MoSD Participates in Arab Conference on Multidimensional Poverty Reduction Policies
Ministry Stresses Importance of Updating Palestine’s Strategic Framework for Poverty and Building Staff Capacity to Keep Pace with Current Changes
Ramallah – The Ministry of Social Development participated in the conference “Supporting Social Policies to Reduce Multidimensional Poverty in Arab Countries: Between Reality and Aspirations,” held in Amman, Jordan, on 23–24 September 2026. The conference was organized by the League of Arab States, with the participation of a number of Arab countries and regional and international institutions working on social policies and poverty reduction.
The Ministry was represented at the conference by Mr. Nidal Atmeizeh, who presented Palestine’s experience and current work on multidimensional poverty. He stressed the importance of updating Palestine’s strategic framework for multidimensional poverty to keep pace with the economic, social, and humanitarian changes of recent years and to more accurately reflect the new and increasing forms of deprivation facing Palestinian families.
He noted that the rapidly changing situation in Palestine requires the continuous review of measurement, planning, and targeting tools, so that poverty assessment is not limited to income levels but encompasses multiple dimensions related to health, education, housing, access to services, social protection, and living conditions. This would help direct policies and interventions toward the groups and families most in need.
He emphasized that updating the strategic framework is an essential step in ensuring that the social protection system is able to respond to current realities, particularly amid expanding social and economic needs and changing patterns of vulnerability and poverty. This requires further development of monitoring, analysis, and targeting tools and stronger links between these tools and social policies and programmes.
The Ministry’s participation also highlighted the importance of building the capacities and training its staff working on poverty and social policy issues, strengthening their ability to use multidimensional poverty measurement tools, analyse data, and translate findings into practical policies and programmes. Mr. Atmeizeh explained that the Ministry is working to develop staff capacities through training programmes organized according to needs and available circumstances, whether in Ramallah or through specialized training programmes in Jordan, thereby strengthening the technical and institutional knowledge of staff working in this field.
The conference addressed several themes related to poverty and human development trends in Arab countries, as well as the development and use of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) in policy design and in targeting the poorest groups. It also reviewed the experiences of Arab countries in developing national indices, social protection policies, and poverty reduction approaches.
The sessions also discussed the role of social policies in moving from measuring poverty to addressing it, including through improved targeting, expanded opportunities for economic and social inclusion, and strengthened social protection for the most vulnerable groups, alongside the exchange of experiences among Arab countries and the development of regional cooperation mechanisms in this field.
The Ministry of Social Development affirmed that its participation in the conference forms part of its efforts to develop poverty reduction policies in Palestine, benefit from Arab and international experiences in measuring and addressing multidimensional poverty, and strengthen the capacities of national staff to design social interventions based on updated data and actual needs.
The Ministry stressed that updating the strategic framework for multidimensional poverty and building staff capacities are two complementary tracks, ensuring that Palestine has more accurate tools to understand the realities of poverty and to direct resources and social programmes more efficiently and equitably toward the families and groups most in need.
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