ESCWA Publication: E/ESCWA/CL2.GPID/2023/TP.8/Rev.1/Policy brief.1
Country: Arab Republic of Egypt
Publication Type: Policy briefs
Cluster: Gender Justice, Population and Inclusive Development
Focus Area: Gender equality, Inclusive development, Population dynamics & migration
Initiatives: Addressing multidimensional poverty, Monitoring money-metric poverty
SDGs: Goal 1: No Poverty, Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being, Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, Goal 13: Climate Action
Keywords: Poverty, Health policy, Education, Employment, Social security, Housing, Egypt, Basic services, Data analysis, Wealth, Decent work, Drinking water, Economic growth, Electricity, Food security, Health care delivery, Health insurance, Household surveys, Income distribution, Internet, Macroeconomics, Recommendations, Sanitation services, School attendance, Social policy, Socio-economic indicators, Unemployment, Waste disposal, Technical cooperation
Multidimensional poverty in Egypt: an in-depth analysis: Policy brief
December 2024
Following a lengthy consultative process, the first national Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for Egypt was constructed to capture country-specific multidimensional poverty challenges, with a view to becoming an official measure of poverty in the country that could be monitored regularly. The report presents the Egypt national MPI in 2022, lays out the major challenges and priorities for policy action and discusses the effectiveness of social welfare programmes and macroeconomic policies in alleviating multidimensional poverty. The MPI defines deprivations in human capability and decent living, divided across seven dimensions: education, health, housing, services, employment, social protection and food security.
Indicators of employment, and particularly decent work and insurance, reveal significant deprivations among both the poor and the non-poor. Policymakers are called upon to act at the macroeconomic level to drive growth in the formal private sector, while maintaining and expanding social policies to help the poor and protect the vulnerable from falling into poverty. This needs to be coupled with policies aimed at inclusive growth and government effectiveness to ensure that national growth trickles down to the household level and provides equal opportunities to everyone, regardless of political connections and wealth.
Related content
Gender equality
, Inclusive development
, Population dynamics & migration
,
Following a lengthy consultative process, the first national Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) for Egypt was constructed to capture country-specific multidimensional poverty challenges, with a view to becoming an official measure of poverty in the country that could be monitored regularly. The report presents the Egypt national MPI in 2022, lays out the major challenges and priorities for policy action and discusses the effectiveness of social welfare programmes and macroeconomic policies in alleviating multidimensional poverty. The MPI defines deprivations in human capability and decent living, divided across seven dimensions: education, health, housing, services, employment, social protection and food security.
Indicators of employment, and particularly decent work and insurance, reveal significant deprivations among both the poor and the non-poor. Policymakers are called upon to act at the macroeconomic level to drive growth in the formal private sector, while maintaining and expanding social policies to help the poor and protect the vulnerable from falling into poverty. This needs to be coupled with policies aimed at inclusive growth and government effectiveness to ensure that national growth trickles down to the household level and provides equal opportunities to everyone, regardless of political connections and wealth.
