06 Oct, 2021
The Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) participated in the 8th Annual High-Level Meeting of the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network (MPPN) hosted virtually by the Government of Chile on 4-5 October 2021.
Co-founded by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), the MPPN is a South-South initiative launched in 2013 in response to demand for peer-to-peer dialogue on the implementation of multidimensional poverty measures with technical and institutional grounding.
The annual meeting brought together delegates from 33 countries and 14 institutions to discuss how multidimensional poverty measures have been used and measured in their respective countries or institutions. The meeting was held under the patronage of H.E. Sebastian Piñera, the President of Chile, who gave his opening remarks at the inaugural session.
Dr. Areef Suleman, Director, Economic Research and Statistics Division, IsDBI, presented the findings of the IsDB-OPHI briefs on multidimensional poverty at the global exchange session on day 2 of the meeting. He was joined by presenters from Namibia, Cambodia, Mozambique, and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA).
In his presentation, Dr. Suleman presented an overview of the situation of multidimensional poverty in 42 of 57 IsDB member countries (MCs). He highlighted that there are large variations in multidimensional poverty across subnational regions, urban and rural areas, and age groups.
Dr. Suleman emphasized the use of multidimensional poverty data for better understanding of the needs of member countries and its value in the formulation of Member Country Partnership Strategies, to ensure that interventions are targeted. The potential to share experiences and foster South-South cooperation through the Bank’s Reverse Linkage Program was also identified as an area where multilateral partners could leverage their roles as an honest broker to help tackle the various dimensions of poverty.
Ms. Karla Rubilar, Minister of Social Development and Family, Chile, closed the Annual Meeting. A communiqué calling for the mainstreaming of multidimensional poverty indices (MPIs), along with its greater use in policy planning and monitoring, was also adopted.
