The Big Issues: Reports by commitment

Social development in focus

Ö The percentage of the world’s population living in extreme poverty, the number one concern of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),[1] may have decreased over the last decade (1995-2004). This decline however is closely linked to the development of one single country (China), whose population accounts for one-fifth of the total world population. Forecasts on the future evolution of poverty point to the absence of one single direction and the prevalence of regional differences. World Bank estimates predict that the goals set by the MDGs might be met in Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia and perhaps in Northern Africa, while in Latin America the slow poverty reduction pace makes the goal unattainable by 2015. In Sub-Saharan Africa the outlook is grim given that poverty affects 140 million people.

Ö Eradicating extreme poverty and hunger is an indispensable step towards the well-being of the world’s population and represents the first challenge facing the global community. However concerns about food security have not resulted in actions which help countries pursue solutions to overcome this serious problem. Although many countries have made great efforts and shown some improvement in indicators related to food status and population undernourishment, they account for less than half of the whole community of nations. Conversely, approximately one in every five countries in that group has experienced a significant deterioration of its nutrition situation. According to FAO the outlook does not look very promising as far as the affected population is concerned: in developing countries the number of hunger-stricken people has fallen by only nine million over the course of 15 years and the opportunities favourable to food security are still very unequal, both between and within countries. South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are still the most critical regions in terms of their food situation. Even though poverty is still concentrated in rural areas, urbanization and globalization generate a more complex view of the factors that cause food insecurity and their related impact. In the world today, food crises are increasingly caused by human actions. It therefore becomes even more horrifying to realize that at present 852 million people in the world are affected by hunger.

Ö There is broad consensus about the importance of education as an indispensable tool to help people out of a situation of poverty in a context of sustainable and lasting development. Over recent years, there has been growth in primary education coverage spurred by commitments resulting from the Copenhagen Social Summit and the Millennium Summit. However worldwide advances in education coexist with a wide variety of situations; some of them extremely serious as in the case of several African countries where nearly half the population is illiterate. At other levels it is necessary to evaluate the quality of education provided in order to go beyond mere quantitative coverage indicators. Although there may be no systematic information available in this area, the differences in quality are obvious and have a negative influence on educational equity. Another feature that characterizes these inequities, apart from basic coverage and quality of elementary education, is the time of exposure to education, that is to say, the highest level reached by a person in their educational career. The number of years of schooling varies greatly between poor and rich countries. The widest coverage gaps occur in the average years in tertiary education, where understandably the richest countries have the highest averages while in Africa the average is insignificant.

Ö In recent years, characterized by a slowdown in health-related social benefits and by increased inequality, the health security of countries has evolved unevenly. The differences caused by demographic factors and health policies as well as by different living standards are revealed in the morbidity and mortality indicators. Although there is some progress on a global level, such as a decline in infant mortality, there are regions where the situation is still serious and some countries have even experienced regression. Sub-Saharan Africa is the area facing the world’s poorest health conditions: the HIV/AIDS pandemic, together with an increase of tuberculosis and malaria, have caused historical regression such as the reduction in life expectancy at birth. Increased coverage of basic immunization to children under one year of age has probably been one of the main contributing factors in the reduction of infant mortality. A follow-up study of the situation since the early 1990s shows progress in most countries. The average world immunization coverage today is around 70% but this figure masks the huge inequity existing between countries. The goal of achieving universal immunization coverage becomes more elusive in the light of the enormous gaps observed between countries and even more so when at least 15% of the countries have regressed in their coverage. A country’s wealth is inextricably related to its health indicators. The gap existing between the richest and the poorest countries is not diminishing; therefore, world progress in terms of morbidity and mortality is still unevenly distributed among the world’s population.

