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Liaison Newsletter > LIAISON-Canada Electronic Newsletter #4

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Human Development Report 1996: Moving from "Inequitable to Inhuman"

Warning that the gaps between rich and poor are moving "from inequitable to inhuman", the UN Development Programme released its 1996 Human Development Report in Ottawa on July 16.

For the third year in a row, the report also placed Canada at the top of its Human Development Index. The index ranks countries according to income, education, and life expectancy. The United States ranked second, followed by Japan, the Netherlands, and Norway.

In Ottawa to present the main themes of this year’s report, UNDP Assistant Administrator Normand Lauzon said the focus on Canada’s number one ranking obscures the report’s real message, which is that the growing gap between the haves and the have-nots threatens us all. Some of the key findings of this year’s report:

  • the assets of the world’s 358 billionaires now exceed the combined annual income of countries with 45 per cent of the world’s population;
  • the poorest 20 per cent of the world’s population have seen their share of global income fall to 1.4 per cent from 2.3 per cent over the past 30 years;
  • the income gap between the industrial world and the developing world has tripled over the past three decades;
  • 89 countries, representing a quarter of the world’s population, are worse off economically than they were 10 years ago.

This year’s Human Development Report also focusses specifically on the relationship between economic growth and human development. It argues that while there is no automatic link between the two, sound public policy decisions can ensure that economic growth is a powerful force for human development. The report identifies job creation as one key to ensuring that economic growth actually improves peoples lives, and suggests that governments need to make strong political commitments to full employment strategies.

The report singles out Canada as a leader in translating economic wealth into the well-being of its citizens, a point which the Hon. Pierre Pettigrew, Minister for International Cooperation, underlined in his comments at the launch. "In the present context of fiscal restraint," he said, "it requires a tremendous amount of political will, consensus and cooperation, at all levels, to continue channelling economic growth into human development through investments in education, health, and other public goods, and to ensure that the benefits of growth are equitably shared -- both here at home and in developing countries."

Speaking from a business perspective, David Stewart-Patterson of the Business Council on National Issues also agreed with report’s conclusion that human development is a necessary condition for improving economic growth. "A failure to unsure adequate opportunities for the worst-off 20 per cent in our society,” he said, “is a recipe for economic inefficiency and political turmoil down the road."

Some 175 people attended the Ottawa launch, organized by UNA-Canada in collaboration with the International Development Research Centre.