Rise of South ‘unprecedented in speed and scale’ IPS UN Bureau Chief Thalif Deen interviews Khalid Malid, lead author of the 2013 Human Development Report

UNITED NATIONS, ( IPS) - The world's 132 developing nations, largely part of the global South, are ascending at a pace " unprecedented in its speed and scale", according to the latest Human Development Report (HDR) released Thursday by the U. N. Development Programme ( UNDP).

And " never in history have the living conditions and prospects of so many people changed so dramatically, and so fast," says Khalid Malik, lead author of the study and director of the HDR Office.

" Without doubt, the South's three largest economies - China, India and Brazil - are driving forces in this phenomenon, due both to their sheer size and the recent speed of their overall human development progress," he tells IPS.

By 2020, the combined economic output of the three leading developing countries alone will surpass the aggregate production of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the United States, says the 203- page study.

And " much of this expansion is being driven by new trade and technology partnerships within the South itself," according to the HDR.

China has already overtaken Japan as the world's second biggest economy while lifting hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

India is re- shaping its future with new entrepreneurial creativity and social policy innovation, while Brazil is lifting its living standards through expanding international relationships and anti- poverty programmes that are being emulated worldwide, says the HDR.

Still, out of 187 countries, five of the top achievers in the Human Development Index are all from the North: Norway, Australia, the United States, the Netherlands and Germany.

The bottom five are from the developing world: Burkina Faso, Chad, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Niger.

Malik pointed out that the 2013 HDR identifies more than 40 developing countries - on all continents - that have performed much better than would have been predicted in HDI terms over the past two decades, with this progress accelerating notably in most since 2000, he added.

The study says the South is " developing at a pace unprecedented in human history, with hundreds of millions of people lifted out of poverty, and billions more poised to join a new global middle class."

Asked if this phenomenon is largely confined to just the three leading countries while most developing nations are still lagging far behind in alleviating or eradicating poverty, Malik singled out the 40 countries categorised as being among the " human development high achievers".

The 40 countries include Bangladesh, Chile, Ghana, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Viet Nam and Uganda.

Malik said the HDR looks in greater detail at 18 of the 40 countries, and their paths to human development improvement.