.
The economy of Liberia is extremely underdeveloped, largely due to the First Liberian Civil War from 1989–96. Liberia itself is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.
The economy of Uganda has great potential and appeared poised for rapid economic growth and development. Uganda is endowed with significant natural resources, including ample fertile land, regular rainfall, and mineral deposits.
The Washington Consensus is a set of ten economic policy prescriptions considered to constitute the "standard" reform package promoted for crisis-wracked developing countries by Washington, D.C.-based institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and United States Department of the Treasury. The term was first used in 1989 by English economist John Williamson. The prescriptions encompassed policies in such areas as macroeconomic stabilization, economic opening with respect to both trade and investment, and the expansion of market forces within the domestic economy.
The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was a body under the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) tasked with overseeing the outcomes of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development/Earth Summit. It was replaced in 2013 by the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, which meets both under the General Assembly every four years and the ECOSOC in other years.
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) succeeded the MDGs in 2016.
The economy of Africa consists of the trade, industry, agriculture, and human resources of the continent. As of 2019, approximately 1.3 billion people were living in 54 countries in Africa. Africa is a resource-rich continent. Recent growth has been due to growth in sales in commodities, services, and manufacturing. West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa in particular, are expected to reach a combined GDP of $29 trillion by 2050.
A transition economy or transitional economy is an economy which is changing from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. Transition economies undergo a set of structural transformations intended to develop market-based institutions. These include economic liberalization, where prices are set by market forces rather than by a central planning organization. In addition to this trade barriers are removed, there is a push to privatize state-owned enterprises and resources, state and collectively run enterprises are restructured as businesses, and a financial sector is created to facilitate macroeconomic stabilization and the movement of private capital. The process has been applied in China, the former Soviet Union and Eastern bloc countries of Europe and some Third world countries, and detailed work has been undertaken on its economic and social effects.
The Commission for Africa, also known as the Blair Commission for Africa, was an initiative established by the British government to examine and provide impetus for development in Africa. Initiated in Spring 2004, its objectives include the generation of new ideas for development and to deliver implementation of existing international commitments towards Africa. African leaders form a majority of the 17 commissioners.
Kwesi Botchwey is a Ghanaian former government official and Professor of Practice in Development Economics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University.
The Lagos Plan of Action was an Organisation of African Unity-backed plan to increase Africa's self-sufficiency. The plan aimed to minimized Africa's links with Western countries by maximizing Africa's own resources.
John Sullivan Wilson is a Lead Economist in the Development Economics Research Group of the World Bank. Wilson manages research on transparency, trade facilitation, regulation, and economic development. This includes the World Bank’s main research initiative on trade facilitation.
The World Development Report (WDR) is an annual report published since 1978 by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) or World Bank. Each WDR provides in-depth analysis of a specific aspect of economic development. Past reports have considered such topics as agriculture, youth, equity, public services delivery, the role of the state, transition economies, labour, infrastructure, health, the environment, risk management, and poverty. The reports are the Bank's best-known contribution to thinking about development.
The economic liberalization in India refers to the economic liberalization of the country's economic policies with the goal of making the economy more market and service-oriented and expanding the role of private and foreign investment. Although unsuccessful attempts at liberalization were made in 1966 and the early 1980s, full liberalization was initiated in 1991. Specific changes included reducing import tariffs, deregulating markets, and reducing taxes, all of which lead to an increase in foreign investment and high economic growth in the 1990s and 2000s. From 1992 to 2005, foreign investment increased 316.9% and India's gross domestic product (GDP) grew from $266 billion in 1991 to $2.3 trillion in 2018 International business analysts argue that Indian government coalitions should continue liberalization. The McKinsey Quarterly stated that "removing major obstacles would free India's economy to grow as fast as China's, at 10% a year".
Linah Kelebogile Mohohlo is a Botswana banker. She was the Governor of the Bank of Botswana from 1999 to 2016, and is a member of the Commission for Africa.
Alan D. Berg is an American international development authority, most notable for his advocacy and large-scale implementation of strategies to address malnutrition, especially among children and pregnant women. Berg's professional focus on nutrition spans more than half a century and has earned him wide recognition for stimulating a new policy approach to international nutrition assistance. His work has helped to transform the way development agencies and national governments think about the problem of malnutrition as a fundamental component of economic growth. His innovative planning and multisectoral operational work, particularly during his long tenure as the senior nutrition officer at the World Bank (1972–95), have modeled a number of practices that other donor institutions and countries now often incorporate into their own projects. Furthermore, Berg's efforts to transform development assistance for nutrition have prompted a number of academic training programs for nutritionists to expand their curriculum to include coursework in nutrition policy, planning, and implementation, creating a new career path for graduates. In a 1997 survey of the international nutrition community, Berg was the one most often cited as a role model for young persons entering the field. In 2008, the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition honored Berg as one of the first recipients of the United Nations Achievement Award for Lifelong Service to Nutrition, citing him at the presentation as "a global giant in nutrition history.
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of poorer countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. It comprises two institutions: the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), and the International Development Association (IDA). The World Bank is a component of the World Bank Group.
Overall, Africa has about 9% of the world's fresh water resources and 16% of the world's population. However, there is very significant inter-and intra-annual variability of all climate and water resources characteristics, so while some regions have sufficient water, Sub-Saharan Africa faces numerous water-related challenges that constrain economic growth and threaten the livelihoods of its people. African agriculture is mostly based on rain-fed farming, and less than 10% of cultivated land in the continent is irrigated. The impact of climate change and variability is thus very pronounced. The main source of electricity is hydropower, which contributes significantly to the current installed capacity for energy. Continuing investment in the last decade has increased the amount of power generated.
Raphael Kaplinsky, is professorial fellow, Science Policy Research Unit, and emeritus professorial fellow, Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.
John Williams Mellor is a French-born American economist, known for his work in the field of economic and agricultural development in third world countries. In 1985 he was awarded the Wihuri International Prize, for his “constructive work that has remarkably promoted and developed the security of nutrient supply for mankind.” A Fulbright Scholar, he spent most of his academic career at his alma mater, Cornell University. In the early 1970s he became an economist for USAID, eventually becoming their chief economist in 1976. After leaving USAID, he became the second director-general of the International Food Policy Research Institute in 1977, where he remained until 1990. He has authored numerous articles, and several books, chiefly regarding economic and agricultural development in third world countries. Currently he runs John Mellor Associates as well as being a professor emeritus at Cornell.
