Part One:

A dream of the world leaders and decision makers to eradicate poverty everywhere. Although this dream may seem impossible, a light of hope may appear the other side of the tunnel.

World Bank report of 2018 indicates that more 1.9 billion people (26% of the world population) live below the poverty line.

Unified Arab Economic Report details that poverty rate ranges from 4.8% in Morocco to 48% in Yemen. It also stresses that the recent events such as revolutions and upheavals exacerbated poverty rate.

World Bank measures poverty with the poverty line, which consider whoever earns less than US $ 1.5 a day is among poor segment. Due to changes in the cost of living everywhere in the world, World Bank raised poverty line from $1.5 to $3.2. lately.

According to this definition, we can confirm that there is no extreme poverty in UAE with World Bank measurement of poverty line. UAE achieved first position worldwide in Legatum prosperity index of 2019.

UAE experts state that the new world poverty line adopted by the World Bank does not mirror the reality of poverty line in UAE taking into consideration high rate of inflation and the escalating prices. Poor people in UAE depend on financial assistance provided by the Ministry of Community Development, Zakat Fund and other philanthropic foundations in UAE.

Accordingly, there is a pressing need for developing an approved national index of poverty line in UAE that considers the actual situation (money required to fulfil basic needs such as food, clothes, and shelter).

The absence of an index that fit UAE and the lack of a unified database for needy people resulted into lack of accurate statistics for poverty in UAE. However, official statistics indicate that there is an increase for requesting assistance following corona pandemic. 

Written by the advisor: Ahmad Saad Albadawi