JERUSALEM (AP) — The World Bank and Jordan are using a “flawed” algorithm to calculate aid for the kingdom’s citizens, excluding some people who are impoverished, hungry or otherwise struggling, a leading rights group said Tuesday.
Human Rights Watch reported that the automated program ranks the income and socioeconomic status of Jordanian families, a practice known as “poverty targeting.” The report said that approach leaves out some needy people — such as the owners of modest businesses — increasing poverty in a nation of 10 million citizens. “Many people in Jordan are not getting financial support because their hardships don’t fit an algorithm’s rigid model of what poverty should look like,” said Amos Toh, senior technology and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. One Jordanian, identifying himself only as Abu Laith, or “the father of Laith,” said he is among those wrongly cut off from benefits. https://apnews.com/article/jordan-world-bank-poverty-9789664208aa433190b230534c5c376e
