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The 2023/24 Human Development Report (HDR), entitled ‘Breaking the impasse: Rethinking cooperation in a polarized world’, reveals worrying trends. It is a recovery in the global Human Development Index (HDI), a summary indicator that reflects a country’s gross national product. GNI, education and life expectancy are partial, incomplete and unequal.

After declining sharply in 2020 and 2021, the HDI is projected to reach an all-time high in 2023. However, this progress has been highly uneven. While rich countries are experiencing record levels of human development, half of the world’s poorest countries remain below their pre-crisis level of progress.

After an unprecedented decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic and economic disruption, the Asia-Pacific HDI recovered to pre-pandemic values ​​in 2022, but this should not be interpreted as a complete recovery. The latest HDI values ​​remain well below what they would have been without the crisis. Fourteen countries remain below 2019 levels, with some countries such as Afghanistan, Timor-Leste and Samoa showing alarming declines in HDI.

East Asia has been particularly successful in minimizing disruption from the pandemic, with HDI data showing the region has seen few sudden changes. Other subregions showed significant variation. South Asia recovered significantly in 2022, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Southeast Asia remains below pre-pandemic HDI levels. Although the Pacific region has rebounded above 2019 values, health and education remain critical concerns.

In the longer term, the Asia-Pacific region continues to emerge as the fastest growing region of human development. Between 1990 and 2022, the HDI increased by 20 percentage points. This is the highest growth rate in the world.

However, inequality within countries remains a worrying trend. South Asia’s HDI loss due to inequality is the highest in the world (after sub-Saharan Africa), followed by the Pacific.

Global inequality is further exacerbated by significant economic concentration. As mentioned in the report, almost 40% of the world’s trade in goods is concentrated in three or fewer countries. And in 2021, the market capitalization of each of the world’s three largest technology companies exceeded the gross domestic product (GDP) of more than 90% of countries that year.

“The widening human development gap revealed in the report shows that a two-decade trend of steadily reducing inequality between rich and poor countries is now reversing. Despite our societies being deeply interconnected, we are not enough. We must leverage our interdependencies and capacities to address our common existential challenges and ensure that people’s aspirations are met. We must make sure that we are able to meet the needs of the world,” said Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Development Programme. “This traffic congestion is taking a huge human toll. The failure of collective action to drive action against climate change, digitalization, poverty and inequality is not only hindering human development, it is polarizing and further undermines trust in people and institutions around the world.”

The report argues that promoting international collective action is being hampered by a new “democracy paradox”. While 9 out of 10 people around the world support democracy, more than half of global survey respondents believe that leadership ignores the basic rules of democracy and has the potential to undermine it. has expressed support for the According to the data analyzed in the report, the process. Half of people surveyed around the world report having no or limited control over their lives, and more than two-thirds believe they have little influence over government decisions. I don’t think so.

Political polarization is also having a global impact and is a growing concern. Together with a sense of helplessness, this is fostering an inward-looking policy approach that is completely at odds with the international cooperation needed to address urgent challenges such as decarbonising the economy, the misuse of digital technologies and conflict, the report says. the authors state. This comes as record-breaking temperatures in 2023 highlight the immediate need for concerted action to address the climate crisis, and rapidly evolving new This is particularly worrying given the emergence of artificial intelligence as a new technological frontier. .

The report emphasizes that deglobalization is neither feasible nor realistic in today’s world, where economic interdependence remains high. The report notes that no region is close to self-sufficiency, as each region relies on imports of at least 25 percent of at least one major type of goods and services from other regions.

“In an increasingly polarized and divided world, failing to invest in each other poses a serious threat to our well-being and security. A protectionist approach will prevent pandemic prevention, climate change, digital regulation, etc. , cannot address the complex and interconnected challenges we face,” Steiner added. “Our problems are complex and require equally interconnected solutions. By adopting an opportunity-driven agenda that emphasizes the benefits of the energy transition and artificial intelligence in human development, we We have a chance to break out of the current impasse and rekindle our commitment to a common future.”

The report highlights how global interdependence is being reconfigured and calls for building a new generation of global public goods. The report recommends four areas for immediate action.

• A global public good for climate stability as we face the unprecedented challenges of the Anthropocene.

• Digital global public goods. Enhancing equity in the use of new technologies for equitable human development.

• New and expanded financial mechanisms, including new avenues for international cooperation to complement humanitarian assistance and traditional development assistance to low-income countries.and

• Reduce political polarization through new approaches to governance that focus on elevating people’s voices in deliberations and tackling misinformation.

In this context, the report argues, multilateralism plays a fundamental role. This is because bilateral engagement cannot address the irreducibly global nature of the provision of global public goods.

Other important data from the report

– In 2023, all 38 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) achieved higher Human Development Index (HDI) scores compared to 2019 levels.

– Of the 35 least developed countries (LDCs) that experienced a decline in HDI in 2020 and/or 2021, more than half (18 countries) have yet to recover to 2019 human development levels.

– All developing regions have not achieved the HDI levels expected based on pre-2019 trends. These regions appear to be moving toward lower HDI trajectories, indicating the potential for permanent setbacks in future human development progress.

– Afghanistan and Ukraine highlight the impact of human development losses. Afghanistan’s HDI has fallen in an astonishing 10 years, and Ukraine’s HDI has fallen to its lowest level since 2004.

– The report cites research showing that countries with populist governments have lower GDP growth rates. We find that 15 years after a populist government takes office, GDP per capita is 10% lower than in the non-populist regime scenario.

UNDP is the leading United Nations agency fighting to end poverty, inequality and the injustices of climate change. Working with an extensive network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help countries build integrated and lasting solutions for people and the planet.

The mission of the Human Development Reporting Office (HDRO) is to advance human development. Our goal is to contribute to expanding opportunity, choice and freedom. The Bureau works toward this goal by promoting innovative new ideas, advocating for practical policy changes, and constructively challenging policies and approaches that constrain human development. The office works with others to achieve change through writing and research, data analysis and presentations, support for national and regional analyses, and outreach and advocacy.