14 Mar 2013

MEXICO / HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT

The United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) 2013 Human Development Report entitled "The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World" was launched in Mexico City today by UNDP Administrator Helen Clark and President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto. UNDP

Posted at: March 14, 2013 6:30 pm

Duration: 02:51

Available in: SD, HD

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STORY: MEXICO / HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
TRT: 2.51
SOURCE: UNDP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SPANISH / NATS

DATELINE: 14 MARCH 2015, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot, Launch of the 2013 Human Development Report 
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator:
"Mr. President, thank you so much for hosting us here today for the launch of this global 'Human Development Report on the Rise of the South'. What this report reflects is a very different development landscape from that when the first Human Development Report was launched some 23 years ago. Because a very significant number of developing countries have transformed themselves into dynamic and emerging economies with growing geopolitical influence. And in turn, these countries are having a very positive impact on human development progress around our world."
3. Close up, report cover
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator:
"The report delves into the achievements of more than 40 high achieving countries which performed better than might have been predicted between 1990 and 2012. It identifies 3 key factors contributing to fast progress. Namely, that most of these successful emerging nations have had a strong pro-active developmental state, that they have both successfully tapped global markets and pursued inclusive growth, and that they have benefitted from investing in their people, and from innovative social policy."
5. Cutaway, guests
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator: 
"Slowed global action on the major environmental threat of climate change does have the potential to halt or even reverse human development gains made in countries of the South which have the least capacity to adapt and for the poorest people within those countries. And so the report calls for greater global ambition and commitment at tackling environmental degradation. Innovative policies and programs for achieving environmental sustainability including the new climate friendly technologies that have developed in the South itself can help ensure that our world's future path is a sustainable one."
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Enrique Peña Nieto, President, Mexico:
"I celebrate that on this occasion the UNDP/HDR highlights the deep change in global dynamics by which I mean the rise of developing countries like Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Turkey, and of course Mexico. These emerging nations today are transforming their reality with active social policies and improved living conditions of the most vulnerable groups." 
8. Close up, Mexican government seal.

STORYLINE:
 
For the first time in recent history, the South as a whole is driving global economic growth and societal change. Around the world, the living conditions and prospects of hundreds of millions of people have already been lifted by transformation in the South. By 2020, according to projections developed for this Human Development Report, the combined economic output in 1990purchasing power parity dollars, of three key emerging economies alone– China, India, and Brazil – will surpass that of the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Canada combined.  
   
The Report explores the achievements of more than forty high achieving countries which performed better than predicted between 1990 and 2012 based on previous trends, both in terms of the income and non-income dimensions of human development.  It then reviews the policies of eighteen countries for which detailed information was available to ascertain what enabled them to perform particularly well.

The analysis of the success of these high-achievers presented in the Report, confirms a key message found across past Human Development Reports: that economic growth does not automatically translate into human development progress.  Significant investments in people's capabilities – including in education and skills, and nutrition and health, are vital. Pragmatic policies, focused on job creation, gradual integration into global markets, and improving service delivery are also important.

Looking to the future, the Report warns that if global human development is to continue to rise, emerging challenges related to demographic shifts, environmental degradation, and political and social exclusion, will need to be tackled.   It argues that an inclusive and sustainable path must be followed.
 
Promoting greater equity is not only an important goal in its own right: it is also central to lifting human development. One of the most powerful policy instruments for promoting equity lies in education.  The Report projects that targeted investments in girls' education in particular, will have significant impacts on human development, including in the reduction of future child mortality which has a relationship to the level of education women have received.
 
Innovative social protection programmes in the South, including the cash transfer programs of Mexico and Brazil, have helped improve conditions for poor and marginalized groups, and narrowed gaps in income, health, and education.

Moving beyond policy recommendations at the country level, a clear message of the Report is that the rise of the South has implications for global governance and decision making, as well as for how development is financed.  
 
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected – through trade, migration, information and communications technologies, more coordinated action and greater co-operation between North and South is required.  
 
For this to happen, global governance arrangements are needed which are more legitimate, accountable, and transparent, and which recognize the changing geopolitics of our times by giving greater voice to countries of the South.
 
The Report argues that the South itself will be an increasingly powerful force in global development. Countries in the developing world are not only major trade and investment partners for other developing countries, but are also significant partners in development co-operation. The South also has substantial capital reserves, holding up to two-thirds of the world's $10.2 trillion foreign exchange reserves and some three-quarters of the $4.3 trillion in assets controlled by sovereign wealth funds.