Image by Dave_B_ via Flickr“The real wealth of a nation is its people, the beneficiaries and the drivers of human development, and expansion of their freedoms, with the main focus on empowerment, equity and sustainability, is the cornerstone of the basic concept of human development,” reaffirms the 2010 Human Development Report (HDR) – 20th anniversary edition entitled “The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development.”The main objective of 2010 HDR edition, that was presented today at the UN Office in Armenia with participation of Dirk Boberg, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Armenia, and Ara Petrosyan, RoA Deputy Minister of Economy, is to provide a retrospective systematic assessment of trends in key components of human development – life expectancy, school enrolment, literacy and income - over the past 40 years.
The Report highlights that there has been significant overall progress since 1970. An analysis of 135 developing and developed countries shows dramatic progress: average life expectancy rose from 59 to 70 years, school enrolment grew from 55 to 70 percent, and per capita incomes doubled to more than $10,000.
Health advances have been large but are slowing, due the HIV/AIDS and increased adult mortality in transition countries. Progress in education has been substantial and widespread, reflecting not only improvement in the quantity of schooling but also in the equity of access to education for girls and boys. Progress in income varies and the divide between developed and developing countries still persists. And there has been progress not only in improving health, education and raising income, but also in expanding people’s power to select leaders, influence public decisions and share knowledge.
But trends have not been wholly positive and the variation is striking. Over the past 40 years a quarter of developing countries saw their Human Development Index (HDI) increase less than 20 percent, another quarter, more than 65 percent. Some countries have suffered serious setbacks—particularly in health—sometimes erasing in a few years the gains of several decades. Economic growth has been extremely unequal and the recent global crisis was a further setback for many, especially for those people who have lost their jobs. Overall, the gaps in human development across the world, while narrowing, remain huge.
“When people are able to lead long and healthy lives, get an education, and access the resources and social services needed for a decent standard of living; and when they can participate in the life of the country – then they are free to prosper and experience well being. UNDP in Armenia works with national partners – including the government, the civil society and the private sector – to expand the choices and opportunities available to people so they can live better lives,” said Dirk Boberg.
The 2010 HDR introduces three new indices to capture important aspects of the distribution of well-being for inequality, gender equity and poverty, which are also incorporated in the refined version of the HDI, allowing to better assess the progress made in human development.
Country ranking changes in the HDI are now reported over a five-year comparative period, rather than on a year-to-year basis, to better reflect long-term development trends. Due to methodological refinements of the HDI formula, the 2010 rankings are not directly comparable to those in earlier Reports.
The top ten countries that improved their HDI the most relative to their starting point include well-known “growth miracles” such as China, Indonesia and South Korea, but also several others, such as Nepal and Tunisia, where progress in non-income dimensions has been marked.
The five frontrunners in the 2010 HDI are Norway, Australia, New Zealand, the U.S. and Ireland. At the bottom of the HDI rankings of 169 countries are in order: Mozambique, Burundi, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe.
Armenia is placed in “High Human Development” category with an HDI value of 0.695, which gives the country a rank of 76th out of 169 countries. Russia is ranked 65th, while Azerbaijan, Iran and Georgia, three of our immediate neighbors, are positioned 67th, 70th and 74th respectively. Turkey holds 83rd place in the HDI ranking.
Data on Armenia in key components of human development, such as life expectancy, school enrolment, literacy and GDP per capita is, with slight differences, similar to the ones in neighboring countries. In terms of life expectancy, Armenia is ahead of the countries in the South Caucasus. The data on school enrolment level in Armenia is close to the ones in Georgia and Azerbaijan, however, we are substantially ahead of Iran and Turkey.
Source: http://www.armradio.am/news/?part=soc&id=18679
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