Consecutive global crises have set back human development by five years. This is according to a new report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). It said that the concerning findings come for the first time since its creation in 1990. The Human Development Index (HDI) has declined for two consecutive years straight – 2020 and 2021. The decline comes amid crises like the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. The HDI is a measure of a country’s life expectancy, education levels and standards of living.

The UNDP’s Ulrika Modeer told Al Jazeera, “what we see is an unprecedented decline…The world has seen such challenges before. We have seen pandemics, and wars, affecting more than one country in the entire world. But what has happened now and what is represented in the report is an uncertainty complex,” she said. Due to the decline in the HDI, the gains made during the last five years, have come to nought. The report indicates that 9 out of 10 countries showed a decline in their HDI score, with Sudan, Chad and Niger declining the most.

The report ranks Switzerland at the top, as the most highly developed country in the world – with a value of 0.962. It nearly tied with Ireland and Norway. The very first report in 1990, saw the United States on the top, but it has since dropped to 21st place. On the other side, India ranked 132 out of 191 countries. Last year, the country ranked 131.

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What lies in the UN report?

The Covid-19 pandemic was one of the major drivers of the decline, along with other political, financial and climate-related crises that have not allowed countries enough time to recover. UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner says, “the world is scrambling to respond to back-to-back crises. We have seen with the cost of living and energy crises that, while it is tempting to focus on quick fixes like subsidising fossil fuels, immediate relief tactics are delaying the long-term systemic changes we must make.” And whilst some counties had the opportunity to recover from the devastation of the pandemic, many others in Africa, South Asia and Latin America could not turn the corner quick enough before a new crisis hit – the invasion of Ukraine. This new crisis brought with it rising food and fuel prices, exacerbating hunger and poverty across the globe. Ultimately, these sudden shifts into disaster have hampered the prospect of human development.

Life expectancy is a huge contributor to the HDI’s decline. And there has been an evident global drop in life expectancy, from 73 years in 2019 to 71.4 years in 2021. Furthermore, transformational forces such as climate change, globalisation and political divisions have brought about a complex level of uncertainty, fueling already-present feelings of insecurity. Steiner adds that the world is going through very distressing times, “whether it is a world underwater, a world with no water, a world on fire or a world amid the pandemic,” he adds.

Thankfully, the report comes with a silver lining. It includes improvements that can be made by focusing on three main areas:

• Innovations that strengthen the capacity to cope with future crises
• Investing in renewable energy and preparations for future pandemics
• Insurance to absorb the shocks of crises

zahraa@smile904.fm

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