Human Development Report 2014

REPORT: Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience

This report warns that 2.2 billion people are poor or near-poor and calls for universal provision of basic social services, and stronger policies for social protection and full employment to advance and secure development progress.

Persistent vulnerability threatens human development, and unless it is systematically tackled by policies and social norms, progress will be neither equitable nor sustainable. This is the core premise of the 2014 Human Development Report: Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience.
 
According to income-based measures of poverty, 1.2 billion people live with $1.25 or less a day. However, the latest estimates of the UNDP Multidimensional Poverty Index reveal that almost 1.5 billion people in 91 developing countries are living in poverty with overlapping deprivations in health, education and living standards. And although poverty is declining overall, almost 800 million people are at risk of falling back into poverty if setbacks occur.
 
"By addressing vulnerabilities, all people may share in development progress, and human development will become increasingly equitable and sustainable," stated UNDP Administrator Helen Clark today.
 
The Report holds that as crises spread ever faster and further, it is critical to understand vulnerability in order to secure gains and sustain progress. It points to a slowdown in human development growth across all regions, as measured by the Human Development Index (HDI). It notes that threats such as financial crises, fluctuations in food prices, natural disasters and violent conflict significantly impede progress.

"Reducing both poverty and people's vulnerability to falling into poverty must be a central objective of the post-2015 agenda," the Report states. "Eliminating extreme poverty is not just about 'getting to zero'; it is also about staying there."
 
Visit UNDP to download the Report in full