OPHI - Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative

OPHI - Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative OPHI is a global research centre on multidimensional poverty measurement and analysis at Oxford Uni.

OPHI is an economic research centre within the Oxford Department of International Development at the University of Oxford. OPHI's mission is to reduce poverty by ensuring that policy is grounded in people's experiences and values. OPHI works toward this by:

• Broadening poverty measurement. OPHI develops and implements multi-dimensional measures of poverty, well-being and inequality. These measures go beyond traditional one-dimensional approaches to incorporate dimensions such as health, education, living standards, quality of work and more innovative dimensions.

• Improving data on poverty. OPHI has developed tools to measure five missing dimensions of poverty data that poor people value but which have been largely overlooked in international studies of poverty to date: Quality of Work, Empowerment, Physical Safety, The Ability to go About Without Shame and Psychological Wellbeing.

•Building capacity. OPHI runs academic courses and technical training programmes on multidimensional poverty and human development, and collaborates with universities, development agencies, governments and other research institutions and policy makers using our work.

•Impacting policy. OPHI's methodologies have been adopted by policy makers, including national governments and the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Report.

Violence threatens poverty eradication efforts, with greater impact on the most vulnerable. These two goals — SDG1, endi...
02/10/2026

Violence threatens poverty eradication efforts, with greater impact on the most vulnerable. These two goals — SDG1, ending poverty and SD16, building peace — go hand in hand.

This International Day of Non-Violence, we look back on the MPPN’s recent UNGA side event, where Nobel Peace Laureates and Heads of State shared the importance of integrating poverty eradication and peace efforts.

As President Santos said earlier this year in Oxford, reflecting on 10 years of Colombia’s Peace Agreement: ‘Conflict is not only caused by weapons, but by inequality, exclusion and lack of opportunity.’

Children in living in poverty don't necessarily face the same deprivations as other children in their household.OPHI's n...
01/10/2026

Children in living in poverty don't necessarily face the same deprivations as other children in their household.

OPHI's new report on child poverty, nutrition, and schooling examines whether all children within the same household are all disadvantaged or whether all are not disadvantaged.

It finds glaring intrahousehold disparities. Over one-third of poor children under five live in a household where at least one child is undernourished, and another is not. Similarly, over one-third of poor, school-aged children live in households where some school-aged children are going to school and others are not.

These findings point to a poignant need for integrated programmes that recognise how poverty may be experienced unequally within the home. As we work towards eradicating poverty, we must make sure no child is left behind.

Read more in the full report: bit.ly/OPHIchildreport

Poverty is a joint priority, now and beyond 2030.We're grateful to United Nations ESCAP and Bhutan for co-hosting last w...
30/09/2026

Poverty is a joint priority, now and beyond 2030.

We're grateful to United Nations ESCAP and Bhutan for co-hosting last week's high-level UNGA side event with the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network, making key conversations possible and bringing momentum to the commitment to SDG 1 — 'No Poverty' — as an international priority.

Read more about what H.E. Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister of Bhutan, and H.E. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of UN ESCAP, had to say about the renewed commitment to poverty reduction ⬇️

Nearly one in twelve children in developing countries are first generation learners, or 'pioneer children’: they have co...
30/09/2026

Nearly one in twelve children in developing countries are first generation learners, or 'pioneer children’: they have completed six years of schooling where no adult in their household has done so yet.

New research from OPHI finds that across 108 developing countries, 71 million children aged 10–17 are pioneer children. Half of them – 35 million – live in South Asia, where one in nine children are pioneer children. South Asia is in a rapid phase of educating the current generation of families at risk of being left behind.

This is a milestone achievement for these families. Education is a key avenue for giving children the opportunity to break cycles of intergenerational poverty. Indeed, among pioneer children globally, poverty is lower. Across 108 countries, 23% of children aged 10–17 are poor, compared to 20% of pioneer children.

A different pattern emerges in upper-middle-income and high-income countries. Here, the apparent poverty advantage of pioneer children largely disappears. Where basic schooling has become nearly universal, households in which adults have not completed six years of education may potentially represent particularly marginalised groups facing persistent forms of social and economic exclusion.

A pioneer child in the household is not a guarantee against intrahousehold inequality: 9% of pioneer children live with another school-aged child who is out of school. It is vital to look beyond household averages to understand children’s individual experiences and make sure that no one is left behind.

Read more in the full report, available now: bit.ly/OPHIchildreport

Over three-quarters of school-aged children in Afghanistan (8.4 million) live in multidimensional poverty, are out of sc...
23/09/2026

Over three-quarters of school-aged children in Afghanistan (8.4 million) live in multidimensional poverty, are out of school, or both. They face being left behind in basic education — and simultaneously experience multiple other disadvantages like inadequate sanitation, unclean water, and limited assets.

