World Bank pledges more funds for poverty reduction

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim pledged to increase funds for poor people in fragile and conflict-affected states, as part of a new strategy for the global development institution to end poverty.

In a speech Tuesday at the George Washington University, Kim said the fiscal uncertainty in the US, combined with other sources of volatility in the global economy, could do a great damage to emerging markets and developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, reported Xinhua.

With more than one billion people in the world living on less than $1.25 per day, Kim said that extreme poverty was "the defining moral issue of our time".

Kim pledged that the World Bank would direct more funding to fragile and conflict-affected states.

Kim said he hopes to increase the share of International Development Association core funding -- the Bank's fund for the poorest -- to fragile and conflict-affected states by about 50 percent in the next three years.

He also said the International Finance Corporation, the Bank's private sector arm, would also increase funding by 50 percent over three years for low-income and fragile states.

Increasing commitment to fragile and conflict-affected states is part of a broad strategy the World Bank is adopting to help fight against poverty and boost shared prosperity.