A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

A Review of Past 26 Years of Human Development Reports:

Conceptualization Challenge and Way Forward

Hassan Rasool & Huma Kidwai

A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

Abstract

This paper reviews the Human Development reports (HDRs) of the past 26 years to evaluate

changes in the conceptualization of Human Development Index (HDI) in determining human

development overtime. The data is gathered from HDRs that were published during 1990-2016. It

was identified that basic conceptualization of human development since its inception in 1990 did

not significantly change in line with changing needs of human development overtime. The changes

that occur overtime were either event driven or remain tentative to include more important

attributes of human development. We discuss how interdisciplinary knowledge could be used to

overcome challenges in the better conceptualization of human development for preparing a more

representative human development index (HDI).

Keywords: Human Development, Human Development Index, Human Development Report,

Capabilities, freedom of choice.

A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

A Review of Past 26 Years of Human Development Reports: Conceptualization Challenge

and Way Forward

The Human Development Index (HDI) in its twenty eighth year of measurement is a

composite statistical index published annually by the UN Human Development Report Office

since 1990, which measure human development in different countries in terms of life expectancy,

literacy, and income to provide a broader-based measure of human well-being and development.

This review of HDRs articulates the basic tenants of human development index by examining the

conceptualization of human development and provide recommendations for consideration in terms

of augmenting/revising the definition of human development to make it a more representative

index of human development.

However HDI has been criticized on various grounds over the years by many economists and other

scholars for a number of reasons.

According to Srinivasan (Srinivasan, 1994) “HDI is conceptually weak and empirically unsound,

involving serious problems of non-comparability over time and space, measurement errors, and

biases. Meaningful inferences about the process of development and performance as well as policy

implications could hardly be drawn from variations in HDI.

The HDI major critics including Bryan Caplan argues that the HDI merely measures “how

Scandinavian your country is” (Caplan, 2009). Another criticism is the uncertainty and errors

inherent in the measurements of the data required to generate the HDI (Wolff et al., 2011).

Another very predominant criticism which has been mentioned and is noteworthy is the measures

of human well-being further up Maslow’s triangle (Maslow, 1943) to include many more facets of

existence including creativity, imagination, and intimacy (Max-Neef, 1992).

A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

Although the HDI is supposed to measure capabilities, Anand and Sen (1994:12) acknowledge

that the index “has been concerned only with the enhancement of very basic capabilities of people.”

Amid various criticism on human development index the primary argument has been on its concept

which although is comprehensive yet does not take into account the concept of human potential.

The criticism on the concept more or less focused on the premise that the definition does not

include measure of “being” but is more concerned with the “doing” part of human capability.

The human development concept identifies healthy life, education and standard of income as

primary choices for human development with additional variable aspects that substantiate the

primary choices.

This substantiate the need for a careful review of human development definitions given in HDR

reports , such a review might pave way for addressing the long standing criticisms on human

development as conceptualized in HDRs.

Furthermore, such a review might be helpful in categorical understanding of improvement needs

in the conceptualization of human development. If done so we could be able to direct the

measurement mechanisms to produce more representative indicators of human development.

A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

Methods

What is in HDRs?

Each report consists of foreword from the Director followed by overview of the report and

subsequently the chapters outlining in detail the HDI of that year, the chapters also consists of

development reports from various countries as well as future development goals and lastly

technical notes outlines how index is calculated followed by the HDI ranking of each country.

Scope of this review

This review of the concept of Human Development takes into account the definition given

in the annual Human Development report beginning from 1990. The methodology adopted for this

paper is the review of the first three sections of the report which are (1) foreword (2) overview

and, (3) chapter one. Arbitrarily one of above sections begin with the initial definition given in

HDR 1990 and proceed to define human development , what dimensions it has comprised, and

how various aspects of human development has become the theme of that year’s report which are

generally event driven.

Each year’s definition along with augmented environmentally driven aspect is given in Appendix

1.

