By HARLYNE JOKU
PAPUA New Guinea is ranked behind Samoa, Fiji and the Solomon Islands and more than a hundred other countries under the United Nations’ 2007 Human Development Index (HDI).
Out of 177 countries listed, PNG came out in 145th position.
Samoa is ranked 77th, Fiji ranked 92nd and the Solomons 129th.
PNG is ranked as a “medium human development country” alongside countries like Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Haiti, Sudan, Kenya and Timor Leste.
The HDI is a summary measure for monitoring long-term progress in the average level of human development in three basic areas:
*A long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy);
*Access to knowledge or being educated (measured by adult literacy and enrolment in primary, secondary and tertiary education); and
*A decent standard of living (measured in US dollars at purchasing power parity (PPP).
Based on its performance in the three areas, each country is awarded an HDI value between 0.100 and 1.000.
The 2007 HDI has been calculated using data from 2005, and PNG was given 0.530, which is a slight improvement of the 0.529 received in the 2006 report.
In 2005, PNG had a life expectancy of 56.9 years, an adult literacy rate of 57.3%, a gross enrolment ratio of 40.7 and a GDP per capita of US$2,563.
While measuring human development with more indicators than just GDP per capita is a significant improvement, the report pointed out that the HDI was not a comprehensive measure of human development as it did not include important indicators such as gender, income inequality or the more difficult indicators such as human rights and political freedoms.
What it did provide was a broadened prism of human progress and well-being, the report said.
It noted that while PNG was experiencing political stability and economic growth, this growth was not being transferred to the majority of the population in terms of goods and services delivery.