New poverty measurements after change in country income status
View(s):The Ministry of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution – through the Department of Census and Statistics (DCS) – is working with UNICEF along with the Centre for Poverty Analysis (CEPA) and the Oxford Policy and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) to develop an appropriate method of measuring multidimensional child poverty.
This was revealed at the first national conference on child poverty held in Colombo on August 26-27 titled “Measure What You Treasure: Child Poverty and Deprivations in Sri Lanka”. It was jointly organised by the Ministry of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution, the DCS, UNICEF, in partnership with CEPA and the OPHI.
Minister of Economic Reforms and Public Distribution Harsha de Silva, in his keynote address, said that poverty levels have reduced from a high of 26 per cent to 4 per cent today. Poverty levels vary from region likes for example poverty in Batticaloa which is 13 per cent (of the population) while it is 2 per cent in Ampara. “How is it possible to have such divergence? We need to treat the real problem not only the symptoms and maybe change legislation if necessary,” he said adding that there is a need for politicians to understand how to tweak policy to ensure no one is left behind in the poverty trap.
Referring to the problem of ragging, he raised the question as to why young people behave in this inhuman manner.
“Why does this happen? I urge you to take up these issues at an international level. We need to do something,” he said.
Louise Moreira Daniels, Chief of Social Policy, UNICEF Sri Lanka, said that in almost every country in the world – both rich and poor – children are more likely to be living in poverty than adults. Children have received relatively little attention in the global struggle against poverty.
Wimal Nanayakkara, former Director General at the DCS, said that according to the 2012-2013 Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES), out of 6.4 million children under 19 years, 707,000 or 11 per cent were either ‘income poor’ or ‘multidimensional poor’.
He said that more boys are leaving education than girls. According to data, 57 per cent of new entrants to universities are women. Mr. Nanayakkara also said that with Sri Lanka being recently categorised as an upper middle income country, different measures have to be formulated in assessing poverty levels.
Dilshanie Deepawansa, Senior Statistician, DCS, said that the DCS plans to compile a national multidimensional poverty index using four dimensions – education, health, living standards and women empowerment.
(Feizal)