UNDP unveils 2011 Human Development Report

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on November 10 launched the 2011 Human Development Report (HDR) in which Guyana was ranked at 117 out of 187 countries at its Brickdam office.

The report themed “Sustainability and equity: A better future for all” was deemed critical to the country’s empowerment policies. Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh who jointly launched the report said, “We in Guyana have placed issues of sustainability and equity at the very centre of our own domestic policy-making architecture and today every dimension of the policies that we implement, whether they relate to development in the broadest possible sense, macroeconomic policy framework, or investments in various sectors, issues of sustainability and equity features on the centre of our agenda.”

Singh stated that reports like the HDR have proven to be very useful to the administration in the crafting of policies noting at the same time that government is pleased with the notable improvements over the years. He stressed that there is a strong nexus between equity and sustainability and it is important from both a domestic and global perspective. The finance minister stated that while examining developmental issues, they must be examined in light of short, long and medium term implications to the nation.

Government he said has an obligation to focus on long-term implications and reactions. This, he said, Guyana has done proudly. Singh noted that development must be achieved collaboratively and reports of this nature are indicative of that view. He spoke of the challenge of climate change to the region and more particularly Guyana.

“We in the Caribbean recognise this and feel the impacts perhaps even more than most, and the small islands of sister Caricom countries would argue that they have made the smallest possible contribution to the global environmental degradation that exists today, yet they face the most existential threat… just one or two inches of rise in the sea level could literally obliterate the very existence of our countries,” he said.

The finance minister added that while Guyana faces a serious threat by climate change, it continues to make contributions.

“While Guyana faces extreme vulnerability to the effects of climate change, it has and continues to make, extraordinary contributions to the global fight against climate change through the preservation of its standing forests. Apart from climate change, the global economic crisis is another phenomenon through which this interconnectivity among economies has been manifested.

“The concept of sustainability in its broadest of meanings, juxtaposed with the concept of equity, holds many important lessons… we believe and practice the fact that sustainability is everybody’s responsibility as it has implications for everyone who lives in the country,” the minister highlighted.

Moreover, sustainability he said does not exist without equity and as such, he assured that the current administration is committed to ensuring that long-term perspective is within its policy framework and that development and progress for all remain central.

The HDR recognises explicitly in its texts, Guyana’s performance and strong stance as it relates to the environmental indicators and to environmental rights of its Indigenous peoples. That, Dr Singh said, comes as no surprise as Guyana has managed to have vast standing forest resources as it is a result of conscious policy choices made by the administration over the last few years to ensure that sustainability exists.

Meanwhile, UNDP officer-in-charge, Carlos del Castillo assured that the HDR report is an independent publication recognised as an intellectual exercise and tool for raising awareness on human development around the world. He said all inequalities are to be deemed unjust.

Deputy Resident representative Chisa Mikami also delivered a presentation on information on Guyana’s progress. She said progress in human development is threatened by environment and inequality trends. However, Mikami noted that Guyana’s human development index has made strides during the past two decades in its human development.