The 2019 global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) from the UN Development Programme (UNDP), shows that, in the 101 countries studied – 31 low income, 68 middle income and 2 high income – 1.3 billion people are “multidimensionally poor,” which means that poverty is defined not simply by income, but by a number of indicators, including poor health, poor quality of work and the threat of violence.

The report identifies 10 countries, with a combined population of around 2 billion people, to illustrate the level of poverty reduction, and all of them have shown statistically significant progress towards achieving Goal 1. The fastest reductions were seen in India, Cambodia and Bangladesh.

The report claims, poverty is everywhere, and inequality within countries is ‘massive’.

“Action against poverty is needed in all developing regions”, the report states, noting that Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are home to the largest proportion of poor people, some 84.5 percent.

Within these regions, the level of inequality is described as “massive”: The disparity in South Asia is from 0.8 percent in the Maldives, to 55.9 per cent in Afghanistan.

One section of the report evaluates the progress that is being made in reaching Goal 1 of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, namely ending poverty “in all its forms, everywhere”.

(the report) gives a more comprehensive picture of poverty, and gives an indication of where to target policies, said Pedro Conceição, Director, Human Development Report Office, UNDP.

It describes the level of inequality in these regions as 'massive'. The disparity in South Asia ranges from 0.8 percent in the Maldives to 55.9 per cent in Afghanistan.

Pakistan and Bangladesh have similar MPI values (0.198), but inequality is higher in Pakistan (variance of 0.023) than in Bangladesh (0.016), the report said.