Global Monitoring Report 2014/2015: Ending Poverty and Sharing Prosperity

Gauging the progress made globally on achieving development goals

244 pages

This report introduces the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending poverty and boosting shared prosperity and discusses the challenges involved in working towards the same. It monitors the policies and institutions important to achieving them, while also reporting on the status of the millennium development goals. The report focuses on three elements of economic policy that make growth inclusive and sustainable: investment in human capital that favors the poor, prudent use of safety nets, and steps to ensure environmental sustainability of development. Key highlights include:

Global growth prospects for the immediate future are encouraging, with the world’s economy expected to grow between 3% and 4% in 2014–15;
Medium-term prospects of the world economy provide reason to be optimistic about reducing extreme poverty to single digits by 2020;
Macroeconomic stability, adequate investments in infrastructure, and evenhanded regulation of enterprise are necessary conditions for economic growth and improved living standards;
Well-designed safety nets can play a pivotal role in fostering inclusive human development;
Ensuring environmental sustainability is vital to the robustness over time of economic growth;
Better quality data is required to monitor progress in achieving development goals and informing policies required for growth to be adequate, inclusive, and sustainable.