Manis: The issue of poverty is the biggest development challenge in the country

The Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Ambassador Omar Bashir Manis, addressed today, Monday, November 16, 2020, at the Friendship Hall, a discussion workshop on the methodology of the Family Budget and Poverty Survey (2020-2021), which was organized by the Central Bureau of Statistics in cooperation with the World Bank. Ambassador Manis explained that the issue of poverty has its economic, social, political dimensions, and cultural issues represent the biggest challenges to achieves development in the country, pointing to the need to develop policies and programs based on real evidence and indicators that reflect the size of the phenomenon and the extent to which the population is affected by it via geographical variations

Manis said, "Poverty is one of the biggest challenges facing the world and that it generates a fertile environment in which various forms of extremism grow." The minister called on the Central Statistical Organization to conduct such surveys periodically in order to preserve the chronology of the data, noting the importance of developing a plan for all statistical operations of national censuses and surveys according to a specific timeframe, Manis praised the efforts of the employees of the Central Bureau of Statistics in providing accurate statistical information in the country as well as the efforts of international development partners and their continuous support for the development and strengthening of the national statistical system. Manis also praised The role of the World Bank in providing technical support to prepare the methodology for this survey and its estimated financial and technical contribution to its implementation

For her part, the Minister of Labor and Social Development, Mrs. Lina AlSheikh Omar Mahgoub, explained that the Family Budget and Poverty Survey will provide statistics that reflect the reality of the current situation, which contributes to the formulation of policies and programs based on proofs and evidence, to develop a strategic framework for reducing multidimensional poverty and strengthening social safety nets to cover the low-income poor

For his part, the Director General of the Central Bureau of Statistics, Mr. Ali Mohamed Abbas, explained that the workshop aims to contribute to providing modern poverty statistics that help in translating the priorities of the transitional government through setting up plans and programs to improve people's livelihood and community development.