Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2015 launched in South Africa

The South Africa launch of the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) 2015 took place in Stellenbosch on 29 June. Speaking at the ISIbalo symposium at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, OPHI Director Sabina Alkire presented findings from the 2015 annual updates of the Global MPI, with a focus on Africa.

The Global MPI is an internationally-comparable measure of acute multidimensional poverty covering 101 developing countries, which are home to 75% of the world’s population. Analysis from the 2015 annual updates revealed that nearly a third (31%) of global MPI poor people live in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest incidence and intensity of multidimensional poverty, while Europe has the lowest.

This year the annual ISIbalo symposium aimed to highlight work on spatial analysis of poverty and human conditions by CRUISE, a collaboration between Statistics South Africa and the department of Geography and Environmental studies at Stellenbosch University.

Following the symposium, OPHI staff ran a 3-day intensive training course on constructing an MPI organised by Statistics South Africa. Participants included statisticians, academics, geographers and administrative staff from Statistics South Africa, as well as representatives from the University of Cape Town and the statistics office of Burkina Faso.

The Global MPI has been calculated by OPHI and published in the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report since 2010. The 2015 annual updates were formally launched at an event in Oxford on 22 June. Videos and presentations from the event are available online.

Further information

Find out more about the Global MPI 2015. Download a 2-page at-a-glance overview of key findings and an 8 page summary of main results.