National Human Development Report 2014

This report takes a broad view of the link between work and human development. Work is a critical tool for economic growth and security, poverty reduction and gender equality. It enables full participation in society while affording people a sense of dignity and worth. Humans working together not only increase their material well-being, they also accumulate a wide body of knowledge that serves as the basis for cultures and civilizations. The report finds that work enhances human development when policies are taken to expand productive, remunerative and satisfying work opportunities. Workers' skills and potentials are enhanced, their well-being in terms of rights, safety and benefits are ensured with targeted interventions, and an agenda incorporating decent work, a new Social Contract and a Global Deal is pursued.

Most poeple in most countries have been steadily better in human development. Advances in technology and incomes hold ever-greater for longer, healthier, more secure lives.

Over the 15 years since the countrys last National Human Development Report (NHDR) was published Ethiopia has undergone significant economic and social changes and has recorded some of the highest growth rates in the world-over 10 per cent in some years. However, Ethiopias Human Development Index (HDI) and its relative ranking have not moved appreciably during the past decade. Even though Ethiopia is one of the 10 countries globally that has attained the largest absolute gains in its HDI over the last several years, it still ranks 173rd out of 186 countries in the latest UNDP Human Development Report. It is this development challenge that underlines the fact that the preparation of the NHDR is so opportune now and why the focus of the report on inclusive growth for sustainable human development is so apposite. In 1998, when the last NHDR was written, the development challenges facing the country were considerably different.

This report focuses on how human development can be ensured for everyone, now and in future. It starts with an account of the hopes and challenges of today’s world, envisioning where humanity wants to go. This vision draws from and builds on the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. It explores who has been left behind in human development progress and why. It argues that to ensure that human development reaches everyone, some aspects of the human development framework and assessment perspectives have to be brought to the fore. The Report also identifies the national policies and key strategies to ensure that will enable every human being achieve at least basic human development and to sustain and protect the gains.

The goals of the second volume of the AHDR – Arctic Human Development Report: Regional Processes and Global Linkages – are to provide an update to the first AHDR (2004) in terms of an assessment of the state of Arctic human development; to highlight the major trends and changes unfolding related to the various issues and thematic areas of human development in the Arctic over the past decade; and, based on this assessment, to identify policy relevant conclusions and key gaps in knowledge, new and emerging Arctic success stories. The production of AHDR-II on the tenth anniversary of the first AHDR makes it possible to move beyond the baseline assessment to make valuable comparisons and contrasts across a decade of persistent and rapid change in the North. It addresses critical issues and emerging challenges in Arctic living conditions, quality of life in the North, global change impacts and adaptation, and Indigenous livelihoods. The assessment contributes to our understanding of the interplay and consequences of physical and social change processes affecting Arctic residents’ quality of life, at both the regional and global scales. It shows that the Arctic is not a homogenous region. Impacts of globalization and environmental change differ within and between regions, between Indigenous and non-Indigenous northerners, between genders and along other axes.

This report addresses the development challenges facing young people in the Arab region. The current young generation is the largest this region has had over the past 50 years, making up 30% of its population. In light of the youth-led movements during and after the 2011 uprisings, the report argues for a renewed policy focus on youth development in the region. It deals with the pillars of human development (income, education and health) with the attainment, achievement and equitable distribution of education, and with the challenges of finding stable and decent jobs. With protracted conflict in several Arab countries, young Arabs have become victims or perpetrators of violence, challenged by difficulties of mobility and migration. AHDR 2016 aims to engage youth in building a better future.

The African Economic Outlook 2015 analyses Africa’s growing role in the world economy and predicts the continent’s two-year prospects in crucial areas: macroeconomics, financing, trade policies and regional integration, human development, and governance.