This paper is divided into two parts. The first part reviews the concept of human development that

was put forward in the reports from 1990 until 2016. From these reports we observe how human

development has been defined overtime taking into account time, circumstances and global state

of affairs coupled with what dimensions it has comprised, and how inequality, time and
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

environmental sustainability have been reflected in the conceptualization. The second part of the

review highlights the commonalities and differences in the conceptual definition of human

development in the HDRs followed by a review of human development as seen from the

conceptual lens of other disciplines.

Review of Definition of Human Development in Human Development Report

Since the Human Development Report (HDR) 1990 was the first publication for Human

Development Index it focused in detail on the concepts and measures of Human Development and

because of this reason we have elaborated the HDR 1990 concept verbatim below.

The HDR 1990 starts with “People are the real wealth of a nation. The basic objective of

development is to create an enabling environment for people to live long, healthy and creative

lives”.

The 1990 HDR defines human development as:

“Human development is a process of enlarging people’s choices. The most critical ones are to lead

a long and healthy life, to be educated and to enjoy a decent standard of living. Additional choices
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

include political freedom, guaranteed human rights and self-respect – what Adam Smith called the

ability to mix with others without being “ashamed to appear in public”.

The choices available to people to earn their livelihood and the options available in term of health,

education and standard of income is what constitutes human development from HDI perspective,

included with the primary choices are political freedom, guaranteed human rights and self-respect.

The term human development here denotes both the process of widening people’s choices and the

level of their achieved well-being. It also helps to distinguish clearly between two sides of human

development. One is the formation of human capabilities, such as improved health or knowledge.

The other is the use that people make of their acquired capabilities, for work or leisure (Alkire,

2010).

Human development generates economic development such as bringing together the production

and distribution of goods and services coupled with development, expansion and use of human

capabilities. It also focuses on choices people should have, “be” and “do” to be able to ensure their

own earnings and development. Human development is also about basic needs satisfaction as well

as with human development as a participatory and dynamic process. The dynamics of human

development applies in every nation irrespective whether it is less developed or highly developed

(Alkire, 2010).

Concept of Human Development 1990-2016

A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

This section briefly reviews the concept of human Development which was evolved in the

HDRs since 1990 to the last published in 2016 followed by analysis of commonalities and

differences between these concepts.

As Human Development Report 1990 was the first publication for Human Development Index,

the concept of human development is more detailed and emphasizes more on what development

and wellbeing means to a country. The first report defines human development as the process of

enlarging people’s choices that is be able to “be” and “do” as they deem necessary for livelihood.

The 1991 report also conceptualized human development as “The real objective of development

is to increase people’s choices which is similar as the 1990 concept however in this report it two

components are further discussed. In terms of growth it is necessary in order to advance human

development that it should be e “participatory, distributed well and sustainable.” the report also

mentions in terms of human development that, “It has to be development of the people, by the

people, for the people.”

In the 1992 report, the formalization of the concept was narrowed down to just ‘enlarging people’s

choices’. The process concerns cease to be central to the definition of human development since

1992 and continued like this in many subsequent HDRs.

The 1993 Report focused on People’s Participation. The definition according to 1993 HDR report

states that “Human development involves widening [people’s] choices, and greater participation

enables people to gain for themselves access to a much broader range of opportunities.” The report
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

does clarify that the relevant kinds of participation include the participation of individuals and

groups. It may be noted that the process concern in widening people choices is also absent in the

1993 report.

The 1994 HDR introduced the concept of sustainability as a component which was also earlier

mentioned in 1991 report but was not included as part of the concept of human development in the

1992 and 1993 report. The definition in the 1994 HDR on human development goes like this “the

purpose of development is to create an environment in which all people can expand their

capabilities, and opportunities can be enlarged for both present and future generations”.

The 1995 report reintroduced the concept of process as was developed in 1990 report “Human

Development is a process of enlarging people’s choices.” Additionally, it presented four principles

of human development paradigm: Productivity, Equity, Sustainability (across time), and

Empowerment. These four principles has since has evolved as part of the philosophy of Human

Development Index.

