44% of people under poverty line: UNDP

United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in its report of the Human Development Index (HDI) 2013, has reveled that 44 percent of the people in Nepal are still under the poverty line based on the multidimensional poverty measurement system.
The HDI multidimensional poverty index is an alternative to income-based poverty estimates. "The population living in poverty in Nepal is higher compared to other countries in the region," reads a statement by UNDP. "The employment to population ratio in Nepal is 86.4 percent."
Similarly, the report shows that child labor in Nepal is also relatively higher. "More than one third of the children between ages five and 14 are economically active in Nepal," reads the statement issued on Thursday.
The report, that shows a better picture of the South Asian region in the global map, has said that 80 percent of the world´s middle class will live in the region by 2030. “The rise of South Asia is unprecedented in its speed and scale," reads the statement. "Never in history have living conditions and prospects of so many people changed so dramatically and so fast."
Further, the region registered an annual growth of 1.43 percent in HDI values between 2000 and 2012, which is the highest compared to other regions in the world.