Uganda ranks low in UN Human Development Index

SHIFA MWESIGYE

Uganda’s Human Development Index (HDI) continues to fall in the low human development category despite improvement the last 20 years. Uganda is ranked 164 out of 187 countries which were measured according to the Human Development Index report of 2014. 

This year, the report done by United Nations Development Program, focuses on Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience.   The HDI is a summary measure of long term progress in long and healthy life, access to knowledge and decent standard of living. 

The report highlights that more than 200 million people worldwide are affected by natural disasters every year. More tha 2.2 billion people are living in poverty and 80% of the global population lacks comprehensive social protection. Some 842 million people continue to suffer from chronic hunger.

Ahunna Eziakonwa-Onochie the UN Resident Coordinator says resilience shouldn’t be about capacity to endure suffering but about ensuring that the state, community and global institutions work to empower and protect people.

“We need to redefine humanity and dignity and raise standards of everyone. Human development is about removing the barriers so that people are free to act. In Moroto 46% of the children are either stunted or sick with malaria, diarrhoea. Do we understand the vulnerability of people in that region or have we set out to find out what is holding them back? Or are we just giving out handouts which continue to hold them in that state? This report talks about the need to be resilient to shocks but there should be mechanisms to prevent these shocks,” Onochie says.  

She says that while creation of wealth is important and the highest economic growth rates are registered in Africa, but when we measure human development we are still at the bottom. The HDI points out that progress shouldn’t be about the country’s GDP and that it is possible for the country to grow but its people remain at the bottom.  

In 1990, Uganda’s HDI stood at 0.306 and was comparable to Benin, Central Africa Republic, and Gambia. Today, Uganda has attained a 65% improvement and HDI stands at 0.484.

While Uganda’s income growth due to investment in poverty alleviation has improved, poverty has also fallen from 56.4% in 1992 to 19.7% in 2013. Life expectancy and expected years of schooling have also improved. But Uganda continues to fall among the lowest 42 countries meaning that the country’s growth has does not reflect improvement in the lives of its people. Uganda is ranked below its neighbours Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania and in fact the index is below the sub Saharan Africa average of 0.502.

Ibrahim Kasirye a Researcher with Economic Policy Research Centre says that despite the progress made towards improving welfare outcomes there are large sections of society which have been missed out or are faced with challenges. 

“Averting such challenges and building resilience for such population is important for Uganda. Population that faces chronic poverty remains very high,” Kasirye said at the launch of the report at Sheraton Hotel in Kampala.

Globally, the HDI was officially launched in Tokyo Japan on July 254 by the UNDP Administrator Helen Clark and Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe. In Uganda the launch was jointly organised by UNDP country office and Makerere University’s Economic Policy Research Centre, a leading think tank in economics and development policy research and analysis. 

“What is happening is that Uganda is facing poor prioritisation of resources. We know what agriculture can do to get us high in the HDI. As long as we continue to have little money in our pockets we cannot improve. Invest in agriculture because we have enough resources but how are we spending the resources? NAADs is one of the best resources but it is sad that it is near to closure,” said Julius Mukunda, coordinator of Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group.

Yet if Uganda’s population continues to rise, this vulnerability is likely to continue growing. Kasirye says that developing countries and African governments increasingly focusing more on expanding infrastructure and increase commitment to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030. 

“EPRC has engaged in conducting research and examining challenges facing vulnerable groups, research examining drivers of extreme deprivation, vulnerabilities of particular demographics and challenges of access to secondary education. We have participated in the designing social protection programs like the NUSAF fund and SAGE. We want to build responses that will result in the growth which is inclusive and responsive to the poor and vulnerable because this creates universal opportunities and jobs,” Kasirye noted.  

Norway ranks highest in the HDI followed by Australia, Switerzaland, Netherlands USA and Singapore which has improved its ranking from 12^th position to 9.

In Africa 11 countries, including Egypt, Morocco, Ghana and Zambia are in the medium HD category. Most African countries are in the low development category and this where Uganda has been since 1990.

Presenting the findings, Tony Muhumuza an economist at UNDP says Uganda has continued to perform below average for all countries in the low development index of 0.493. If compared to Rwanda, growth between 2008 and 2013 has been at 17% while Uganda is at 0.4%. 

“We need a balance between public and private sector development. We need to focus on human development concept if we are to bring everybody on board. We must target and identify who is vulnerable and what programs can be introduced to help people become more resilient. Universalism will continue to grow and we need to focus more on how to be more inclusive. Other countries have been able to progress and Uganda can progress too,” Muhumuza noted. 

The HDI is produced every year since 1990 by UNDP. Its aim is to provide an independent in depth, evidence based policy analysis and insights of major development issues and trends.

shifamwesigye@gmail.com