Cuba Bumped from Human Development Index over Missing Data
By Thalif Deen -UNITED NATIONS, 20 January 2011.
Source: IPS News.
When the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) formulates its annual Human Development Index (HDI), it uses several socioeconomic indicators - including life expectancy, gross national income and literacy - to rank member states and also measure quality of life in these countries.
But a nation widely singled out for its positive achievements in education, health care and life expectancy has been left out of the index, complains Ambassador Pedro Nunez Mosquera, Cuba's permanent representative to the United Nations.
"My country has disappeared, as if it did not exist any longer," he told a closed-door meeting of the 130-member Group of 77 (G-77) developing countries early this week. The ambassador has lodged a protest over the omission of his country from the HDI 2010 released late last year and plans to raise the issue at the next meeting of the UNDP's executive board later this month.
Addressing delegates at an ambassadorial meeting of the G- 77, the largest single economic grouping at the United Nations, the Cuban envoy said the infant mortality rate in Cuba is 5.2 per thousand [see latest figures here - RATB] and illiteracy has been eradicated.
But still, Cuba does not exist in the eyes of those who compile the HDI, he told delegates Tuesday. When Cuba inquired about this omission, he said, he was told his country was left out for "technical reasons".
Cuba was told there are "problems" in measuring Cuba's gross national income in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP) which is usually compiled by the World Bank.
"But because of the (49-year-old U.S.) blockade, the World Bank has excluded Cuba. I think this is something we have to deplore," he said.
Asked for a response, William Orme of the UNDP's Human Development Report Office told IPS that, "No one wants Cuba in the HDI more than we do."
"The index is our flagship product, and the goal is always for maximum inclusion," he said. Explaining the lapse, Orme said Cuba was omitted from the 2010 HDI due to the absence of current internationally reported data for one of the three required indicators: health, education and income (which are used to calculate the composite HDI value, which in turn determines a country's HDI ranking.)
The missing indicator for Cuba was for income, he said, pointing out that there is no internationally reported figure for Cuba's Gross National Income adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (GNI-PPP): the figure used for all countries for the income component of the HDI, and which is normally provided by the World Bank and/or the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Unofficial estimates of GNI-PPP, Orme said, were considered unreliable by the statisticians and economists at the Human Development Report Office, and the U.N. Statistical Commission has advised against the use of such imputed - as opposed to officially reported - figures as human development indicators for HDI calculation purposes. Ambassador Mosquera said "hopefully the human development office which works under the aegis of UNDP but is independent should abide by (the relevant) resolution of the General Assembly which states they should consult with member states."
"Cuba was not consulted. Cuba was placed on the index and then disappeared due to a technical error," he added.
In all, 169 countries and territories were included in the 2010 HDI. But 25 U.N. member states and U.N.-recognised territories, including Bhutan, Samoa, Tuvalu, and Palau, were not included, due to various data gaps. Of those, 13, including Cuba, had been included in the 2009 HDI.
Cuba's life expectancy is 79 years, with an average of 17.7 for "expected years of schooling", according to some of the figures published in the 2010 HD report. In comparison, the life expectancy in the United States (ranked fourth in the HDI) is 79.6 and expected years of schooling 15.7.
Cuba is now and has long been one of the highest achievers in health and education, the two non-income categories of human development, as discussed in a newly published article by HDR research director Francisco Rodriguez on the HDR website feature 'Let's Talk HD.'
The HDI is an integral part of the annual Human Development Report commissioned by UNDP and which, according to UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, "relies heavily on knowledge and insights from sister U.N. agencies, national governments and hundreds of scholars from around the world."
In the 2010 report, which also commemorates the 20th anniversary of the HDR, Clark says "UNDP can take appropriate pride in its backing of this intellectually independent and innovative report for the past two decades."
But she admits the HDRs "have never been a UNDP product alone", pointing out that "we can and should continue to be guided by the HDRs values and findings for the next 20 years - and beyond."
The countries with "very high human development" in 2010 include Norway, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Ireland.