The 1996 report, emphasized that “Human development went far beyond income and growth to

cover the full flourishing of all human capabilities. It emphasized the importance of putting people

– their needs, their aspirations, their choices – at the center of the development effort.” It also

reiterated the fact that “human development can be expressed as a process of enlarging people’s

choices.” Which reinforced the basic concept of human development as developed in the initial

report of 1990.
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

The 1997 report, presented its concept of human development in a ‘Glossary’. “The process of

widening people’s choices and the level of well-being they achieve are at the core of the notion of

human development. Such choices are neither finite nor static.” It is a supplement to the original

concept with an explanation that human development is ever changing and growing and with each

satisfaction of need a new dimension of capability is sought after. Hence there can never be a

complete human development.

In 1998, the report presented human development, once again, as “a process of enlarging people’s

choices,” and a definition including the core dimensions is presented in a box entitled ‘What is

Human Development?’

The 1999 report the concept of human development as “the central concern of the Human

Development Report has always been people as the purpose of development, and their

empowerment as participants in the development process.” This concept however worded

differently encapsulates the same essence presented in the original HDR. The 1999 report also saw

the death of Mahbub ul Haq, the architect and founder of the Human Development Reports (Alkire,

2010).

The 2000 report reiterated the 1990 reference to processes and outcomes: “Human development is

the process of enlarging people’s choices, by expanding human functioning and capabilities.

Human development thus also reflects human outcomes in these functioning and capabilities. It

represents a process as well as an end.” This report apart from emphasizing the people choices and

human capability as the driver of human outcomes it also restates the 1991 the philosophy of
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

human development as ‘of, for, and by’ the people: “In the ultimate analysis, human development

is development of the people, for the people and by the people.”(HDR ,2000)

In 2001, introduced the concept of making technology work for human development for the first

time however the concept of human development given in this report though concise yet it was

not novel: “Human development…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.

People are the real wealth of nations. Development is thus about expanding the choices people

have to lead lives that they value. And it is thus about much more than economic growth, which is

only a means – if a very important one – of enlarging people’s choices. Fundamental to enlarging

these choices is building human capabilities – the range of things that people can do or be in life.”

In 2002, the report drew out, more prominently than in previous formulations, the importance of

human values (Alkire, 2010). “Human development is about people, about expanding their choices

to lead lives they value.” The 2002 report, gave more importance to the agency aspect, and argued

that participation forms a third ‘pillar’ of human development (Alkire, 2010). “People are not only

the beneficiaries of economic and social progress, they are also its agents, both as individuals and

by making common causes with others.”(HDR, 2002)

In 2003, the report addressed Millennium Development Goals although the two were not directly

linked in the report (MDG and human development) however the report conceptualized human

development as “Every Human Development Report has argued that the purpose of development

is to improve people’s lives by expanding their choices, freedom and dignity.”

A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

The 2004 Human Development Report defined human development as “the process of widening

choices for people to do and be what they value in life” this conceptualization again was a repeat

of the previous reports and blended two concepts into one concept.

In 2005 report defined human development as “Human development is about freedom. It is about

building human capabilities—the range of things that people can do, and what they can be.

Individual freedoms and rights matter a great deal, but people are restricted in what they can do

with that freedom if they are poor, ill, illiterate, discriminated against, threatened by violent

conflict or denied a political voice.” The limitations mentioned in the human development concept

was a new addition and for the first time emphasized the challenges the world was facing at that

time.

The 2006 report provide concept of human development in the overview, “Ultimately, human

development is about the realization of potential. It is about what people can do and what they can

become—their capabilities—and about the freedom they have to exercise real choices in their

lives.”

The concept of freedom was the second time in a row which was used as part of human

development which may be due to the Afghan and Iraq war.

