The Government of the Philippines has adopted an official multidimensional poverty measure based on the Alkire Foster method, developed by Sabina Alkire, Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), and Professor James Foster.

The measure, adopted in the updated 2011-16 Philippine Development Plan, has been used to set a key poverty reduction target in an effort to secure inclusive growth and improvements in quality of life in the country, which has nearly 97 million inhabitants.

The updated plan, which spells out the government’s policy actions and investment priorities in 2014-2016, pledges to reduce the incidence of multidimensional poverty to 16-18 percent.

The new multidimensional poverty indicator is based on the Alkire Foster method for multidimensional measurement and has been adapted to the national context and priorities of the Philippines.

"Multidimensional poverty incidence, unlike income poverty, looks at deprivation in various dimensions – health, education, access to water, sanitation, secure housing, etc. This indicator can then track the supposed outcomes of the different human development strategies, which impact on future income poverty,” said Socioeconomic Planning Secretary of the Philippines, Arsenio M Balisacan (right), of the mid-term update.

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