Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2021: UNDP

Highlights:

• Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2021 was released by “United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)” and “Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI)”.
• This report examines the level and composition of multidimensional poverty across 109 countries covering 5.9 billion people.
• It also takes into account several deprivations that people experience in their day to day lives such as poor health, inadequate education and poor standard of living.

• As per report, 1.3 billion people are multidimensionally poor, of which around 644 million are children under age 18.
• 85 percent of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa (556 million) or South Asia (532 million).
• 67 percent of the poor live in middle-income countries.
• 1 billion poor are exposed to solid cooking fuels, inadequate sanitation and substandard housing.
• 788 million poor people live in household with at least one undernourished person.
• 568 million poor people do not have improved drinking water within a 30-minute round trip walk.
• Scheduled Tribe group in India, which accounts for 9.4 percent of the population, is poorest. 
• Out of 129 million people, 65 million are living in multidimensional poverty.
• Out of 283 million scheduled caste group people, 94 million are living in multidimensional poverty.
• In all, five out of six multidimensionally poor people live in households whose head is from a Scheduled Tribe, a Scheduled Caste or Other Backward Class (OBCs).

• The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was launched by the UNDP and the OPHI in the year 2010. 
• MPI uses three dimensions and ten indicators including:
• Education: Years of schooling and child enrolment (1/6 weightage each)
• Health: Child mortality and nutrition (1/6 weightage each)
• Standard of living: Electricity, drinking water, flooring, sanitation, cooking fuel and assets (1/18 weightage each).