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West African states are among the lowest ranking countries in this year's edition of the United Nations report on human development, which was released on Monday.
The report ranks 174 countries according to quality-of-life indicators such as income, health, education, life expectancy and literacy.
Half of the 10 countries with the lowest development scores are in West Africa. Sierra Leone ranks 174th, preceded by Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea Bissau and Mali. The other five are Ethiopia, Burundi, Mozambique, Eritrea and Central African Republic.
The next 12 lowest-ranking countries include The Gambia (163th), Chad (162), Guinea (161), Benin (155), Cote d'Ivoire (154) and Senegal (153). Nigeria, the regional giant, ranks 146th.
The report, the 10th in a series commissioned by the UN Development Programme, says the human elements have been left out of a narrow, financially-based view of globalisation. Markets have been allowed to dominate the process and the benefits and opportunities have not been shared equitably.
The result is a "grotesque" and dangerous polarisation between people and countries. The top fifth of the world's population in the highest income countries has 86 percent of global gross domestic product, 82 percent of the world's export markets and 74 percent of telephones. The bottom fifth in the poorest countries has just 1 percent in each category.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions