UNITED NATIONS - Out of 189 countries included in UN’s 2019 Human Development Index (HDI), Pakistan stands at 152nd position. The ranking of a country is measured by combining indicators of life expectancy, educational attainment and income. The HDI forms part of the Human Development Report (HDR) 2019, a flagship study produced annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which was released here on Monday.

The report is 29th in a series which began in 1990. The first UNDP Human Development Report (HDR) was prepared and launched under the leadership of the late Dr Mahbubul Haq, a former Pakistan finance minister.

As far as other South Asian countries are concerned, India has been ranked at 129th position on the index; Bangladesh at 135th; Sri Lanka at 71th; Maldives at 104th; Nepal at 147th, and Bhutan at 134th. During the period, Pakistan’s HDI value was 0.560; life expectancy 67.1 years; average years of schooling 5.2 years and gross national income per capita $5,190.

Oil-rich Norway, Switzerland, Ireland, Germany and Hong Kong (China) lead the ranking, while Niger, the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan and Burundi have the lowest scores in the HDI’s measurement of national achievements in health, education and income. This year’s Human Development Report, which reviews the performance of the countries in the year 2018, is titled: “Beyond income, beyond averages, beyond today: Inequalities in Human Development in the 21st Century.”

Despite global progress in tackling poverty, hunger and disease, the report says, “A new generation of inequalities’ indicates that many societies are not working as they should.” It further states that just as the gap in basic living standards is narrowing for millions of people, inequalities surrounding education and around technology and climate change have sparked demonstrations across the globe.

Left unchecked, they could trigger a `new great divergence’ in society of the kind not seen since the Industrial Revolution, according to the report. “This Human Development Report sets out how systemic inequalities are deeply damaging our society and why,” Achim Steiner, the UNDP Administrator, said, “Inequality is not just about how much someone earns compared to their neighbour. It is about the unequal distribution of wealth and power: the entrenched social and political norms that are bringing people onto the streets today, and the triggers that will do so in the future unless something changes. Recognizing the real face of inequality is a first step; what happens next is a choice that each leader must make.”

Steiner added crucially that `inequality is not beyond solutions’. The human development approach views richness’ as going beyond the idea that economic growth will automatically lead to development and wellbeing. It focuses on people, and their opportunities and choices. UNDP said it’s research shows that in 2018, 20 percent of human development progress was lost due to the unequal distribution of education, health and living standards.

“What used to be `nice-to-haves’, like going to university or access to broadband, are increasingly important for success, but left only with the basics, people find the rungs knocked out of their ladder to the future,” said Pedro Conceicao, Director of the HDR Office at UNDP.

The report recommends revamped policies in the areas of education, productivity and public spending.

As inequality begins even before birth and can accumulate through adulthood, investing in young children’s learning, health and nutrition is key.

These investments must continue throughout life as they have an impact on earnings and productivity in the labour market.

UNDP said it observed that countries with a more productive workforce generally had a lower concentration of wealth at the top, which was enabled by policies that supported stronger unions, the right to a minimum wage, social protection and which bring more women into the workplace.

The report further highlights the role of taxation, which cannot be looked at on its own. Rather, fair taxation should lie behind policies that include greater public spending on health, education and greener energy alternatives.

As the UNDP chief noted, `Different triggers are bringing people onto the

streets -- the cost of a train ticket, the price of petrol, demands for political

freedoms, the pursuit of fairness and justice. This is the new face of inequality’.

Looking to the future, the report asks how inequality might be viewed years down the line, especially in relation to “two seismic shifts” that will shape the next century.

Those are the climate crisis, and the progress of the technological transformation that includes renewables and energy efficiency, digital finance and digital health solutions.

The report calls for opportunities to be “seized quickly and shared broadly”.