ASTANA (TCA) — Global, Regional, and National Human Development Reports for 2016 have been presented at Nazarbayev University in Astana, bringing together the representatives of Kazakhstan’s Parliament, key ministries and departments, the academia and civil society. The reports were presented by the experts from the UN Headquarters and from the Istanbul Regional Hub of the United Nations Development Programme. In addition, Ms. Cihan Sultanoglu, the Commissioner-General for EXPO-2017, Assistant Secretary General, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and CIS participated in the presentation, UNDP in Kazakhstan said on June 8.
According to the report, the cornerstone of the concept of human development is not the growth of GNP (Gross National Product), but rather the importance of opportunities for the development of people and their well-being. In this regard, another indicator – the Human Development Index (HDI) – was designed in contrast to GNP.
According to experts, the Human Development Index is a complex indicator that characterizes human development in different countries and regions of the world. The index is calculated by UNDP experts on an annual basis to track and measure changes in the living standards between countries by comparing such indicators as life expectancy, the level of education, and the standard of living.
“All three of these reports focus on ensuring that the benefits of human development are fairly distributed, and that no one is left behind. Such a focus is critically important, both in the world in general, and in upper middle-income countries like Kazakhstan,” said Ms. Cihan Sultanoglu.
Like in 2015 Kazakhstan’s HDI in 2016 shows that the country is ranked 56th and grouped as a country with high human development status. In comparison to 2015, there is positive dynamics in some indicators: life expectancy has increased to 69.6 years (69.4 years in 2015), the average number of years spent on education has risen to 11.7 years (11.4 years in 2015), and Gross National Income per capita has reached US $22.093 (US $20.876 in 2015).
In the light of growing significance of the concept of human development, the reports cover increasingly important areas of sustainability, such as inequality and empowerment, in its broader sense. According to experts, Human Development Index allows to define the direction of political reforms and it could become an effective instrument for policymakers.
