This interactive section will discuss the state and changing nature of global extreme poverty: remarkable progress in some places and stagnation in other places, and asks why? We will ask: why did some countries move forward, grew their economies, and, however imperfectly, improved the lives of the poor,  and while did other countries clearly stay behind? And what can be done? Do outsiders have any role?

Stefan Dercon is an academic at Oxford University and a senior policy advisor on international development.