Human Development Report 2003: Millennium Development Goals A Compact among Nations to End Human Poverty

Every year since 1990, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has commissioned the Human Development Report by an independent team of experts to explore major issues of global concern. The concept of Human Development looks beyond per capita income, human resource development, and basic needs as measure of human progress and also assesses such factors as human freedom, dignity and human agency, that is, the role of people in development. The Human Development Report 2003 argues that development is ultimately "a process of enlarging people's choices," not just raising national incomes. The world is facing an acute development crisis, with many poor nations suffering severe and continuing socio-economic reversals, warns the Human Development Report 2003 The Report's annual Human Development Index (HDI), measuring the progress of nations on key social and economic indicators, shows that 21 countries experienced declines in the 1990s. In the 1980s, only four countries tracked by UNDP showed similar decade-long declines. The Index takes stock of fundamental aspects of human development in countries both rich and poor. The Index is a composite measure of life-expectancy, education and income per-person. Almost all of the "low human development" countries at the bottom of the Index are in sub-Saharan Africa: 30 out of a total of 34 Roughly half of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean recorded either a decline or stagnation in income during the 1990s. Eastern Europe and Central Asia saw an overall decline in the 2003 Human Development Index resulting from falling per capita income. The decline was particularly steep in Moldova, Tajikistan, Russian Federation and the Ukraine. In the Human Development Report 2003, two other indices shed light on important aspects of development: The Human Poverty Index (HPI) for rich countries which ranks them according to their national levels of poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and life-expectancy. Sweden comes in at the top while the United States finishes last. The Report notes that Sweden, despite a lower per capita income than the United States, has, on average, more adults who are functionally literate and fewer living in poverty. This Index shows that even in middle or high income countries, inequity persists. The Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) which shows women's participation in the political and economic arenas. Data from this year's GEM shows discrimination against women persists despite high national ranking on the Human Development Index. Many poor countries outperform far richer countries. In terms of participation and inclusion, women fare better in Botswana, Costa Rica and Namibia than they do in Greece, Italy and Japan.

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