Proposal for Adopting a Multidimensional Poverty Approach for Development Assistance

The Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) is a research centre at the University of Oxford, working on advancing poverty measurement and alleviation using Multidimensional Poverty Indices (MPI) that help guide effective policymaking around the world.

We recommend that the Committee examine the need and use for a multidimensional poverty framework and metric in addition to GDP for the UK government’s work under FCDO. The 2024 Development Co-operation Report by OECD identified inadequate data, metrics and framework that effectively track inequalities, especially in poverty reduction, as the main challenge to effective programming (see Fig 12.5, p.167). Current FCDO funding for international development is based solely on GDP per capita, which does not fully capture ‘all forms of poverty’ as required by SDG 1 and Target 1.2. The adoption of a multidimensional poverty approach would enhance and sharpen FCDO’s existing work and commitment in this area, and help to better identify priorities and allocate resources related to development programming. 

This complementary approach to poverty is in line with that taken by other national and international actors:

• As of now, over 40 countries use a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for monitoring and reducing poverty at the national level, guiding budget and resource allocation, informing sectoral policies, and targeting at the geographical and household level.
• OPHI and UNDP publish data annually for over 100 developing countries on the prevalence and trends of acute multidimensional poverty across the dimensions of health, education and living standards. Besides a single headline score (like GDP), the global MPI can be broken down by indicators to identify the problems that contribute most to poverty, and disaggregated by subnational regions, urban-rural area, age groups, gender of the household head, ethnicity, and disability status. Given its granularity and global coverage, the data could provide a valuable resource for FCDO’s work in line with the SDG 1.
• Non-governmental organisations like MSI Reproductive Health, the lead partner in FCDO’s Women's Integrated Sexual Health (WISH) programme, use the MPI for assessing poverty among their beneficiaries to ensure that they are reaching the most vulnerable populations.
• The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) uses a multidimensional approach with four dimensions of poverty to analyse who is living in poverty, what poverty looks like for different groups, and the main constraints and opportunities for poverty reduction in each context. They use this information in strategic and operational decisions.
• In 2018, the UK’s Social Metrics Commission developed a framework with five domains that capture lived experiences of poverty beyond monetary resources and needs.
• In 2021, the UN created a HLCP Core Group on Beyond GDP to establish a new framework for the international community that captures social and environmental prosperity in addition to economic conditions.

We believe that understanding and measuring poverty, as a multidimensional phenomenon is key to successful and sustainable development, and recommend that the Committee approach this topic with the aim of augmenting existing metrics and informing the programming work of FCDO.

Additional information related to submission

Have you ever engaged with Parliament before (e.g. made a submission to a select committee)?

No, but I previously engaged with FCDO, MHCLG, No.10, and foreign governments across the world.

Do you have personal or field experience related to international development issues?

Yes, I have over 25 years of experience working international development, with 30-50% of my time devoted to travel.

If you are invited to pitch your idea to the Committee, would you be able to travel to London and back within the same day?

Yes