Sabina Alkire, the director of Oxford University’s Poverty and Human Development Initiative, said this was because Malaysia has a higher GDP per capita than other countries with similar levels of human development.

She said the global MPI was tailored towards countries with communities who were more out of reach in rural areas, adding that some countries in Latin America and the Middle East would require better education and healthcare.

“These are not appropriate standards any longer. A national MPI has to be tailored to the priorities of the poor,” she told reporters on the sidelines of a dialogue on the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 2019 Human Development Report here today.

Alkire also said Malaysia needs a moderate MPI with higher standards, adding that Putrajaya should ensure a match between the current national plan and its policies and the needs of the poor communities by obtaining their feedback.

Citing a UNDP exercise in El Salvador, she said the government had received unexpected perspectives from the poorer communities which were included as an indicator in the country’s MPI.

“Much of what they articulated was what the government already knew⁠ – health, education, employment.

“But there were two surprises: one was they wanted places for their children to play and for old people to drink coffee, and the urban planning had no green spaces. They were surprised at how important these were to poor people.

“Another was violence, because it was too dangerous for them to take jobs out of (work) hours. There was a big discussion then about whether violence was an appropriate poverty indicator, but in the end, they included it.

“So in that way, participatory exercises with poor communities can sharpen or validate existing government plans and priorities.”