- Vietnam makes big leap in human development: UNDP
- UNDP: Vietnam achieves good progress in human development and poverty reduction
- Vietnam’s human development index jumps two places to 115th
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| UNDP: Vietnam achieves good progress in human development and poverty reduction. |
Vietnam has made good progress in human development and has been listed in group of countries with high Human Development Index (HDI) according to the “Human Development Report 2020: The next frontier - Human development and the Anthropocene” report released on Dec. 14 by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), ranking economies based on life expectancy, education, per capita income, gender gap, and poverty.
The Anthropocene — or The Age of Humans — refers to the new geological age we are living in where for the first time instead of the planet shaping humans, humans are shaping the planet.
According to the report, the COVID-19 pandemic is the latest crisis facing the world, but unless humans release their grip on nature, it won’t be the last. Therefore, the report introduces a new experimental index on human progress that takes into account countries’ carbon dioxide emissions and material footprint - planetary-pressures adjusted HDI.
The report revealed that, Vietnam performs well in terms of forest coverage and response to disasters, but is among the bottom third of countries in terms of carbon emissions per unit of GDP, land degradation (31 per cent of the total land area), and use of fertiliser nutrients per hectare of cropland, it said.
The next frontier for human development will require working with and not against nature, while transforming social norms, values, and government and financial incentives, the report argues. Easing planetary pressures in a way that enables all people to flourish in this new age requires dismantling the gross imbalances of power and opportunity that stand in the way of transformation.
UNDP Permanent Representative in Vietnam, Caitlin Wiesen, commended Vietnam for having firmly embarked on people-centered development and equality in its current socio-economic development strategies and plans. She said the progress paved the way for further and more rapid growth and pledged the UNDP’s cooperation with Vietnam in its development pathway with respect to coexistence between people and the planet.
She said the country loses 5.7 per cent of its HDI, due to carbon dioxide emissions and material consumption per capita. "Vietnam’s High Human Development is a remarkable achievement and also creates opportunities for greater and more rapid progress in the coming development period", she added.
“The country is at a critical juncture as it designs its next Socio-Economic Development Strategy, with decisions made today determining whether it will continue on it current path of growth and low inequality, and whether it can simultaneously shift to reducing pressure on the planet to enhance the harmony of the people and the environment,” said Wiesen.
Wiesen also praised Vietnam as the country performed well in terms of gender equality. Vietnam is in the highest among five groups according to the Gender Development Index (with a value of 0.997). The country ranks 65 out of 162 countries on the Gender Inequality Index.