Ö Access to safe drinking water and sanitary services comprise the minimum basic infrastructure associated with better health security levels. Ten years after the Copenhagen and Beijing agreements, and five years after the Millennium Declaration, over 1.1 billion people lack access to safe drinking water (approximately 17% of the global population) while more than 40% of the world’s population lack basic sanitary services. The situation becomes alarming in poor countries where more than 70% of the urban population live in squatter settlements or slums, with no access to essential services such as safe drinking water and sanitation. The most serious example of lack of access to safe drinking water is Afghanistan where in 2002 only 13 out of every 100 people had access to improved water sources. With respect to sanitation, there are extreme cases such as that of Ethiopia, where only 6 out of 100 inhabitants have access to this service. On the other end of the spectrum, both in terms of water services and sanitation, are high-income countries such as Norway, the United States and the Netherlands, where both services are completely covered.

Ö The inclusion of the gender dimension in these categories of well-being triggers a multiplying effect, that is to say, global inequity becomes even greater when gender is considered. Gender equity must be borne in mind when studying quality of life. The growing participation of women in different spheres of society has not guaranteed their recognition or improvements in their quality of life. The fact is that women cannot fully participate in economic and public life; they have limited access to positions of influence and power; their labour options are more restricted and their income is much lower than that of men performing the same job. Although progress can be noted in many countries, unequal access to education still exists between men and women in most developing countries and is still far from being eradicated.

Ö The participation of women in economic activities is of particular importance as it relates directly to poverty issues. Women’s participation in the most rural societies coincides with the most industrialized ones. According to available data, 70% of the estimated 1.3 billion poor of the world today are women. Some of the reasons leading to higher poverty among women are unequal conditions in terms of women’s access to the labour market and labour discrimination through lower salaries. The income gap is one of the most striking inequalities: even in countries that are better off, female income is only 65% of male income, while in countries where the situation is worse, the relationship is around 30%. Furthermore, all over the world women are practically absent from parliament. On average they account for less than 15% of members of parliament and no systematic differences are observed by region or according to country income level.

Ö Despite evident progress in both the coverage and quality of reproductive health, this particular area is still a priority for millions of women in countries with severe qualitative and quantitative deficiencies. This is reflected in poor health indicators: high maternal mortality, low prevalence in the use of contraceptives and low percentage of births attended by skilled personnel. Every day 1,600 women die worldwide due to complications experienced during pregnancy and childbirth. In addition, 50 million women annually suffer health problems related to pregnancy and childbirth. Inequalities between countries are overwhelming: in developing countries, maternal death is 18 times higher than in industrialized countries. Since women in developing countries have more pregnancies and obstetric care is more scarce and inadequate, they are exposed to the risk of maternal mortality 40 times more than in the developed world. Inadequacies in reproductive and sexual health care services cause almost one fifth of the world’s premature morbidity and mortality figures, and one third of the diseases and deaths of women in their reproductive years.[2]

Ö Scientific and technological innovation is the area that has advanced most rapidly in recent years. The capacity of countries to generate science and technology is of vital strategic importance despite the fact that only a few nations have been able to maintain a good position in terms of these indicators. Developing countries, which are home to almost four-fifths of the world’s population, supply less than 30% of researchers in science and technology. Meanwhile, although practically all countries in the world are connected to the Internet and other types of communication and information technology such as telephones and personal computers access to them is remarkably unequal. This inequality is maintained in spite of the progress achieved in this field by the large majority of countries. When the expenses on information and communication technology and the number of scientists and engineers devoted to research and development are taken into account, the outlook is not encouraging. These two indicators, which are key to progress in this area, also demonstrate an unequal distribution which compromises the chance for equitable and sustainable development.

Ö Governments have signed a series of international treaties on fundamental human rights[3] that have become internationally binding. In addition to the civil and political rights of individuals, these international treaties and conventions express the right to health, education, adequate housing, non-discrimination, decent work for men and women alike, and the rights of children, among others. Part of the obligations assumed by the States that signed and ratified these international treaties is their commitment to guarantee their compliance at the national level by passing national legislation and implementing policies geared at their enforcement.

