UNGA adopts resolution underlining the significance of multidimensional poverty measurement

In a resolution adopted in December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) highlighted the need to reflect the multidimensional nature of poverty.

The 69th session of the UNGA adopted  a resolution on the 19 December 2014 on Operational activities for development of the United Nations system. The resolution underlined 'the need to better reflect the multidimensional nature of development and poverty, as well as the importance of developing a common understanding among Member States and other stakeholders of that multidimensionality and reflecting it in the context of the post-2015 development agenda'. It invites Member States to consider developing complementary measurements, including methodologies and indicators for measuring human development, that better reflect the multidimensionality.

The resolution reinforces the proposal of OPHI and the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network (MPPN) that the post-2015 development goals should include an integrated multidimensional poverty measure to draw attention to the bundles of deprivations poor people describe – and live. The recommended measure is a headline indicator of multidimensional poverty – the MPI2015+ (also known as the MPI 2.0), which would complement the $1.25 a day income poverty measure.

Further information

Read the UNGA resolution in full.

Find out about OPHI's work on multidimensional poverty in the post-2015 process.

Read more on the UNGA website.