Nigeria still among world’s poorest nations, UN insists

• USAID tasks FG on population growth
The introduction of social safety net programmes by the Federal Government and development agencies to alleviate poverty in the country notwithstanding, the 2019 global multidimensional poverty index has yet again ranked Nigeria among poorest nations in the world.

This comes as the Save the Children (SC) said 300,000 internally displaced persons and host communities benefited from its N4,000 monthly stipends under the Conditional Cash Transfer Scheme In the last five years.

The beneficiary states include Zamfara, Bauchi, Yobe, Borno, Kastina and Jigawa.The Head of Food Security and Livelihood of the organisation, Chachu Tadida, during a media breakfast meeting on Household Economic Analysis (HEA) yesterday in Abuja pointed out that the gesture followed the surveys carried out in the states. He said they focused attention on the North East and North West because the states therein still place highest in terms of poverty and malnutrition.

But the United Nations report, which is to be officially unveiled at 3:00p.m this Thursday in New York, United States, revealed that besides Nigeria, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Pakistan and Peru still have below 40per cent growth rate.

In a statement yesterday in Abuja, the UNDP Communications Specialist and Head of Communication Unit, Lucky Mosunda, said experts would present new findings on poverty from 101 developing countries, representing 76 per cent of the world’s population.

He disclosed that the 2019 global multidimensional poverty index (MPI) challenges traditional notions of where poor people live and how they experience penury and inequality as well as reveals how the complexities of poverty in the 21st century mean conventional ideas of rich and poor countries are now outdated.

It added that the MPI also sheds light on the number of people experiencing poverty at regional, national and sub-national levels, unmasking vast inequalities across countries and among the poor.The statement added that the index goes beyond just counting the number of people who live in poverty but also measures the multiple deprivations people face in their daily lives – health, education and living conditions – and highlights the differences in the way people experience poverty as well as identifies which groups are being left behind.

In a related fashion, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has stressed the need for the Nigerian government to make informed decisions on the rapid demographic growth in the country.

It observed that with population growth outstripping both economic leaps and the ability of the society to provide essential services such as health and education, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) serves as a true friend and adviser to the Federal Government and its people.

USAID Mission Director, Stephen Haykin, gave the advice at a luncheon for members of the diplomatic corps to UNFPA @50 and the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the landmark Programme of Action at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) yesterday in Abuja.He noted that the agency had trained healthcare providers in delivering family planning programmes that are evidence-based and free of personal and religious biases.