WASHINGTON: More than one-third of Pakistan’s population faces overlapping deprivations in health, education and living standards, with the country’s multidimensional poverty rate significantly higher than those of India and Bangladesh, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The latest Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), released on Monday, estimates that 38.3 per cent of Pakistan’s population lives in multidimensional poverty, compared with 16.4pc in India and 14.9pc in Bangladesh. The estimates are based on household surveys conducted in different years and therefore do not represent a strictly contemporaneous comparison.
In Pakistan, the intensity of deprivation among multidimensionally poor people stands at 51.7pc, while another 12.9pc of the population is considered vulnerable to multidimensional poverty.
Unlike income-based measures, the MPI assesses overlapping disadvantages in nutrition, child mortality, schooling, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing and household assets.
The report also highlights a worsening global poverty situation, with the number of people living in multidimensional poverty reaching 1.2 billion, an increase of 51.5 million from the previous update. Children account for 617 million of those affected, while 83pc of the total live in rural areas.
South Asia remains a major contributor to global deprivation, accounting for at least one-third of worldwide deprivations in nutrition, housing and years of schooling. The region is also home to 150 million poor people living in households where a school-aged child is not attending school.
According to the report, South Asia’s multidimensional poverty rate stands at approximately 19.3pc, with another 18.4pc of the population vulnerable to poverty. Living standards account for 36.3pc of regional deprivation, followed by education at 33.7pc and health at 29.9pc.
The findings highlight how inadequate healthcare, limited educational opportunities and poor living conditions reinforce one another, making it difficult for disadvantaged households to escape poverty.
“The rise in poverty should be a wake-up call for the world,” said UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo, warning that 1.2 billion people continue to face interconnected hardships, including hunger, missed schooling and inadequate access to clean water and electricity.
Story by Anwar Iqbal
