In a highly publicized speech, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announced in April that the new "highly ambitious" target of his institution will be "ending extreme poverty in the world by 2030." He said that developing countries have “a chance -- for the first time ever -- to end extreme poverty within a generation." Yet, that same goal was set 40 years ago by then World Bank president Robert McNamara and the target date was the year 2000. What's the excuse for a delay of 30 years?

Magdalena Sepúlveda.

Interview with Magdalena Sepúlveda, Special UN Rapporteur for Human Rights and Extreme Poverty

What are the Guiding Principles on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights?

They are a set of human rights norms recently adopted by the UN Human Rights Council. They provide, for the first time, global policy guidelines validating specific obligations incumbent on States with respect to persons living in extreme poverty.

Unlike many developing countries, India’s economy has been growing at a fast pace, enabling the government to mobilize the necessary resources internally for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. Its dependence on international aid, especially for financial resources is minimal; in fact it has declined bilateral aid from many countries. Despite this, however, the country has failed to achieve most of the goals and targets. The main reasons for this are inadequate funding, inappropriate administration and ignorance of policy and governance issues.

Ultimately however, the failure is due to the absence of inclusiveness in the development model. Instead of enabling people to acquire basic needs such as food, sanitation, water, health care, the government is promoting ‘non-inclusive growth’ and has sought to provide basic services through subsidies with the associated problems of inefficiency and corruption.

Alexandra Spieldoch.  (Photo: Global food for thought.)

This publication analyses the role gender equality plays in the post-Rio+20 process for a new development agenda centered around a set of SDGs. It looks at proposals and efforts to integrate gender equality and women's rights into efforts to define the SDGs and argues that a new global women's coalition of committed advocates and women's rights activists to focus more aggressively on governance and policy reform in the post-2015 development agenda, particularly on macro-economic policy reform.

Jalal Dhiyab

Representatives of civil society organizations; the signatories of this appeal, condemn the assassination in Basrah on 26 April 2013 of the activist, Jalal Dhiyab; the President of the Supporters Humanitarian Liberty Association, one of the outstanding defenders of human rights in Iraq, who has devoted much of his life to defend black rights for full citizenship, and his legitimate claim to address the culture of discrimination and the rights of black citizens in political representation and participation in public life, draw a road map for the achievement of equality and the promotion of political representation and participation in public life, draw a road map for the achievement of equality and the promotion of citizenship rights for all components in the process of building a democratic system in Iraq.