Calls
for universal provision of basic social services, and stronger
policies for social protection and full employment to advance and
secure development progress
Persistent vulnerability threatens human development, and unless it
is systematically tackled by policies and social norms, progress will be
neither equitable nor sustainable. This is the core premise of the 2014
Human Development Report, launched here today by Prime Minister of
Japan Shinzō Abe, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
Administrator Helen Clark and Director of the Human Development Report
Office Khalid Malik.
Entitled
Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building
Resilience, the Report provides a fresh perspective on vulnerability and
proposes ways to strengthen resilience.
According
to income-based measures of poverty, 1.2 billion people live with $1.25
or less a day. However, the latest estimates of the UNDP
Multidimensional Poverty Index reveal that almost 1.5 billion people in
91 developing countries are living in poverty with overlapping
deprivations in health, education and living standards. And although
poverty is declining overall, almost 800 million people are at risk of
falling back into poverty if setbacks occur.
"By
addressing vulnerabilities, all people may share in development
progress, and human development will become increasingly equitable and
sustainable," stated UNDP Administrator Helen Clark today.
The
2014 Human Development Report comes at a critical time, as attention
turns to the creation of a new development agenda following the 2015
deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Zeroing in on what holds back progress
The
Report holds that as crises spread ever faster and further, it is
critical to understand vulnerability in order to secure gains and
sustain progress.
It points to a slowdown in human development growth across all regions, as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI). It notes that threats such as financial crises, fluctuations in food prices, natural disasters and violent conflict significantly impede progress.
"Reducing both poverty and people's vulnerability to falling into poverty must be a central objective of the post-2015 agenda," the Report states. "Eliminating extreme poverty is not just about 'getting to zero'; it is also about staying there."
A human development lens on who is vulnerable and why
It points to a slowdown in human development growth across all regions, as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI). It notes that threats such as financial crises, fluctuations in food prices, natural disasters and violent conflict significantly impede progress.
"Reducing both poverty and people's vulnerability to falling into poverty must be a central objective of the post-2015 agenda," the Report states. "Eliminating extreme poverty is not just about 'getting to zero'; it is also about staying there."
A human development lens on who is vulnerable and why
"Reducing
vulnerability is a key ingredient in any agenda for improving human
development," writes Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, in a contribution
to the Report. "[We] need to approach it from a broad systemic
perspective."
The
2014 Report takes such an approach, using a human development lens to
take a fresh look at vulnerability as an overlapping and mutually
reinforcing set of risks.
It
explores structural vulnerabilities - those that have persisted and
compounded over time as a result of discrimination and institutional
failings, hurting groups such as the poor, women, migrants, people
living with disabilities, indigenous groups and older people. For
instance, 80 percent of the world's elderly lack social protection, with
large numbers of older people also poor and disabled.
The
Report also introduces the idea of life cycle vulnerabilities, the
sensitive points in life where shocks can have greater impact. They
include the first 1,000 days of life, and the transitions from school to
work, and from work to retirement.
"Capabilities accumulate over an individual's lifetime and have to be nurtured and maintained; otherwise they can stagnate and even decline," it warns. "Life capabilities are affected by investments made in preceding stages of life, and there can be long-term consequences of exposure to short-term shocks."
For example, in one study cited by the Report, poor children in Ecuador were shown to be already at a vocabulary disadvantage by the age of six.
Timely interventions-such as investments in early childhood development-are therefore critical, the Report states.
"Capabilities accumulate over an individual's lifetime and have to be nurtured and maintained; otherwise they can stagnate and even decline," it warns. "Life capabilities are affected by investments made in preceding stages of life, and there can be long-term consequences of exposure to short-term shocks."
For example, in one study cited by the Report, poor children in Ecuador were shown to be already at a vocabulary disadvantage by the age of six.
Timely interventions-such as investments in early childhood development-are therefore critical, the Report states.
Download the Report:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/2014-report/download
