President Danny Faure attended the official launching ceremony the 7th Annual High-Level Meeting of the Multidimensional Poverty Peer Network ( MPPN) held at Savoy Resort yesterday evening. 

The aim of the meeting is  to activate an intensive two-way South-South exchange by which each participant can both share their knowledge and gain advice on what is being implementation and become equipped to act within their professional capacity to fight multidimensional poverty. 

During her Key note address to officially launch the event, the Minister for Family Affairs, Mrs Mitcy Larue highlighted the progress Seychelles has made with people at the centre of its development but also acknowledged the country' vulnerabilities and changes vis-a-vis poverty alleviation. 

"Over the past 40 years, Seychelles has placed people at the centre of development. This has led our country to achieve high human development standards, and high values in the Human Development Index (HDI). 

As a Small Island Developing State, we are fully aware of our vulnerabilities and our strengths. We acknowledge that pockets of poverty still exist in our society, that vulnerabilities are real, and that we need to explore the many dimensions of poverty in our country so that we can target interventions effectively. This is why we decided to develop a national MPI to monitor SDG 1 and guide and coordinate policies." said Minister Larue. 

"When MPI is used, more people benefit from development outcomes, as the MPI is a lens for the formulation and implememtation of development and strategies. Therefore, a commitment to an MPI is a commitment to 'leaving no one behind by 2030'- this is the Seychelles vision' 

Minister Larue said, Seychelles is honoured to be hosting this meeting and that the MPPN is creating a formidable platform for multidimensional poverty measurement at the national level, using a multi-partnership approach. She expressed hope that the discussions and deliberations over the next few days will be a learning experience for all countries and agencies participating hence strengthen the path for greater collaboration among countries to reduce poverty in all its dimensions. 

During the ceremony the Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau of Statistic Seychelles, Ms Laura Ah-time briefly addressed the guests and presented President Faure with a copy of the Seychelles Pilot National MPI Report. 

The MPPN is a global network of nearly 60 countries and 20 international organisations developing and using multidimensional poverty indices for more effective poverty reduction. 

The high-level meeting  is being organised as a collaboration between various key entities namely the Ministry of family affairs, Seychelles, the Oxford poverty and Human Development initiative, the University of oxford, National Bureau of Statistics Seychelles and the Agency for Social protection.