Special News--November 2023
Multidimensional PovertyEnding Poverty in All Its Forms Everywhere
"In Panama City inequality is seen side by side. Panama, April 2020."
Photo: UNDP/Grey Díaz UNDP Photos of the Year 2020And in so many other places throughout our world! "As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest...Massive poverty and obscene inequality are such terrible scourges of our times - times in which the world boasts breathtaking advances in science, technology, industry and wealth accumulation - that they have to rank alongside slavery and apartheid as social evils...millions of people in the world’s poorest countries remain imprisoned, enslaved, and in chains. They are trapped in the prison of poverty. It is time to set them free." (Nelson Mandela, 3 February 2005 (speech text)--Make Poverty History (video) ------------
Overview
In this Update (#89), we focus on multidimensional poverty and some of the main research tools for measuring and monitoring it in our world. It is such a devastating experience for hundreds of million of people in our world--fellow humans like us who are not simply statistics! Before we go any further, we want to encourage you to watch this short video overview on multidimensional poverty HERE (1 minute 30 seconds).
“Poverty is often defined by one-dimensional measures--usually based on income. But no single indicator can capture the multiple dimensions of poverty. Multidimensional poverty encompasses the various deprivations experienced by poor people in their daily lives--such as poor health, lack of education, inadequate living standards, disempowerment, poor quality of work, the threat of violence, and living in areas that are environmentally hazardous, among others.” (Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative)
Tackling the pervasive and massive reality of multidimensional poverty is an underlying emphasis throughout the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is embodied in Goal 1: "End poverty in all its forms everywhere." Some of the aims of Goal 1's seven associated targets seek to "eradicate extreme poverty for all people everywhere, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty, and implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable." (UN DESA website)
Specifically we feature four core resources--new research and reports:
2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)
Global Multinational Poverty Index Report 2023
Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, United Nations Development Program
Multidimensional Poverty Measure (2023)
World Development Report 2023--Migrants, Refugees, and Societies
World Bank
How many people live in extreme poverty? And what causes poverty? “For most of us, living on less than $2 a day seems far removed from reality. But it is the reality for roughly 800 million people around the globe. Approximately 10% of the global population lives in extreme poverty, meaning that they're living below the poverty line of $1.90 per day.” (The Top 11 Causes for Poverty Around the World, World Concern US, 2022)
We conclude the Update with some personal perspectives on being "people of faith-hope-love" in the Christian tradition who embrace "common ground for the common good." It is an inclusive approach which encourages active partnership with a diverse group of colleagues on behalf of wellbeing for all people and the planet.
Suggested Applications--Making It Personal
- Review the information and the key findings and statistics in the materials below.
- Watch Nelson Mandela's historic speech for the Make Poverty History Campaign (2005, 9 minutes). We have included two quotes from this speech--a summons to action--in this Update.
- Probe further by reading some of the summary materials online. Consider reading through parts of one or both of the two main reports.
- Share this Update with your colleagues, organization(s), and network(s). Discuss practical applications for your life and work.
See these Global Integration Updates:
Warm greetings,
Kelly and Michèle
MCAresources@gmail.com
Featured Resources
Multidimensional Poverty
Ending Poverty in All Its Forms Everywhere
Click HERE or on the map above to access the interactive map including more information by country.
"Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. And overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom... Sometimes it falls upon a generation to be great. You can be that great generation. Let your greatness blossom...Of course the task will not be easy. But not to do this would be a crime against humanity, against which I ask all humanity now to rise up." (Nelson Mandela, 3 February 2005 (speech text)--Make Poverty History (video)
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Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI)
and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
2023 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)
Global Multinational Poverty Index Report 2023
"This report presents a compact update on the state of multidimensional poverty (henceforth referred to as “poverty”) in the world. It compiles data from 110 developing countries covering 6.1 billion people, accounting for 92 percent of the population in developing countries. It tells an important and persistent story about how prevalent poverty is in the world and provides insights into the lives of poor people, their deprivations and how intense their poverty is—to inform and accelerate efforts to end poverty in all its forms. As still only a few countries have data from after the COVID-19 pandemic, the report urgently calls for updated multidimensional poverty data. And while providing a sobering annual stock take of global poverty, the report also highlights examples of success in every region." (quote from UNDP website)
“The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)...has three dimensions and 10 indicators [see image above]. Each dimension is equally weighted, and each indicator within a dimension is also equally weighted. Any person who fails to meet the deprivation cutoff is identified as deprived in that indicator. The global MPI is then created using multidimensional measurement method of Alkire and Foster (AF). So the core information the MPI uses is the profile of deprivations each person experiences.” (quote from OPHI website)
Key Findings
Where do poor people live?
- Across 110 countries 1.1 billion out of 6.1 billion people are poor – just over 18% are estimated to live in acute multidimensional poverty.
- 534 million out of 1.1 billion poor people – half of all poor people – live in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Over a third of all poor people live in South Asia – that’s 389 million people.
730 million – nearly two-thirds of all poor people – live in middle-income countries. Low-income countries are home to over one-third of all poor people – 387 million.
Who are the poorest?
- The higher the incidence of poverty, the higher the intensity of poverty that poor people experience.
- 485 million poor people live in severe poverty across 110 countries, experiencing 50–100% of weighted deprivations.
- 99 million poor people experience deprivations in all three dimensions (70–100% of weighted deprivations).
