UNDP’s 15th Human Development Report 2004 entitled "Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World" argues strongly that human development is first and foremost about allowing people to lead the kind of life they choose - and providing them with the tools and opportunities to make those choices.
The 2004 Report was launched in public ceremonies in Belgium on 15th July 2004 with Prime Minister Guy Verhosfstadt and Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Mark Malloch Brown. Belgium, where the Flemish and Walloon populations have long struggled to forge a working compact, is cited in the report as an example offering valuable lessons for other multicultural states.
The report says that if the world is to reach the Millennium Development Goals and ultimately eradicate poverty, it must first successfully confront the challenge of how to build inclusive, culturally diverse societies. Not just because doing so successfully is a precondition for countries to focus properly on other priorities of economic growth, health and education for all citizens. But because allowing people full cultural expression is an important development end in itself.
The report strongly argues against the common myths against diversity that says that 1. diversity divides loyalties and weakens the state; 2. diversity is a cause of violent conflict; 3. it is a defense of traditionalism over human rights; 4. some cultural groups are more likely to succeed than others; and 5. that diversity is bad for growth and human development. The report finds that none of them are true. On the contrary the report considers that cultural differences are source of strength and encourage economic growth and human development in any state and to the world as a whole
The Human Development Report offers policy advice on how states can respond to the extremist political movements without undermining the democratic process. “The absence of democracy often creates conditions for the rise of such movements, while carefully political accommodation can often moderate the sources of conflict and strengthen democracy,” said Malloch Brown.
The new report argues that immigrants should be permitted to become full members of their adopted countries, while maintaining ties to their countries of origin. As a result of internet access, affordable air travel, and cheaper long-distance telephone service immigrants can now maintain close links to their countries and cultures of origin, which is in turn changing the way recipient countries must manage immigration. The report points out that “international migration brings skills, labour and ideas, enriching people’s lives.” Jordan is considered the 3rd of the top 10 countries by share of migrant population, based on statistics from 2000.
The Human Development Index (HDI), an intergral part of the Report since it was first issued in 1990, is a composite index that measures the average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development: life expectancy, adult literacy and per capita income. Jordan has registered further progress in the three human development dimensions. Its Human Development Index has progressed from 0.743 last year to 0.750 this year.
This years report ranks 177 countries in comparison with 175 countries in last years report due to the inclusion of another two countries-Timor-Leste and Tonga. It also refers to 2002 figures. Jordan’s rank is 90, the same as last year. But more importantly, Jordan is considered the best among Arab countries in the field of education.
The report also includes Human Poverty Index (HPI), which focuses on the proportion of people below a threshold level in basic dimensions of human development. The HPI ranking for Jordan was 7th best among the 95 development countries and the first among the Arab countries.
The report’s Gender Development Index (GDI) ranks Jordan 76th among 144 countries. The GDI is the gender-related development index using the same indicators as the HDI but also capturing inequalities in achievement between women and men.
The Human Development Report of this year documents the catastrophic impact of AIDs on life expectancy and the income per capita. Since the 1990s, an unprecedented number of countries have seen their living standards decline. In 46 countries, 20 of them in sub-Saharan Africa, average citizens are poorer today than they were a decade ago. In 25 countries, of which 11 are in sub-Saharan Africa, more people go hungry than they did a decade ago.