Let me ask you two questions? Firstly, in the last 20 years, do you think that the proportion of the world’s population living in extreme poverty has: (a) almost doubled, (b) remained broadly the same or (c) almost halved? Secondly, in all low-income countries across the world today, how many girls finish primary school? Is it: (a) 20%, (b) 40% or (c) 60%?
You may be surprised to know that the correct answer to both is (c). If you answered both incorrectly then you are in good company, most people would. But why do we get these questions wrong? Why do we assume things are worse than they are?
These questions were considered by Hans Rosling, a doctor and professor of public health, in his inspiring book “Factfulness: Ten reasons we’re wrong about the world – and why things are better than you think”. He reviewed evidence of global trends in health and development and discovered that, contrary to much popular belief, things are improving across our world: more children are going to school, levels of absolute poverty are falling, people’s health is improving.
What he also found is that there is startlingly little awareness of this by most people. We hear stories in the news of famines, natural disasters, wars and conflicts and we assume that - for the majority of people - things are getting no better. We (almost always unwittingly) base our views on old prejudices and generalisations. We assume that because life may be tough for some people in a country, it is bleak for everyone. We forget that slow progress in a low-income country is still progress.
Hans Rosling seeks to bust some of these myths, explain why things are better than we think and consider why we get it wrong. His book challenges us not to be “lazy” in our views, assumptions and how we absorb news, but to examine the facts and to try to form a world view based on these facts.
Rosling is very clear that taking a fact-based view of the world is not an excuse for doing nothing. Quite the contrary. There is still poverty and injustice in many places, and we should support those people and agencies that work to tackle it. As Rosling himself says: “When we have a fact-based worldview, we can see that the world is not as bad as it seems – and we can see what we have to do to keep making it better.”
Nothing in what I have written above should lessen the impact of the tragic and horrific news we hear every day about crises around the world, not least the current war in Ukraine. But in the middle of Christian Aid Week, it is good to be reminded of, and to give thanks for, the progress that has been made.
Many individuals and organisations are working tirelessly to lift communities out of poverty, and we can both rejoice in that progress, and commit ourselves afresh to keep giving, acting and praying to continue this work.
Philip Clarke