According to a UN report, 1.1 billion people live in extreme poverty.

Given that 2023 saw the highest number of international conflicts since World War II, the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) paper pointed out that poverty rates were three times higher in war-torn nations.

Since 2010, the OPHI and UNDP have released their Multidimensional Poverty Index every year, compiling data from 112 nations with a combined population of 6.3 billion.
It makes use of metrics like inadequate housing, poor sanitation, electricity, fuel for cooking, poor nutrition, and absenteeism from school.

According to Yanchun Zhang, chief statistician at the UNDP, “the 2024 MPI paints a sobering picture: 1.1 billion people endure multidimensional poverty, of which 455 million live in the shadow of conflict.”

“The fight for basic necessities is a far harsher and more desperate battle for the poor in conflict-affected countries,” Zhang told AFP.

The report confirmed the results from the previous year, which showed that 1.1 billion of the 6.1 billion people in 110 countries lived in extreme multidimensional poverty.

According to Thursday’s paper, 584 million people under the age of 18 lived in extreme poverty, making up 27.9 percent of children globally compared to 13.5 percent of adults.

It also revealed that South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are home to 83.2% of the world’s poorest people.

Conflicts are impeding efforts to reduce poverty, according to OPHI director Sabina Alkire, who spoke to AFP.

“These results are intuitive on some level. The sheer number of people who are struggling, however, astounded us.