The 85 richest people globally have as
much wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest in the world, the United Nations
said, citing Oxfam figures, in a report that highlights ways to help the
1.2 billion people who live on less than $1.25 a day.
The UN’s annual Human Development Report notes
that overall poverty is declining throughout the world, but says
worsening inequality risks reversing the trend to improvements in life
span and income.
Canada placed No. 8 on the UN Human
Development Index, a measure based on education, income, health and
other measures of human well-being. It is among the group of nations
considered to have a very good record on human development, with Norway
at the top of the list.
That is better than last year, when Canada placed 11th, after making the top of the list in the 1990s.
Among the nations considered to have very poor human development are Niger, Congo, Mali, Haiti and Nepal.
Nearly one-third of people are poor or
vulnerable to poverty, meaning they are not resilient in the face of
natural or human-induced disasters and can slip further behind,
according to the report.
Eradicating poverty is not just about "getting to zero, but about staying there," said UN human development head Helen Clark.
Call for universal access to social programs
The report calls for "universal access
to basic social services, especially health and education; stronger
social protection, including unemployment insurance and pensions; and
a commitment to full employment, recognizing
that the value of employment extends far beyond the income it generates."
that the value of employment extends far beyond the income it generates."
"Where people do address these things,
development can come along very, very nicely. Where they haven't
addressed a lot of vulnerabilities and development deficits, as in
Syria, it all comes spectacularly unstuck," Clark said.
Such investments in human capital pay
off in the long run in lower infant mortality and greater resilience in
the face of disaster, the report says.
It says global trends in human
development, including income, education and life expectancy, are
positive, but not guaranteed to remain on that track.
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