South Africa’s Multidimensional Poverty Measure has improved 18% in 2001 to 7% this year. That’s according to Statistician General, Risenga Maluleke.
He was speaking at the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network meeting in Johannesburg.
The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) measures a country’s poverty levels based on living standards, education and access to health.
This in an effort to reveal the disadvantages poor people experience. The Index also aims to provide governments with tools to monitor poverty and come up with policy.
Government initiatives, such as, social grant, fee free schools and free health care have improved the country’s ranking.
Unlike the MPI, the monetary index measures poverty in relation to income.
South Africa’s head of Statistics, Risenga Maluleke, says both indexes are important for government to monitor the extent of poverty in the country.
Meanwhile, minister in the Presidency, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, has told delegates that skills development is the best way to alleviate poverty.
She says the National Development Plan, Vision 2030, is therefore a step towards securing socio-economic transformation in our country. It has identified three challenges that South Africa is faced with and those are poverty, inequality and unemployment.
Currently, the SAMPI is the only poverty measure in South Africa that provides direct estimates at levels lower than the provincial levels.
#MPPN— Dr Dlamini Zuma (@DlaminiZuma) October 30, 2018
Over seventy countries participate in the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network. These include China, Mexico, Egypt and Tanzania.
Its sixth Annual High-Level Meeting continues until Thursday.
