A ‘democracy paradox’, coupled with a sense of powerlessness & lack of control over government decisions, has fuelled political polarisation & inward-looking policy approaches
Antonio Guterres, UN Secretary-General. Photo: UN For 20 years, it seemed that humanity was righting itself as far as economic inequality was concerned. But now, the world is going back to square one since the trend is reversing, according to the United Nations 2023 Human Development Index (HDI).
The HDI is a summary measure reflecting a country’s Gross National Income per capita, education and life expectancy.
The 2023 HDI stands at a new high following steep decline during 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the 2023-24 Human Development Report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on March 13, 2024.
The report found that rich countries experienced unprecedented development. But half of the world’s poorest nations continued to languish below their pre-COVID crisis levels.
There was also an emerging “democracy paradox”, with most of those surveyed expressing support for democracy but also endorsing leaders who may undermine democratic principles.
“This paradox, coupled with a sense of powerlessness and a lack of control over government decisions, has fuelled political polarization and inward-looking policy approaches,” stated the report.
It also highlighted that this rise in support for far-right populist leaders was alarming “in light of 2023’s record-breaking temperatures which highlight the immediate need for united action to tackle the climate crisis, combined with the new and fast-evolving technological frontier of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which has few regulatory guard rails”.
“Protectionist approaches cannot address the complex, interconnected challenges we face, including pandemic prevention, climate change, and digital regulation,” UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner in a press statement. “Interconnected problems require interconnected solutions,” he added.
The 2023-24 Human Development Report identified Switzerland, Norway and Iceland leading the national human development indices, while Central African Republic, South Sudan and Somalia lagged the furthest behind.
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (more commonly known as North Korea) and Monaco were not ranked in the list of countries and economies.
“The widening human development gap revealed by the report shows that the two-decade trend of steadily reducing inequalities between wealthy and poor nations is now in reverse,” said Steiner.
He also noted that the world must leverage its interdependence as well as its capacities to address shared and existential challenges and ensure people’s aspirations are met.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres also addressed the stark findings titled Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world.
He said while “it (the report) explored the roots of polarization and the “devastating” impact on sustainable development, it also demonstrated “our best hope for the future.”
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