The report in 2007-8 emphasized freedom with agency: “All development is ultimately about

expanding human potential and enlarging human freedom. It is about people developing the

capabilities that empower them to make choices and to lead lives that they value. “The report also
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

contains a more standard definition, “Human development is about people. It is about expanding

people’s real choice and the substantive freedoms – the capabilities – that enable them to lead lives

that they value.”

The concept of human development largely up till 2006 has been on one component of human

development, in 2007-8 it expanded the definition to agency, freedom, value and capabilities,

however it may be noteworthy to point out that all the components have been part of the definition

in the previous reports.

The 2009 report defined human development as “the expansion of people’s freedoms to live their

lives as they choose.” The concept again pays special attention to the freedom and self-respect.

The 2010 report focuses on human development as the freedom of choice to live long and healthy

lives which should be equally distributed and is sustainable, the definition reads “Human

development is the expansion of people’s freedoms to live long, healthy and creative lives; to

advance other goals they have reason to value; and to engage actively in shaping development

equitably and sustainably on a shared planet. People are both the beneficiaries and the drivers of

human development, as individuals and in groups”.

HDR 2011 HDR went back to focusing on human values and freedom and expanding choices and

capabilities. The 2011 report defined human development as Human development is the expansion

of people’s freedoms and capabilities to lead lives that they value and have reason to value. It is

about expanding choices. Freedoms and capabilities are a more expansive notion than basic needs
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

The 2013 HDR did not clearly define human development, however Amartya Sen had written a

short article called “what is it like to be human?” where he defined human development as “The

human development approach is a major advance in the difficult exercise of understanding the

successes and deprivations of human lives, and in appreciating the importance of reflection and

dialogue, and through that advancing fairness and justice in the world.”(Amartya. HDR, 2013)

Later on the report further expands the notion of human development to be sustainable through

four components which are equity, participation, inclusion of gender and managing demographic

change, the explanation given in the 2013 Report “human development identifies four specific

areas of focus for sustaining development momentum: enhancing equity, including on the gender

dimension; enabling greater voice and participation of citizens, including youth; confronting

environmental pressures; and managing demographic change”.

The 2014 Report focuses on resilience which was due to the natural disasters which the world

faced that year, the report defined human development as “A human development approach to

resilience focuses on people and their interactions, where power and social position are important

factors. Resilience is to be built at the level of both individuals and society—in terms of their

individual capabilities and social competences”. Further in the report human development is

further expanded by taking into account vulnerability “A human development approach is

incomplete unless it incorporates vulnerability and resilience in the analysis. Sustained progress in

human development is a matter of expanding people’s choices and keeping those choices secure

(HDR, 2014).
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

The 2015 Human Development Report focused on work and briefly defines human development

as enlarging choices and richness of human lives through meaningful work. The 2015 report

defined human development as “Human development is about enlarging human choices—focusing

on the richness of human lives rather than simply the richness of economies

The 2016 report pays special emphasis on universalism and defines human development as

“Human development is all about human freedoms: freedom to realize the full potential of every

human life, not just of a few, nor of most, but of all lives in every corner of the world—now and

in the future. Such universalism gives the human development approach its uniqueness. Human

development is about enlarging freedoms so that all human beings can pursue choices that they

value. Such freedoms have two fundamental aspects— freedom of well-being, represented by

functioning and capabilities, and freedom of agency, represented by voice and autonomy”. The

2016 report apart from mentioning freedom, potential and capabilities also emphasized the concept

of taking everyone together not just a select few, another novel aspect of the 2016 report the

definition of what freedom means to the individual.

A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

Conclusions & Way Forward

Review of HDRs since 1990 to 2016 reveal that not much has changed in terms of human

development concepts. Though the UNFPA report 2014 suggests that there have been dynamic

changes since the past 20 years.

At the time of conceptualization there was no dependence on technology as compared to today.

Today we are reliant on knowledge economy and knowledge workers which was not the case 20

years back. People are more aware of their rights and are able to voice their concerns, globalization

have reduced the distance between countries enabling access to different facilities and ability to

compare between haves and have nots, wealth is more concentrated among a select few.

