The new measurement known as the
Multidimensional Poverty Index, or MPI, will replace the Human Poverty
Index in the United Nations’ annual Human Development Report. The new
report says Ethiopia has the second highest percentage of people who
are MPI poor in the world, with only the west African nation of Niger
fairing worse. This comes as more international analysts have also
begun to question the accuracy of the Meles government’s double-digit
economic growth claims and similar disputed government statistics referred by
institutions like the IMF.
In 2009, the percentage of
Ethiopians who are in chronic need of food aid tripled to nearly 20
percent of the population compared to 1990 when the country was ruled
by the pro-Soviet communist government of Mengistu Haile Mariam. Despite the
reportedly worsening economic and political situation in a country
where the top opposition leader Judge Birtukan Mideksa remains in
prison, the Zenawi government continues to receive billions in aid from
the US and other western nations.
10 POOREST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD
Niger
Ethiopia
Mali
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Somalia
Central African Republic
Liberia
Guinea
Sierra Leone
Multidimensional Poverty Index
OPHI and the UNDP Human Development Report launch the Multidimensional
Poverty Index or MPI – an innovative new measure that gives a vivid
“multidimensional” picture of people living in poverty. The MPI will be
featured in the 20th Anniversary edition of the UNDP Human Development
Report and complements income by reflecting a range of deprivations
that afflict a person’s life at the same time. The measure assesses the
nature and intensity of poverty at the individual level in education,
health outcomes, and standard of living. OPHI has just concluded a
first ever estimate and analysis of global multidimensional poverty
across 104 developing countries, and is releasing these results in
advance of the Report’s October publication.
What is the MPI?
The lives of people living in poverty are affected by more than just
their income. The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) complements a
traditional focus on income to reflect the deprivations that a poor
person faces all at once with respect to education, health and living
standard. It assesses poverty at the individual level, with poor
persons being those who are multiply deprived, and the extent of their
poverty being measured by the range of their deprivations.
The
MPI can be used to create a vivid picture of people living in poverty,
both across countries, regions and the world and within countries by
ethnic group, urban/rural location, or other key household
characteristics. It is the first international measure of its kind, and
offers an essential complement to income poverty measures because it
measures deprivations directly. The MPI can be used as an analytical
tool to identify the most vulnerable people, show aspects in which they
are deprived and help to reveal the interconnections among
deprivations. This enables policy makers to target resources and design
policies more effectively. Other dimensions of interest, such as work,
safety, and empowerment, could be incorporated into the MPI in the
future as data become available.
The MPI reports acute poverty for 104 developing countries, which are home to 78% of the world’s people.
What does the MPI measure?
The MPI uses 10 indicators to measure three critical dimensions of
poverty at the household level: education, health and living standard
in 104 developing countries. These directly measured deprivations in
health and educational outcomes as well as key services such as water,
sanitation, and electricity reveal not only how many people are poor
but also the composition of their poverty. The MPI also reflects the
intensity of poverty – the sum of weighted deprivations that each
household faces at the same time. A person who is deprived in 70% of
the indicators is clearly worse off than someone who is deprived in 40%
of the indicators.
Why is the MPI useful?
The MPI is a high resolution lens on poverty – it shows the nature
of poverty better than income alone. Knowing not just who is poor but
how they are poor is essential for effective human development programs
and policies. This straightforward yet rigorous index allows
governments and other policymakers to understand the various sources of
poverty for a region, population group, or nation and target their
human development plans accordingly. The index can also be used to show
shifts in the composition of poverty over time so that progress, or the
lack of it, can be monitored.
The MPI goes beyond previous international measures of poverty to:
Show all the deprivations that impact someone’s life at the same time – so it can inform a holistic response.
Identify the poorest people. Such information is vital to
target people living in poverty so they benefit from key interventions.
Show which deprivations are most common in different regions
and among different groups, so that resources can be allocated and
policies designed to address their particular needs.
Reflect the results of effective policy interventions
quickly. Because the MPI measures outcomes directly, it will
immediately reflect changes such as school enrolment, whereas it can
take time for this to affect income.
Integrate many different aspects of poverty related to the
MDGs into a single measure, reflecting interconnections among
deprivations and helping to identify poverty traps.
