It is not to often that we come across data bearing good news for the nation as a whole. One such recent data is the Human Development Index 2013, released last week. Both the print and electronic media have widely reported the one step improvement in Bangladeshs HDI ranking relative to 2012. What seems to have escaped attention, or perhaps not discussed as much, is Bangladeshs graduation from Low Human Development (LHD) category to Medium Human Development (MHD) category. In 2012, Bangladesh was below Congo, Solomon Islands, Sao Tome and Kenya in the list of 45 LHD category countries. In 2013, Congo, Sao Tome and Bangladesh graduated to MHD, with Bangladesh ranking third from the bottom in this list. Countries like Nepal, Kenya, Pakistan, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and Ethiopia continued to languish in the LHD category. What appears most significant is Bangladesh graduated despite an increase in the cutoff point for the MHD category from 0.535 in 2013 report to 0.550 in the 2014 report. We surpassed not only last years cutoff point but also its increase this year. This speaks volumes about the robustness of the magnitude of increase in Bangladeshs HDI 2013 relative to HDI 2012. Details on the HDI components which contributed to Bangladeshs graduation are not yet available. My guess is it came from increased in GNI per capita and years of schooling completed. The other good news from the HDR 2014 is a significant decline in Bangladeshs Multidimensional Poverty Index from 0.292 in 2007 to 0.237 in 2011. This index is a composite of multiple deprivations at the household level in education, health and standard of living. This is additional confirmation that Bangladeshs rise on the human development dimension is no artifact of statistics. There is absolutely no reason for complacence. Bangladesh made to MHD category before (2007 for instance), but later slipped back due to both methodological changes and slowdown in progress on human development. Consolidating the gains in human development and moving further up remain as big challenges which we need to tackle relentlessly. However, these numbers help us take a few moments off from national despair and relish our national achievements. Ramjaner ei rojar shshey elo khushir porishonkhan:) Unnayan Mubarrak and ofcourse Eid Mubarrak!
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 08:04:31 +0000
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