Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre

In the last analysis, human security means a child who did not die, a disease that did not spread, an ethnic tension that did not explode, a dissident who was not silenced, a human spirit that was not crushed.

This video tells the story of the Human Development Report, its origin, its concepts and the reasons for its emergence in 1990. It discusses the Human Development Index (HDI) and key approaches to the measurement of development that go well beyond national incomes and the sheer size of national economies. Mixing interview footage and images from the field, this video is a great introduction to the concept of Human Development.



Contains interviews with:

■ Amartya Sen, 1998 Nobel Laureate Economics
■ Mahbub ul Haq, Founder of the the HDR
■I nge Kaul, Director of the HDR 1990-1994
■ Kevin Watkins, Director of the HDR 2005-2007
■ His Majesty King Abdullah II, Royal Hashemite of the Kingdom of Jordan
■ Sir Richard Jolly, Special Advisor to the HDR 1995-2000
■ Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, Director of the HDR 1995-2004
■ Benjamin Mkapa, President of the United Republic of Tanzania 1995-2005

Key facts on the MDGs
•Significant progress since 1990:
◦280 million fewer people living in extreme poverty
◦40 million more children in school
◦4 million more children survive each year
◦4 million people now receive HIV/AIDS treatment in developing countries
•Formidable challenges ahead:
◦1 billion people in extreme poverty
◦72 million children not in school
◦9 million children die each year
◦360,000 women die from treatable complications of pregnancy and birth
◦Over 33 million people infected with HIV/AIDS, 2 million die each year
◦Half of the developing world lacks sanitation


Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
•Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day
•Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people
•Halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

Achieve universal primary education
•Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling

Promote gender equality and empower women
•Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and in all levels of education no later than 2015

Reduce child mortality
•Reduce by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate

Improve maternal health
•Reduce by three-quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio
•Achieve universal access to reproductive health

Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
•Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
•Achieve, by 2010, universal access to treatment for HIV/AIDS for all those who need it
•Have halted by 2015 and begun to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases

Ensure environmental sustainability
•Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs and reverse the loss of environmental resources
•Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss
•Halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation
•Have achieved by 2020 a significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers

Develop a global partnership for development
•Address the special needs of least developed countries, landlocked countries and small island developing states
•Develop further an open, rule-based, predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system
•Deal comprehensively with developing countries' debt
•In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries
•In cooperation with the private sector, make available benefits of new technologies, especially information and communications

Produced by Nena Terrell and Directed/Written by Gill Fickling for the Human Development Report Office (HDRO) and UNDP TV.© 2005

People First : Human Development Reports [HQ] This video tells the story of the Human Development Report, its origin, its concepts and the reasons for its emergence in 1990. It discusses the Human Develo...