ABSTRACT
The implications of severe poverty are pervasive. It results, for instance, in lower life expectancy, poorer health outcomes, and reduced educational opportunities. Life expectancy at birth in countries like Senegal and Malawi is 66.5 and 62.8 years respectively, compared with 81.6 and 79.1 years for Norway and the United States respectively. Infant mortality per 1,000 births is 44.2 in Malawi and 43.9 in Senegal, compared with 2.3 and 5.9 in Norway and the United States respectively. Whereas Norway has 37.4 physicians per 10,000 people and the United States has 24.5, Malawi has 0.2 physicians per 10,000 people, and Senegal 0.6. Adult literacy rates in Malawi and Senegal are 61.3 percent and 52.1 percent respectively, and only 15.5 percent in Niger.2