Ö The chances to improve the living conditions of citizens all over the world and allow them to fully exercise their rights, requires the political will of decision-makers. Governments play a leading role and their resources should be made available for development. A look at the public budgets of all countries and at the international cooperation commitments of high income countries reveals that governments are not making further efforts in education and health. Some countries have experienced progress in this area while in others expenditure in relation to gross domestic product (GDP) has fallen. A more specific analysis should incorporate the way in which expenses are managed within the education and public health systems. Meanwhile, the heavy share of military expenses in several countries is a matter of concern when compared to their social spending.

Ö Servicing the foreign debt is still a very important burden that results in substantial restrictions in terms of the availability of economic resources and their potential reorientation toward policies favouring the MDGs. Access to debt alleviation programmes for heavily indebted poor countries has become difficult for many due to restrictions imposed upon the adoption of these programmes, and their global impact remains weak. In middle-income countries there is concern regarding the tendency towards increased debt servicing as percentage of gross national income (GNI).

Ö In recent years the Official Development Assistance provided by wealthy countries over the last three decades has shown signs of recovery, after a period of regression. However donor countries are far from fulfilling their commitment since only five of them have reached the agreed goal of assisting developing countries with the equivalent of 0.7% of their GNI.

Since 1995, Social Watch annual reports have included a follow-up on the situation of countries in relation to the development goals that governments committed themselves to during the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen and at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, as well as to the most recent goals of the Millennium Declaration for 2015.

Starting with the 2004 issue, the Social Watch follow-up strategy is built around a set of basic areas of social development. The dimensions of analysis related to human security were therefore incorporated and strengthened following the guidelines proposed by international summits.[4] These dimensions also represent relevant thematic areas for understanding poverty from a multi-dimensional perspective.

Indicators selected to define and evaluate these core areas of development respond not only to conceptual criteria but also to functional considerations based on the evaluation of coverage and international comparability of indicators.[5]

For descriptive/explanatory purposes the advance tables and the placement of countries in each area are classified according to geographic region or income level.[6]

Selected indicators:

¨ Gini Index (%)

¨ International poverty line: population living with less than USD 1 a day (%)

¨ International poverty line: poverty gap of population living with less than USD 1 a day (%)

¨ Population below the national poverty line (%)

¨ Poorest quintile’s share of consumption (%)

Unfortunately very little can be said about the progress in the struggle to reduce poverty. Even though the foremost goal of the Millennium Summit is to reduce the world’s poverty by half, instruments and measurements used in the diagnosis and evolution of the situation are still inaccurate and under discussion.

The concept of poverty is and will be a source of heated debate. This is mainly due to the fact that it is built around a purely analytical perspective that reflects the dissatisfaction of certain needs considered basic for the development of life in society. There is more than one viewpoint not only on the way these needs are measured but also on how to determine when needs are met. There is also debate regarding the choice of basic needs that define a situation of poverty.

When considering which needs determine a poverty situation, the first step is to identify any unsatisfied basic needs. In order to do so, it is necessary to define the specific set of household needs whose presence or absence determines whether the household is poor or not. Therefore a person is considered poor when living in a poor household. A second method is based on the consideration of income as a tool to satisfy the set of needs that are considered essential to ensure a minimum standard of living. According to this method, a person is poor when his/her income is below the minimum threshold to satisfy certain needs. This option, based exclusively on the satisfaction of needs related to the consumption of goods and services money can buy, does not take into consideration access to other goods and services not provided by the private sector or factors that influence a person’s welfare but are unrelated to monetary income.

The income threshold method may be based on a relative poverty line or on an absolute poverty line. The relative poverty line is set in such a way that a person is considered poor when his/her income is below the average income of the members of a given society. This is the method used by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Thus, poverty is basically conceptualized as a problem of distribution related to social justice criteria. The absolute poverty line is determined in such a way as to reflect the amount of money necessary to reach a minimum standard of living. It does not depend on the distribution of income. When establishing these poverty lines the income level necessary to cover basic needs (food, clothing, housing, healthcare, and education) should be taken into consideration. In order to do so a basket of goods is established that includes food items that meet nutritional requirements and non-food items considered to cover basic consumption needs. The poverty line will result from expanding the value of the basic basket according to the factor derived from the quotient between consumption expenditure and food expenditure of the group in question.

