OPHI launches Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2015 and new book on multidimensional poverty measurement

OPHI hosted a special event at Magdalen College, Oxford on Monday 22 June to combine the launch of the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2015 and the launch of a new book, Multidimensional Poverty Measurement & Analysis.

With the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to be adopted by the UN in September this year, this event highlighted the importance of rigorous multidimensional measurement for ensuring that poverty in all its forms can successfully be reduced.

The Global MPI is an internationally-comparable measure of acute poverty covering 101 developing countries. Marking the fifth anniversary of the Global MPI, OPHI researchers presented new findings from the updated estimations, on topics including regional differences in poverty, destitution, and multidimensional poverty in China.

The event also launched Multidimensional Poverty Measurement & Analysis, OPHI’s new book from Oxford University Press, which provides a unique guide to viewing poverty through a multidimensional lens.

Guest contributors at the event included Selim Jahan, Director of the UNDP Human Development Report Office, and Brian Nolan, Max Roser, Frances Stewart and Nandini Gooptu from the University of Oxford.

The book launch also featured a specially-commissioned theatre performance by Oxford-based theatre company Justice in Motion, and discussion from five of the book’s authors: Sabina Alkire, OPHI Director and Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University; Suman Seth, OPHI Senior Research Officer and Lecturer in Economics at Leeds University Business School; James Foster, OPHI Research Associate and Professor of Economics and International Affairs at George Washington University; Jose Manuel Roche, Head of Research at Save the Children UK; and Paola Ballon, OPHI Research Associate and Senior Researcher for the Partnership of Economic Policy.

Further information

Find out more about the Global MPI 2015, including links to briefing papers and resources, at www.ophi.org.uk/multidimensional-poverty-index.

For further information about OPHI’s book, including draft chapters and resources, visit www.multidimensionalpoverty.org. The book is available to order from Oxford University Press.