Hunger and poverty on the decline in 2024?
Wars and climate change are not the only global problems the approximately 8.14 billion people living on our planet face. As the year draws to a close, the media reflect on the social and health-related well-being of humanity as a whole.
Brazil marked a turning point
El País takes a look at the progress being made on the UN Sustainable Development Goals:
“2024 will not make history in terms of international development. ... The eradication of poverty and hunger has slowed down. ... Large parts of the world are in the grips of populist 'my country first' nationalism. ... But there are also hopeful signs. ... The G20 summits had become synonymous with bureaucratic inertia. ... Under the Brazilian presidency this has started to change. ... Within a few weeks, Brazilian diplomats drafted a Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty and had it ratified at the summit. ... International cooperation cannot replace efficient national policies in the Global South. But its failures act as a brake on progress. And it is time to release this brake.”
No cause for defeatism
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung takes a stand against pessimism:
“Never before have so many people worldwide enjoyed as good living conditions as they do today. Extreme poverty has been reduced by three-quarters worldwide in the last thirty years. Child mortality has been halved in the same period. We have to keep reminding ourselves of this. Not to soothe our conscience, but to maintain a balanced perspective. Yes, the world is a mess. There is no reason to lose our fear. But we must not fall victim to defeatism. ... Peace on earth is not a gift, but a hope. And above all a great mission. No one can take it away from us.”