World Bank sets poverty goal

WASHINGTON— The World Bank has set a goal of eliminating extreme poverty around the world over the next 17 years.

The World Bank’s policy committee on Saturday approved a proposal to establish the goal of eliminating extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1.25 per day, by 2030. The World Bank estimates that there are still 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for more than one-third of the world’s extreme poor.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim told reporters at a closing news conference that setting a goal of eliminating extreme poverty was, in his words, “an historic moment” for the world.

Kim says a world without poverty is no longer a dream and that they have set an expiration date.