In explaining it further, Orme told IPS the HDR strives every year to include as many countries as possible in its annual Index and "greatly regrets Cuba's absence from the list this year, as UNDP has expressed to Cuba's U.N. representatives". UNDP is not itself a source or generator of national or international income data or other human development statistics, however.
The hope and expectation is that Cuba can once again be included in the HDI once new statistical reporting on income from the Cuban government is obtained by the relevant international institutions in the field, Orme said.
Showing posts with label life expectancy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life expectancy. Show all posts
Sunday, 23 January 2011
Tuesday, 12 January 2010
Cuba tops the class in UN development report
The United Nations Development Program's Human Development Report 2009 was released on October 5. It again highlighted some of Cuba’s extraordinary achievements.
The report is the most commonly referenced source on development statistics and measures. It compares the development status and progress in every country.
Among this year’s wide-ranging statistics, the report provides a summary indicator of people’s well-being using the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI combines measures of life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita for 182 countries and territories.
The results for Cuba, an impoverished small island subjected to a crippling economic blockade from the United States, stand out, primarily in the areas of the health and education of its people.
Cuba’s education index is equal highest in the world, along with Australia, Finland, Denmark and New Zealand. Cuba’s education index is 0.993 of a possible score of 1.
Its adult literacy rate is 99.8% and school enrolments are 100%. Public expenditure on education in Cuba is 14.2% of total government expenditure. This is higher than Australia (13.3%) and the US (13.7%).
Cuba tops the world in the ratio of female to male enrolment in primary, secondary and tertiary education, at 121%.
Cuba’s life expectancy is 78.5 years, the highest along with Chile in Latin America and the Caribbean. It compares favourably with Australia (81.4 years) and the US (79.1 years).
While Cuba ranks at or near the top in health and education measures, its low GDP per capita, the third element of the HDI, reduces its HDI score. With GDP included, the report ranks Cuba 51st overall in the overall HDR ranking.
Cuba is ranked 95th in the world in GDP per capita. The gap between its low GDP ranking and much higher overall HDI ranking reveals its human development is significantly higher than its GDP per capita might indicate.
The difference between these two rankings can be seen as a measure of the efficiency of converting a nation’s income into the health and education of its people. Cuba heads the world in this category, by a wide margin.
For example, Mexico has more than double Cuba’s GDP, but has a lower HDI. The US is ranked nine in GDP per capita but falls to 13 in HDI ranking, demonstrating a relatively poor conversion of its wealth into health and education for its people.
“Gender empowerment measure” is another indicator listed in the report. One element of this indicator is the percentage of seats held by women in parliament.
In Cuba, 43% of parliamentary seats are held by women, the third-highest level in the world after Rwanda (51%) and Sweden (47%).
In Australia, some 30% of seats in parliament are held by women and the US figure is only 17%.
Since 2005, Azerbaijan, Cuba and Venezuela have improved their HDI more than any other countries. Venezuela was one of the few countries that significantly bettered its HDI ranking since last year, jumping four places from 62 to 58.
Venezuela has achieved a relatively rapid rise of 5.2% in its HDI between 2000 to 2007, compared to a 4.8% increase in its HDI over the previous 20 years.
Inequality is another key development indicator. Australia, which ranked second in human development, is one of the most unequal countries in the so called developed world.
The report said the income of the richest 10% of the Australian population is 12.5 times the income of the poorest 10%. Japan, by contrast, has a ratio of 4.5, Norway 6.1 and Sweden 6.2.
Of the 20 top-ranking countries in this year’s HDI list, only the US, with an inequality ratio of 15.9, has greater inequality than Australia.
Insufficient data was available to measure Cuba’s equality for the report. However, the only such figures that have been recorded for Cuba indicate a ratio between the top 10% and the bottom 10% at around four. Again, this would be close to the best in the world.
The report does not attempt to analyse why some countries do better than others in improving the lives of their people. However, its statistics paint a clear picture.
