Ho Chi Minh City takes lead in applying the multi-dimensional poverty (MDP) measures initiated by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), heard a seminar in the city on December 16.

According to Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Hua Ngoc Thuan, the MDP model was piloted in four districts in the city last year and is expected to be expanded in the whole city in the 2016-2020 period.

The results of the MDP census in these districts enabled the city to prioritise policies for targeted beneficiaries and areas of support. At the same time, it suggested ways to combine income poverty and MDP approaches in monitoring, evaluation and identifying poor people.

Addressing the event, UNDP Deputy Country Director Bakhodir Burkhanov praised the city’s use of multi-dimensional poverty as pioneering efforts.

He said multi-dimensional poverty approaches have achieved global traction by providing a robust alternative to - and complement - income-based measures.

They are particularly applicable in middle income countries like Vietnam, he added.

Vice Director of the city Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Van Xe presented the plans for the MDP use and implementation, saying that the poverty dimensions and lists of poor households will be identified in the first quarter of 2015.

The seminar on Multi-dimensional Poverty Measurement was jointly hosted by the city’s Steering Committee for Poverty Reduction and Improved Household Livelihoods and the UN Development Programme to discuss plans to implement the MDP in the city and useful lessons for the National MDP process.

With the UN support, Viet Nam is among the 32 countries in the world to pioneer the research and application of multi-dimensional poverty measures.-VNA