The UNDP’s Human Poverty Index measures poverty based on what is lacking in different areas of the world, including short life expectancy, low literacy rates, and general living conditions. It collects data from developing and higher-income countries to present needs numerically and graphically. The index includes categories such as survival, literacy and knowledge, general quality of life, and lack of access to resources. The UN seeks to identify poverty in all its aspects to address it through international agencies.
While poverty is often measured by the median income or financial resources of a region, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has created a measurement system based on what is lacking in different areas of the world. This measure is called the Human Poverty Index, also called the HPI, and it collects data in developing and higher-income countries, so a basis for comparing and understanding needs can be presented numerically and graphically. Factors such as short life expectancy, low literacy rates, and general living conditions are recorded in the Human Poverty Index.
Using deprivation as a means of recording poverty levels, the Human Poverty Index collects data from developing countries, known as HPI-1, and a sample of countries with higher per capita incomes, grouped as HPI- 2. In the 2009 United Nations Human Development Report, the 2007 values included HPI rankings for 182 countries. For example, the index ratings for Albania – 4 – and Bosnia and Herzegovina – 2.8 – which are generally regarded as European countries in economic difficulty, may seem strikingly lower than the rankings for Afghanistan – 59.8 – and Niger – 55 ,8. However, where one region may lack the most basic resources to produce food and reach old age, other areas may have plenty of food but be scarce in other resources or opportunities. Examining these imbalances is aided by the Human Poverty Index.
Several categories are used in compiling this index. One of the categories measured is survival, or the likelihood of dying before age 40 in a developing country or before age 60 in a higher-income area. A second category looks at literacy and knowledge or who and how many in a population are excluded from educational opportunities and from learning to read and write.
General quality of life or standard of living is the third consideration of the Human Poverty Index and is measured differently for HPI-1 and HPI-2 countries. HPI-1 countries are measured by lack of access to clean, safe water and the proportion of underweight children, while HPI-2 countries are measured by the number of people living below the income poverty line. This third category can be summarized as lack of access to resources. A fourth category for HPI-2 or more developed countries is that of long-term unemployment and a general lack of opportunity to participate in society.
Within the United Nations Development Programme, these indices may change as poverty affects groups of people in different ways around the world. Reports available online through the UNDP website generally include separate variables with gender and age considerations, which can be sorted as spreadsheets in order to comparatively view specific regions or concerns. Measures for the Human Poverty Index may also be underway, as the United Nations seeks to identify poverty in all its aspects. Attempts to quantify human poverty may bring additional capabilities to address it, both through the United Nations and through other international agencies that use the data.
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