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UNDP: PH human dev't rank is up but needs improvement

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Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-social"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gPgutZfPLxc?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" width="510"></iframe></figure>A report from the United Nations Development Programme has showed that access to education, maternal health care, and employment rate in the Philippine slightly improved from 2013 to 2014. This development however improved Philippines&#x27; Human Development Index value only by a negligible 0.004.At rank 115th, Philippines is at the lower half of the 188 countries assessed by the UNDP, lower than its Southeast Asian neighbors Thailand and Indonesia. UNDP Human Development Report Office Director Selim Jahan said remittances from Filipinos working overseas have been a driving force of the economic growth and human development in the Philippines. Other factors that contributed to the slight growth in the country’s HDI are programs that seek to empower women and a vibrant civil society that helps improve accessibility to basic social services.The UNDP explained Human Development as “enlarging human choices by enhancing human rights, freedoms, capabilities and opportunities.” It is giving importance to human lives instead of economic growth.HDI value is measured on the basis of three basic components of human development: life expectancy at birth, mean years of schooling, and gross national income per capita.In 2013, the Philippines’ HDI value was at 0.664. A year later, it was at 0.668. The UNDP report classified the Philippines as among the countries with Medium Human Development.The report further showed that 19 percent of the Philippine population is below poverty line, and one-third of the employment population is considered working poor, or earning only $2 per day. This, despite gaining 6.1 percent in the Philippines’ 2014 gross domestic product, putting the country among the top performing Asian economies that year.“(Economic) Growth (in the Philippines) needs to be inclusive. Whatever growth you achieve, people should participate in the growth process, both as contributor and beneficiary,” Jahan said.He emphasized the need to ensure that basic social services like education and health care are accessible to the public.NEDA Director-General Arsenio Balisacan, meanwhile, recognized the need to provide the labor force with quality jobs. “Improving the quality of jobs requires improving the business climate so investment will flourish. We need to create more factories, plants. Get more equipment, infrastructure,” he said.The Philippines is 0.700 points away from achieving High Human Development. Balisacan said if the country wants to dramatically improve in this area, the government should sustain the efforts made toward a healthy business climate, to address maternal mortality and the dropout rate.

A report from the United Nations Development Programme has showed that access to education, maternal health care, and employment rate in the Philippine slightly improved from 2013 to 2014. 

UNDP: PH human dev't rank is up but needs improvement

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UNDP: PH human dev't rank is up but needs improvement

Vivienne Gulla,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 19, 2016 04:29 PM PHT

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