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The inequality in living standards among various racial, ethnic and religious groups in the modern world is much deeper than among residents of different geographic regions of the planet - this is evidenced by the results of the analysis of the level of “multidimensional poverty” published today.

The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, developed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Oxford Initiative on Human Development and Poverty Alleviation, measures wealth and well-being based on a range of negative factors that people face in everyday life, including poor health, inadequate education and low income.

The report released today analyzed the level and structure of poverty in 109 countries, which together are home to 5.9 billion people. Based on the results of the study, the authors of the report concluded that the living standards of ethnic and racial groups in many cases differ much more than among residents of different geographic regions. For example, in Bolivia, indigenous communities make up about 44 percent of the country's population, but their share of the total number of poor Bolivians is estimated at 75 percent. A similar situation is observed in India, where five out of six poor people belong to "lower" tribes or castes.

In many regions of the world, gender is crucial in the distribution of income. About two-thirds of the world's poor - 836 million people - live in households where no woman or girl has completed at least six years of schooling. The report also indicates that women and girls living in multidimensional poverty are at higher risk of violence by their husbands or partners.

Our indicators of the level of multidimensional poverty in the world indicate the scale of the work to be done

Overall, the UNDP report shows that there are at least 1.3 billion people in the world today who live in multidimensional poverty, with about half of them children under 18 years of age. 85 percent of the poor live in sub-Saharan Africa (556 million) or South Asia (532 million).

About a billion people on Earth, the report says, are forced to use solid fuels for cooking; another billion live in unsanitary conditions, and about a billion more people enjoy virtually uninhabitable housing. 568 million people lack access to clean drinking water sources within a 30-minute walk of their homes.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly undermined development progress around the world, and so far we can only roughly estimate the full extent of the damage,” said UNDP chief Achim Steiner. - Our indicators of the level of multidimensional poverty in the world indicate the scale of the work ahead. Based on this data, we can more confidently move forward in overcoming the crisis and developing effective responses to future disasters. "

Photo PAHO / K. Gonzales Abril: In Latin America, indigenous peoples make up a disproportionate proportion of the poorest segment of the population. In the photo: representatives of the indigenous population of Colombia.

un.org