Bangladesh moves up 4 notches in HDI

Norway has topped the list while Niger sat at the bottom, said the report

Bangladesh has moved up four notches 187 countries in the world in terms of human development, according to the annual Human Development Report of UNDP.

In 2014 index, the country’s position is 142 which was 146 in 2013.

According to the 2014 report, although Bangladesh showed significant improvement in some sectors, like maternal and child health and gender equality, it still lags behind India which secured 135th position in the index.

Among the other South Asian countries, Bhutan, Sri Lank, Maldives, Pakistan, Myanmar, Nepal and Afghanistan have respectively secured 73rd, 103rd, 136th, 146th, 150th, 145th and 169th.

Norway has topped the list while Niger secured the last position, said the report.

Human Development Report 2014 has released worldwide on Thursday, showed Bangladesh was among those countries, which have been making rapid progress in human development.

The Human Development Report Office (HDRO) has launched the 2014 Human Development Report “Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerability and Building Resilience” in Tokyo, Japan.

The report stated: “Despite overall gains in human development, progress in all regions decelerated over 2008–2013 compared to 2000–2008. In the Arab States, Asia and the Pacific region, and Latin America and the Caribbean, average annual growth rate in HDI dropped by about half when comparing these periods.”

“South Asia has the largest multidimensionally poor population, with more than 800 million poor and over 270 million near-poor – that is, more than 71% of its population. This makes the region home to 56% of the world’s poor and more than 35% of the world’s near-poor.”

The Report also introduces the idea of life cycle vulnerabilities, the sensitive points in life where shocks can have greater impact. They include the first 1,000 days of life, and the transitions from school to work, and from work to retirement.

Source: Dhaka Tribune