The rights-based approach to development targets progress towards the realization of
30 articles set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Progress is frequently measured
using the multidimensional poverty index. While elegant and useful, the multidimensional poverty
index is in reality inconsistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights principles of
indivisibility, inalienability, and equality. We show that a first-order dominance methodology
maintains consistency with basic principles, discuss the properties of the multidimensional poverty
index and first-order dominance, and apply the measures to 26 African countries. We conclude
that the multidimensional poverty index and first-order dominance are useful complements that
should be employed in tandem.