Fairer Globalization Needed To Halve World’s Poor

Fairer Globalization Needed To Halve World’s Poor By 2015 – UN REPORT

With half the world's workers unable to earn enough to rise above the $2 a day poverty line, fairer globalization and better jobs are vital to achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the number of global poor by 2015.

Of some 2.8 billion people employed globally in 2003 – more than ever before – nearly 1.4 billion – also the highest number ever – are living on less than $2 a day, with 500 million on less than $1, although the actual percentage is lower today than in 1990, the UN International Labour Office The share of people working under $2 a day has declined to 49.7 per cent in 2003, from 57.2 per cent in 1990, and may drop to around 40 per cent in 2015.

"The key to reducing the number of working poor is creating decent and productive employment opportunities and promoting a fairer globalization as strategies for poverty reduction," ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said. “It is not only the absence of work that is the source of poverty, but the less productive nature of that work. Productivity growth, after all, is the engine of the economic growth that enables working men and women to earn enough to lift themselves out of poverty."

Shaping The Future Of Manufacturing

Yes, we know this is a no-brainer, but just because it's obvious doesn't mean we can ignore it or can't learn from it. Besides, when you stop to look at the trend toward globalization over the past 35 years, you'll wonder why so many manufacturers seem ill prepared for China's "overnight" success.