NEW YORK, CMC—St. Kitts-Nevis emerged as the highest-ranked Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country in the 2023-24 Human Development Report (HDR), released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Wednesday.
The UNDP report, “Breaking the Gridlock: Re-imagining Cooperation in a Polarized World,” provides a summary measure of a country’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, education, and life expectancy.
This reveals a troubling trend: the rebound in the global Human Development Index (HDI), which is projected to reach record highs in 2023 after steep declines during 2020 and 2021.
“But this progress is deeply uneven. Rich countries are experiencing record-high levels of human development while half of the world’s poorest countries remain below their pre-crisis level of progress.”
According to the report of the 193 countries surveyed, the Twin Island Federation placed 51st with an HDI index of 0.838 in 2023, a change of 0.006 percent from the 2021 figure.
Antigua and Barbuda was the next highest CARICOM country at 54 with an HDI index of 0.826, a 0.007 percent difference from its 2021 figure. The Bahamas was next at 57 with an HDI index of 0.920, a difference of 0.021 from the 2021 figures.
Trinidad and Tobago was positioned at number 60 with a HIDI index of 0.814 and a difference of 0.010, followed by Barbados, which placed 62nd, recording an HDI index of 0.809 with a difference of 0.006 percent. At the same time, Grenada 73 had an HDI index of 0.793 and a difference of 0.005 percent.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines registered an HDI index of 0.772 and a difference of 0.007 percent to place at 81st. In contrast, Guyana, with an HDI index of 0.742 and a difference of 0.021 percent, came in at number 95, followed by Dominica, at 97, with an HDI index of 0.740 and a difference of 0.003 percent.
The UNDP figures showed that St. Lucia, at 108, had an HDI index of 0.690 and a difference of 0.001 percent. Jamaica, at 115, had an HDI index of 0.706 and a difference of 0.002 percent from its 2021 figure. Belize, at 118, had an HDI index of 0.700 and a difference of 0.002 percent.
The Dutch-speaking CARICOM country of Suriname was pegged at 124 with an HDI index of 0.690 and a difference of 0.001 percent, while the French-speaking CARICOM country of Haiti was in the cellar position of regional countries, with an HDI index of 0.0552 and a difference of 0.001 percent, to be placed at 158.
Regarding Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the report notes that the region experienced the most significant drop in the HDI globally during 2020-2021.
Regarding the components of the HDI, life expectancy in the region, with a value of 73.9 years, exceeds the world average of 72 years. The area is also ahead in the expected years of schooling and average years of education but behind in gross per capita income.
The report said countries in the region must invest in social protection and resilience so that the impacts on people are manageable.
“It is essential to pay attention to how societies are built to be resilient to these shocks, where human development does not change their growth trajectory. For example, countries can recover more quickly through better social protection systems.
“In Latin America and the Caribbean, these shocks, such as the pandemic, cause the trajectory of human development not to be the same again, and groups of society are left behind and do not recover,” the report added.
In its report, the UNDP said that uneven development progress is leaving the poorest behind, exacerbating inequality, and stoking political polarization on a global scale. It warned that the result is a dangerous gridlock that must be urgently tackled through collective action.
Substantial economic concentration compounds global inequalities. As the report references, almost 40 percent of global trade in goods is concentrated in three or fewer countries, and in 2021, the market capitalization of each of the three largest tech companies in the world surpassed the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than 90 percent of countries that year.
“The widening human development gap revealed by the report shows that the two-decade trend of steadily reducing inequalities between wealthy and poor nations is now in reverse. Despite our deeply interconnected global societies, we are falling short. We must leverage our interdependence and capacities to address our shared and existential challenges and ensure people’s aspirations are met,” said Achim Steiner, head of the UN Development Programme.
“This gridlock carries a significant human toll. The failure of collective action to advance action on climate change, digitalization or poverty and inequality not only hinders human development but also worsens polarization and further erodes trust in people and institutions worldwide,” Steiner added.
The report argues that advancing international collective action is hindered by an emerging ‘democracy paradox’: while nine in 10 people worldwide endorse democracy, over half of the global survey express support for leaders who may undermine it by bypassing fundamental rules of the democratic process, according to data analyzed in the report.
Half of people surveyed worldwide report having no or limited control over their lives, and over two-thirds believe they have little influence on their government’s decisions.
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