Speech by Ms. Christine McNab, UNDP
Press Conference on
The 2004 UNDP Human Development Report
Philadelphia Meeting Room
Radisson SAS Hotel
9 August 2004
Excellency,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is a pleasure to welcome you here today to join us in the launch in Jordan of the global UNDP Human Development Report 2004. In particular, I would like to welcome His Excellency, Dr Bassem Awadallah, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, for joining us here today to talk about the report from the point of view of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
The first Human Development Report was published in 1990. Since then, the annual reports have become an established feature in the global analysis of development. The Reports look at more than just national, economic progress: they measure human progress in terms of health, education and income. The reports are divided into two sections, the first part being thematic, and the second part statistical, ranking countries along a number of dimensions, and plotting the progress of each country in human development.
UNDP’s 15th Human Development Report (2004) is entitled "Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World". The report 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. How these choices are facilitated and made will impact on human development, and particularly on progress towards the internationally agreed Millenium Development Goals.
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 negative myths about 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 these statements are true. On the contrary, the authors of the report consider that cultural differences are source of strength and encourage economic growth and human development in any state and in the world as a whole
In the analysis of multi-cultural societies, Jordan is listed as 3rd of the top 10 countries by share of migrant population, based on statistics from 2000.The Report argues that immigrants should be permitted to become full members of their adopted countries, while maintaining ties to their countries of origin. The report points out that “international migration brings skills, labour and ideas, enriching people’s lives”. 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 second part of the report has a number of components:
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.
On the basis of the HDI, the Report ranks 177 countries, with 1 being the most developed country in HDI terms. Jordan’s rank is 90, the same as last year. In one important aspect of the HDI, education, Jordan is considered the best among Arab countries. It should be noticed that the number of countries included has been steadily growing. Last year there were 175, this year 177 due to the inclusion of another two countries - Timor-Leste and Tonga. The ranking is based on 2002 figures, the most up-to-date figures available for all countries.
The report also includes a 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 developing countries and Jordan is the highest ranked among the Arab countries.
The third index is the Gender Development Index (GDI), in which Jordan is rank 76th among the 144 countries for which data is available. The GDI uses 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. Pre-emptive action by Government’s such as Jordan’s could prevent such a catastrophe in this region and the UN country team in Jordan works closely with the Government on the issue of HIV/AIDS prevention.
I would like to thank you for your interest in the Report, and for your participation in today’s event.
The Human Development Report 2004 is available on line at http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2004/