Human Development: Better – With Blindspots …
- November 5th, 2010
- Posted by EUEditor
The lucky countries Norway and Australia have headed the rankings in this year’s United Nations quality of life measure – the 20th anniversary Human Development index.
Designed to show “real wealth†the measure puts together variables of wellbeing, taking in incomes, health or education, reaching to employment and life expectancy. 
Developed countries as before occupied higher ratings; Australia and Norway with small populations and wealth coming in from their trade in natural resources, and also, in order: New Zealand, the United States, Ireland, Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Canada, Sweden and Germany.
A greater story was a general advance across the board for the world’s peoples and countries, the UN Development Program announced.
The countries most improved over the last four decades, were Oman, China, Nepal, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Laos, Tunisia, South Korea, Algeria and Morocco.
This year in particular saw big progress in China, its figures brought up by incomes growth, not so much as yet on the other ingredients.
The Middle East and North Africa forged ahead with much-improved life expectancy.
Against celebrated gains also in Africa, for instance in the long-benighted state of Sierra Leone, others took set-backs, because of war and the tragedy of HIV-AIDS.
Results are often uneven within countries, the figures for Australia, for instance, showing up again its intractable problems with indigenous welfare.
Reference
UNDP, NY, Human Development Report 2010 – 20th Anniversary: The Real Wealth of Nations; Pathways to Human Development. http://hdr.undp.org/en/, (5.11.10).
Neil MacFarquhar, “UN Development Report Shows Great Gains, and Some Slidesâ€, The New York Times, NY, 4.11.10. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/05/world/05nations.html, (5.11.10).
Pictures
North Sea oil rig – Norway; Australian townscape UNDP