Inequality drags down Nepal’s human dev ranking
Despite making progress in the human development index, Nepal has slid to the 157th position in human development ranking. The Human Development Report-2011 titled ‘Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All’ shows Nepal just above Afghanistan in South Asia.
However, Nepal’s human development index has improved over the year from 0.428 in 2010 to 0.458 in 2011, according to the report. Nepal was in the 138th position out of the 169 countries ranked in the Human Development Report-2010.
In South Asia, Sri Lanka topped the list, while Norway topped it globally in the report prepared by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and released here on Friday.
The report has also ranked the countries by adjusting the existing inequalities in areas of access to health, education and income inequality. Even in terms of inequality-adjusted ranking, Nepal stands at the bottom in South Asia, thanks to the country’s poor income inequality situation. Nepal has been ranked 111th among the 134 countries. According to the report, Nepal is one of the most “unequal” countries in terms of income in South Asia with the country’s income gini coefficient, a measure of income inequality, staying at 47.3.
Former vice-chairman of National Planning Commission (NPC) Jagadish Chandra Pokharel said that despite the relatively better position on access to education and health, income equality hit Nepal in the adjusted ranking. Bangladesh, which has the slightest income inequality in South Asia, has moved ahead of Pakisatan in the equality-adjusted ranking.
The report said health and education disparities are narrowing, but income inequality is worsening globally with the average country level income inequality increasing by around 20 percent over 1990-2005.
NPC Vice-chairman Dipendra Bahadur Kshetry, who launched the report, said the inequality shows Nepal should emphasise on inclusion and equality while focusing on economic growth. With climate change posing environmental threats, the report says environmental challenges have a negative impact on poor households.
Posted on: 2011-11-05 09:18
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