COMCEC Poverty Outlook 2016:
Human Development in OIC
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Concluding Remarks
There is a significant level of extreme poverty in the OIC Member Countries with almost 375
million people suffering from poverty. Poverty headcount ratios of the member countries
differ from zero percent to 62 percent. Likewise, non-monetary poverty indicators also vary
across the OIC Member Countries. As non-monetary indicators, Human Development Index
values of the OIC Member Countries are between 0.856 and 0.348, Multidimensional Poverty
Index values are between zero and 0.584 among the countries for which the MPI is calculated,
and Global Hunger Index values are between zero and 46,4.
Aiming to provide an overview of poverty status in the OIC Member Countries, this report
elaborates on monetary and non-monetary poverty, with a special focus on human
development progress in the OIC Member Countries.
The OIC Member Countries do not form a homogenous group in terms of poverty. While 7
member countries are in high income group, 16 are in upper-middle income, 18 are in lower-
middle income, and 16 are in low income group. High income OIC Countries have GDP per
capita (Current international PPP) levels which are above $38,000. In the upper-middle
income OIC Countries GDP per capita levels have a diverse pattern, ranging from $10,880 to
$26,891, and all the countries in this group have low or moderate GHI values. 13 out of 16
upper-middle OIC income countries are in high human development category. On the other
hand, in these countries the population living in multidimensional poverty exceeds the
population living in income poverty. 14 out of 18 countries in this group have GDP per capita
levels which are lower than $6,000. On the other hand, poverty rates in this group display a
diverse picture. Indeed, poverty rate ranges from less-than 1 percent to more-than 62 percent.
Lower-middle income OIC countries can be classified under low or medium human
development categories. Multidimensional poverty situation is more severe than monetary
poverty situation in these countries, since in almost half of the lower-middle income countries,
more than 40 percent of the population is multi-dimensionally poor.
Regarding low income OIC Member Countries, both monetary and non-monetary poverty
indicators are striking. GDP per capita (Current international PPP) levels are less than $ 2,430
in this group, and poverty headcount ratios are above 27 percent. All countries in this group
can be classified as low-income food-deficit country. They have also serious or alarming
hunger situation. Moreover, all low income OIC countries are classified under low human
development category in the ranking of human development index, and multidimensional
poverty rate of most of the countries in this group is higher than 50 percent.
Regarding human development progress, the OIC experienced an improvement in HDI level.
Between 1990 and 2015 the average HDI level of the OIC rose from 0.505 to 0.616. However, it
remained significantly below the OECD and world average. Morever, , the gap between the OIC
and developing countries has enlarged in the last 25 years from 0.008 to 0.044 points. This
implies the human development progress in the OIC was slower than that of in developing
countries.
Furthermore, the new development agenda, namely the SDGs, will have significant implication
for all countries. The implementation of the SDGs will also have an important place in the OIC
development agenda. In line with the global development agenda, the OIC countries and
institutions have been exerting efforts for alleviating poverty in the Member Countries through
several programs such as ISFD, SPDA and OIC-VET.