Multidimensional poverty complimentary measure to monetary poverty - Omar Seidu

The Director of Social Statistics at the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Mr. Omar Seidu, emphasized that the multidimensional poverty measure complements monetary poverty by highlighting the depth of poverty at the household level.

He explained that while monetary poverty assesses income levels of households or individuals, including sources of income and spending patterns, multidimensional poverty reflects the simultaneous deprivations people face in different aspects essential for a dignified life.

Speaking on the sidelines of a two-day training workshop on the Use of the Multidimensional Poverty Reports for all 261 MMDAs and Statsbank for Media and CSOs at the Manna Heights Hotel in Mankessim on Thursday, June 27, 2024, he asserted that a household or person is considered multidimensionally poor if they are deprived in at least four of the 13 indicators used to measure multidimensional poverty.

Mr. Seidu further clarified that if a household or person is deprived in only three indicators, they cannot be described as multidimensionally poor. This underscores the complementarity of multidimensional poverty to monetary poverty, as it involves factors beyond income.

He explained that the complementary nature of both poverty measures necessitates reinforcing policy interventions aimed at fighting poverty. Many people are multidimensionally poor due to factors such as lack of health coverage, not having children in school, lacking access to clean drinking water, and lacking electricity. "The policy interventions would be completely different from when you're looking at only income," he stressed, highlighting the complementary nature of the multidimensional poverty measure.

Mr. Seidu encouraged the media to rely on GSS data in their work to uncover deprivations and foster collaboration with policymakers to alleviate poverty. "I'm very interested in school attendance; where a child aged 4 to 15 years in a household isn’t in school, that shouldn’t be happening. I believe when the media educates the public about these issues, it will further enhance our ability to get all children to school," he stressed.

Mr. David Bessah, Assistant Chief Statistician, Miss Dora Boadi, Data Scientist, and Mr. Ernest Nyarku, all from the GSS Head Office, along with Mr. Ernest Kpentey, Regional Statistician, and Mr. Opoku Yeboah, Statistician from the Central Region GSS, were the other officers who facilitated the training workshop.