NEW YORK (Realist English). Approximately 1.2 billion people in the world live in conditions of “multidimensional poverty”. This means that they receive less than $1.9 per day per person, often they do not have a toilet and running water in the house, they are deprived of the opportunity to study and see a doctor. This is stated in the report “Multidimensional Poverty Index”, developed by the United Nations Development Program and the Oxford Initiative for Human Development and the Fight against Poverty.
Experts have analyzed the level and structure of poverty in 111 countries, where 6.1 billion people live. Analysts have assessed the situation of each person according to 10 indicators related to health, education and the level of wealth.
It has been established that today there are at least 1.2 billion people living in conditions of “multidimensional poverty” in the world, about half of them are children under the age of 18. We are talking about a daily income of less than $1.9. The indicator for this amount was introduced in 2011, and the number of poor people has almost doubled in 11 years.
In his address on October 17 on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that 120 million more people were below the poverty line in 2021. The increase in poverty rates is observed for the first time in 20 years. According to the head of the UN, it is connected primarily with the “pandemic”, the fight against which has had the most negative impact on the economies of the countries of the world.
Guterres proposed concrete ways out of the current situation, calling on countries to show political will and expand partnerships in order to achieve social security for every member of society by 2030.
The Multidimensional Poverty Index report states that more than 50% of poor people, which is 593 million people, have neither electricity nor environmentally friendly fuel for cooking. Almost 40% of the poor do not have access to drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities. More than 30% of the poor are at the same time deprived of everything: the opportunity to eat normally, proper housing, proper sanitation and modern fuel for cooking.
The majority of the world’s poor — 83%, which is 579 million — live in sub-Saharan Africa. Approximately 385 million people with “multidimensional poverty” are residents of South Asia. There are about 1 million of them in Europe. Two thirds of poor people live in middle—income countries, 83% of all poor people are rural residents.
