UNITED NATIONS (AP) - More than 1 billion people in the world live in acute poverty, over half are children and nearly 40% live in conflict-torn and fragile countries, according to a report released Thursday.
More than 1 billion people live in acute poverty. Half are children and many in conflict zones
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - More than 1 billion people in the world live in acute poverty, over half are children and nearly 40% live in conflict-torn and fragile countries, according to a report released Thursday.
The report by the U.N. Development Program and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at the University of Oxford also said that more than 83% of poor people live in rural areas - and the same percentage live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The U.N. Development Program and Oxford have been publishing the Multidimensional Poverty Index, known as the MPI, since 2010 using 10 indicators including health, education and standard of living. This year's index included data from 112 countries with a combined population of 6.3 billion people.
According to the index, 1.1 billion people live in acute poverty, with nearly half in five countries: India with 234 million impoverished people, Pakistan with 93 million, Ethiopia with 86 million, Nigeria with 74 million and Congo with 66 million.