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UNDP Afghanistan
A staggering 455 million of the world’s poor live in countries exposed to violent conflict, hindering and even reversing hard-won progress to reduce poverty, according to the latest update of the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) released today.
Jointly published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) in the University of Oxford, this year’s report found that 1.1 billion people live in acute poverty worldwide, with 40 percent living in countries experiencing war, fragility and/or low peacefulness.
Professor Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative in the Oxford Department of International Development, said: 'This study provides the first measured global analysis at this scale examining how many multidimensionally poor people are affected by war, fragility and low peacefulness. We found that the level of poverty in conflict-affected areas is far higher. In countries at war, over one in three people are poor (34.8%) whereas, in non-conflict-affected countries, according to the Uppsala Conflict Data Program, it’s one in nine (10.9%). And, sadly, poverty reduction is slower in conflict settings which means that the poor in conflict settings are being left behind. These numbers compel a response: we cannot end poverty without investing in positive peace.'
Read the full story on the University of Oxford website.