A UN Development Programme report says more than one billion people are living in acute poverty across the globe with children accounting for over half of those affected.
According to Guardian, a paper, published with Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, OPHI, noted that poverty rates were three times higher in countries at war, as 2023 saw the most conflicts around the world since the Second World War.
The UNDP and OPHI have published their Multidimensional Poverty Index annually since 2010, harvesting data from 112 countries with a combined population of 6.3 billion people.
It uses indicators such as a lack of adequate housing, sanitation, electricity, cooking fuel, nutrition and school attendance.
“The 2024 MPI paints a sobering picture: 1.1 billion people endure multidimensional poverty, of which 455 million live in the shadow of conflict.”
“For the poor in conflict-affected countries, the struggle for basic needs is a far harsher and more desperate battle,” said Yanchun Zhang, chief statistician at the UNDP.
