Human Development: 7 European countries among top 10

21 March 2017 - Seven European countries are among the ten countries that top the Human Development Index list, which was published in Stockholm yesterday.

Norway is in first place, followed by Switzerland, Australia, Germany and  Denmark. The Index is a part of UNDP´s annual Human Development Report, this year entitled ‘Human Development for Everyone’.

Globally the main findings of the report are that although average human development improved significantly across all regions from 1990 to 2015, one in three people worldwide continue to live on the lower end of the scale of human development, as measured by the Human Development Index.

A quarter-century of impressive human development progress continues to leave many people behind, with systemic, often unmeasured, barriers to catching up. A stronger focus on those excluded and on actions to dismantle these barriers is urgently needed to ensure sustainable human development for all.

“Leaving no one behind needs to become the way we operate as a global community. In order to overcome the barriers that hamper both human development and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, inclusiveness must guide policy choices,” said Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, speaking at the launch of the report alongside UNDP Administrator Helen Clark and the report’s lead author and Director of the Human Development Report Office, Selim Jahan.

“The world has come a long way in rolling back extreme poverty, in improving access to education, health and sanitation, and in expanding possibilities for women and girls,” said Helen Clark. “But those gains are a prelude to the next, possibly tougher challenge, to ensure the benefits of global progress reach everyone.”