Gender disparities persist in access to education in Afghanistan, with 67% of girls out of school compared with 47% of boys. This is the highest gender disparity of the 108 developing countries included in OPHI’s new analysis. Afghanistan is also home to the one of the highest levels of out-of-school children living in a household where no woman has achieved six years of school — 89%. Education for girls is a clear priority in Afghanistan.

The deprivations and gender disparities faced by children vary across regions and country income groups. Programmes which work towards gender equality in school access and poverty reduction need context-specific data to understand where and how children are left behind.

Read more in the full report, available now: bit.ly/OPHIchildreport

For children living in poverty, adult education matters. Especially women’s.OPHI’s new report brings individual and hous...
22/09/2026

For children living in poverty, adult education matters. Especially women’s.

OPHI’s new report brings individual and household level data together to better understand how poverty impacts household members differently across 108 developing countries. The new findings trace how a child's deprivations relate to other children and adults in the same household.

Over two-thirds of poor children live in a household where no woman has completed six years of school. When we look at children who are both poor and out of school, this percentage rises to 82%. By contrast, only 27% of non-poor, school-going children live in a household where no woman has completed six years of schooling. And it’s not just women – 62% of poor and out-of-school children lack an educated male, while 47% lack any adult with even one year of completed schooling.

Children’s opportunities are closely associated with women’s education. Patterns of education access and poverty are at risk of being perpetuated across generations. To invest in girls’ education, or indeed any child’s education, is to invest in the opportunities of future generations.

Read more in the full report, available now: bit.ly/OPHIchildreport

There are 136 million children out of school across 108 developing countries. 110 million of them also live in multidime...
18/09/2026

There are 136 million children out of school across 108 developing countries. 110 million of them also live in multidimensionally poor households.

On average, these 110 million children are also deprived in five of the other nine global MPI indicators. This means that as well as a lack of schooling, they face multiple other overlapping deprivations — perhaps inadequate water and sanitation, a lack of assets, or unclean cooking fuel. Policies which aim to tackle child poverty need to address the multidimensional deprivations they face.

What happens when we look at boys’ and girls’ experiences? The picture is nuanced. In 19 countries, home to 56% of all out-of-school children, more girls are out of school than boys. But in 35 countries, home to 21% of all out-of-school children, more boys are out of school than girls. Gender disparities are pervasive, but look different between contexts.

Ultimately, these findings highlight the importance of individual-level data as well as household poverty status. Each out-of-school child faces different challenges. Understanding this is critical for designing effective policies to achieve universal school attendance.

Read more in the full report, available now: bi.tly/OPHIchildreport

16/09/2026

🔬 On the International Day of Science, Technology and Innovation for the South, we look at how science and innovation matter most when knowledge moves beyond pages and into action.

From measuring multidimensional poverty to strengthening food systems and supporting public policy implementation, the role of academic institutions can extend well beyond producing research.

South-South Cooperation can help connect this knowledge across countries, institutions and contexts, supporting governments to turn evidence into practical solutions at scale.

🌍Sabina Alkire (Professor of Poverty and Human Development, University of Oxford), Pablo Rush (Secretary of Extension, University of Buenos Aires) and Anelise Rizzolo (Associate Professor, Nutrition Programme, University of Brasília) explain how: https://tinyurl.com/y4t2jd92

In developing countries, nearly half of children under 5 are multidimensionally poor, undernourished, or both.OPHI’s new...
16/09/2026

In developing countries, nearly half of children under 5 are multidimensionally poor, undernourished, or both.

OPHI’s new report unpacks multidimensional poverty measurement to explore children’s deprivations in nutrition and school attendance. It finds that 252 million children under 5 — nearly half of those covered by the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index 2025 — are multidimensionally poor and/or undernourished. Almost one in five children under 5, or 95.6 million, are both.

And yet children’s experiences within the household differ. For one in five children, their household is home to some children who are undernourished, and some who are not. The report highlights glaring disparities within the household, which show an urgent need for integrated programmes which look within the household to see how poverty is experienced by individuals.

Read more in the full report, available now: bit.ly/OPHIchildreport

Available now — A new report from OPHI unpacks multidimensional poverty measurement to explore children’s deprivations i...
15/09/2026

Available now — A new report from OPHI unpacks multidimensional poverty measurement to explore children’s deprivations in nutrition and school attendance.

The new research brings together individual-level and household-wide data to explore how these deprivations overlap with multidimensional poverty and examine gendered patterns.

It looks within the household to explore how children’s experiences relate to both the experience of other children in the household and to the education level of men and women in the household.

Read more in the full report: https://bit.ly/OPHIchildreport

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