Human Development Essay, Research Paper

Human development is very important in terms of living conditions in different countries. The statement ?any society committed to improving the lives of its people must also be committed to full and equal rights for all? is true. The UN considers three factors to calculate human development in a country. These factors cover many aspects of a country, including social development in a country. Income, education, and healthy living are considered to be the most important factors in human development, which help to rid populations of poverty, and support human rights.

First, the improvement of lives is directly related to human rights. According to the 2000 UN Human Development Report, a more developed country with more rights today, as opposed to 1970, can expect a newborn to live 10 more years, adult literacy cut in half, and infant mortality rates cut by over 40%. The more freedom and rights a person has, the more opportunity, and better chance for a good standard of living. The International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights declared that the ?rights to food, health, education and privacy were fundamental building blocks of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.? Humans, then, can realize what they are capable of achieving. However, a less developed country with less freedom, demotivates people and takes away opportunity for one to achieve their best. In addition, national security, criminal justice, and freedom of speech are other factors in human and social development. Without these, again, one cannot achieve their full potential.

Second, the UN considers income as is a very important factor in determining human development. Income determines some human rights in countries, and general standards of living. People in poverty are usually denied rights, which include civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights. Human rights are directly related to human development. Discrimination against the poor is generally ignoring or denying their freedom of expression. Labor or communication rights, for example, may not be agreeable for the poor, which could mean unacceptable terms. Thus, the poor will become poorer, while the rich can thrive off of their cheap labor. This creates a larger gap in income distribution in a country. The larger the gap, the more unequal a country is. Without basic labor rights or freedoms, they may not be able to access social or economic rights. In addition to rights, a higher income generally means higher standards of living. This includes clean water and food, adequate shelter, good communications, and a method for transportation. A less developed country lacks these, while a higher developed country, with a higher human development index, essentially contains all of these.

Second, education is another important factor in determining human development. Education determines the future of a country. Without good education, children cannot make the country progress and advance when they grow up. This would be the reversal of human development. Generally, the less educated people are, the less likely they will be able to understand complicated job tasks. This includes standard information literacy. Without knowing simple or complicated work or technology, especially in today?s world, a country will not progress. In addition, education can also be related to population growth or a lack of resources. Poor education can mean a country has a very high population growth rate. This is due to a lack of resources and money. The poor usually tend to have many children, especially in less developed countries. With a high growth rate, the demographic transition will be harder to achieve. In addition, as the population increases with youth and a lack of education, there will be more poverty with the same amount of resources, if the government does not increase public expenditures on education. It has been proven that an increase of education creates a rise in a nation?s GDP.

Third, healthy living, or life expectancy is another factor used by the UN to calculate the human development index. This factor deals with living standards and possibly surrounding environment. Generally, a country with more human rights and national security will have citizens with higher life expectancies. A country in war, or one with poor sanitation conditions is likely to have lower life expectancy. Other factors of life expectancy are diseases, and a lack of resources, including food. This means that the country?s government isn?t protecting them, or even helping to provide clean and healthy living conditions. Protecting or providing the right to live a clean and healthy life is essential. Without a long life expectancy, in addition, humans cannot achieve many things. This is somewhat linked to the education factor. Full education of a human takes quite a long time. If the person?s life expectancy is not long after educational achievement, there is not much he or she can achieve, especially with no experience. In comparison to a country with much higher life expectancy, the country will usually have a lower human development index.

The UN chooses three very important indicators for human development because they are the simplest way of calculating social development in a country. The more social development, the more human rights the country tends to have. In addition, equal human rights help all humans to achieve anything to the best of their abilities. This tends to lower the poverty rate and raise equality within a country. The more equal a country is, the more developed, as the human development index shows.