Rich nations must act boldly this year if global poverty is to be reduced, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday.
Ahead of yesterday's bi-annual summit of the two organizations, they said the developed world had to double aid by 2010 and speed up global trade talks if the millennium development goals were to be met.
James Wolfensohn, the bank president, said: "Without early and tangible action to accelerate progress, the goals will be seriously jeopardized -- especially in sub-Saharan Africa, which at current trends will fall short of all goals."
One goal
One millennium goal is to halve world poverty by 2015. In the report, the World Bank and IMF said Africa needed at least 10 years of sharply accelerated growth, at an annual rate of 7 percent -- or double the current rate -- for this to happen.
As most Africans rely on agriculture, persuading rich countries to stop subsidizing their farmers and create a fair global market would dramatically reduce poverty in the continent, the report said.
Zia Qureshi, a senior adviser at the bank, said: "Achieving a global fair trade environment is critically important for achieving the millennium goals. We hope this report and other similar messages will amplify this message to a crescendo to persuade wealthy nations to really move on this.
Political will
"If the rich nations can summon up the political will to act, the outlook for the developing world is much more propitious today because economic growth in the developing world, even in sub-Saharan Africa, is strong," he said.
Although some countries, such as Ghana and Tanzania, have seen strong growth for a decade, the health aims of the millennium goals are under particular threat in Africa.
These call for the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases to be halted and then reversed by 2015.
"Every week, 200,000 children under five die of disease. In this year alone, 2 million people will die of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa," Qureshi said.
The report sees five ways to cut poverty faster. As well as doubling aid and removing trade barriers, it suggests rapidly increasing numbers of teachers and health workers, improving the private sector and involving local governments in development projects.
Official development assistance increased US$11 billion to US$69 billion in 2003, and could increase to more than US$100 billion in 2010, the report said. The bulk of the increase came from debt relief and technical assistance.
The report noted that the level of donation as a share of gross national income lags behind the efforts of the early 1990s.
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