A government, like in the US and Australia, that makes quality health care and education a privilege for a few will create and exacerbate inequalities.
A government like Cuba’s, which provides free education and health care for everyone, will make gains for all.
Over the 50 years of Cuba’s socialist revolution, in spite of the ongoing economic blockade and with meagre resources, Cuba has achieved health and education standards for its people that are the envy of the world.
By Jenny Francis
The report is the most commonly referenced source on development statistics and measures. It compares the development status and progress in every country.
Among this year’s wide-ranging statistics, the report provides a summary indicator of people’s well-being using the Human Development Index (HDI). The HDI combines measures of life expectancy, literacy, school enrolment and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita for 182 countries and territories.
The results for Cuba, an impoverished small island subjected to a crippling economic blockade from the United States, stand out, primarily in the areas of the health and education of its people.
Cuba’s education index is equal highest in the world, along with Australia, Finland, Denmark and New Zealand. Cuba’s education index is 0.993 of a possible score of 1.
Its adult literacy rate is 99.8% and school enrolments are 100%. Public expenditure on education in Cuba is 14.2% of total government expenditure. This is higher than Australia (13.3%) and the US (13.7%).
Cuba tops the world in the ratio of female to male enrolment in primary, secondary and tertiary education, at 121%.
Cuba’s life expectancy is 78.5 years, the highest along with Chile in Latin America and the Caribbean. It compares favourably with Australia (81.4 years) and the US (79.1 years).
While Cuba ranks at or near the top in health and education measures, its low GDP per capita, the third element of the HDI, reduces its HDI score. With GDP included, the report ranks Cuba 51st overall in the overall HDR ranking.
Cuba is ranked 95th in the world in GDP per capita. The gap between its low GDP ranking and much higher overall HDI ranking reveals its human development is significantly higher than its GDP per capita might indicate.
The difference between these two rankings can be seen as a measure of the efficiency of converting a nation’s income into the health and education of its people. Cuba heads the world in this category, by a wide margin.
For example, Mexico has more than double Cuba’s GDP, but has a lower HDI. The US is ranked nine in GDP per capita but falls to 13 in HDI ranking, demonstrating a relatively poor conversion of its wealth into health and education for its people.
“Gender empowerment measure” is another indicator listed in the report. One element of this indicator is the percentage of seats held by women in parliament.
In Cuba, 43% of parliamentary seats are held by women, the third-highest level in the world after Rwanda (51%) and Sweden (47%).
In Australia, some 30% of seats in parliament are held by women and the US figure is only 17%.
Since 2005, Azerbaijan, Cuba and Venezuela have improved their HDI more than any other countries. Venezuela was one of the few countries that significantly bettered its HDI ranking since last year, jumping four places from 62 to 58.
Venezuela has achieved a relatively rapid rise of 5.2% in its HDI between 2000 to 2007, compared to a 4.8% increase in its HDI over the previous 20 years.
Inequality is another key development indicator. Australia, which ranked second in human development, is one of the most unequal countries in the so called developed world.
The report said the income of the richest 10% of the Australian population is 12.5 times the income of the poorest 10%. Japan, by contrast, has a ratio of 4.5, Norway 6.1 and Sweden 6.2.
Of the 20 top-ranking countries in this year’s HDI list, only the US, with an inequality ratio of 15.9, has greater inequality than Australia.
Insufficient data was available to measure Cuba’s equality for the report. However, the only such figures that have been recorded for Cuba indicate a ratio between the top 10% and the bottom 10% at around four. Again, this would be close to the best in the world.
The report does not attempt to analyse why some countries do better than others in improving the lives of their people. However, its statistics paint a clear picture.
A government, like in the US and Australia, that makes quality health care and education a privilege for a few will create and exacerbate inequalities.
A government like Cuba’s, which provides free education and health care for everyone, will make gains for all.
Over the 50 years of Cuba’s socialist revolution, in spite of the ongoing economic blockade and with meagre resources, Cuba has achieved health and education standards for its people that are the envy of the world.
By Jenny Francis
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)