- The average world per capita income by 4.3%. At this rate world poverty will be cut by more than half between 2000 and 2015.
- The world’s average life expectancy is increasing from 48 years for those born in 1955 to 73 years for those who will be born in 2025.
- Although great human tragedies like Iraq and Darfur dominate the news, the vast majority of the world is living in peace, conflicts actually decreased over the past decade, dialogues among differing worldviews are growing, intra-state conflicts are increasingly being settled by international interventions, and the number of refugees is falling. The number of African conflicts fell from a peak of 16 in 2002 to 5 in 2005.
- The number of free countries grew from 46 to 90 over the past 30 years, accounting for 46% of the world's population, and for the past several years 64% of countries have been electoral democracies.
- Since democracies tend not to fight each other and since humanitarian crises are far more likely under authoritarian than democratic regimes, the trend toward democracy should lead to a more peaceful future among nation state.
Now, do you think you will hear this on your local news channel? There are some bad news in the report but overall it was an inspiring report and makes you hopeful for the future of our mother earth.
