Poverty

Abstract It is estimated that from 950 million to 1.3 billion people across the world live in conditions of extreme poverty, on less than a dollar a day and unable to meet their basic human needs, and at least another billion (depending on how poverty is understood) live in “relative” poverty. This means that nearly 800 million people do not get enough food, and about 500 million people are chronically malnourished. In fact, more than a third of the children of this world are malnourished. More than 840 million adults, of whom 538 million are women, are illiterate – and 1200 million people live without access to safe drinking water. These are some of the basic facts and figures on poverty, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).