Acute poverty prevails in eight Indian states, including Bihar, 
Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, together accounting for more poor people than 
in the 26 poorest African nations combined, a new 'multidimensional' measure 
of global poverty has said. 
The new measure, called the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), was 
developed and applied by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative 
with UNDP support. 
It will be featured in the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of the UNDP 
Human Development Report. 
An analysis by MPI creators reveals that there are more 'MPI poor' people in 
eight Indian states (421 million in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya 
Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal) than in the 26 
poorest African countries combined (410 million). 
The new poverty measure that gives a multidimensional picture of people 
living in poverty, and is expected to help target development resources more 
effectively, its creators said. 
The MPI supplants the Human Poverty Index, which had been included in the 
annual Human Development Reports since 1997. 
The 2010 UNDP Human Development Report will be published in late October, 
but research findings from the Multidimensional Poverty Index were made 
available today at a policy forum in London and on line on the websites of 
OPHI and the UNDP Human Development Report. 
The MPI assesses a range of critical factors or 'deprivations' at the 
household level: from education to health outcomes to assets and services. 
Taken together, these factors provide a fuller portrait of acute poverty 
than simple income measures, according to OPHI and UNDP. 
The measure reveals the nature and extent of poverty at different levels: 
from household up to regional, national and international level. 
This new multidimensional approach to assessing poverty has been adapted for 
national use in Mexico, and is now being considered by Chile and Colombia. 
"The MPI is like a high resolution lens which reveals a vivid spectrum of 
challenges facing the poorest households," said OPHI Director Dr Sabina 
Alkire, who created the MPI with Professor James Foster of George Washington 
University and Maria Emma Santos of OPHI. 
The UNDP Human Development Report Office is also joining forces with OPHI to 
promote international discussions on the practical applicability of this 
multidimensional approach to measuring poverty. 
"We are featuring the Multidimensional Poverty Index in the 20th anniversary 
edition of the Human Development Report this year because we consider it a 
highly innovative approach to quantifying acute poverty," Dr Jeni Klugman, 
Director of the UNDP Human Development Report Office and the principal...