Over and above absolute and relative poverty lines, it is increasingly necessary to remember that poverty is a multi-dimensional phenomenon. Altimir[7] defines poverty as “a situational syndrome that brings together infra-consumption, malnutrition, poor living conditions, low educational levels, inadequate sanitary conditions, unstable participation in the productive system, attitudes of discouragement and anomie, little participation in social integration mechanisms, and maybe the endorsement of a particular set of values somewhat different to those of the rest of the society.” Qualitative considerations are currently being added to the definition to provide more depth to the concept. “Feeling poor is a relative concept that has a lot to do with having access to necessary resources to satisfy the living standards that are customary to or approved by the society you belong to.”[8]

Recently, non-material or symbolic dimensions have been added to the concept of poverty, such as the increasingly necessary use of several modern skills, among which can be mentioned analytical thinking, information processing capacity, communication and management skills in order to ensure full participation in a globalized world and adaptation to new labour and production models. If poverty is defined in terms of a lack of well-being or resources that allow people to live a good quality of life, then attention must be paid to dimensions such as availability of spare time, public safety, protection against public and domestic violence, protection against disasters, and gender equity.[9]

Although the broad approach presented here has not been operational at the level of empirical research, a multi-dimensional approach seems to be the most appropriate way to define situations associated with the condition of poverty. In this respect, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can and must be considered a multi-dimensional approach to meet basic human needs and part of an organized response to the condition of poverty in its broadest sense.

In recognizing the multidimensional character of poverty, we should acknowledge that there is no single method for measuring poverty but rather a variety of methodological approaches that can be used to measure it. Information on the living standards of individuals, their health situation, educational level, mortality and morbidity, gender equity and other characteristics are indispensable in obtaining a sense of the scope, distribution and trends of poverty worldwide. Income poverty is, however, an essential part of measuring certain situations and living conditions of people, since income in today’s society is undoubtedly a fundamental factor that links people with the satisfaction of certain needs.

The need to compare income poverty at the international level has led to the development of tools that have become both widely used and widely questioned. The USD 1 or USD 2 a day poverty lines are controversial, yet the former was still used to make the main MDG operational.

According to Reddy and Pogge,[10] the World Bank estimates contain serious flaws and are therefore not fully reliable:

· The international poverty line (IPL) is inconsistent, since it does not provide the means to interpret purchasing power between countries or between years, and therefore leads to estimates that make no sense. Thus it is possible for people who are considered poor in one country to have more products or engage in higher consumption than those not identified as poor in another.

· Poverty estimates available today are unreliable due to their sensitivity to the values of critical parameters that are estimated on the basis of limited information or no information at all.

Reddy and Pogge state that we are still uncertain about the income of poor people in the whole world, how poor they are, where they live and how this figure has changed over the years. This information is extremely important and urgent for MDGs monitoring. The authors suggest that the definition of poverty concentrate on the basic ability to satisfy one’s needs and not just on an arbitrary amount of dollars. This would provide meaning to the ILP: those below the line will lack the necessary resources to satisfy the most basic requirements of a human being.

In conclusion, common methods need to be adopted to determine poverty lines and to provide worldwide poverty estimates. To this end, it will be necessary to specify - through a comprehensive and transparent process - not only the basic human capabilities that depend on income but also to specify the characteristics of any goods typically needed to achieve them. A fixed set of human capabilities can also provide a single standard to adjust national poverty lines over time, to reflect the changing prices of priority needs to achieve elementary capabilities. These adjustments should be conducted by national committees that make the national poverty line consistent with common standards. A universal standard will allow the world to rely on the definition of poverty used to estimate the number of poor people and will also ensure that this condition has the same meaning in any corner of the world.

