US State Of Alabama Has Worst Poverty In Developed World: UN Expert

A United Nations expert investigating poverty in the United States says the state of Alabama has the worst poverty in the developed world

UNITED NATIONS, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Dec, 2017 ) :A United Nations expert investigating poverty in the United States says the state of Alabama has the worst poverty in the developed world.

"I think it's very uncommon in the First World. This is not a sight that one normally sees. I'd have to say that I haven't seen this," Philip Alston, the U.N.'s Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, said, according to a report in Newsweek magazine.

Alston's remarks came as Alabama voters headed to the polls Tuesday for a pivotal special election in which allegations of inappropriate behaviour against Republican candidate Roy Moore have created a unique opportunity for Democrats in the state where Republicans generally win.

The UN rapporteur traveled to areas where residents have fallen ill with hookworm, a disease usually seen only in extremely poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, the report said. Aaron Thigpen, an activist in Fort Deposit, Alabama, showed Alston a house belonging to his relatives where raw sewage is released above ground, it said.

"These two pipes are the raw sewage pipes coming from the house," Thigpen was quoted as saying. "And you've got your main water line here, and it may have a hole in it, so everyone gets sick all at once." Alston stated that governments were failing the residents.

"There is a human right for people to live decently, and that means the government has an obligation to provide people with the essentials of life, which include power, water and sewage service," added Alston.

"But if the government says, 'Oh no, we're not going to do it,' and leaves you to install very expensive septic tanks, that's not how it should work." The UN rapporteur, who is also a professor at New York University, is touring sites in California, Puerto Rico, West Virginia and Washington D.C., among others.

Across the United States, close to 41 million people live in poverty, the magazine said. This means the US has the second-highest poverty rate among rich countries, as measured by the percentage of people who earn less than 50 percent of the national median income.

These social conditions tend to affect minorities more frequently, with black, Hispanic and Native American children two to three times more likely to live in poverty than their white counterparts, it said.

Alston explained that the US has encouraged similar investigations in other countries but now it is America's turn. "There are pretty extreme levels of poverty in the United States given the wealth of the country and that does have significant human rights implications," he said, according to Newsweek.