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HOME MINISTER ZULFIQAR MIRZA SUPPORTING CRIMINALS IN SINDH:
MQM 10:07 PST

51% of Pakistanis deprived of basic

education, health
Published: February 23, 2011

The countrys overall HDI ranking is now 125 among 169 nations. DESIGN: ANAM
HALEEM
ISLAMABAD: Over half of Pakistanis are deprived of basic education and
health facilities and live below a respectable standard of living, reveals a United
Nations report.
According to the United Nations Human Development Report 2010, launched on
Tuesday, as many as 51 per cent of the population is living in multidimensional
poverty and 54 per cent is suffering from intense deprivation. Another 11.8 per cent of
the population is at the risk of multidimensional poverty.
The statistics have been measured by the Multidimensional Poverty Index which
includes indicators of health, education, sanitation and living standards.
The UN has also described Pakistan as a country facing major civil war and one with
a bad, if not the worst, human rights violations record.
Pakistans overall ranking in terms of the Human Development Index (HDI) fell by
two notches and stood at 125 among 169 nations. Earlier, Pakistans position was 123.
This means that Pakistan is now just two notches from a group of nations with low
human development. Life expectancy in Pakistan at the time of birth is now 67.2
years, which is 15 years less than Norway, the top human development country.
Of the deprived population, about three out of ten people are suffering from lack of
health facilities, five out of ten lack access to education and at least four out of ten
have abysmal standards of living.
The report did not include any number on account of national poverty line because the
Pakistan Peoples Party-led government, under political compulsion, has not endorsed

the latest poverty figures of 17.2 per cent. This figure is based on a survey done in
2007-08, while the Panel of Economists, stationed in the Planning Commission, has
estimated up to 40 per cent poverty in Pakistan.
In the category of sustainability and vulnerability, four per cent of Pakistanis are
living in degraded land, one of 10 people do not have access to water and nearly six
out of 10 live without proper sanitation facilities.
In terms of gender inequality, Pakistan scored 112 among 139 countries. On account
of level of satisfaction with freedom of choice, three out of 10 people in Pakistan are
satisfied while only four out of ten women are satisfied. In terms of human rights
violation, Pakistan was just one point below the countries with the worst human rights
record. It scored four out of five (one being the least human rights violations). One
out of ten people reported that they had faced a situation involving bribes, while only
15 per cent voice their opinion before public officials.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 23rd, 2011.