Poverty has increased despite efforts by int'l community

Geneva--According to the UN officials, there is a steady rise in poverty in some parts of the world, especially in the developing and poor countries. A senior UN official has said that the level of poverty in sub-Saharan African countries and other least developed nations of the world has increased, adversely affecting women and children, despite global efforts to eradicate the scourge.

Poverty has increased in majority of the poorest and weakest segments of the international community, the world's 50 Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Anwarul K Chowdhury said.

"While in general developing countries have made significant gains in reducing poverty over the last decade, in sub-Saharan Africa, which accounts for 34 LDCs, the level of extreme poverty has increased from 200 million to 300 million, particularly affecting children and women," he said.

"Clearly, these countries do not have the domestic capacity be it financial, human or institutional to reverse this negative trend without external support," he said as UN marked the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

[inline:1]The world has the resources to bring out over a billion people from the "hell hole" of extreme poverty, but lacks the will for turning promises into reality, he said and urged the international community not to forget the poverty-stricken fellow human beings whose number is projected to rise by 100 million people by 2015.

The theme of this year's International Day for the Eradication of Poverty,  empowering the poorest of the poor to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, is therefore extremely important," he added.