New York, July 1, 2000 – For the seventh successive year, Canada tops
the Human Development Index (HDI), which ranks 174 countries in terms
of life expectancy, education and income. Norway and the United States
are again second and third. At the other end of the table, Sierra Leone and
Niger are again the bottom two.
“This marks the seventh straight year that the United Nations has
chosen Canada as the best country in the world in which to live –
something to savour as we get ready to mark the first Canada Day of the
21st century,” – said The Right Honourable, Jean Chretien, Prime
Minister of Canada. “I am particularly pleased that the report shows
that life expectancy at birth and school enrolment in Canada have gone up
in the last year, while the long-term unemployment rate and percentage of
Canadians living below the poverty line have gone down.”
The facts behind the figures
But while everyone inevitably rushes to see where their country stands in
the unique Index, published by the United Nations Development
Programme as part of its annual Human Development Report , closer
scrutiny of the statistics offers more complex findings and insights.
Take Guinea, Pakistan and Viet Nam. They have similar levels of income
per head, but their placings in the index vary widely: Guinea ranks 162,
Pakistan 135 and Viet Nam 108. These rankings suggest important
questions, such as what policies are being carried out by Viet Nam that
Guinea and Pakistan might usefully take a look at.
Perhaps both countries should spend more on primary health care to
bring
infant mortality rates (124 and 95 live births per 1,000 respectively), down
to Viet Nam’s level (31 per 1,000). Two Brazilian government think-tanks
have dug even deeper. Instead of simply looking at national figures, they
published the data on education, survival and health, housing and income
for
all the country’s 4,500 municipalities. Enormous disparities were
revealed.
The figures caught the attention of the national and local press, igniting
debate in the media and among politicians as people asked why
neighbouring
communities had such different rankings.
As a result, policies were changed. One state government redistributed
sales
tax revenue, giving more to munici-palities that showed poorer levels of
human development.
Canada Tops The Table
 About 100,000 people packedParliament Hill to soak up sunshine, listen to speeches & live music. |
of which
to be proud but not
complacent. Ontario told the UN Human Rights Committee earlier this
year
that the provincial government would not change its policy of full funding
for the religious schools of Catholics and of no other religious groups.
Part of their argument was that as Canada tops the HDI, this must mean
their
education system, and how they treat minority religious groups, must also
be
at the top.
No, say the Index compilers. Canada’s high scores in adult literacy and
school and college enrolment do not disprove religious discrimination in
access to public education and in no way waive the need for Ontario to
remedy the situation.
Other disparities emerge from scrutiny. Almost all countries show less
deprivation and higher human develop-ment in urban rather than rural
areas.
Most show differences between ethnic groups. And almost everywhere
men fare
better than women.
In the richest nations, the Report shows where relative prosperity has
failed to improve lives. Although the United States has the second highest
per capita income among 18 of the richest countries ranked on the
Report’s
Human Poverty Index, it has the highest poverty rate, followed by Ireland
and the United Kingdom. The main reason is the prevalence of functional
illiteracy: approximately one person in five.
Gender equality does not depend on economic growth either, with some
developing countries outperforming richer countries. Costa Rica, for
example, ranks 24 in the Report’s measure of gender empowerment,
ahead of
Japan at 41. Yet Costa Rica’s gross domestic product per capita is less
than
one-third of Japan’s.
Taking into account the different contexts of poorer and richer countries,
the figures in the Report reveal not only the extent of human development
worldwide, but also that deprivation and inequalities exist in every
country. Twenty-two countries in Africa and Eastern Europe have
experienced
reversals of human development since 1990 mostly due to the HIV/AIDS
pandemic, economic stagnation and conflicts.
The indices cannot capture the full complexity of the concept of human
development. But they do give a powerful picture of the basic conditions of
people’s lives. In this way, they can inform the public, generate debate and
focus policy.
What really matters is the progress made, not the level, and making sure
that the most deprived make fast progress, explains Sakiko Fukuda-Parr,
Director of the Human Development Report Office. The lesson, she adds,
is:
Look at the HDI to see where your country stands and then look again,
and
again.
ABOUT THIS REPORT: Every year since 1990, the United Nations
Development
Programme has commissioned the Human Development Report by an
independent
team of experts to explore major issues of global concern. The Report
looks
beyond per capita income as a measure of human progress by also
assessing it
against such factors as average life expectancy, literacy and overall
well-being. It argues that human development is ultimately a process of
enlarging people’s choices.
The Human Development Report is published in English by
Oxford
University Press, 2001 Evans Rd.,
Cary, NC 27513, USA. Telephone (919) 677-0977; toll free in the USA
(800)
451-7556; fax (919) 677-1303.
