Reducing inequality between North and South

The most worrying feature of the current globalization process is the widening fissure between the very poor - representing approximately 20% of the world's population - and the remaining majority. Despite improvements in life expectancy and standards of living in many parts of the world during the past several decades, there remain enormous and persistent economic differences between regions and countries, and particularly between the industrialized and developing nations. The absolute number of poor people in the world has continued to increase and disparities between the rich and the poor have widened even further. In developing countries, the growth in social demands has been triggered largely by population increases during the last four decades. Coupled with a significant slow-down in population growth in the industrialized nations, this has led to a highly skewed world-wide distribution of social needs and of the capabilities to satisfy them.