Poverty is often defined by one-dimensional measures, such as income. But no one indicator alone can capture the multiple aspects that constitute poverty.
A rapidly increasing number of policymakers around the world are working to establish multidimensional poverty measures. Many of them are using the Alkire Foster methodology and the related set of empirical techniques developed by OPHI.
These measures enable them to:
- Allocate resources more effectively;
- Improve policy design;
- Identify interconnections among deprivations;
- Monitor the effectiveness of policies over time;
- Target poor people as beneficiaries of services or conditional cash transfers.
OPHI has published a brochure, ‘Measuring Multidimensional Poverty: Insights from Around the World‘, which features case studies on how the Alkire Foster method of measuring multidimensional poverty has been adapted and applied in Colombia, Mexico, Bhutan, China, El Salvador, Malaysia and Minas Gerais in Brazil, among others.
The Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network was formally launched in Oxford on 6-7 June 2013, by President Juan Manuel Santos of Colombia and high-level representatives from Mexico and around 20 other governments.
Watch videos and download the presentations given during the launch events
Read about the launch events of 6-7 June 2013
The Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network, which is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), provides international support to policy makers engaged in or exploring the construction of multidimensional poverty measures, including input into the design of the measures, and the political processes and institutional arrangements that will sustain them.
Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2013
Key findings and analysis
- How Multidimensional Poverty went Down: Dynamics and Comparisons
- Identifying the 'Bottom Billion': Beyond National Averages
- Multidimensional Poverty Reduction in India
- Plus an overview of all the key findings from the global MPI 2013
Source: http://www.ophi.org.uk/index.php
Please visit the Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative at The University of Oxford