Human Development Index 2022 and Human Development Report 2023/2024

SYLLABUS:

GS 2 > Social justice  >   Human Resources   >  Human Development Index

REFERENCE NEWS:

• India has moved up a rank on the global Human Development Index (HDI) in 2022, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report 2023/2024 titled ‘Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining Cooperation in a Polarised World’ released recently.
• The report stated that while India ranked 135 in 2021, it had moved up to 134 in 2022. A total of 193 countries were ranked in 2022 and 191 countries in 2021.
• After a drop in 2021, India’s HDI value increases from 0.633 to 0.644 in 2022, placing the country in the medium human development category,just as in previous years.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS OF THE HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2023–2024:

• Top and Bottom Countries in HDI 2022:
  • Top Performers: Switzerland (0.967), Norway (0.966), and Iceland (0.959) lead the world in terms of human development, showcasing high levels of income, education, and life expectancy.
  • Struggling Nations: At the opposite end, Somalia (0.380), South Sudan (0.381), and the Central African Republic (0.387) are the lowest-ranked countries.
  • Notably, North Korea and Monaco were not ranked.
• Growth Disparity: 
  • Global HDI is projected to reach record highs in 2023. However, this progress is uneven. Rich countries are experiencing record levels of human development, while half of the world’s poorest countries remain below their pre-crisis level.
• Global Inequality on The Rise: 
  • The report notes that inequality across the world is rising again; after 20 years of convergence, the gap between the richest and poorest countries has started to widen since 2020.
  • These global inequalities are compounded by substantial economic concentration. As referenced in the report, almost 40 percent of global trade in goods is concentrated in three or fewer countries.
• “Democracy Paradox”:
  • The report identifies a "democracy paradox," where there is widespread support for democracy among populations, yet a concerning trend of support for leaders who may undermine democratic principles. This paradox fuels political polarization and inward-looking policy approaches, driven by a sense of powerlessness among the populace.
• Challenges and Solutions:
  • Global Inequality: The widening gap in human development underscores the need for global cooperation to address systemic inequalities and shared challenges such as climate change, technological regulation, and pandemic prevention.
  • Call for Interconnected Solutions: The report stresses the importance of leveraging global interdependence to find interconnected solutions for the world's complex problems, advocating against protectionist approaches.

ABOUT HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT:

• Human Development Reports (HDRs) have been released most years since 1990 and have explored different themes through the human development approach. 
• They have had an extensive influence on development debate worldwide. 
• The reports, produced by the Human Development Report Office for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is ensured of editorial independence by the United Nation’s General Assembly. Indeed they are seen as reports to UNDP, not of UNDP. 
• This allows each report greater freedom to explore ideas and constructively challenge policies. 

WHAT IS HUMAN DEVELOPMENT APPROACH?

• In 1990 the first Human Development Report introduced a new approach, the human development approach, for advancing human wellbeing.
• Human development or the human development approach is about expanding the richness of human life, rather than simply the richness of the economy in which human beings live. 
• It is an approach that is focused on people and their opportunities and choices.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX (HDI):

• Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq created HDI in 1990 which was further used to measure the country's development by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
• The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of average achievement in key dimensions of human development: 
  • A long and healthy life
  • Being knowledgeable 
  • A decent standard of living.
• The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions.

SIGNIFICANCE OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX (HDI):

• Reoriented the idea of development: 
  • The HDI was created to emphasize that people and their capabilities should be the ultimate criteria for assessing the development of a country, not economic growth alone.
• Broader concept of well-being: 
  • HDI embodies Amartya Sen’s “capabilities” approach to understanding human well-being, which emphasizes the importance of ends (like a decent standard of living) over means (like income per capita).
• Tool for evaluation: 
  • The HDI can be used to question national policy choices, asking how two countries with the same level of GNI per capita can end up with different human development outcomes. These contrasts can stimulate debate about government policy priorities.

THE SHORTCOMINGS OF HDI:

• Quantitative measurement: 
  • HDI ignores the qualitative measurement of life. Eg: HDI considers only the number of years of schooling, but not qualitative factors like teacher-pupil ratio; Health parameter does not consider gender disparities, child health etc.
• Conceals disparities: 
  • HDI values are averages that conceal wide disparities in overall population. Eg: Saudi Arabia has high per capita GDP and this puts it in the very high human development category. However, in Saudi Arabia there is greater inequality between men and women when considering access to education and political power.
• Neglects sustainability: 
  • HDI has neglected links to sustainability by failing to investigate the impact on the natural system of the activities that potentially contribute to national income and hence to HDI.
• Equal weight: 
  • In preparing HDI equal weight of 1/3 is given to each of the three variables. Since these three components of HDI are measured in different units, to give equal weight to each component of HDI does not make much sense.
• Trade-off between indicators:
  •  As countries could achieve the same HDI through different combinations of life expectancy and GNI per capita, the index portrays a flawed picture. Eg: Cuba is categorised as High human development country despite having low per capita income due to its excellent healthcare system.

CONCLUSION:

Its construction can be criticised in a number of ways, but the HDI remains an understandable and more comprehensive perspective on development. However, there is still room for improvement in the HDI, such as:

• Expansion of chosen criteria. Eg: Include unemployment levels in standard of living.
• Addition of inequity considerations. Eg: Incorporating gender equality by including fertility rates, or female share of the workforce.
• Integration of qualitative measures, like Gini coefficient and happiness index.
• Incorporation of sustainability concerns into the index.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q. Despite consistent experience of high growth, India still goes with the lowest indicators of human development. Examine the issues that make balanced and inclusive development elusive. (10 marks, 150 words)(UPSC 2019).