Just one day after the launch of UNDP’s Human Development Report (HDR) - “Beyond Income, Beyond Averages, Beyond Today: Inequalities in Human Development in the 21st Century”, a roundtable event was organized by Ehsaas to discuss findings of the report. “Evidence is the key to planning and we want to make sure that we review the findings of the report and analyze how best they can inform policy”, said Dr. Sania Nishtar, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation.
Usually, there is an evidence to policy disconnect but the hosting of the roundtable by Ehsaas just a day after the release of the report is an auspicious trend with regard to the government’s commitment to draw on evidence for policy. Also, present at the roundtable discussion was Dr. Sabina Alkire, Director Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative together with Dr. Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Member National Assembly of Pakistan, Shandana Gulzar Khan, Member National Assembly of Pakistan, Ignacio Artaza, Resident Representative a.i. of UNDP Pakistan and Umer Malik, Policy Analyst, Development Policy Unit, UNDP Pakistan.
Dr. Alkire reiterated the use of multidimensional poverty index to track progress with regard to the impact of poverty interventions. She highly lauded Ehsaas that is multisectoral and whole of the government programme to address poverty.
Dr. Alkire is the Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), an economic research centre within the Oxford Department of International Development at the University of Oxford, England. Dr. Alkire works on a new approach to measuring poverty and well-being that goes beyond the traditional focus on income and growth. This multidimensional approach to measurement includes social goals, such as health, education, nutrition, standard of living and other valuable aspects of life. She devised a new method for measuring multidimensional poverty with her colleague James Foster (OPHI Research Associate and Professor of Economics at George Washington University) that has advantages over other poverty measures and has been adopted by the Mexican Government, the Bhutanese Government in their 'Gross National Happiness Index' and the United Nations Development Programme.
The recently launched UNDP’s ‘Human Development Report’ analyzes inequality in three steps: beyond income, beyond averages, and beyond today. The report talks about the importance of addressing the many different kinds of inequalities in the world today, and measures countries’ progress beyond just economic growth, with the ultimate aim of unlocking people’s full potential.
Speaking about the report, Mr. Ignacio Artaza, Resident Representative, a.i. of UNDP Pakistan stated, “The HDR shows us that inequality is not ‘natural’ or inevitable. However, governments, civil societies, and ordinary citizens need to work together and translate words into concrete actions to ensure that people all over the world can live their lives to their fullest potential”.
