KARACHI: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) congratulates the federal and provincial governments for initiating the development of the Multi-dimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for Pakistan. This marks the beginning of the process of regularly calculating a new poverty index in Pakistan based on the global MPI methodology.

This index was inspired by the global MPI, developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) and released by UNDP in the Human Development Reports 2010, 2011, and 2013. This index is a novel measure for policy analysis, resource allocation, dialogue, and monitoring. MPI approaches poverty as a multifaceted issue, enabling policymakers to allocate resources more effectively, improve policy design, monitor policy efficiency over time, and target poor people as beneficiaries of services and social safety nets.

Mapping multidimensional poverty at the provincial and district level will be undertaken and sub-national calculations will be envisaged in the future. Different sectors will be integrated in determining the final index with weights including health, education, and income. The national multidimensional poverty line will serve as the baseline for comparison to determine the number of people below the multidimensional poverty line and those above it. For ease of comparison, different districts will be ranked and mapped on the severity/range of multidimensional poverty.

Today, at the Planning Commission, Dr Sabina Alkire, Director of OPHI at the University of Oxford talked about the concept, measurement, and objectives of the Multidimensional Poverty Measurement and shared the results of the training session.

Professor Ahsan Iqbal, Minister, Ministry of Planning, Development and Reform said, “The traditional one-dimensional indices cannot reflect the true poverty levels in Pakistan. The MPI is more comprehensive, integrated and holistic as it covers education, health and living standards. This partnership between the Government, UNDP and University of Oxford will help us understand, and better address issues related to poverty in Pakistan.” —PR