Expert Alert - Experts Available to Speak on the UNDP's Human Development<br>Report

OTTAWA, Nov. 2 /CNW/ - On Thursday, November 4, 2010, the United Nations Development Programme will release The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development, the 20^th edition of the Human Development Report (HDR). This year's HDR includes, for the first time, the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) developed by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative with funding from Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Two of IDRC's leading experts on globalization and poverty are available to comment on this new measure of poverty and more broadly on findings from the UNDP's Human Development Report:

• Rohinton Medhora, IDRC Vice President, Programs, expert on global finance
• Edgard Rodriguez, Senior Program Specialist on globalization and poverty

The MPI, a revolutionary new tool, challenges conventional views of global poverty and prosperity. This innovative index of poverty complements standard income-based poverty assessments by looking at multiple factors at the household level, from basic living standards to access to schooling, clean water, and health care. For example, it reveals that more of the world's poor live in eight states in India than in the 26 countries of sub-Saharan Africa; that while Uzbekistan's population is income-poor, they are nonetheless healthy and literate; and that in Ethiopia and Mali, on the other hand, the poor have some cash in hand but little access to health and education.

The HDR, to be launched by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, serves as a barometer of global poverty and prosperity. Over the years, the reports have shown that there is no automatic link between economic growth and human progress.

About IDRC
To achieve self-reliance, poor communities need answers to questions like: How can we grow more and healthier food? Protect our health? Create jobs? IDRC supports research in developing countries to answer these questions. IDRC also encourages sharing this knowledge with policymakers, other researchers, and communities around the world. The result is innovative, lasting local solutions that aim to bring choice and change to those who need it most.

For further information:

Isabelle Bourgeault-Tassé / ([phone] / [email protected]