Belarus participated in an expert meeting on measuring poverty and inequality and a seminar on harmonizing poverty statistics for measuring SDG 1 in EECCA countries

The Expert Meeting on Measuring Poverty and Inequality and the Workshop on Harmonizing Poverty Statistics for Measuring SDG 1 in EECCA countries, organized by UNECE, took place in Geneva on 4-6 December. The meeting and workshop was attended by Elena Kukharevich, Deputy Chairwoman of the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus and head of the interagency working group on monitoring and evaluation of SDG achievements of the Council for Sustainable Development.
 
The participants of the meeting considered issues related to the measurement of poverty and inequality, in particular, the disaggregation of poverty indicators for monitoring the Sustainable Development Agenda to 2030, representation and accuracy of the sample in surveys, the impact on poverty of social payments, the use of administrative data for measurement, familiarized themselves with the best international practices in this area. Representatives of the participating countries studied the experience of Belarus in multidimensional poverty assessment.

The participants shared their experience in developing statistical capacity to measure poverty and defined the main directions for further actions to harmonize poverty statistics. E.I. Kuharevich told the seminar participants about the progress made by the Republic of Belarus in measuring SDG 1 and the harmonization of poverty statistics within the framework of monitoring SDG 1.

For reference:

Sustainable Development Goal 1 is “The universal eradication of poverty in all its forms”. Objectives of the Goal:

• By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions;
• Implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors, and by 2030 achieve substantial coverage of the poor and the vulnerable;
• By 2030, ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to basic services, ownership and control over land and other forms of property, inheritance, natural resources, appropriate new technology and financial services, including microfinance;
• By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters;
• Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions;
• Create sound policy frameworks at the national, regional and international levels, based on pro-poor and gender-sensitive development strategies, to support accelerated investment in poverty eradication actions;

To study reporting on indicators of Goal 1 of sustainable development, please visit the website of the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus.