Final answer:
Sub-Saharan countries face immediate challenges including extreme poverty, lack of basic services like healthcare and education, environmental issues, and the effects of climate change like water scarcity, as well as violence and human rights abuses rooted in colonial history.
Step-by-step explanation:
An immediate challenge confronting sub-Saharan countries includes dealing with poverty, where a significant portion of the population lives in extreme conditions. These challenges are exacerbated by a lack of access to quality medical care, educational resources, and reliable infrastructure, which, in turn, contribute to high rates of famine, disease, and political instability. Additionally, environmental issues and the effects of climate change, such as vulnerability to natural disasters and water scarcity, pose significant threats to the livelihood and well-being of these populations.
Violence and human rights abuses, often a legacy of colonial exploitation, remain persistent problems that hinder progress in establishing stable governments and economies. Ethnic conflicts sparked by borders drawn during colonial times continue to be a source of instability. Moreover, the region's water supply is one of the most vulnerable in the world, with pollution and depletion leading to potential future crises which could fuel internal or international conflicts.