University of Makeni – The UN and Human Development
The 1990’s saw a visible increase in devising macro and micro policies on how global economic wealth could be distributed more equitably. Business corporations launched more socially responsible policies and at the geo-political level nations sort to develop assistance policies that focused on the fundamentals – see The Commission for Africa Report – 2005.
Reading the UN Human Development Report
The Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite statistic of life expectancy, education, and per capita income indicators, which is used to rank countries into four tiers of human development. It was developed by Pakistani economist Mahbub ul Haq, is anchored in the Nobel laureate Amartya Sen’s (1) work on human capabilities, often framed in terms of whether people are able to “be” and “do” desirable things in life,and was published by the United Nations Development Programme.
The 2010 Human Development Report introduced an Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI). While the simple HDI remains useful, it stated that "the IHDI is the actual level of human development (accounting for inequality)," and "the HDI can be viewed as an index of 'potential' human development (or the maximum IHDI that could be achieved if there were no inequality)."
The UN and its work in human development
UN – Sustainable Development
From the start in 1945, one of the main priorities of the United Nations was to “achieve international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.” Improving people’s well-being continues to be one of the main focuses of the UN. The global understanding of development has changed over the years, and countries now have agreed that sustainable development – development that promotes prosperity and economic opportunity, greater social well-being, and protection of the environment – offers the best path forward for improving the lives of people everywhere
The current situation