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 toVice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Hua Ngoc Thuan, theMDP model was piloted in four districts in the city last year and isexpected to be expanded in the whole city in the 2016-2020 period.

Theresults of the MDP census in these districts enabled the city toprioritise policies for targeted beneficiaries and areas of support. Atthe same time, it suggested ways to combine income poverty and MDPapproaches in monitoring, evaluation and identifying poor people.

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

Hesaid multi-dimensional poverty approaches have achieved global tractionby providing a robust alternative to - and complement - income-basedmeasures.

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

ViceDirector of the city Department of Labour, Invalids and Social AffairsNguyen Van Xe presented the plans for the MDP use and implementation,saying that the poverty dimensions and lists of poor households will beidentified in the first quarter of 2015.

The seminar onMulti-dimensional Poverty Measurement was jointly hosted by the city’sSteering Committee for Poverty Reduction and Improved HouseholdLivelihoods and the UN Development Programme to discuss plans toimplement the MDP in the city and useful lessons for the National MDPprocess.

With the UN support, Viet Nam is among the 32 countriesin the world to pioneer the research and application ofmulti-dimensional poverty measures.-VNA