1.4. The goal to reduce poverty in the world and World Bank data (1990-2015)

Indicators presented in the Poverty and distribution table are the ones used internationally[11] to assess poverty and inequity from the point of view of income. Information available at the global level for this type of measurement is very limited: not only is it lacking in some countries but also the criteria for measuring vary or are applied to situations that do not allow for comparison.[12] In addition, some national situations are diagnosed on the basis of quite superficial estimates. Within this framework of inaccuracy and relativity it is very difficult to establish the criteria for quantifying poverty in the world and, more specifically, to get information on two instances in time that are minimally comparable between countries. For all of these reasons, it is truly complicated to establish a follow-up of the evolution of poverty, measured through changes in country income level. It is necessary to pay attention to potential manipulation of the results of poverty measurements undertaken for purposes related to the political evaluation of international commitments and campaigns.

Bearing in mind the warnings mentioned above, the latest figures available from the World Bank report a decline in the absolute number of people in conditions of extreme poverty[13] from 1.219 billion in 1990 to 1.1 billion in 2001. The same source[14] points to the fact that this reduction is mainly due to the significant decrease in poverty experienced in China. At a regional level, substantial improvement was seen in South and East Asia, where the first MDG will most likely be reached.

The Global Economic Projections carried out by the World Bank in 2002 already recognized that the MDGs could be achieved at a global level, albeit with great regional differences. The forecast for the year 2015 indicates that 734 million people will be living in poverty. This figure is obtained through differential drops in the number of poor people by region and according to a slight increase in North Africa and the Middle East and an alarming increase in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The 2004 review of poverty projections indicates that by 2015 poverty might reach a global level of 12.5%, compared to 28.3% estimated for 1990. At the regional level, the evolution of poverty in North Africa and the Middle East, as well as in Europe and Central Asia, shows that this goal is likely to be achieved. It might not be met however in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa. According to regional specialists, chances for the Latin American region to reach its goal are closely linked to a change in its income distribution patterns. The region is the most unequal in the world and there does not appear to be any trend to indicate a reversal on this situation. On the other hand, Sub-Saharan Africa has witnessed the growth, rather than the reduction of poverty, from 41% to 46% of the population. This translates into 140 million more people living in a situation of extreme poverty.

It is worth noting that the poverty reduction goal has been implemented through the specific goal of reducing the share of the total population below the poverty line of USD 1 a day, which nevertheless allows the absolute number of people living in such conditions to increase. Taking into account the total number of people who survived on less than USD 2 a day in 1990 (2.653 billion), the estimates for this figure in 2015 are down to 2.144 billion. In this case, the situation is slightly different as the significant increase in the number of people who live on less than USD 2 a day in Sub-Saharan Africa must be added to the slight increase experienced in South Asia and to a decline in East Asia and the Pacific (due to China’s inclusion in this region).

Although good performance is expected from countries in South Asia regarding populations living on less than USD 1 a day, a large contingency of people will hardly cross this threshold and will remain below USD 2 a day. If we consider the evolution of poverty measured through the one-dollar-a-day basis over the last few decades, we can see that by the year 2000 the number of people living on less than USD 1 a day was reduced by more than 130 million, compared with this figure in 1990. But this was due, almost exclusively, to the reduction experienced in East Asia and the Pacific, where figures fell almost by half: from 470 million in 1990 to 261 million in 2000, mostly due to the strong pace of income growth in China, which reached over 9% annually.

Selected indicators:

· Undernourishment (% of total population)

· Low birth weight (%)

· Malnutrition in children under 5, low weight (%)

For a society to achieve the adequate levels of food security, all of its members must “at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritionally adequate food to satisfy nutritional needs and their preference in terms of food choice, so that they may live a healthy and active life. Food security is accomplished when the availability of food is guaranteed and the supply is stable and affordable.”[15]

Food security is an essential factor in the effective exercise of human rights. The right to adequate nutrition is enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, through which the signatory States committed themselves to work towards improved food production, preservation and distribution methods in order to ensure an equitable distribution of global food supplies according to the needs of the population.

