Other Images in this Gallery
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According to the World Bank, 1.9 billion people — 37.1 per cent of the global population — lived on less than $1.90 a day in 1990. By 2015, that number was down to 702 million — 9.6 per cent of global population. These businesswomen are beneficiaries of the Grameen Bank project for poverty eradication. (Photo: UN photo)
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Between 1945 and 2011, the global death rate from war, such as the one pictured here in Syria, had fallen from 22 per cent per 100,000 to 0.3 per cent. In 2014, it had risen to 1.4 per cent, but that’s still a lot lower than in the Cold War years. (Photo: Christiaan Triebert)
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HIV/AIDS remains the leading cause of deaths in Africa, but new infections have dropped from 3.2 million in 2000 to 2.1 million in 2015, thanks to a greater awareness of preventative measures. (Photo: UN photo)
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The average person in a large urban area is safer walking on the street today than he or she would have been almost any time in the past 30 years, according to the New York-based Brennan Center for Justice. (Photo: © Andrey Bayda | Dreamstime.com)
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The giant panda has been taken off the endangered species list by the International Union for Conservation of Nature thanks to successful breeding and conservation efforts under way since the mid-1980s. They do, however, remain “vulnerable.” (Photo: J. Patrick Fischer)
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Global life expectancy at birth has risen from 61.7 years in 1980 to 71.8 years in 2015 and rose in 188 of 195 countries surveyed by The Lancet. (Photo: © Seesea | Dreamstime.com)
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Global maternal mortality rates fell by 44 per cent worldwide between 1990 and 2015. (Photo: © Antonella865 | Dreamstime.com)
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The number of illiterate youth declined from 170 million to 115 million between 1995 and 2015. (Photo: UN Photo)
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Female entrepreneurship is on the rise. This woman, Janet Roukwakwa, a former prostitute, received seed money from a UN program to start a group called “Wimana” that has opened a bar and restaurant. She employs other former prostitutes, giving them a better chance in life. (Photo: UN photo)
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will seek a fourth term, is one of several prominent female leaders in the world. British Prime Minister Theresa May is another. (Photo: © Enriquecalvoal | Dreamstime.com)