“500million People Living in Abject Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa” – Report

The 2015 Human Development Index report of the United National Development Programme has said,
Sub-Saharan Africa has 500 million people living in multidimensional poverty, that is three of every five in the region.

The report released on Tuesday, December 15 said the creation of work and the expansion of choices in the region are crucial for tackling inequality.

In addition, gains in human development, especially in health and education, are more unevenly distributed in Sub-Saharan Africa than in any other region in the world, as recorded by the Inequality-adjusted HDI.

The region is facing a high cohort of young people in Africa due to population growth, addressing low literacy rates and building skills can help young people secure work opportunities.

Since 2000, Sub-Saharan Africa has experienced the fastest annual growth rates in the Human Development Index (HDI) among all regions – growing at an annual rate of 1.7 per cent between 2000 and 2010 and 0.9 per cent between 2010 and 2014.

Twelve countries in the region, including Botswana, Cape Verde, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Mauritius, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles and Zambia have levels that put them in the high or medium human development group, individually.

However Sub-Saharan Africa, on average, remains in the low human development category and HDI levels are still low: a shortage of good work opportunities is preventing many from reaching their full potential and making decent livelihoods.