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Beschreibung
The foundation for the 20th century's accelerated progress in reducing poverty began with the start of the Industrial Revolution in Europe and North America. The second great period of poverty reduction started in the 1950s in the developing countries with the end of colonialism, and in the past 50 years poverty has fallen more than in the previous 50 centuries. Despite these major achievements however, about a quarter of the developing worlds people still live in absolute poverty and 40% of South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are trapped in absolute poverty. Some industrial countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States have seen a rise in poverty in recent decades.
The momentum that has occurred thus far against poverty must continue rather than backslide. The Human Development Report reviews this challenge from its unique perspective providing an overview of global poverty trends and assessing the scale of today's poverty problems worldwide. The Report also examines six priorities for tackling poverty at the country level and sets a global agenda for supportive action.
Given the positive trends of the 20th century, the Report argues that eradicating absolute poverty in the first two decades of the 21st century is a completely feasible and affordable goal. To achieve this goal, the international community needs to focus on the poorest and least developed countries, and each country needs to reinforce the positive trends with accelerated action, helping to reverse the menacing setbacks.