Under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Basma Bint Talal, the Honorary Human Development Ambassador for UNDP, the United Nations Development Porgramme (UNDP) will officially launch in Jordan on Sunday, 25 September 2005, the Human Development Report 2005 (HDR).
Published annually since 1990, the Human Development Reports focus the global debate on key development issues, providing new ways of measuring development, fresh analysis of development problems and sometimes controversial policy proposals.
Every year the Reports rank every country in areas such as per capita income, literacy, life expectancy and respect for women's rights, using these indicators as the bases for a composite Human Development Index (HDI).
The theme of the 2005 Report is "International cooperation at a crossroads: Aid, trade and security in an unequal world". The report calls for swift and dramatic changes in global aid, trade and security policies to fulfill the promises made by the world leaders when they gathered at the Millennium Summit in New York, five years ago.
The Human Development Reports over the years have won a well-deserved global reputation for excellence. They have played a key role in helping develop concrete responses to the difficult development challenges of our times.
The Ceremony in Jordan will include speeches by H.E. Saoud Nsairat, Minister of Transport, Acting Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and Ms. Christine McNab, UNDP Resident Representative, as well as a presentation of the report.