Despite eight years of consecutive growth….Guyana lags behind LatAm, Caribbean in Human Development

Though the Guyana Government would have boasted of its eight years of consecutive economic growth, when the Human Development Report was launched on Thursday at the Guyana International Conference Centre, this country is lagging behind Latin America and Caribbean territories in human development.

inance Minster Dr. Ashni Singh receives the Human Development Report 2014 from Chisa Mikami, the resident representative of the United Nations Development Programme

Patrick Chesney, Programme Specialist of the UNDP, analysed the report highlighting key messages and information on Guyana. Chesney said, that policymakers must ask some basic questions. “Is the economic growth improving the lives of people in areas that really matter, from health to education and income, to basic human security and personal freedoms? “Are people feeling more vulnerable, are some being left behind and if so, who are they and how can such inequalities be best addressed?” The 2014 report recommends new ways of thinking about vulnerability and resilience, he said. Chisa Mikami, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme, said that the report looks at two concepts which are important to securing human development. These concepts are reducing vulnerabilities and building resilience. Since the United Nations Development Programme’s first global Human Development Report in 1990, most countries, she noted, have registered significant human development. This year’s report shows that overall global trends are positive and that progress is continuing. In line with the human development paradigm, the report takes a people-centered approach. It pays particular attention to disparities between and within countries. It identifies the “structurally vulnerable” groups of people who are more defenseless than others by virtue of their history or unequal treatment by the rest of society. The report makes a number of important recommendations for achieving a world that addresses vulnerabilities and builds resilience to future shocks. It calls for universal access to basic social services especially health and education; stronger social protection, including unemployment insurance, pensions and a commitment to full employment, recognizing that the value of employment extends far beyond the income it generates. The HDI is a summary measure for assessing long term progress in the three basic dimensions of human development; a long and healthy life, access to knowledge and a decent standard of living. To allow for proper assessment of progress in HDIs, the 2014 report includes recalculated HDIs from 1980 to 2013. Standard of living is measured by the Gross National Income (GNI) per capita expressed in constant 2011 international dollars converted using purchasing power parity (PPP) rates. One of the tables in the HDR shows Guyana’s HDI indicators for 2013 relative to selected countries and groups. As it relates to GNI per capita (PPP $US), Guyana was at US$6,341, while Suriname’s GNI was US$15,113. Latin America and the Caribbean stood at US$13,767, and Belize was at US$9,364. However, one of the tables Dr. Singh made reference to, he highlighted that from 1980 to 1990, Guyana’s GNI showed a decline from US$2,315 to US$1,312, but from 1995 to 2013 there was consistent increase from US$1,312 to US$6,341. He urged members of the audience to make a good perusal of the tables as it tells an “interesting story.”  It also tells a story of the declining value of money. The purchasing value of US$2,315 in 1980 was perhaps 10 times higher than the US$6.341 today. But as it relates to Guyana’s performance relative to selected countries and groups, Dr. Singh said, “If you look at the data you will see where we are and why we are where we are.  When we compare ourselves with the regional comparators let’s say Barbados for example, often times we are harsh on ourselves as Guyanese and we say, ‘Why is it that they (Barbados) are so much better off than we are? I would be the first to say that there is room for improvement but when we ask ourselves why we are not where Barbados or Jamaica is, the tables tell us why.” In the case of Barbados, when Guyana’s HDI value declined in the 1980’s to 1990 period, Barbados was increasing. Post-1990, he said that Guyana improved on an average every year by 1.22 percent and Barbados only improved by .54 percent. “What the data shows is that during the 1980 to 1990 period when the rest of the Caribbean was improving, Guyana was on a steep decline and post 1990 the rest of Caribbean continued to grow, Guyana started to play catch up. We still have room to improve due to the steepness of the decline during that period.” Dr. Chesney said, “This report comes at an important moment as the world discusses the next set of development goals for post 2015. The post 2015 development goals will focus on getting to zero poverty and so forth. “But getting to zero is not enough. We must stay at zero poverty as well. While globalization has brought benefits for many, it has created new risks and concerns and in our increasingly connected world, we face and must manage new vulnerabilities.” He too highlighted several facts about Guyana from the 2014 report. Guyana’s HDI value for 2013 is 0.638- which is in the medium human development category, positioning the country at 121 out of 187 countries and territories. Between 1980 and 2013, Guyana’s HDI value increased from 0.516 to 0.638, an increase of 23.6 percent or an average annual increase of about 0.65 percent. The rank is shared with Viet Nam. He then presented several graphs which showed Guyana’s performance internally and against its counterparts. Between 1980 and 2013, Guyana’s life expectancy at birth increased by 5.7 percent years, mean years of schooling increased by 2.7 percent and expected years of schooling increased by one year. He noted too, that Guyana’s 2013 HDI of 0.638 is above the average 0.614 for countries in the medium human development group and below the average of 0.740 for countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Essentially, though Guyana may be above the average 0.614 for countries in its category, but it is still not performing as good as the Latin American and Caribbean states in the HDI indicators for 2013.