The global financial crisis, the most severe since the Great Depression in 1930s, is rapidly turning into a human and development crisis, warned an IMF-World Bank report released Friday.
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| Justin Yifu Lin, chief economist and senior vice president of the World Bank, speaks during the news conference on the Global Monitoring Report release at the International Monetary Fund headquarters in Washington, April 24, 2009. Lin said that millions more people will lose their jobs in 2009. |
The crisis originated in the developed world, but it has spread quickly and inexorably to the developing world, sparing no countries, said the Global Monitoring Report 2009: A Development Emergency (GMR).
The crisis is imperiling attainment of the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and creating an emergency for development as the poor countries are especially vulnerable for they "lack the resources to respond with ameliorative actions."
Most of the eight globally agreed goals are unlikely to be met, including those related to hunger, child and maternal mortality, education, and progress in combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases, the report warned.
It also noted that, although the first goal of halving extreme poverty by 2015 from its 1990 level is still reachable based on current projections, risks abound.
New estimates show that more than half of all developing countries could experience a rise in the number of extreme poor in2009.
This proportion is likely to be still higher among low-income countries and countries in Sub-Saharan Africa-two-thirds and three-quarters, respectively.
It is estimated that an additional 55 to 90 million people will be trapped in extreme poverty in 2009 due to the worldwide recession.
