Global Scans · Poverty · Weekly Summary

WHAT'S NEXT?: Due to a deteriorating global economic outlook, more than 130 out of 189 countries will experience reduced income growth, with the average global GDP growth rate falling from 4.1 percent to 3.1 percent between 2011 and 2030. Almost all of the countries with large numbers remaining in extreme poverty in 2030 will be in sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia.

• [New] The United Nations agency for children launched a new appeal, Humanitarian Action for Children 2026, for humanitarian action to provide aid to 73 million children across 133 countries next year. ICN
• [New] Over 200 million children will need humanitarian assistance by 2026. Vatican News
• [New] Closing the gender digital divide could benefit 343 million women and girls globally and lift 30 million people out of poverty by 2050. https://vir.com.vn/
• [New] The 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, released yesterday, calls for $890 million, warning that 16.2 million people, including 5 million children, will require assistance and protection in 2026. / Myanmar Secretary-General
• [New] Investing in a stable climate, healthy land and nature, and a pollution-free planet could deliver annual gains of US$ 20 trillion, avoid millions of deaths, and lift hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and hunger. Circular Online
• [New] Sri Lanka's fragile economic recovery will be delayed as Ditwah's devastation of homes, roads and vital crops pushes more families into poverty. ST
• [New] Amid conflict and humanitarian issues, Burkina Faso's citizens risk being permanently locked out of key opportunities that only the U.S. can provide. Travel And Tour World
• With billions still lacking identification, global inequality risks deepening, not through lack of funds or lack of innovation, but through lack of recognition. The RegTech
• The extension of free school meals in England is expected to lift about 100,000 more children out of poverty. The Guardian
• Scrapping the two-child cap in Northern Ireland could lift thousands of children in Northern Ireland out of poverty. GOV.UK
• While the West dominated carbon emissions in the past, future emissions will overwhelmingly come from China, India, Africa, Brazil, Indonesia and other countries clambering out of poverty. New York Post
• China will provide $100 million in aid to the Palestinians to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and support reconstruction efforts. FDD
• If Israel wanted to clear its name, it could permit better humanitarian data gathering - and indeed, allow international journalists to enter Gaza. Foreign Affairs Magazine
• Recognizing the importance of regulating the spreading influence of AI in military operations, the UN secretary general aims to achieve a legally binding treaty by 2026 that bans AI weapons systems that operate without human control or oversight and cannot comply with international humanitarian law. Minnesota Journal of International Law
• Community-based health insurance programs reduce catastrophic expenditures which put more than 930 million people globally at risk of poverty. PubMed Central (PMC)
• In 2025, 305 million people will require urgent humanitarian assistance and protection, out of which 190 million people will be facing life-threatening needs. European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
• More than seven in 10 Chinese respondents said they expected AI to play a role in solving a range of societal issues, including climate change, mental illness, poverty and polarization. Al Jazeera
• The stabilization troops will help secure border areas along with a trained and vetted Palestinian police force and they will coordinate with other countries to secure the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Middle East Eye
• While the inter-imperialist conflict was critical, another factor in undermining the era of neoliberal globalization was the growing global youth-centered uprising against inequality, lack of opportunity, corruption, repression of democratic rights, and national and other forms of oppression. Socialist Alternative

Last updated: 19 December 2025