The face of the world in 1990 was different compared to 2018, the changes between the 28 year

span is more marked than any era yet the definition of human development remains the same. We

believe that there is a need to modify the initial concept of human development to take into account

measures that have emerged in the 21st century.

Although the definition of human development as conceptualized in the initial HDR still form the

underlying basis of HDI however each year various aspects such as values, freedom, self-respect,

resilience, vulnerability etc., is given a place in the concept according to the external

environmental forces.
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

Concept of human development for HDI should have been backed by a time tested theory to

validate the measures, however since the definition is not theory backed the definition suffers from

lack of perpetuity, this is apparent when each year various aspects of human dimension according

to event driven state of affairs around the world are included to substantiate the original definition.

Had the definition of human development stood the test of time, inclusion of aspects every year

would not have been necessary.

It was identified that the conceptualization of human development in HDR is by and large focused

on the physical aspects of human beings and do not take into account psychological and spiritual,

we believe that it is more representative of the primary aspect of human development and we need

to take benefit from inter disciplinary knowledge of human development and reach upon a

conclusive construct which is a truer reflect of the indicators of human development.

Human development by any multi-disciplinary definition does not refer to just physical aspects

but also takes into account psychological and spiritual aspects, the definition conceptualized for

HDI only refers to physical factors impacting human development. Literature on HDI in reports

does mention ease of measurement for the prevalent index however this does not mean that the

concept should be incomplete which again points to the introduction of supplementary indexes

such as inequality adjustment index, gender parity index and poverty index, these supplementary

indexes on closer reflection are more tilted towards psychological aspects of development. We feel

that the time has come for modification of the basic definition of human development to include

psychological and spiritual component.

A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

Human development definition conceptualized in HDR 1990 focused on the process of widening

choices to improve individual’s quality of life in terms of health, education and a satisfactory level

of income, the concept identified these three choices as primary which every individual aspires

for, additional choices apart from the primary ones are political freedom, guaranteed human rights

and self-respect. This definition although comprehensive in its dimension is more of an economic

concept rather than a measure of human potential, which if seen in perspective defies the

philosophy of the conceptualization of HDI as put forward by Dr. Mahbub ul Haq. He was of the

view that GDP alone cannot be a sole indicator of a country’s progress, as it also involves human

intervention as well.

Yet when the human development was conceptualized it reflected more of an economic philosophy

with quantification of those aspects of human development which are physical and can be

measured, psychological and spiritual aspects were not included perhaps due to its subjective

nature. The supplementary indexes were later made a part of the report which more or less embody

psychological factors of human development but they do not constitute part of primary index.

Our contention is that although the philosophy behind HDI is an accurate depiction of a country’s

progress and in 1990 this was the need of the day however it is now time to modify the concept

and include a holistic concept of human development. We need to see human development from a

lens other than just economic.

A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

Appendix 1

The following table gives an overview of the definition of human development in the subsequent reports and how they have evolved
over time

Year Definitions
HDR 1991 “The real objective of development is to increase people’s choices. “To advance human development growth ought to be
“participatory, distributed well and sustainable.”. “It has to be development of the people, by the people, for the people.”
HDR 1992 ‘enlarging people’s choices’(From 1992, process concerns cease to be central to the definition of human developing in many
subsequent HDRs

HDR 1993 “Human development involves widening [people’s] choices, and greater participation enables people to gain for themselves
access to a much broader range of opportunities.” “The important thing is that people have constant access to decision-making
and power. Participation in this sense is an essential element of human development.”

