Regression
The latest report from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) highlighted that, for the first time in three decades, since the HDI was measured, the index has declined globally for two consecutive years, falling to 73 out of 100 points.
The UNDP points out that this unprecedented decrease is explained by the crises that the world has been facing in recent years: the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the climate crisis and the polarization of society.
The report also highlights that while some countries are beginning to recover lost ground, it is a partial and uneven process that widens global gaps, particularly in Latin America, the Caribbean, South Asia, and Africa.
«There are no certainties, simply a difficult question whose best answer is to promote human development to unleash the creative and cooperative capacities that are so inherently human,» the report highlights.
In this sense, the UNDP recommends that nations apply policies aimed at promoting:
- Investment: ranging from the creation and application of renewable energy to preparing to deal with future crises such as pandemics and extreme natural hazards.
- Investment in universal basic services: to protect the population from contingencies that became evident, for example, in the context of Covid-19.
- Innovation: from technological and economic to cultural, for a better response to the challenges that arise in the future.