What is the human cost of the global economic crisis? This
year’s Global Monitoring Report: The MDGs after the
Crisis, examines the impact of the worst recession since the Great
Depression on poverty and human development outcomes in developing
countries. Although the recovery is under way, the impact of the crisis
will be lasting and immeasurable. The impressive precrisis progress in
poverty reduction will slow, particularly in low-income countries in
Africa. No household in developing countries is immune. Gaps will
persist to 2020. In 2015, 20 million more people in Sub-Saharan Africa
will be in extreme poverty and 53 million more people globally. Even
households above the $1.25-a-day poverty line in higher-income
developing countries are coping by buying cheaper food, delaying other
purchases, reducing visits to doctors, working longer hours, or taking
multiple jobs.
The crisis will also have serious costs on human development
indicators:
- 1.2 million more children under age five and 265,000 more infants
will die between 2009 and 2015.
- 350,000 more students will not complete primary education in
2015.
- 100 million fewer people will have access to safe drinking water in
2015 because of the crisis.
History tells us that if we let the recovery slide and allow the
crisis to lead to widespread domestic policy failures and institutional
breakdowns in poor countries, the negative impact on human development
outcomes, especially on children and women, will be disastrous. The
international financial institutions and international community
responded strongly and quickly to the crisis, but more is needed to
sustain the recovery and regain the momentum in achieving the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Developing countries will also
need to implement significant policy reforms and strengthen
institutions to improve the efficiency of service delivery in the face
of fiscal constraints. Unlike previous crises, however, this one was
not caused by domestic policy failure in developing countries. So
better development outcomes will also hinge on a rapid global economic
recovery that improves export conditions, terms-oftrade, and affordable
capital flows—as well as meeting aid commitments to low-income
countries.
Global Monitoring Report 2010, seventh in this annual series,
is prepared jointly by the World Bank and the International Monetary
Fund. It provides a development perspective on the global economic
crisis and assesses the impact on developing countries—their
growth, poverty reduction, and other MDGs. Finally, it sets out
priorities for policy responses, both by developing countries and by
the international community.
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