The capacity to go though life without feeling ashamed, and social isolation, are also measures of poverty

Other indicators confirm how the population becomes impoverished by different reasons. Data from the Instituto Igarapé point out how in 2014 close to 33 percent of the homicides in the world occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is home to 8 percent of the world population, and how the homicide rate shows that 14 of the 20 most dangerous countries in the world are in the region. Undoubtedly, poverty is a multidimensional phenomenon. 

People who on a daily basis experience citizen insecurity, discrimination, lack of quality employment, or social isolation, show other aspects of poverty that must be considered to better understand it. Traditional measurements of poverty are based on the level of income and other social dimensions such as education, health, housing, or employment, to mention some. Global institutions such as the World Bank, for example, place the line of extreme poverty at USD 1.90 daily, according to the latest update carried out last year. However, if research is done about the situation of the people that live under those conditions, many other important variables can be found. 

Ana Mercedes Botero, Director of the Social Innovation Initiative at CAF, Development Bank of Latin America, states, "There are dimensions of poverty that are not reflected in traditional measurements. The absence of data regarding other psychological or social dimensions omit relevant information about how poor people live and perceive reality, and the way in which they value aspects of life that are very interesting for the development of more effective public policies and social programs". 

The report "Las dimensiones faltantes en la medición de la pobreza" (The missing dimensions in the measurements of poverty), developed by CAF, and the Oxford University's Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), propose to expand the spectrum for the understanding of the phenomenon, and define new dimensions and indicators that help measure this multidimensional aspects of poverty in a more systematical manner. 

CAF and OPHI will present this report in the Sixth Conference of the Latin American and Caribbean Association for the Study of Human Capacities, which will be held from May 30th until June 1st in Montevideo, Uruguay. 

The essage is clear: fighting poverty in the region requires a multidimensional look. 

Botero explained, "The objective is to develop comprehensive strategies and really effective public policies under a wider perspective regarding the complex subject of poverty, and support those who design public policies so that they may promote innovating initiatives that improve the life of vulnerable populations". 

CAF - OPHI suggest incorporating six new dimensions to the measurements of poverty. One of them is empowerment and agency, that is, the capacity of individuals to make decisions freely, act with autonomy and, ultimately, have control over their lives. The missing dimensions also include variables such as physical security, or the "capacity to go through life without feeling ashamed", which are areas tightly linked to dignity and associated to the stigma of poverty. Other dimensions considered include quality of employment, quality of social relations through social connectivity, or the psychological wellbeing of the individual. The challenge is to obtain data regarding these areas to expand our perspectives and allow us to better understand this phenomenon. 

Amartya Sen, Nobel Prize in Economics, tells us how poverty refers to the lack of capacities, which are multiple and diverse, and his approach emphasizes the ends that people pursue and the liberty to achieve them. CAF and OPHI-Oxford University understand poverty as a problem of capacities, as a complex and multiple phenomenon. Gathering data related to these dimensions is a challenge for the region. 

Botero states, "These dimensions are closely linked to human capacities, and one of the main challenges is to incorporate their measurement to the study and understanding of poverty, as they represent the lack of human capacities that must be addressed by more comprehensive public policies". 

Nobody doubts the approach any longer; the challenge now is to measure. This trend is present in the most important studies of organizations at a worldwide level. This is the case of the Statistics Institute of the United Kingdom, which has estimated the measurement of its wellbeing as a nation considering emotional dimensions and aspects of personal wellbeing. It is also the case of the OECD with its "better life" approach, which includes measurements compared with specific and subjective areas of life. The Objectives for Sustainable Development also establish goals for the next fifteen years with respect to psychological wellbeing and mental health. Another case is the World Report on Happiness, which in 2016 provided new data regarding the problem of diversity and its impact on the condition of wellbeing. A public policy aimed in the direction of these multi dimensional factors of poverty and their measurements will undoubtedly contribute to make changes in favor of human development.