Skip navigation
Don’t Panic – How to End Poverty in 15 Years
Video

Don’t Panic – How to End Poverty in 15 Years

BBC, 2015 more...


Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

In this hopeful presentation, statistician Hans Rosling aims to “edutain” on the grave topic of eradicating extreme poverty. Rosling delivers a visually stimulating lecture, which, at times, comes across as overly simplistic and frivolous. His message, nonetheless, is a vital one: Humanity can eradicate extreme poverty within a generation. getAbstract recommends Rosling’s engaging briefing to high school students who want to broaden their minds about the world, to students of development studies and to anyone with an interest in reducing global inequality.

Summary

In September 2015, a vast majority of United Nations member states pledged to eradicate extreme poverty worldwide by 2030 – an ambitious goal. Close to one billion people live in extreme poverty; that is, they subsist on $1 per day, more or less, depending on the value of the dollar. Extreme poverty looks strikingly similar across the globe: Those affected lack durable housing and access to electricity, clean water and a stable food supply.

Between 1800 and 2015, the percentage of world citizens living in extreme poverty fell from 85% to 12%. But the population mushroomed from one billion to more than seven billion during that time period...

About the Speaker

Hans Rosling is a medical doctor, academic and statistician. He co-founded the Gapminder Foundation.


Comment on this summary