José María Daza Sánchez
By José María Daza Sánchez
The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is composed of five dimensions: 1) educational conditions of the home, 2) conditions of childhood and youth, 3) health, 4) work and 5) access to public home services and housing conditions .
The 5 dimensions that make up the MPI involve 15 indicators. Households are considered multidimensionally poor when they are deprived in at least 33.3% of the indicators.
In 2022, the percentage of people in multidimensional poverty in Colombia was 12.9% of the national total; in the capitals of 8.7% and in the populated and dispersed rural centers of 27.3%, that is, the percentage of people in a situation of multidimensional poverty in populated and dispersed rural centers was 3.1 times that of the capitals.
This MPI is disaggregated in a way that provides coverage of unmet basic needs. (INBI, which includes, among others, the number of people in a family that has not had an education, that has minor children who do not attend an educational institution, who do not have health coverage, neither in water supply nor in home public services, which determines the quality of the floor of the home or the participation of any family member in work activities, etc.)
According to information obtained from the National Administrative Department of Statistics – DANE when the Unsatisfied Basic Needs Index was measured, until 2018, the municipality of Alto Baudó was at 77.85%. The composition of this figure was based on six components. Now it is measured with the Multidimensional Poverty Index and its result in 2022 is 90.6%. Obviously, this figure is made up of, as we already pointed out, 15 elements which reflects the most real detail of the situation.
Listening to the local president, Ariel Salazar, about what his municipality is currently, simply demonstrates how gloomy his state is. He calls it “being in the darkest part of the world.” Without a doubt, with figures of this order when the country’s average is only 12.5%, it reflects a territory completely abandoned, due to the action of previous leaders, including the governors, as well as the mayors themselves elected and who have served until the date.
That some educational institutions are in complete deterioration and abandonment, both in the municipal capital and in the townships and villages, including the rural communities where the indigenous communities are located, shows the neglect or inattention of the State, in general.
If in the capital of the Department we even have health centers closed due to deterioration, how will those institutions be functioning in that area. If in Quibdó the construction of the aqueduct has not been completed and there is no sewage in much of the territory, you can imagine in Alto Baudó, just to mention this territorial entity.
And that’s how most municipalities are. The work of the governor and her team is arduous to be able to solve so many problems that have been afflicting them due to the terrible management of the previous leaders in power. There are many resources needed, understanding the country’s limitations to cover them. So you can’t just wait to see what alms they give us. We must support the administration in whatever way we can to move Chocó forward.
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