HDR 1994 On Human Security, introduced sustainability of outcomes across time: “the purpose of development is to create an
environment in which all people can expand their capabilities, and opportunities can be enlarged for both present and future
generations.”
HDR 1995 On Gender, “Human Development is a process of enlarging people’s choices.” This issue presented four principles which it
argued to be ‘essential’ to the human development paradigm: Productivity, Equity, Sustainability (across time), and
Empowerment
HDR 1996 Economic growth and human development, “Human development went far beyond income and growth to cover the full
flourishing of all human capabilities,their needs, their aspirations, their choices – at the center of the development effort.” It
argued, also that “human development can be expressed as a process of enlarging people’s choices.”
HDR 1997 To eradicate poverty, “The process of widening people’s choices and the level of well-being they achieve are at the core of the
notion of human development. Such choices are neither finite nor static.”
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

HDR 1998 Consumption for human development, human development is presented, once again, as “a process of enlarging people’s
choices,” and a definition including the core dimensions is presented in a box entitled ‘What is Human Development?
HDR 1999 The 1999 report on Globalization: “The central concern [of the Human Development Report] has always been people as the
purpose of development, and their empowerment as participants in the development process.”
HDR 2000 On Human rights and human development “Human development is the process of enlarging people’s choices, by expanding
human functioning and capabilities. Human development thus also reflects human outcomes in these functioning and
capabilities”.
HDR 2001 In 2001, Making new technologies work for human development “Human development…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.
People are the real wealth of nations. Development is thus about expanding the choices people have to lead lives that they
value. And it is thus about much more than economic growth, which is only a means – if a very important one – of enlarging
people’s choices. Fundamental to enlarging these choices is building human capabilities – the range of things that people can
do or be in life.”

HDR 2002 On Deepening democracy in a fragmented world. “Human development is about people, about expanding their choices to lead
lives they value.” “People are not only the beneficiaries of economic and social progress, they are also its agents, both as
individuals and by making common causes with others.”
HDR 2003 Millennium Development Goals: A compact among nations to end human poverty. “Every Human Development Report has
argued that the purpose of development is to improve people’s lives by expanding their choices, freedom and dignity.”
HDR 2004 On Cultural liberty in today’s diverse world. The report started with the original defintion “the process of widening choices
for people to do and be what they value in life.” The report also made a full restatement of human development, as cited
below:
People are the real wealth of nations. Indeed, the basic purpose of development is to enlarge human freedoms. The process of
development can expand human capabilities by expanding the choices that people have to live full and creative lives. And
people are both the beneficiaries of such development and the agents of the progress and change that bring it about. This
process must benefit all individuals equitably and build on the participation of each of them. …
The range of capabilities that individuals can have, and the choices that can help to expand them, are potentially infinite and
vary by individual. However, public policy is about setting priorities, and two criteria are helpful in identifying the most
important capabilities for assessing meaningful global progress in achieving human well-being, the purpose of this Report.
First, these capabilities must be universally valued. Second, they must be basic to life, in the sense that their absence would
foreclose many other choices”.
HDR 2005 On International Cooperation “Human development is about freedom. It is about building human capabilities—the range of
things that people can do, and what they can be. Individual freedoms and rights matter a great deal, but people are restricted in
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

what they can do with that freedom if they are poor, ill, illiterate, discriminated against, threatened by violent conflict or
denied a political voice.”
HDR 2006 On Water scarcity, did not advance conceptually on earlier reports, but does provide a statement on human development in the
overview. The overview sentence reads, “Ultimately, human development is about the realization of potential. It is about what
people can do and what they can become—their capabilities—and about the freedom they have to exercise real choices in their
lives.”

HDR 2007/8 On Water scarcity, “Ultimately, human development is about the realization of potential. It is about what people can do and
what they can become—their capabilities—and about the freedom they have to exercise real choices in their lives.”

HDR 2009 On Migration defined human development as “the expansion of people’s freedoms to live their lives as they choose.” Another
description was the following: “putting people and their freedom at the center of development. It is about people realizing their
potential, increasing their choices and enjoying the freedom to lead lives they value. ” In terms of dimensions, the report
stressed that, “Human development is concerned with the full range of capabilities, including social freedoms that cannot be
exercised without political and civic guarantees….”

