MAS highlights Multidimensional Poverty in the Gaza Strip: What Can Policies Do ?
Wednesday, 9 July 2025
The Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS) held its fourth roundtable of the year, titled “Multidimensional poverty in the Gaza Strip: what can policies do?” The session brought together a group of specialists and stakeholders, both in person at the Institute’s headquarters and via Zoom. The background paper was prepared by MAS researcher Anmar Rafeedie, and remarks/discussant interventions were delivered by Dr. Samah Hamad, Minister of Social Development; Ms. Samir Helles from the World Bank; and Ms. Chitose Noguchi from UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP-PAPP).
Research Coordinator Dr. Sameh Hallaq opened the session, underscoring the importance of the paper—particularly amid the difficult circumstances faced by Palestinians in general, and especially in the Gaza Strip with the war continuing there for more than twenty months.
In his welcoming remarks, MAS Director General Raja Khalidi emphasized the importance of ongoing communication with ministries and official institutions to support and activate central government performance, especially on issues relating to justice and social protection. Khalidi praised the crisis cell led by the Minister, commending her precise understanding of the emergency confronting Palestine. He noted that the Institute is working on a set of activities directly related to the topic of multidimensional poverty, and believes that confronting this challenge requires an in‑depth understanding of the varied contexts and genuine cooperation among all parties. He added that these dialogue spaces—which bring together decision-makers, civil society representatives, and experts in a transparent and responsible discussion—help to inform public opinion and engage it in grasping challenges and shaping solutions. He stressed the importance of continuing this approach in public action, and pointed out that this session comes within a series of meetings implemented by the Institute with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation-Palestine and Jordan, aimed at deepening debate on social and economic policies in Palestine.
For her part, the Minister of Social Development affirmed that the meeting touches the core of the Ministry’s priorities under the current catastrophic conditions in the Strip. She added: “We are awaiting an official announcement of the cessation of aggression, so that we can begin to restore life in the Gaza Strip and work in a more regular and methodical manner in relief and recovery operations.” She explained that the Ministry works within the overall government framework, and that the government launched the emergency operations room from the earliest days of the aggression, mobilizing the relevant governmental efforts for urgent humanitarian response despite the widespread destruction across all aspects of life in the Strip. She also stressed that the relief phase is one of the most delicate and important phases.
In support of poor families in the Strip, the Minister explained that the Ministry managed to disburse 270 million shekels to more than 170,000 households in the Gaza Strip via e‑wallets, which proved highly effective in delivering assistance to those entitled to it despite the challenges. She continued: “Despite the difficulty of the situation, we believe that life can be restored if the aggression stops. We have established 18 shelters in northern Gaza, in addition to 350 learning points.”
She further indicated that humanitarian needs are immense, and that targeting mechanisms have not been based on multidimensional poverty (MPI) indicators due to the difficulty of collecting field data at this
stage. She added: “We understand the importance of MPI indicators and hope to be able to integrate them more broadly later; at present, however, we are working according to the priorities of direct relief.”
The Minister stressed the importance of the National Social Registry as a national reference for supporting Palestinian households, noting that the Ministry is ready to make this registry available to partners in order to improve targeting accuracy. She said: “We face a difficult reality not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank, where more than 50,000 people have been displaced from their homes.” She concluded: “We are working to unify data and strengthen coordination among all parties, because the coming phase—recovery—matters greatly to us and requires a national effort and joint planning that safeguards human dignity and basic rights.”
Presenting the paper, Rafeedie explained that its aim is to provide a brief overview of multidimensional poverty in the Gaza Strip to spur discussion about its current reality and the challenges to alleviating it in the aftermath of the aggression. She noted that with the ongoing Israeli aggression, recent data show that the objectives pursued by Israel have reached unprecedented levels of destruction, targeting all aspects of life in Gazan society. All social and economic sectors have been affected, implying that the entire population may remain multidimensionally poor for years to come.
The paper notes that the Palestinian Multidimensional Poverty Index (PMPI) differs from the global MPI in two ways: it is a rights‑based approach, and it assigns different weights to dimensions and indicators. While the global MPI typically allocates equal weights, the Palestinian index allocates 20% of overall poverty to monetary poverty, with the remainder allocated to the other social dimensions.
The paper also highlights key policy challenges to eradicating multidimensional poverty, foremost among them measurement amid destruction and demographic shifts, including the expansion of vulnerable socio‑economic groups such as female‑headed households and persons with disabilities. Financing the recovery from two years of aggression is a major challenge: the decline in international aid to Palestine and the financial crises facing some international organizations are pivotal issues in the financing context. The Palestinian Authority is also undergoing a worsening fiscal crisis that has significantly affected its ability to provide social transfers as part of anti‑poverty efforts over the past three years.
Finally, according to the paper, the balance of power has significant implications for efforts to reduce multidimensional poverty. The discussion about alleviating the suffering of Gaza’s besieged population cannot be separated from the central issue of Israel’s impunity in the international arena and the role of international actors in supporting Israel’s destructive policies. Evidence from the current aggression underscores the need to account for the current power imbalance in post‑aggression efforts to reduce multidimensional poverty.