New York, October 13 (QNA) – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced that the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) has risen for the first time since its launch in 2010.

In its report, the UN agency stated that global multidimensional poverty has increased for the first time since tracking and measurement began; the number of people affected rose by 51.5 million compared to the last recorded figure, bringing the total to approximately 1.2 billion people.

"The rise in poverty should be a wake-up call for the world. Behind these figures are 1.2 billion people facing hardships that reinforce one another: hunger, missed schooling and a lack of clean water or electricity", UNDP Administrator Alexander De Croo said.

He emphasized that this situation is unacceptable, noting that more than half of those living in extreme poverty are children.

The program indicated that a portion of this increase—affecting about 15.4 million people—is attributable to population growth. At the same time, it highlighted that among 89 countries with available data on multidimensional poverty index trends, 33 succeeded in halving the index value in less than 15 years, including six countries in sub-Saharan Africa. (QNA)