Context

India ranks 134th in the Global Human Development Index according to the recently released 2023-24 HDR Report by UNDP.

HDR Report 2023-24 (Human Development Report)

• It builds on the 2021–2022 Human Development Report findings that saw the global HDI value fall for the first time — two years in a row.
• The report revealed that while rich countries attained record human development, half of the poorest remain below their pre-crisis level of progress.

Key Highlights of the HDR Report 2023-24

• Theme of HDR Report 2023-24 Titled: “Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining Cooperation in a Polarized World”
• Improvement in Human Development Index (HDI): India has ascended one position on the global Human Development Index (HDI) as per the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report. 
  • In 2022, India stands at 134th place, compared to 135th in 2021, out of 193 countries ranked. 
  • India in the Medium Human Development Category: Between 1990 and 2022, the country saw its HDI value increase by 48.4 percent, from 0.434 in 1990 to 0.644 in 2022.
• Improvements in Life Expectancy at birth
  • It has marginally increased from 67.2 years in 2021 to 67.7 years in 2022. 
• Improvements in Education: 
  • Expected years of schooling (EYS) have risen by 5.88%, from 11.9 years to 12.6 years, leading to an improvement of 18 places in this aspect.
• Improvements in GNI:  Gross National Income (GNI) per capita has also seen improvement, rising from $6,542 to $6,951.
• Top Performers: Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Hong-Kong china(SAR), Denmark
• Bottom 5 HDI Countries: Somalia, South Sudan, Central African Republic, Nigeria, Chad
• Comparison with Neighboring Countries:
  • India lags behind its southern neighbor Sri Lanka (ranked 78th) and China (ranked 75th) in the High Human Development category. 
  • Bhutan (125th) and Bangladesh (129th) rank above India, all falling under the Medium Human Development category. 
  • Nepal (146th) and Pakistan (164th) rank lower than India on the HDI scale. 
• Improvement in reducing Gender Inequality (on 3 key Dimensions – Reproductive Health, Empowerment & Labour Market): 
  • Gender Inequality Index value of 0.437 in 2022, India has shown progress and fares better than the global average of 0.462 and the South Asian average of 0.478.
  • India ranks 108 out of 166 countries in Gender Inequality Index (GII) 2022.
  • Reason Behind Improvement In Gender Inequality Index:
    • Determined Agenda for Women’s Empowerment by Government.
    • Comprehensive Policy Initiatives for Long-Term Development.
    • Focus on Workplace Safety and Gender Equality.
    • Focus on Women’s Life Cycle: Education, Skill Development, and Entrepreneurship etc.
• India has shown remarkable progress in human development over the years: 
  • Since 1990, life expectancy at birth has risen by 9.1 years; expected years of schooling have increased by 4.6 years, and mean years of schooling have grown by 3.8 years. India’s GNI per capita has grown by approximately 287 percent.

• Improvement in reproductive health: India’s performance is better than other countries in the medium human development group or South Asia. 
• Improvement in India’s adolescent birth rate:  in 2022 was 16.3 (births per 1,000 women ages 15-19), an improvement from 17.1 in 2021.
• Concerns in Largest Gender Gaps in LFPR: India also has one of the largest gender gaps in the labor force participation rate—a 47.8 percentage points difference between women (28.3%) and men (76.1%).

Other Key Observation Highlighted by HDR Report 2023 – 24

• Reversal Trends in Inequalities: The HDR Report 2023 – 24 notes that after 20 years of convergence, the gap between the richest and poorest countries has started to widen from 2020.
• The failure of collective action on climate change, digitalization, poverty, and inequality not only hinders human development but also worsens polarization and further erodes trust in people and institutions worldwide.

Four Areas for Immediate Action Proposed by HDR Report

To break through the current deadlock and reignite a commitment to a shared future: 

• Planetary public goods: Planetary public goods  for climate stability as unprecedented challenges of the Anthropocene; 
• Digital global public goods: Digital global public goods for greater equity in harnessing new technologies for equitable human development; 
• Financial mechanisms: By international cooperation in  humanitarian assistance and traditional development aid to low-income countries; and 
• Reducing Political Polarization: Implementing new governance approaches by enhancing people’s voices in deliberation and tackling misinformation.

Global Human Development Index

• Background: Dr. Mahbub-ul-Haq Introduced the Human Development Index (1990).
• HDI refers to the assessment of average achievements in three basic dimensions of human development – long and healthy life, access to education, and decent standard of living.

• The HDI is the geometric mean of normalized indices for each of the three dimensions. 
  • The HDI sets a minimum and a maximum for each dimension, called “goalposts”, then shows where each country stands in relation to these goalposts. 
  • This is expressed as a value between 0 and 1. The higher a country’s human development, the higher its HDI value. 
• A report on the Human Development Index (HDI) is part of the Human Development Report released by the United Nations Development Programme.

News Source: TheHindu

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