Region slips in human development

Human development in sub-Saharan countries has "actually regressed" in recent years, worsening the lives of the very poor in these countries, the UN Development Programme says in its Human Development Report for 2002 released on Wednesday.

Countries of the Great Lakes region are among those that have suffered the greatest social deprivation. Burundi ranks third from bottom among 173 countries worldwide on the Human Development Index that measures a country's achievements in guaranteeing longevity, knowledge, and a decent standard of living for its people. Hardly better than Burundi, are the Republic of Congo (RoC) at 136, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) at 155, Rwanda at 162 and the Central African Republic (CAR) at 165.

RoC was the only one of the five ranked among countries having “medium human development”. However, hostilities that erupted earlier this may have a detrimental effect.

Children of the two Congos born in 2000 could expect to live until 51 years, while those of Burundi, CAR, and Rwanda had a life expectancy of between 40.2 and 44.3 years. All these countries showed declines in economic performance with the best of them, CAR, recording an annual per capita Gross Domestic Product of -0.5 percent; and the worst, DRC, -8.2 percent.

The index on capital inflows to these countries shows Burundi with net foreign direct investment of 1.7 percent of GDP and Rwanda, at the bottom of this scale with 0.8 percent. Data was not available for Burundi, RoC, and the DRC; but in Rwanda, which has drawn up a plan to reduce poverty, 84.6 percent of the population lived on less that US $2 per day between 1983 and 2000.

Compounding this problem, no doubt, is the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The UNDP report shows 12.9 percent of people 15-49 years in the CAR were living with HIV/AIDS in 2001, and the DRC, 4.9. The country had seven doctors for every 100,000 people in 1999, RoC 25 and CAR four. Statistics were not available for Rwanda and Burundi. Against this backdrop are growing populations in these countries. DRC is growing the fastest, expected to maintain its 3.3 percent per annum growth up to 2015. In CAR, this figure is expected to remain at 1.8 percent

The UNDP says human development concerns "much more" than national income levels. "It is about creating an environment in which people can develop their full potential and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and interests," it says in the report.
[For the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville),
[For the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa),
[For Rwanda,
[For Central African Republic,
[For Burundi,
[For the complete report, go to: http://www.undp.org/hdr2002/]