How 28 poor countries escaped the poverty trap  Zambia and Ghana
are the 27th and 28th countries the World Bank has reclassified
as middle-income since the year 2000 MDG : Getting out of
poverty , Lusaka , Zambia : Doctors perform cataract surgery
Doctors perform cataract surgery at the Lusaka Eye Hospital in
Zambia. It's inexpensive and it changes people's lives
instantly, so it's a good example of how just a little bit more
money can make a huge difference to the world's poorest people.
Photograph: Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images  Remember the
poverty trap? Countries stuck in destitution because of weak
institutions put in place by colonial overlords, or because of
climates that foster disease, or geographies that limit access
to global markets, or simply by the fact that poverty is
overwhelmingly self-perpetuating. Apparently the trap can be
escaped.  The World Bank did its annual assessment of poor
countries last week. Low-income countries are those with average
gross national incomes (GNIs) of less th