By Simeon S. Wiakanty And Alloycious David
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning on Monday, December 9, 2019, launched the 2019 Global Human Development Report (GHDR) in Monrovia.
The report, which highlights Liberia’s position and suggests ways of making an improvement, was launched by Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor at the Monrovia City Hall.
The report reveals that despite unprecedented progress against poverty, hunger and disease; systemic inequalities are still present.
“And they (systemic inequalities) are deeply affecting social cohesion, economic growth, and public trust and confidence in the social contracts citizens have with their governments, institutions and among themselves,” UNDP Resident Representative, Pa Lamin Beyai told the launch, which attracted some government officials and representatives of Liberia’s development partners.
He said in addition to differences in earnings, inequality is also about the unequal distribution of wealth and power and the entrenched social and political norms.
The first release of the Human Development Report – a flagship publication for UNDP produced periodically to promote development discourse – claimed the world’s attention, because it presented a different way of measuring progress beyond income.
The HDR’s accompanying Human Development Index (HDI), one of the most comprehensive measures that rank countries by their level of human development, remains a powerful voice for almost three decades.
Beyai lauded the Minister of Finance and his team for their technical inputs and advice and said their contributions are clear demonstrations of the importance the government attaches to its partnership with the UNDP for which it will remain grateful.
Vice President Taylor lauded the UNDP family for providing her with the opportunity to participate as a key launcher of the 2019 UNDP Global Human Development Report.
