By Eric Green
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The number of people living in poverty is declining in Latin America and East Asia, according to a new report issued by the United Nations.

The report, released August 13 by the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said that since the early 1990s, the poverty rate in Latin America has declined to about 12 percent of the population from a high of about 15 percent. Over that same period, East Asia's poverty rate has dropped from almost 27 percent to about 16 percent of the population.

The report, called "Global Challenge, Global Opportunities: Trends in Sustainable Development," said that if the present rate of decline can be maintained, the poverty level in 2015 could be further cut in the two regions to just about half of 1990 figures.

In addition, the report said that hunger is slowly declining in all regions of the world, even where per capita income fell, due in part to increasing global food production and a declining trend in food prices.

The report said East Asia and Latin America are on track to meet the U.N. Millennium Development project's goal of halving, by 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger. However, sub-Saharan Africa is falling well short of that goal. The Millennium project is involved with tackling global problems such as poverty, and with improving access to education, promoting democracy and protecting human rights.

The U.N. said economic inequality remains high in many countries, particularly in Latin America and Africa. High inequality is an "obstacle to reducing poverty, as it reduces the effect of economic growth on poverty reduction," the U.N. said.

The report, to be presented at the August 26-September 4 World Summit on Sustainable Development, in Johannesburg, South Africa, said that if current patterns of development continue, nearly half of the world's people will suffer from water shortages within the next 25 years, the use of fossil fuels -- along with greenhouse gas emissions -- will grow, and the world's forests will continue to disappear. Over 1 billion people still lack access to safe water, the report said, noting that the great majority of those people live in rural Asia and Africa.

"These problems are urgent and must be addressed now," said U.N. Undersecretary General Nitin Desai, who will chair the Johannesburg summit. Desai added that "we have to change from the present model of development to sustainable development, or else we risk further jeopardizing human security everywhere."

The report said that the world's forested areas declined by about 2.4 percent in the 1990s. The deforestation rate is highest in Africa and Latin America. Almost all of the deforestation is taking place in tropical regions, which contain slightly less than half of the world's forests.

Other trends the report pointed to include a decline in the world's rate of population growth. The U.N. said this often means smaller families and a greater investment in children's education, nutrition, and health care.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an article for the U.N. Environment Program that sustainable development is a "security imperative." Poverty, environmental degradation, and despair are destroyers of people, societies, and nations, said Powell, adding that this "unholy trinity can destabilize countries, even entire regions."

Powell said the United States will be taking an important message to the Summit in Johannesburg -- namely, that the United States is committed to sustainable development, which must begin at home "with sound policies and good governance."

The secretary said President Bush will seek approval from the U.S. Congress to increase U.S. core development assistance by 50 percent over the next three years to the Millennium Challenge Account that will fund initiatives to help developing nations that are strongly committed to good governance, improving the health and education of their people, and good economic policies that foster enterprise and entrepreneurship. Bush first unveiled this new U.S. development assistance program in March.

The United States, Powell said, is "committed to building a world where children can grow up free from hunger, disease and illiteracy, and a world where men and women can reach their human potential free from racial or gender discrimination."

The U.N. report is on the Internet at: www.johannesburgsummit.org.