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 contraction of refugee admissions and legal pathways will weaken global protection amid a rising displacement and instability, and damage US credibility as the global humanitarian leader. Elcano Royal Institute
• [New] Reduced access to legal pathways, combined with US cuts to foreign aid and the aggressive deportation campaign, could exacerbate the humanitarian landscape in Central America, a region with high levels of emigration to the US and significant development challenges. Elcano Royal Institute
• [New] When projected onto future climate simulations and combined with demographic and poverty projections consistent with the IPCC Shared Socioeconomic Pathways, the AI model reveals sharply diverging food-crisis risks by century's end. Joint Research Centre
• [New] How illness, job loss, ageing, family structure, debt collection, and racial inequality converge to push households toward bankruptcy and what that reveals about how financial risk is allocated in the U.S. economy. Mondaq
• [New] In France, recent budget planning anticipates notable cuts to humanitarian and development aid to help reduce the public deficit. Institut Montaigne
• [New] The world's most populous region, also hosting the single-largest concentration of poverty-stricken people, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) risks losing its effective use. GorakhaPatra
• [New] Humanitarian need has grown exponentially in the past five years, and after the compounding crises of the past year, that trend will not slow down. Forbes
• [New] Left unaddressed, that destruction will cause deeper poverty and could spur social unrest and further waves of emigration internationally, only without the state and public support in the hosting countries during Russia's full-scale invasion. CEPA
• [New] A rise in the state pension age will plunge more than a hundred thousand people into poverty. BBC News
• [New] Colombia is now fighting on three fronts simultaneously: a humanitarian disaster from flooding, the emergency tax battle with the corporate sector, and a trade war with Ecuador that could cut off electricity Colombia supplies and raise oil transport costs for Ecopetrol. The Rio Times
• [New] In Ireland, the top risks identified over the next two years were economic downturn, insufficient public services and societal protections, geoeconomic confrontation, talent and labour shortages, and inequality. Climate Matters
• [New] By 2030, up to 700 million people could be displaced due to worsening water stress, contributing to climate migration, geopolitical instability, and humanitarian emergencies. Boston College
• [New] More than a million people remain displaced from the 2020-2022 war, and the UN warns that renewed conflict could deepen an already dire humanitarian situation across the Horn of Africa. OkayAfrica
• [New] Older persons face an outsized risk of falling into poverty, as social safety nets often provide too little support to meet basic needs in the context of longer life spans, rising costs, and worsening global crises. Opinio Juris
• [New] Yemen is the weakest link in the Middle East, posing a security threat to the entire region and remaining one of the thorniest and most acute humanitarian challenges outside of Gaza and the West Bank. Middle East Institute
• [New] More than 200 million children will require humanitarian assistance in 2026. INVISIBLE CHILDREN
• Beyond annual risk, the cumulative exposure is staggering: more than 1.16 billion people experience at least one famine crisis this century under the inequality pathway, whereas the sustainability pathway could spare about 780 million by 2099. Joint Research Centre
• Rising food prices and declining farm incomes are putting increasing pressure on the global food system, with up to 720 million people at risk of falling into extreme poverty. National Today
• Without immediate funding, the World Food Programme said that it will be forced to halt humanitarian assistance by April. / Somalia United Nations
• Global inequality remains a significant issue in 2026, with 17% of faculty considering it a top threat and 31% identifying it as a key opportunity area for business. forbesindia
• SNAP cuts are expected to increase poverty, food insecurity, and hunger by terminating or cutting food assistance for about 4 million people, including children, older adults, people with disabilities, and veterans. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• A workers' government in the United States, simply by laying its hands on the $1 trillion increase in wealth for 19 households, could abolish poverty, hunger and homelessness. World Socialist Web Site

Last updated: 13 March 2026