The current food security situation on a global level is of high concern, particularly when faced with the fact that recent history does not show a strong tendency towards improved food security. In its 2004 report, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)[16] estimates the number of people in the world suffering from undernourishment at 852 million and draws three forceful conclusions. Firstly, the minimum pace of progress necessary to combat chronic hunger in the developing world has not been attained. Secondly, progress has been very asymmetric with several countries experiencing significant progress while many others remained stagnant or even deteriorated. Finally, both in human and economic terms, “the costs of not taking immediate and strenuous action to reduce hunger at comparable rates worldwide are staggering. (…) Every year that hunger continues at present levels costs more than 5 million children their lives and costs developing countries billions of dollars in lost productivity and earnings.”[17]

To halve the average number of people experiencing hunger in the world by the year 2015 is one of the first commitments governments assumed at the time that the MDGs were agreed upon. This goal is less ambitious than the one formulated in 1996 when 186 country leaders at the World Food Summit pledged to reduce the number of people starving by over one half. The estimated figure of starving people at that time was 841 and the goal was to be achieved within one decade. The latest figures reveal that, since 1990, the number of people living in hunger in developing countries has only been reduced by 9 million.

With the hunger reduction pace that the world has set up until now, it will not be possible to achieve the MDG to reduce hunger. In order to improve this situation, intensive efforts will de necessary from developing countries and from the international community. These efforts must not only include investments and specific policies, but also substantial changes in world trade practices. These elements are explicitly outlined in MDG 8 and involve aid from the international community to the most troubled countries, as well as changes in debt management and trade mechanisms.

In particular, FAO has expressed the need for direct measures to reinforce effective access to food, especially through income generated by employment in rural activities that are safe, productive and competitive. “Most of the poorest developing countries are in desperate need of investment. International aid to such countries, including lasting solutions to the debt issue as well, would represent a concrete signal that the world is willing to meet the goals of the UN World Food and Development Summit for the Millennium.”[18]

Curiously enough, currently half the people starving in the world live in small farming communities, while another 20% are landless farmers and 10% live in communities whose subsistence is based on cattle grazing, fishing or forestry activities. Only 20% of the starving live in cities. However, urbanization as well as globalization of food systems are modifying the map of hunger and the nutritional profile of hunger and malnutrition in developing countries.[19] These changes make more complex the factors leading to food vulnerability among countries and within countries.

The number of food emergencies (crises due to natural or human causes that require immediate attention) has gradually grown over the last 20 years from an annual average of 15 in the 1980s to over 30 since the year 2000. Additionally, the proportion of emergencies that can be principally attributed to human causes, such as conflict or economic crisis, has more than doubled since 1992, from 15% to 35% while the proportion of emergencies caused by natural disasters has diminished. African countries affected by the most devastating and prolonged crises are those subject to armed conflict. Some of these countries such as Angola, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan have been immersed in crises throughout almost the entire period lasting from 1990-2004. In all of these cases, armed conflicts have coincided with difficult climatic conditions.[20]

The consequences of food insecurity are especially serious in the case of the newly born and of children, causing immediate effects and after-effects for the rest of their lives. Almost one-third of children living in developing countries suffer retarded growth and below average height for their age, which is proof of their chronic undernourishment. Every year, over 20 million babies are born with insufficient weight in the developing world. Retarded growth and low birth weight cause serious harm to these children, impairing their physical and cognitive development and therefore seriously compromising their future possibilities. In the case of girls, consequences can also be passed on to the next generation as their chances of giving birth to babies with lower weight are above average.[21]

In terms of the present undernourishment situation, infant malnutrition and low birth weight, a significant number of countries occupy the best relative position; this group is comprised of around 40% of the countries with available information (72). At the other extreme, almost one in five countries (34) occupies the worse relative situation according to their food status. The difference between these two groups reveals the gap that exists among countries in the world in terms of food security. On average, almost four of every ten inhabitants of countries in the worst situation are affected by undernourishment. This translates into more than three children out of every ten under the age of 5 with malnutrition and one in every five with low birth weight. This is a far cry from countries with a better food situation, where on average there is less than one undernourished person out of every ten, one child out of every 20 is malnourished and one of every 20 babies is born with low weight.

