Analysing multidimensional poverty is all the more relevant in the complex context in which we are currently living due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Maya Evans and Fanni Kovesdi point out in the first article of this issue, this new coronavirus will affect the poorest of the poor most dramatically. We join the authors in inviting you to share ideas and projects to address this new scenario. Also in this issue, a group of researchers, led by Sabina Alkire, show us where those most vulnerable to the pandemic are and how the MPI can help deliver a more targeted response.
In Angola, a recently launched Multidimensional Poverty Index by Municipality (M-MPI) will provide better information for targeting resources to the poorest districts. Camilo Ceita and Henrik Fredborg Larsen provide us with some insights into this new tool, while Eliana Quintas and Lorenzo Mancini describe how it was created.
Colombia also published a municipal-level multidimensional poverty measure using a series of maps with indicator descriptions. You can find more information in the ‘Data of the Month’ section.
Another important innovation is the measurement of multidimensional poverty in indigenous populations. In this issue, Eleonora Nun shows us the case of Mexico, which has again been a pioneer in measuring poverty – this time in order to obtain information to design more effective public policies that seek to reduce indigenous poverty.
In this issue we also share some conceptual reflections on less-explored aspects of multi- dimensional poverty, as Diego Zavaleta highlights the importance of considering shame and humiliation as two relevant elements for understanding people’s poverty.
We would like to invite you to read Dimensions, a new perspective for understanding poverty.
Carolina Moreno
This article was published in Dimensions 9