Islamabad
The Human Development Report 2014 released Wednesday by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) stresses on sustaining human progress through reducing vulnerabilities and building resilience.
 The report is released in Pakistan at a time when millions of people are affected by recent flashfloods that could have been managed through timely identification of vulnerable areas and preparation.
Besides, more than a million people are displaced within the country from North Waziristan and other parts of Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
 According to the report, Pakistan’s Human Development Index (HDI) ranking remained stagnant at 146 out of 187 countries and UN-recognised territories, whereas, in comparison to the last year, Bangladesh and India improved their rankings to 142 and 135 respectively.
 Pakistan’s HDI value for 2013 is 0.537, which is still in the low human development category.
The annual growth in HDI value has declined in Pakistan from 2 per cent in 2000-2008 to almost zero during 2008-2013.
 The report states that despite overall gains in human development, progress in all regions decelerated over 2008-2013 compared to 2000-2008.
In the last two decades, most countries have registered significant improvements in human development but the progress cannot be sustained without building resilience because vulnerabilities and impact of crises and disasters are undermining the hard won progress.
 Marc André Franche, UNDP Pakistan’s Country Director while presenting the key recommendations said the report highlighted that millions of Pakistanis were vulnerable to natural and man made disasters.
 He said, “Human growth in Pakistan has almost stagnated in the last five years. 44.2 per cent people are living in multidimensional poverty and the impact of recurrent disasters is further undermining the human development in the country.”
 At Gender Development Index, Pakistan is ranked at 145 with index value 0.750, whereas, it stands at 126 in Gender Inequality Index with value 0.563.
 Richard Montgomery, Head of the Department for International Development in Pakistan, said that the report could help inform how to build a more resilient and strengthened Pakistan that could better serve its citizens.
Abdul Qadir Baloch, Federal Minister of the Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON), reiterated the Government’s commitment to work for the rehabilitation of displaced persons saying, “We have decided to go to any extent to bring FATA at par with rest of the country and destroy the breeding ground for terrorists.” A panel of experts was invited for discussion on the vulnerabilities of people in FATA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. 
The panelists said that rights of the FATA people had been completely denied.
They discussed the possible reforms required to establish the rule of law and efficient institutions in FATA as well as their true representation in the parliament.