Extreme poverty

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Extreme poverty is the most severe state of poverty, where people cannot meet basic needs for survival, such as food, water, clothing, shelter, sanitation, education and health care.^[1] To determine the number of extreme poor around the world, the World Bank characterizes extreme poverty as living on US $1 or less per day, and estimates that 1.1 billion people currently live under these conditions. This $1 a day figure has been adjusted for purchasing power parity,^[2] which attempts to eliminate differences in costs of goods and services between countries to present a more meaningful comparison. Eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2015 is a Millennium Development Goal. Economists and activists consider epidemic diseases (AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis) as crucial factors in and consequences of extreme poverty.

Extreme poverty is most common in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Contents 1 Statistics 2 See also 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Statistics

• More than 1 billion people around the world live on less than a $1 a day.
• A child dies every three seconds from AIDS and extreme poverty.
• More than one billion people do not have access to clean water.^[3]
• Every year six million children die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday.
• More than 50 percent of Africans suffer from water-related diseases such as cholera and infant diarrhea.
• More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day...300 million are children.
• Of these 300 million children, only eight percent are victims of famine or other emergency situations. More than 90 percent are suffering long-term malnourishment and micronutrient deficiency.
• Four out of every ten people in the world don't have access even to a simple latrine.
• Declining soil fertility, land degradation, and the AIDS pandemic have led to a 23 percent decrease in food production per capita in the last 25 years even though population has increased dramatically.
• For the African farmer, conventional fertilizers cost two to six times more than the world market price.
• A woman living in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy. This compares with a 1 in 3,700 risk for a woman from North America.^[4]

[edit] See also

• List of countries by percentage of population living in poverty
• Income inequality metrics
• Make Poverty History
• Millennium Promise
• Poverty line
• Poverty reduction
• The End of Poverty

[edit] References

1. ^ Sachs, Jeffrey (2005). The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time Penguin Press Hc ISBN 1-59420-045-9
2. ^ Glossary. The World Bank.
3. ^ Fact Sheet: AIDS and Extreme Poverty. ONE Campaign.
4. ^ Fast Facts: The Faces of Poverty. UN Millenium Project.

• Jones, Gareth Stedman (2004) An End to Poverty? Profile Books LTD ISBN 1-86197-729-8

[edit] External links

• Is There Such a Thing as an Absolute Poverty Line Over Time?
• The ONE Campaign
• New Light on the Behavior of Poverty Lines Over Time
• WhiteBand.org - Global Call to Action Against Poverty
• Scientific American Magazine (September 2005 Issue) Can Extreme Poverty Be Eliminated?
• Lil' MDGs - Fighting World Hunger and Poverty