Overview
The World Bank Group’s focus on social inclusion began with the observation that even within countries, development investments produced unequal benefits. Further assessments revealed that groups with certain distinguishing characteristics consistently failed to benefit from a nation’s progress. These groups were among the poorest in a nation, but they were not consistently the poorest. They were often, but not always, minorities. What set them apart was that they were members of excluded groups— indigenous people, new immigrants, people with disabilities, people with different skin tones, people who spoke the official language imperfectly. These were people branded by stigmas, stereotypes, and superstitions. They confronted unique barriers that kept them from fully participating in their country’s political and economic life. They were excluded. One of the world’s greatest development efforts is coming to a close. The year 2015 marks the endpoint for achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In assessing the MDG response and charting a course for the next era of development, the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post2015 Development Agenda (UN 2013) called for designing development goals that focus on reaching excluded groups. “Leave no one behind,” it advised. “We should ensure that no person—regardless of ethnicity, gender, geography, disability, race, or status—is denied universal human rights and basic economic opportunities.” Along with global developments, the World Bank Group has announced two ambitious goals for itself: ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. Underlying the goals is the notion of “sustainability.” A sustainable path for development and poverty reduction is defined as one that manages the resources of the planet for future 1