Human Development Reports

Human Development Reports (HDRs), published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) globally, are a useful contribution to the discourse and monitoring of development policies.  The Human Development Reports date back to 1990 covering issues of political participation and basic social services.  South Africa data has been reflected in the HDRs only since it joined the world of nations in 1994, beginning with the 1995 report on Gender, 1996 on Economic Growth,1997 on Poverty and Human Development, 1998 on Consumption Patterns, and 1999 on Globalisation with a Human Face.

The Human Development Reports have become a signinficant advocacy tool for facts in a globally accepted manner.  The value of the HDR is its ideological intervention in global governance which has enabled a shift in debates from the material to social advances; challenges growth theory as taking care of social needs; and has drawn worldwide attention to issues of human development.  The HDR has served as a tool for political advocacy at a national and local level, as a global discourse on human development and on thematic goals.

A major contribution of the HDRs has been new indices.  The Human Development Index (HDI) incorporates GDP, but adds important social indicators such as educational attainment and life expectancy into a single index.  This index has been calculated for almost every country world-wide, as well as for provinces within countries.  In the most recently published global Human Development Report, South Africa rated 101st among 174 countries.  One of the major contributing factors for the low rating of South Africa is the availability of more accurate data since the first national population census of 1996. It is anticipated that South Africa’s performance in human development terms will be worse off as the impact of HIV/AIDS continues to negate human development gains made by the country. Other important composite indices related to the HDI, are the Gender-related Development Index (GDI), the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) and the Human Poverty Index (HPI).


The HDI and other HD Indices have been very useful in enabling countries to monitor human progress albeit in aggregate annual terms.  For a country like South Africa, the changing patterns of policy implementation require closer tracking by state as well as civil society, utilising indicators that are specific to a particular situation and that reflect the rapid changes taking place in different parts of society, but also the areas where limited change is taking place.  The indicators for human development therefore move beyond the HD Indices and include livelihood and other such indicators that are useful to guide policy makers and communities alike of changes taking place in a more rapid manner.

The first National Human Development Report in South Africa was published by the UNDP South Africa country office in collaboration with the UNAIDS country office in 1998 and the theme was HIV/AIDS and Human Development.  The report declared that South Africa has one of the most serious and fastest spreading HIV epidemics in the world. Released in the wake of the launch of the National Partnership Against AIDS, the Report goes beyond the normal health aspects of the epidemic and provides startling information and data on the negative impact that the current HIV incidence will have on the path of human development. Building on previous analysis of poverty, inequality and gender issues, the report explores the complex linkages between the social dislocation and immense disparities inherited from the apartheid era. It suggests that many of the advances achieved in the short life of the new democracy will be reversed if the epidemic is left unchecked.

While reviewing the impact of HIV/AIDS on the macro economy, the report illuminates the dearth of data and information available, particularly regarding implications for production, services and other economic activities. It challenges the private sector to take up the fight against HIV and AIDS much more seriously to ensure its mitigation.

UNDP South Africa is now in the process of finalising the compilation of the second National HDR, whose theme is Transformation and Human Development.  The report will be published in mid-year 2000, so watch this space.