HDR 2010 On The Real Wealth of Nations: Human development is the expansion of people’s freedoms to live long, healthy and creative
lives; to advance other goals they have reason to value; and to engage actively in shaping development equitably and
sustainably on a shared planet. People are both the beneficiaries and the drivers of human development, as individuals and in
groups.
HDR 2011/ On Sustainability and Equity: Human development is the expansion of people’s freedoms and capabilities to lead lives that
they value and have reason to value. It is about expanding choices. Freedoms and capabilities are a more expansive notion
than basic needs
HDR On The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World “The human development approach is a major advance in the
2012/2013 difficult exercise of understanding the successes and deprivations of human lives, and in appreciating the importance of
reflection and dialogue, and through that advancing fairness and justice in the world.” —Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, from
chapter 1
The 2013 Report identifies four specific areas of focus for sustaining development momentum: enhancing equity, including on
the gender dimension; enabling greater voice and participation of citizens, including youth; confronting environmental
pressures; and managing demographic change.
HDR 2014 On Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerability and Building Resilience: A human development approach to
resilience focuses on people and their interactions, where power and social position are important factors. Resilience is to be
built at the level of both individuals and society—in terms of their individual capabilities and social competences
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

A human development approach is incomplete unless it incorporates vulnerability and resilience in the analysis. Sustained
progress in human development is a matter of expanding people’s choices and keeping those choices secure. Pg. 17 ch1
HDR 2015 On Work for Human Development: Human development is about enlarging human choices—focusing on the richness of
human lives rather than simply the richness of economies
HDR 2016 On Human Development for Everyone: Human development is all about human freedoms: freedom to realize the full potential
of every human life, not just of a few, nor of most, but of all lives in every corner of the world—now and in the future. Such
universalism gives the human development approach its uniqueness.
Human development is about enlarging freedoms so that all human beings can pursue choices that they value. Such freedoms
have two fundamental aspects— freedom of well-being, represented by functionings and capabilities, and freedom of agency,
represented by voice and autonomy

Source: UNDP Human Development Reports

A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

Appendix 2

Aspects /Dimensions of Human Development 1990 -2016

 A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

Dimensions mentioned in the HDR 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16

Report by Year
Long healthy life x x x x x x x x x x x X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Knowledge x x x x x x x x x x x X x x x x x x x x x x x X x x
Resources for decent std of life x x x x x x x x x x x X x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Political freedom x x x x x x
Guaranteed Human Rts X x x x x
Self-Respect X x x x x
Good physical environment x x x
Freedom of Action & Expression x
Participation x x x
Human Security x
Political, Social &Econ Freedoms x x x x
Being creative x x x x x
Being Productive x x x x x
Freedom x x
Democracy x
Dignity &Respect of others x
Empowerment x
A sense of belonging to a community x x x
Security x
Sustainability
Enjoying political and civil freedoms to x
participate in the life of one’s community
Cultural liberty x
Social & Political Participation x
Civil & Political Rights x
Source: UNDP Human Development Reports
Appendix 3
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

Themes of Human Development Reports 1990 -2016

Year Themes
1990 Concept and Measurement of Human Development
1991 Financing Human Development
1992 Global Dimensions of Human Development
1993 People’s Participation
1994 New Dimensions of Human Security
1995 Gender and Human Development
1996 Economic Growth and Human Development

1997 Human Development to Eradicate Poverty

1998 Consumption for Human Development

1999 Globalization with a Human Face
2000 Human Rights and Human Development
2001 Making New Technologies Work for Human Development
2002 Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World
2003 Millennium Development Goals: A Compact among Nations to End Human Poverty
2004 Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World
2005 International Cooperation at a Crossroads: Aid, Trade and Security in an Unequal World
2006 Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis

2007/8 Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World

2009 Overcoming Barriers: Human Mobility and Development
2010 The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Human Development
2011 Sustainability and Equity: A Better Future for All
2012/13 The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World
2014 Sustaining Human Progress: Reducing Vulnerability and Building Resilience
2015 Work for Human Development
2016 Human Development for Everyone
Source: UNDP Human Development Reports
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports
A Review of Past 26 Years Of Human Development Reports

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