Photo: Klaus Vedfelt / Getty Images.
This post is a summary of the press release published by the Human Development Report Office.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released their new Human Development Report 2023-24 titled “Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world” on 13 March 2024.
The report assesses the state of human development globally, including the Human Development Index (HDI) – “a summary measure reflecting a country’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, education, and life expectancy”. This years’ report shows that “among the 35 least developed countries (LDCs) that experienced a decline in their HDI in 2020 and/or 2021, more than half (18 countries) have not yet recovered to their human development levels of 2019” and that “all developing regions have not met their anticipated HDI levels based on the trend before 2019”. At the same time, high-income countries are recording “record-high levels of human development”.
Looking to the future, the report emphasises the role of international collective action to ensure more equal human development for all. The data analysed in the report indicates a ‘democracy paradox’ as a key obstacle to enhanced collective action: “While 9 in 10 people worldwide endorse democracy, over half of global survey respondents express support for leaders that may undermine it by bypassing fundamental rules of the democratic process”.
