CHENGDU, China, Oct. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Nation's Development Programme (UNDP) flagship publication, the Human Development Report (HDR), was presented during the International Forum on Disaster Preparedness and Risk Reduction which took place today in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. Entitled Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience, the 2014 Report provides a fresh perspective on vulnerability and proposes ways to strengthen resilience. It highlights that persistent vulnerability threatens human development, and states that unless it is systematically tackled by policies and social norms, progress will be neither equitable nor sustainable.
"The Report examines the twin concepts of vulnerability and resilience through a human development lens," said Xu Haoliang, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau of Asia Pacific of UNDP.
According to income-based measures of poverty, 1.2 billion people live on $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.
The report 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.
"Staggering rates of poverty, high inequality and frequent natural disasters and crises threaten the progress of human development in Asia and the Pacific," said Xu Haoliang. "Addressing these challenges requires a host of initiatives, including universal provision of social services and a strong system of social security benefits."
The report highlights how human development is significantly hampered by natural disasters. This has particular relevance to Asia, the world's most disaster-prone region, where in the last decade disasters took on annual average of over 65,000 lives and affected almost 220 million people.
"Not everyone enjoys the same degree of protection and preparedness, and the numbers of lives lost in disasters are not the same everywhere," Xu stressed. "These differences are not primarily due to natural conditions. Specific policies can be adopted and concrete measures can be taken that effectively reduce vulnerability, and directly build the resilience of individuals and communities to withstand shocks."
The report urges governments to commit to the universal provision of basic social services and social protection to build resilience, especially for the poor and other vulnerable groups. It argues that countries in Asia and the Pacific do not have to wait to become rich in order to provide adequate social protection or basic social services. It shows that Nordic countries, as well as countries such as Republic of Korea and Costa Rica, were able to provide universal basic social services when their per capita GDP was lower than that of India or Pakistan today.
According to the report, China's most recent HDI ranking stands at 0.719, maintaining the positive upwards trend which has been the hallmark of Chinese development since the initial ranking of 0.407 in 1980. An increase of 0.004 from last year, it highlights China's commitment to providing greater quality of life for its citizens and its increasing awareness of how sustainable development and resilience building for the vulnerable communities can contribute to improving people's lives nationally.
UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in 177 countries and territories, we offer global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations. www.undp.org.
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