KRG Planning Ministry Says It Was Not Consulted on Iraq’s Poverty Report

The Ministry’s media office

KRG Ministry of Planning.

The Ministry of Planning of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has issued a statement concerning the recently released “Multidimensional Poverty Index Report” by the federal Ministry of Planning, affirming that the report was compiled without the knowledge or involvement of either the KRG Ministry of Planning or the Kurdistan Region’s Statistical Office. The statement stressed that it was essential for the KRG’s perspective to be reflected in the report’s contents.

Official Statement from the KRG Ministry of Planning:

“Today, the federal Ministry of Planning held a press conference to announce the ‘Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI)’ report, which was developed in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

We wish to clarify the following points:

This report was produced without prior coordination with the KRG’s Ministry of Planning or the Kurdistan Region’s Statistical Office. It was initially intended to be a collaborative effort, and extensive discussions had taken place to ensure the KRG’s vision and priorities were represented within its framework. Furthermore, we were supposed to be given the opportunity to review the final draft, approve its conclusions, participate in the official announcement, and later benefit from its findings.

It is important to highlight that the data presented in the report is based on the most recent Household Socio-Economic Survey (2023–2024), with findings released for 2025–2026. The report was compiled using the Oxford University multidimensional poverty methodology, previously adopted in partnership with Iraq’s Central Statistical Organisation. This methodology goes beyond measuring material poverty alone (which, according to the survey, stands at 19% in Iraq and 8.6% in the Kurdistan Region) and aims to create a broader framework for identifying multiple dimensions of poverty, to inform the development of strategic plans and policies.”



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