Human Development Report 2013

United Nation Development Program (UNDP) publishes an annual Human Development Report (since 1990) to measure and analyze developmental progress. Prior to this the indicators like Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Per Capita Income (PCI) of a country or region were considered as the indicators for measuring the human development. However, in the late 80s of the 20th century it was realized that there were inherent flaws in these indicators as a measure of Human Development. Therefore since 1990 Human Development Report is internationally accepted as the best indicator for measuring Human Development.Calculation of HDI Human Development Report the HDI combines three dimensions: 1) A long and healthy life: Life expectancy at birth 2) Mean years of schooling and Expected years of schooling 3) A decent standard of living: GNI per capita (PPP US$) Norway, Australia and the United States lead the rankings of 187 countries and territories in the latest Human Development Index (HDI), while conflict-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo and drought-stricken Niger have the lowest scores in the HDIs. Highlights of Human Development Report 2013 This year the HDI report 2013, entitled The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World. The following are the key highlights: The rise of the South is radically reshaping the world of the 21st century, with developing nations driving economic growth, lifting hundreds of millions of people from poverty, and propelling billions more into a new global middle class This phenomenon goes well beyond the so-called BRICs, middle income countries often represented by Brazil, Russia, India and China. More than 40 developing countries have made greater human development gains in recent decades than would have been predicted. These achievements, it says, are largely attributable to sustained investment in education, health care and social programs, and open engagement with an increasingly interconnected world. South as a whole produces about half of world economic output, up from about a third in 1990 Latin America, in contrast to overall global trends, has seen income inequality fall since 2000 There is a clear positive correlation between past public investment in social and physical infrastructure and progress on the Human Development Index. The 2013 Reports Statistical Annex also includes two experimental indices, the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and the Gender Inequality Index (GII). MPI The Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) examines factors at the household level that together provide a fuller portrait of poverty than income measurements alone. The MPI

is not intended to be used for national rankings, due to significant differences among countries in available household survey data. The countries with the highest percentages of MPI poor are all in Africa: Ethiopia (87%), Liberia (84%), Mozambique (79%) and Sierra Leone (77%). Yet the largest absolute numbers of multi dimensionally poor people live in South Asia, including 612 million in India alone.

GII The GII is designed to measure gender inequalities as revealed by national data on reproductive health, womens empowerment and labor market participation. The Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark top the GII, with the least gender inequality. The regions with the greatest gender inequality as measured by the GII are sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Arab States.

India in Human Development Report 2013 India was at ranked at 136 among 187 countries this year. The report placed India at the near-bottom of countries which have reached 'medium development. India's HDI has risen by 1.7% annually since 1980. Women representation in Parliament in India is only 10.9 percent. The only worse country than India is Iran with 3.1 percent. The country that has best representation of women in Parliament is Nepal with 33.2 percent. In India, for every 100000 births, 200 women die during the childbirth or due to complications in childbearing. The only countries to have higher Maternal Mortality Ratio than India are Bangladesh (240), Pakistan (260) and Afghanistan (460). The countries with lowest Maternal Mortality Ratio are Sri Lanka (35) and Iran (21).