Table 1. Food security: averages for countries in better and worse relative situation
Present situation		Under-nourishment (% of total population)	Low birth weight (%)	Malnutrition in children under 5 (low weight, %)
Countries in worse relative situation	Average	38	19	34
Countries in worse relative situation	Number of countries	28	32	32

Countries in better relative situation	Average	8	6	6
Countries in better relative situation	Number of countries	36	72	46

These differences are clearly visible when grouping countries according to their levels of income (measured in GDP per capita which is one of the indicators normally used to classify countries according to their development levels). According to FAO estimates, out of the 852 million undernourished people, 815 million live in developing countries, 28 million in countries in transition and 9 million in industrialized countries.[22] More specifically, 30% of the population is undernourished in countries in the lowest income level, while in lower middle income countries this figure drops to 12%. This indicator most clearly shows the differences existing between the poorest countries and the rest of the world.

Chart 2. Average rate in undernourishment, child malnutrition and low birth weight by income level

The geography of food security also reveals the differences that exist between countries by concentrating the most critical situations in specific regions. South Asia experiences the most awkward situation in terms of food security. Of the eight countries with available information, seven are in the worst situation within the area and the rest remain below average. The nutritional situation of children in this region is particularly critical, as it reflects the worst average values both in the percentage of the newly born with low birth weight (22%) as well as malnutrition in children under the age of 5 (39%).

Sub-Saharan Africa also reveals serious problems. In this region, the most critical situations relate to undernourishment (32%), with permanently high levels in infant malnutrition (24%) and in low birth weight (15%). Africa is the continent with the largest increase in food emergencies in recent years. These emergencies tripled between 1986 and 2004.[23]

Recent developments in food security present a worrying scenario. Countries which show no or little progress in this area predominate. That is to say, there has been only a slight improvement in over ten years. The effort made by some countries that were in very critical situations has been impressive but not sufficient to produce any substantial changes. Only slightly more than half (27) of the countries that made advances were able to rise above the global food security average.

The deterioration of food security is happening as much in countries that still maintain above average situations, as in countries in the worst positions in this area, although the greatest regression has occurred mainly in this last group.

Indicators reflect this slow progress. On average, countries have curbed the undernourishment of their population by two percentage points and infant malnutrition by three points. However the same average values are maintained in the percentage of children with low birth weight. These averages however summarize divergent evolutions where we find some countries that have regressed significantly while others have made substantial progress in their food situation.

The stagnation and regression of many countries is associated with frequent or prolonged food crises which cause chronic generalized undernourishment of the population. The average duration of emergencies during the period of 1992-2004 was 9 years. Between 1986 and 2004, 18 countries underwent critical situations for more than half that period. The result has been that in 13 of those countries, more than 35% of the population is starving.[24]

In eight countries significant regression has been registered in at least one of the indicators. In some cases, this setback is displayed in the percentage of undernourished people (the most alarming cases are the Democratic Republic of Congo, moving from 32% to 71% and Tajikistan, from 21% to 61% of its population). In other cases, deterioration is observed mainly in the infancy indicators (regression in terms of low birth weight and in infant malnutrition is significant in Comoros and Iraq).

On the other end of the scale, 12 countries have made significant progress in their food situation. In connection with this progress, FAO highlights important factors such as the implementation of specific actions both in food programmes (to accompany development policies) as well as changes in production structure and policies that cushion the effects of food crises, especially climate-generated ones.

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2005 What the social development indicators say

2005
What the social development indicators say