According to this year’s annual Human Development Index (HDI), which is compiled by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Pakistan ranks 146 out of 187 countries and territories.

We are now consistently falling behind in the “low human development category” along with countries like Rwanda and Myanmar while other countries in South Asia, like Bangladesh and India, have moved up into the “medium human development category” ranking 142 and 135 respectively. Nepal ranks higher than us at 145. Sri Lanka, despite all the years of civil war, ranks at 73 which means it is now in the “high development” category.

The HDI is derived from life expectancy, education levels, incomes, etc. in each country. It was devised by a brilliant Pakistani economist, Mahbub ul Haq, and today it has become one of the most influential and widely used indices to measure human development across countries.

There has been no improvement in our economic and human development indicators last year, nor in the past eight years

According to the UNDP, annual growth in the Human Development Index value has actually declined in Pakistan from two per cent in 2000-2008 (during President Musharraf’s rule) to almost zero during 2008-13 (during President Zardari’s term). In last year’s report, Pakistan also ranked 146 so that means there has been no improvement in our economic and human development indicators in the past year since Nawaz Sharif’s government came to power.

The HDI is listed in the UNDP’s annual Human Development Report (HDR), an independent study intended to “stimulate an informed debate on global development issues and to highlight trends for policy makers”. Given the looming challenge of climate change, which is a potent threat multiplier all over the world, the theme of this year’s report was “Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience”.

The report contained a special contribution by Rajendra Pachauri, the Chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. He pointed out that: “Addressing vulnerabilities and building resilience would need to deal with the impacts of climate change, which could become progressively serious if mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases is either delayed or inadequate in magnitude … Actions that range from incremental steps to transformational changes are essential for reducing risks from climate extremes. Social, economic and environmental sustainability can be enhanced by disaster risk management and adaptation approaches”.

Given the climate change theme of this year’s report, one had expected that would be the topic for discussion at UNDP-Pakistan’s launch of the report in Islamabad last week. However, the panel discussion focused on the vulnerabilities of the people of the Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata) and the plight of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) instead. This is an area where UNDP-Pakistan has been working for a couple of years now. “Around 1.6m people have been displaced by the conflict in Fata and the debate is not well informed — these people will eventually have to go back and there are issues over their return, rehabilitation and the reconstruction that will follow,” explained Marc Andre French, the UNDP Pakistan Country Director who earlier presented key recommendations of the report. The panel members suggested that a “robust return and rehabilitation strategy needs to be devised and implemented along with adequate administrative capacities to implement and sustain any such strategies in the aftermath of the crisis”.

The HDR says that people who face multiple deprivations are especially at the risk of falling into poverty if a disaster or crisis should occur. The report states that: “Persistent vulnerabilities create a vicious cycle where both progress is undermined and resources needed to recover increase. Countries need to build resilience and capacities to address vulnerability and prepare for and recover from crisis.”

Countries like Bangladesh have been investing in resilience and hence they rank higher than Pakistan. Since 1971, when Bangladesh became independent, the country’s NGOs have been investing in women’s health. “It’s not a luxury to invest in social protection; poorer countries have been investing in this area … it is extremely important to fight poverty. We at the UNDP encourage social protection schemes,” explained Marc Andre.

Bangladesh has also been encouraging local governance and today they have disaster risk reduction at the local level which is a low cost solution. “In Pakistan I think it is a question of power — people who have the power don’t want to let it go.” The UNDP, he pointed out, can back “champions of change” but real change has to come from within the country. As for tackling climate change in Pakistan, he explained that this was the “weakest area of the government” and that the Climate Change Division needed more people and resources and that the National Climate Change Policy (that was prepared with the support of the UNDP-Pakistan) needs to be implemented at the earliest.

It is unfortunate that Pakistan, which is proud of itself as the only Muslim country that is a nuclear power with a population of around 180m, is ranked at the bottom in the South Asian region. Even tiny Bhutan is ranked higher than us at 136. The top five countries ranked in terms of the HDI are Norway, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands and the US. The bottom five countries are Niger, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Chad and Sierra Leone.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, October 5th, 2014