IslamicFinance.de

The World Bank’s new poverty line of $1.90 a day is the most drastic adjustment yet in the global poverty threshold—raising the measure by 50% from $1.25. The new line seems high at first glance, but the reality is that it is not higher and rather understates the true extent of global poverty. The reason is that the poverty line has not been raised by 50%, but simply rebased on 2011 purchasing power parity (PPP). The PPP is used to account for changes in the poor’s living costs. The result: the new poverty line is roughly equivalent to the old one in real terms. In 2011, the percentage of people estimated to be living in extreme poverty around the world was 14.5% based on the old poverty line of $1.25 compared to 14.2% using the new line of $1.90 in 2011 PPP.

In Mongolia, a project assisted by ADB and the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction used storytelling to help people protect themselves through saving and financial planning. The global financial crisis and a dry spell followed by another dzud or a long severe winter in 2008 to 2010 pointed out the obvious: with no financial safety nets, the most vulnerable households needed financial education. The project developed a soap opera called A course that helps you become a millionaire, which became the second most watched program nationwide in 2015. The plots were based on the information needs of the target viewers – 24 issues were identified, translated as behavioral messages and included in the scripts.

In line with ADB’s commitment to support youth’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ADB and the world’s largest youth-run organization AIESEC, along with founding partners PVBLIC Foundation, Kinetic, Mekanism, and UN Habitat, launched the “Youth for Global Goals” (#Youth4GG) campaign at the Global Leaders’ Summit in Morocco on 16 February. #Youth4GG will serve as an activation platform for a collaborative effort between the youth and development stakeholders to create positive impact on the ground. To support the campaign, AIESEC’s YouthSpeak Survey will also provide insights to stakeholders regarding youth engagement to create and implement volunteering and social impact projects to achieve the SDGs.