Esther Duflo, co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), and the 2019 Nobel laureate in economics, discusses the global challenges faced by the world's poorest since 2019. Despite positive progress in reducing extreme poverty and maternal and infant mortality over the past 30 years, recent events like the COVID-19 crisis and the Ukraine war have slowed poverty reduction. Duflo emphasises the globalisation of problems for the poor, while countries tend to close themselves off from global trade opportunities. She cautions that measuring poverty takes time, and there has been a setback that is difficult to quantify. Her research calls for innovative approaches to address the complex issues of poverty worldwide.
