New directions for accelerating PH human development
METRO MANILA – Human development in the Philippines, as in the whole Asia-Pacific Region, has been a tale of progress, disparity, and disruption. Accelerating human development amid a potentially more turbulent future requires new directions for change, says a new report from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Titled Making our Future: New Directions for Human Development in Asia and the Pacific, the 2024 Asia-Pacific Human Development Report paints a qualified picture of long-term progress, but also persistent disparity and widespread disruption, foreseeing a turbulent development landscape and urgently calling for new directions to boost human development.
The new report, prepared by the UNDP Regional Bureau for Asia-Pacific, acknowledges significant advancements in human development within the Asia-Pacific region despite a complex development environment. The report was launched in the Philippines in a forum co-organized by UNDP Philippines and the Philippine Human Development Network (PHDN).
The report utilizes UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) to assess the overall quality of life for each country and to underscore the belief that evaluating a country’s development should extend beyond economic growth, prioritizing the well-being and capabilities of its people.
Over the last three decades, the HDI of Asia-Pacific has surged by 19 percentage points – the greatest leap in the world. Rapid economic growth, increase in adult literacy rates, and increased life expectancy rates have significantly contributed to major improvements in human development in the region.
For the Philippines, its HDI score has increased from 0.598 in 1990 to 0.699 in 2021, growing over those three decades alongside the Asia-Pacific Region’s trajectory. It suffered slight declines during Covid-19, keeping it within the group of countries with medium levels of human development. The Philippines ranks 7th in the ASEAN, 16th in the Asia-Pacific Region, and 116th in the world. /