The United Nations in partnership with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative in its latest report on the global multidimensional poverty index states that 25 countries reduced their Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) by half from 2000.
The report analyzed data from 81 countries and discovered 25 countries saw poverty levels reduce by half in just 15 years. The findings provided the researchers with hope that SDG 1- zero poverty is possible to be achieved by 2030. The countries are India, China, Cambodia, Morocco, Vietnam, etc.
India proved a remarkable case as it lifted 415 million people from poverty between 2005 and 2021. In China, around 69 million people exited poverty in 4yrs (2010-2014) while Indonesia saw its MPI reduce by 8 million in 5 years. On average, countries were able to reduce their poverty levels by half in 12 years.
Impact of covid-19 on multidimensional poverty
However, the report noted that the absence of data after the covid-19 pandemic restricted their understanding of the effects of the pandemic on poverty levels in the 110 countries where data was collated from.
The Director of the Human Development Report Office, Pedro Conceição noted that the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on education derailed the progress countries have made in reducing Multidimensional poverty. He stated.
- “As we reach the midpoint of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we can see that there was steady progress in multidimensional poverty reduction before the pandemic.”
- “However, the negative impacts of the pandemic in dimensions such as education are significant and can have long-lasting consequences. We must intensify efforts to comprehend the dimensions most negatively affected, necessitating strengthened data collection and policy efforts to get poverty reduction back on track.”
Furthermore, the report stated that data collected from Nigeria, Cambodia, Peru, and Mexico in 2021 and 2022 revealed that despite the pandemic, MPIs were reduced.
According to the report, around 1.1 billion people in the world are living in acute multidimensional poverty despite efforts at poverty reduction. Sub-Saharan Africa had the most with 534 million people while Asia had 389 million people.
Poverty levels in Nigeria.
Nigeria has been battling to reduce its poverty levels since independence with no success. In 2018, the country overtook India as the infamous poverty capital of the world with more than 50% of its then 180 million people living in poverty.
Nairametrics reported in 2022 that around 133 million people are living in multidimensional poverty in the country- representing around 60% of the country’s population.
