20 December 2024
Poverty remains one of the main challenges of our time, requiring coordinated action from all parties. Eradicating extreme poverty is the first of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and one of the global priorities of the United Nations Development Programme.
To comprehensively assess poverty levels and apply more effective measures to reduce it, UNDP, together with the Oxford Human Development Initiative, developed the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). This tool complements the international poverty line and takes into account three dimensions of poverty: health, education, and standard of living.
The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index focuses primarily on the poorest countries and does not always take into account the specifics of the regions of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Therefore, in these regions, national indices of multidimensional poverty are being developed that take into account local conditions.
Thus, in 2023, with the support of UNDP, similar work began in Belarus. International experience was studied, key parameters were selected and, together with the National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus (Belstat), proposals were prepared for the development of the National Index of Multidimensional Poverty. Eleven indicators were also selected to measure multidimensional poverty, including the availability of vocational education, unfavorable environmental factors at the place of residence, employment, savings, debt, and access to the Internet.
In 2024, based on UNDP proposals, Belstat developed methodological approaches to calculating the National Multidimensional Poverty Index and conducted experimental calculations. Сalculations showed a low level of multidimensional poverty in Belarus – in 2023, 2.4% of the country’s population lived in conditions of multidimensional poverty.
The next stage will be the development and application of an official methodology for the regular calculation of the National Multidimensional Poverty Index, which will facilitate the implementation of more effective socio-economic policies to reduce poverty and improve the well-being of the population.
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