https://arab.news/y3nc2
In a world chasing sustainable development, numbers — meant to illuminate paths forward — often become tools of distortion. Politicized data occurs when governments manipulate poverty or hunger statistics for agendas, skewing reality and stalling reforms. This hinders UN Sustainable Development Goals, such as eradicating poverty and hunger, while widening income gaps.
Based on recent studies, this piece dissects how data turns from neutral metrics into political weapons. It covers mechanisms, Arab/Islamic/global cases, and impacts on growth, offering evidence-based solutions for transparency. Data must serve people, not power.
Politics shapes poverty data at its core. Alleviation involves resource distribution and power plays. In non-electoral Arab systems, multidimensional poverty metrics — income, education, health, housing — draw from Indian economist Amartya Sen’s capabilities framework. Yet biases creep in as local bureaucracies favor influential areas, causing exclusion errors that understate needs.
Electoral systems target swing voters, as in Islamic nations such as Indonesia or Pakistan, boosting inequality and polarization. A 124-country study ties political risks — conflicts, corruption, and ethnic tensions to food insecurity drops of up to 0.113 percent from strife, countered by +0.059 percent rule-of-law gains. Data thus shifts from science to strategy, blocking true assessments.