10 million of the 12 million poor people with the highest deprivation scores (90–100%) live in Sub-Saharan Africa
Which groups are the poorest?
- Subnational regions are being left behind in two ways: where poverty is widespread, poverty is also most intense.
- Half of the 1.1 billion poor people (566 million) are children under 18 years of age.
84% of all poor people live in rural areas. Rural areas are poorer than urban areas in every world region.
What deprivations do poor people face?
- 824–991 million out of the 1.1 billion poor people do not have adequate sanitation, housing or cooking fuel.
- 600 million poor people live with a person who is undernourished in their household.
- Gaps in years of schooling are a cross regional issue: In all regions except Europe and Central Asia, around half of poor people do not have a single member of their household who has completed six years of schooling.
How do monetary and multidimensional poverty compare? - In 42 of 61 countries more people live in multidimensional poverty, based on the global MPI, than in extreme monetary poverty according to the World Bank’s $2.15 a day measure.
How has poverty changed? - 72 of 81 countries, covering well over 5 billion people, experienced a significant absolute reduction in MPI value during at least one period. But nearly all data are from before the COVID-19 pandemic.
- 25 countries halved their global MPI value well within 15 years, showing that progress at scale is attainable." (quote from OPHI website)
World Bank
Multidimensional Poverty Measure (2023) (MPM)
World Development Report 2023--Migrants, Refugees, and Societies
"[The MPM] measures the percentage of households in a country deprived along three dimensions –monetary poverty, education, and basic infrastructure services – to capture a more complete picture of poverty. [It is a] means to capture the complexity of poverty that considers dimensions of well-being beyond just monetary poverty.
[The MPM] seeks to understand poverty beyond monetary deprivations (which remain the focal point of the World Bank’s monitoring of global poverty) by including access to education and basic infrastructure along with the monetary headcount ratio at the $2.15 international poverty line.
The World Bank’s measure takes inspiration and guidance from other prominent global multidimensional measures, particularly the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Oxford University but differs from them in one important aspect: it includes monetary poverty less than $2.15 per day, the New International Poverty Line at 2017 PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), as one of the dimensions. Under this broader definition of poverty, many more people come into view as poor.
While monetary poverty is strongly correlated with deprivations in other domains, this correlation is far from perfect. The Poverty and Shared Prosperity 2022 report (World Bank, 2022) shows that almost 4 out of 10 multidimensionally poor individuals (39 percent) are not captured by monetary poverty, as they are deprived in nonmonetary dimensions alone. A country’s MPM is at least as high as or higher than monetary poverty, reflecting the additional role of nonmonetary dimensions to poverty and their importance to general well-being. Deprivations in nonmonetary dimensions like access to schooling and basic infrastructure, compound poverty and perpetuate cycles of inequality. Securing higher living standards for a population becomes more challenging when poverty in all its forms is considered, but it can provide policymakers with a roadmap for and a means of monitoring improvements in welfare.
[This 5th edition of the MPM] includes the latest estimates for 121 economies. A full list of 149 countries with the latest and historical MPM data is available [on the website]. Major updates to the MPM database happen around March/April of every year, with the possibility of a smaller update in September some years." (World Bank website)
Going Further
See the various events during Geneva Peace Week (30 October-3 November 2023) related to peace and poverty etc. You can register to attend several of the events virtually.
See the many resources related to poverty and corruption on the Global Integrity Day website. The theme for 2021 was Corruption and Poverty--Multidimensional Probity to End Multidimensional Poverty.
Personal Reflections
Being People of Faith-Hope-Love
California Coastline USA--Image courtesy and © ENOD 2016
"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality.
This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
Martin Luther King Jr. Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, 1964
As people of faith who practice Christian spirituality, we are committed to responsibly engage with others in the challenges facing our world, locally through globally, while holding firmly to our belief that we are in God's hands. We pray that God's purposes "will be done on earth as they are in heaven;" acknowledge that prayer, repentance, and relationship with God are key to human-planetary wellbeing; and live in hope for the time when God through Jesus Christ will decisively intervene in human history with equity--righteousness and justice--to restore all things. And in the meantime, we seek to embrace lifestyles of integrity that prioritize a deep, practical love for truth, peace, and people--and this includes being willing to acknowledge, resist, and confront evil in its many forms (starting with ourselves ourselves, etc.).
We do not want to further problematize our world's plight by focusing primarily on the negative. Rather we want to also promote the many examples of the good going forward, as people of integrity find common ground for the common good.
Finally, we want to highlight that the despair and disillusion that result from seemingly intractable problems like corruption can also be quite positive. They can embody a crucial existential message about reality that can be "revisited"--explored and heeded--rather than simply "resisted." They can point us to Someone who is bigger than ourselves, the SDGs, humanity, and our world--the knowable, Eternal One who is both in and beyond space-time and who loves us all dearly.
The above thoughts build upon the Personal Reflections in Perils, Paralysis, Hope: Sustainable Development-Sustainable Destruction? (Global Integration Update, October 2022).
Member Care Associates
MCAresources@gmail.com
Member Care Associates Inc. (MCA) is a non-profit, Christian organization working internationally from Geneva and the USA. MCA's involvement in Global Integration focuses on the wellbeing and effectiveness of personnel and their organizations across sectors (e.g., mission, humanitarian, peace, health, and development sectors) as well as global mental health and integrity/anti-corruption, all with a view towards collaboratively supporting sustainable development for all people and the planet. Our services include consultation, training, research, resource development, and publications.
