The United Nations Development Programme confirmed on Thursday that more than a billion people in the world suffer from extreme poverty, half of whom are minors.
The program highlighted in its annual report, conducted in collaboration with the "Oxford Initiative on Poverty and Human Development," particularly noted a poverty rate three times higher in countries experiencing wars, while the number of armed conflicts recorded in 2023 was the highest since World War II.
The program and the Oxford Initiative, which is a research center, have been calculating the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index since 2010, relying on data from 112 countries where 6.3 billion people reside.
The index includes factors such as housing, sanitation, electricity, nutrition, and educational systems.
Yanxun Zhang, Chief Statistician at the United Nations Development Programme, said, "1.1 billion people suffer from multidimensional poverty, including 455 million in conflict areas." In war-torn countries, poverty rates are recorded to be three times higher than in countries living in peace.
The UN official told AFP that in countries experiencing conflicts, "the deprivation suffered by their people is three to five times more severe" because "the struggle of the poor to secure their basic needs is much harder."
The Global Poverty Index for 2023 showed the presence of 1.1 billion poor people out of 6.1 billion residing in 110 countries, according to the United Nations.
Extreme poverty continues to strike rural areas more than urban ones, with about 84% of the world's poor living in rural areas.
The number of the poorest of the poor who are under the age of eighteen is about 584 million children and adolescents in the world. The percentage of poor children in the world is 27.9%, compared to 13.5% among adults.
The majority of the poorest of the poor, specifically 83.2% of them, reside in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, which is the most populous region in the world.
The five countries with the highest number of the poorest of the poor are experiencing significant population growth: India with 234 million people (out of a total population of 1.4 billion), Pakistan with 93 million (out of 236 million), Ethiopia with 86 million (out of 123 million), Nigeria with 74 million (out of 218 million), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo with 66 million (out of 100 million).
Sabina Al-Kira, director of the Oxford Initiative on Poverty and Human Development, said, "Wars and violent conflicts not only leave deep and lasting scars on people's lives but also hinder poverty reduction."
She added in a statement to Agence France-Presse, "The report reveals that 40% of the 1.1 billion poor live in conflict areas, and the overall poverty rate in war-torn regions is three times higher than in war-free areas (34.8% compared to 10.9%)."
She emphasized, "What shocked us is the number of people who are struggling for a decent life while fearing for their safety, as it reached 455 million," calling for "reducing poverty to zero by enhancing opportunities for peace."