Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM was invited to speak in this year's side event to the 2021 UN General Assembly, organized by OPHI and the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network (MPPN). The theme of this year's event was "Envisioning a More Equitable Future: Using Multidimensional Poverty Indices as a Policy Tool". The event convened global leaders with a demonstrated commitment to tackling the multidimensional effects of the pandemic on the lives of people living in poverty. Speakers shared innovations in poverty measurement and reduction, as well as challenges and lessons learned from using MPIs to respond to the crisis and ensure that no one is left behind. At the session, the leadership panel comprised of Mokgweetsi Masisi, President of Botswana and Carlos Alvarado Quesada, President of Costa Rica. Alongside Dr. Sania, other ministers who joined the ministerial panel were: Biswo Nath Poudel, Vice Chairman of the National Planning Commission, Nepal; Obeth Mbuipaha Kandjoze, Minister of Planning, Namibia; Fitsum Assefa Adela, Commissioner of the Planning and Development Commission, Ethiopia; Shamsul Alam, State Minister of Planning, Bangladesh; Ariunzaya Ayush, Minister of Labor and Social Protection, Mongolia; Samheng Boros, Secretary of State of the Ministry of Social Affairs, Veteran and Youth Rehabilitation, Cambodia; Jinanggoon Rojananan, Deputy Secretary General of National Economic and Social Development Council, Thailand; and Tan Weiping, Deputy Director-General of International Poverty Reduction Center in China. The institutional panel brought together David Stewart, Chief of Child Poverty and Social Protection, UNICEF; James Foster, Vice Dean and Professor, George Washington University; and Michelle Muschett, Senior Public Policy Advisor, OPHI, University of Oxford along with Vice President of Human Development, World Bank. Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Sania said, “I am delighted to be at this event, which Pakistan had the pleasure to co-host last year, and to hear such emphatic commitment to using data-rich instruments such as the MPI to guide strategic responses in social protection and emergency response policies.” “Metrics such as the MPI are our friends – they help tremendously shaping public policy efficiently. Our experience with Ehsaas, she said, has taught that it is possible to make quantum changes in the delivery capability of governments. But to do so, bold policy, solid data, proactive management, and an unwavering commitment to integrity, transparency, and whole of government mobilization is needed”, she further added.
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