Egyptian Minister of Planning and Economic Development Ahmed Rostom discussed with Director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) Sabina Alkire ways to strengthen cooperation on developing and measuring multidimensional poverty indicators and benefiting from the latest international methodologies in this field.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) at United Nations headquarters in New York. The Egyptian side included Counselor at Egypt's Permanent Mission to the United Nations Wael El Dehsan, Assistant Minister of Planning for Sustainable Development Affairs Mona Essam and Deputy Director of the Sustainable Development Unit Nada Yacoub.
Rostom expressed the Egyptian government's appreciation for its long-standing partnership with OPHI, praising the initiative's technical support in developing measurement methodologies. He said the ministry looks forward to expanding cooperation through intensive capacity-building programs and the adoption of international best practices to ensure the sustainability and regular measurement of Egypt's national multidimensional poverty index, based on accurate national databases, including census data and social registries.
The minister stressed that the Egyptian state, under the leadership of President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and with continuous follow-up by Prime Minister Moustafa Madbouly, places improving citizens' living standards at the forefront of its priorities by increasing investments directed toward human development and related sectors.
He also highlighted the presidential Decent Life initiative as one of Egypt's largest national development projects, citing its unprecedented coverage of rural communities through the provision of essential public services and the improvement of human development indicators.
For her part, Alkire praised Egypt's efforts to develop its national multidimensional poverty index, describing it as an important tool for capturing poverty in a more comprehensive manner and supporting the design of more effective and better-targeted development policies.
She also commended the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS), praising the professionalism and expertise of Egypt's statisticians in producing data that supports evidence-based policymaking. Alkire further lauded Egypt's implementation of the Decent Life initiative, describing it as a successful international model for addressing the multiple dimensions of poverty and improving the quality of life in the country's most disadvantaged communities.
She noted that directing policies and programs toward people experiencing poverty enhances the efficiency of public spending and maximizes development impact, adding that the forthcoming update of the global multidimensional poverty index will include subnational indicators for several countries, including Egypt.
Both sides affirmed their commitment to continuing cooperation in support of evidence-based policymaking and improving the targeting of the most vulnerable groups.