1.1 Billion People Live In Acute Poverty: UN Report

The latest United Nations report revealed that more than one billion people live in acute poverty, with nearly half of them in countries experiencing conflict. As per the latest update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), some 584 million people under 18 were experiencing extreme poverty, accounting for 27.9 percent of children worldwide.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), compiled jointly with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), measures acute poverty across over 100 developing countries by evaluating deprivations in health, education, and standard of living. The research across 112 countries and 6.3 billion people suggests that large proportions of the 1.1 billion poor people lack adequate sanitation (828 million), housing (886 million), or cooking fuel (998 million).

In South Asia, 272 million poor people live in households with at least one undernourished person, the report noted. “Conflicts have intensified and multiplied in recent years, reaching new highs in casualties, displacing record millions of people, and causing widespread disruption to lives and livelihoods,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. The administrator also highlighted the need for resources and access for specialized development to help break the cycle of poverty.