Human Development

Human Development

3.1 Human Development

Human development is a process of enriching and enlarging people`s choice focusing on the richness of human lives rather than simply the richness of economics. People are the real wealth of nation and both means and ends of development. So, human-centric development is gaining popularity in the international arena.

Human development aims at addressing the human aspects of development using indicators on health, education and living standard. It increases knowledge, skill and capacity of human.

Under the United Nations Development Program`s flagship Human Development Reports, the concept of human development has been applied in since the 1990s. The Concept was originally formulated by development economics Mahbub-UI-Haq and Amartya Sen.

The central imperative of human development lies in-

1. Sustainable condition of development.
2. End of poverty, unemployment and social inequality.
3. Development with human face.

Objectives of Human Development:

Investment in human development is instrumental for generating sustainability in development and prosperity. It makes the right, choice and voice of the people vibrant. It makes the country prosperous in the long run. Basically, it has two prime objectives:

1. Developing human competencies which include knowledge, skill and capability of human, and developing healthy human resources.
2. Creating environment for utilization of human competencies making the sphere of right to choice of people broader.

Dimensions of Human Development (UNDP)

Indicators of Human Development

• Life expectancy
• Adult literacy rate
• Per Capita Income
• Gender Inequality index

Scope of Human Development

• Equality and social justice
• Human Security
• Environment Sustainability
• Collaboration

Pillars of Human Development

• Equity- Providing special preferences to backward community in governance system.
• Security- People`s feeling of secure and independence.
• Sustainability- emphasizingprotectionof the right of future generation.
• Collaboration- for mutual support.
• Empowerment- in development and decision of person.
• Productivity- for income generation.

Efforts for Human Development in Nepal

Nepal’s HDI value is 0.601 —placing the country in the Medium human development category and positioning it at 146 out of 193 countries and territories. Nepal’s ranking was 149 in 2021. As compared to 2021, Nepal’s progress on HDI value is 0.010 which is higher than global average of 0.004.

Countries with HDI values between 0.550 and 0.699 fall under the Medium Human Development category.
Between 1990 and 2022, Nepal’s HDI value changed from 0.395 to 0.601, representing a change of 52.2 percent. During the same period, Nepal’s life expectancy at birth increased by 15.7 years, expected years of schooling by 5.4 years, and mean years of schooling by 2.1 years. Nepal’s GNI per capita changed by about 165.7 percent between 1990 and 2022.

The 2022 female HDI value for Nepal is 0.562, contrasting with 0.635 for males, resulting in a Gender Development Index(GDI) value of 0.885.

Nepal has made various efforts in pursuit of human development, however it is not sufficient for quality standard of living.

• Constitution of Nepal has focused various aspects of human development such as human rights, equitable and inclusive development, social justice, regional balance and social security.
• Legal Provisions such as Social Welfare Act, 2049, Local Government Operation Act, 2074, have been enacted.
• The Fifteenth Plan has included provisions relating to health, education, productive employment, pure drinking water and sanitation.
• Nepal has internalized Sustainable Development Goals in its policies, plans, Programmes and annual budget.
• Presence of non-governmental organization and vibrant civil society can be felt, especially after restoration of democracy in 2046 B.S.
• Sector-wise policies have been issued to address the problem of unemployment.
• National planning commission, ministers and subordinate bodies exist to implement plans, policies and laws relating to human development.

Problems of Human Development in Nepal

United Nations Development Program`s Human Development Report of the countries, on annual basis, classifies them into four categories – very high, high, medium and low human development. According to Human Development Report 2021/22 published by UNDP, Nepal`s Human Development Index (HDI) is 0.602, and ranks 143th among 191 countries. As reflected by the report, Nepal continued to a loss of over 25% in human development due to inequalities across gender, caste, geographic regions and other categories. Nepal`s human development is beset with many problems such as-

• Obstacles in development process owing to never-ending political transition and policy instability.
• Prevalence of socio-economic exclusion, deprivation and marginalization.
• Insufficient investment in social infrastructures.
• Insufficient targeted programs and lack of effective implementation.
• Huge gap between rich and poor. According to Nepal Living Standards Survey 2067/68 conducted by Central Bureau of Statistics, Gini coefficient in Nepal is 0.328.
• Lack of resources and its ineffective utilization.
• Poverty, unemployment and poor human competencies.
• Human rights, rule of law and democratic governance system is not realized as expected.
• Citizen-centric administration remains a rhetoric.
• Lack of effective intergovernmental coordination and stakeholder`s cooperation in human development.
• Non-implementation of free basic and secondary education provisioned in constitution.
• Unnecessary politicization in development.
• High population growth rate.
• No clear policy and planning for estimation of human resources, its production and utilization.
• Subsistence agriculture system that makes life of common people difficult.
• Inability to protect human rights due to impurity.
• Gender and caste-based discrimination still prevails.
• Deprivation of backward community from access to resource.
• No easy access to education as there is still one-third of total population illiterate.
• Sluggish improvement in health condition. Life expectancy of Nepali is 71.8 years which is low in comparison to that of other countries.
• Low per capita income due to poor investment and capital formation.

Strategies for human development

• High investment in social sector.
• Focus on technical and vocational education that generate employment opportunities.
• Sustainable and high economic growth with diversification and commercialization in agriculture.
• Emphasize on targeted group-centric development.
• Social mobilization, vibrant civil society.
• Active role and mobilization of private and cooperative sector.
• Introducing efficient and effective mechanism for public service delivery.
• Women empowerment and gender equality.
• Decentralization and inclusive development.
• Good governance practices at all three tiers of governments.
• Providing free education and health facilities to poor and indigents.
• Distribute resources in equitable manner, and empower backward communities.
• Repealing discriminatory laws, and creating public awareness.
• Making strong mechanism to take action against those who involve in human rights violation.
• Translating political commitment to action by developing sound political culture.
• Operating special programs targeting sustainable development goals.
• Effective mobilization of civil society, private sector and non-governmental sector.

Governacne System & Contemporary Issues

(Section Officer Second & Third Paper Notes Chapter Wise)