More than 1,100 million peopleapproximately one in every eight inhabitants of the world live in conditions of acute poverty, according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). This alarming situation mainly affects the minorswho constitute almost half of this vulnerable group.
He UNDP highlights that acute poverty is three times more prevalent in conflict zones, where 34.8% of the population is in this situation, compared to the 10.9% in nations at peace.
He Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (IPM), prepared in collaboration with the Initiative Oxforduses broader criteria than the World Bankwhich defines extreme poverty as a person living on less than $2.15 a day. He IPM considers factors such as access to housing, sanitation, nutrition and education.
Yanchun Zhang, chief statistician of the report UNDP, points out that of the 1,100 million multidimensional poor, 455 million They reside in conflict regions, where deprivation is three to five times more severe. In 2023, the number of conflicts reached levels unprecedented since the Second World War.
The report, which covers 112 countries with a total population of 6.3 billion, reveals that poverty is most acute in rural areas (28%) and especially affects those under 18 years of age (27.9%). In Latin America, 5.8% of the population, 34 million people, live in multidimensional poverty, with Haiti y Guatemala leading this crisis in the region.