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] By 2030, AMR will cost the global economy $3.4 trillion yearly, and by 2050 it will have pushed 28 million people into poverty. Milken Institute
• [New] Without effective interventions, the annual mortality attributable to AMR is predicted to rise to 8.22 million by 2050, with projected economic losses of up to 3.8% of global gross domestic product, which could lead to an increase of 28 million people in extreme poverty. Nature
• [New] In 2026, an estimated 6.3 million people will need health assistance and more than 10 million people will require some form of humanitarian support. UNOG
• [New] Despite the growing needs, funding for humanitarian operations in Nigeria has sharply declined, dropping from $1 billion annually a few years ago to under $200 million projected for 2026. fundsforNGOs News - Grants and Resources for Sustainabi
• [New] A worsening humanitarian crisis could produce a new wave of Venezuelan migrants crossing into Colombia, concentrating in border regions where some demobilized former combatants live and active armed groups compete for control. Council on Foreign Relations
• [New] External factors - primarily U.S. military threats and ripple effects from a Venezuela humanitarian and security crisis - could overwhelm Colombia's capacity to implement the 2016 Peace Accords and could fundamentally alter the political calculus for all parties. Council on Foreign Relations
• [New] The United Nations warned last week that the vast majority of Cubans are being hit by rolling blackouts, and that the humanitarian collapse would worsen, and if not collapse, if its oil needs go unmet. Portside
• [New] Donald Trump's move to slap new tariffs on countries sending oil to Cuba could trigger a humanitarian crisis on the island, which is already suffering from chronic fuel shortages and regular blackouts. The Guardian
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• In France, recent budget planning anticipates notable cuts to humanitarian and development aid to help reduce the public deficit. Institut Montaigne
• 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
• 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
• 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
• A rise in the state pension age will plunge more than a hundred thousand people into poverty. BBC News
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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
• 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

Last updated: 20 March 2026