The
Jordan Times
August 10, 2004
Summary: A UNDP report examining the progress on human
development in Jordan cited proporational representation as an
effective means of maintaining the cultural freedoms of
migrant populations.
"'People have the right to maintain their ethnic,
linguistic and religious identities and have innovative
systems of proportional representation and federalism,' said
the report."
"'The adoption of policies that recognise and protect
these identities is the only sustainable approach to
development in diverse societies and provides incentives to
build a "we" feeling where citizens find the
institutional and political space to identify with both their
country and their cultural identities,' it added."
The Jordan Times
Jordan's Rankings Unchanged in Human Development Report
2004
By Dalya Dajani
August 10, 2004
AMMAN ��� While the Kingdom has yet to see an improvement
in citizens' productivity, its investments in health and
education are continuing to pay off, and was ranked first in
poverty reduction efforts in the region, a UNDP report
revealed on Monday.
This year's Human Development Report 2004 (HDR), entitled
���Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World,��� showed that
Jordan remained at last year's ranking of 90 out of 177
countries.
The Kingdom, however, registered a small rise in its Human
Development Index (HDI) ��� a measure of life expectancy,
adult literacy and per capita income ��� which increased from
0.743 last year to 0.750 this year.
According to the report, life expectancy in Jordan rose
from 70.6 years in 2003 to 70.9 years this year. Adult
literacy also increased to 90.9 per cent from 90.3 per cent
last year.
Purchasing power parity, or GDP, also witnessed an increase
from $3,870 in 2003 to $4,220, thus improving per capita
income.
UNDP Resident Representative Christine McNab told the media
yesterday that Jordan was making ���steady��� progress in
meeting its human development goals.
She noted that its investments, particularly in education,
have made it the ���best among Arab countries.���
���Jordan's HDI rank and the indicators for health and
education show clearly the progress Jordan has made towards
human development,��� said McNab.
���Its Human Poverty Index shows further that the
government is spending a much larger share of its finances in
addressing poverty than many other high-income Arab
countries,��� she added.
Jordan's HPI ��� a measure of the proportion of people
below a threshold level in basic dimensions of human
development ��� ranked first in the region.
It was followed by Lebanon, Syria and Libya, and ranked 7th
best among 95 developing countries.
Jordan also fared well in its Gender Development Index ���
a measure of the inequalities in achievement between men and
women ��� ranking 6th in the region. The Kingdom of Bahrain
was 1st, followed by Kuwait, Lebanon, the occupied Palestinian
territories and Saudi Arabia.
While acknowledging the strides taken over recent years in
various fields of development, several members of the media
nevertheless questioned some of the report's findings
yesterday. The press cited indicators that reflected a
somewhat rosy picture of Jordan's human development status,
while poverty and unemployment remain two major national
challenges.
Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Bassem
Awadallah told the press that investments made in various
sectors of human development over the past two years needed
time to show results.
���The Kingdom has made some great strides in the different
fields of human development, particularly in improving primary
and child healthcare and educational reforms that better link
it to the job market,��� said Awadallah.
���One has to keep in mind, however, that such policies and
programmes, as with other countries, require a ���lag-time���
of two to three years before they yield the aspired for
results and before we begin to assess their impact on
citizens' lives,��� he added.
The minister pointed to the Kingdom's 6.9 per cent economic
growth in the first quarter of this year, an 18 per cent
increase from the same period last year, as a ���promising
sign and pace of development.���
He noted, however, that such growth could not be expected
to impact all Jordanian citizens immediately as the country
still battles high levels of unemployment.
���We have noted a stronger performance by the country, but
poverty and unemployment still prevail. Some 50,000 to 60,000
new people enter the job market each year. At the same time,
we haven't seen an increase in citizens' productivity
levels,��� said Awadallah.
Diversity and development
The HDR, which has served as a useful resource for experts
and academia over the past 15 years, this year examines an
interesting dimension of human development.
The report focuses on migrant populations in multicultural
nations who are often held back from contributing positively
to the development of their host nations due to their
indigenous nature.
The report's authors finds that millions of migrant
populations, ethnic minorities or otherwise, continue to face
suppression of cultural freedoms.
A key element for development, however, is giving people
the freedom to live the lives they choose whilst providing
them with the tools and opportunities to make these choices.
���People have the right to maintain their ethnic,
linguistic and religious identities and have innovative
systems of proportional representation and federalism,��� said
the report.
���The adoption of policies that recognise and protect
these identities is the only sustainable approach to
development in diverse societies and provides incentives to
build a ���we��� feeling where citizens find the institutional
and political space to identify with both their country and
their cultural identities,��� it added.
According to the report's authors, some nations see
diversity as leading to divided loyalties, weakening the
state, a cause of violent conflict and bad for growth and
human development.
Citing the report, McNab yesterday pointed to such myths as
being without substance.
���Cultural differences are a source of strength, economic
progress and human development in any state and in the world
as a whole,��� said McNab.
���International migration brings skills, labour and ideas
and enriches people's lives,��� she added.
The HDR notes that nations can and do accommodate diversity
constructively by crafting responsive policies of cultural
recognition.
���To build a viable and multiethnic society, governments
must recognise that multiple and complementary identities do
not represent a threat to the state,��� said the report.
The report offers states policy advice on how they can
accommodate diversity constructively, without being drawn in
by prevailing misconceptions and myths of their power on
national stability and identity.
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