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Thursday, September 08, 2005 

Facts from the UN's Human Development report 2005.

The Millennium goals themselves are available here.

Just some of the facts the report establishes are:

UN member states' progress has been depressingly slow.

The promise to the world's poor is being broken.

There has been some progress: An increase in life expectancy of 2 years (since 1990), child deaths have been cut by 3 million a year, 30 million more children are in school and 130 million have been removed from extreme poverty. These achievements should be not be underestimated, or exaggerated.

18 countries with a combined population of 460 million, scored lower scores on the human development chart than in 1990. The human development index assesses life expectancy, income and literacy. Top places in the league table are dominated by Scandinavian countries, while sub-Saharan African countries fill the bottom 25 places.

10.7 million children every year do not live to see their 5th birthday.

More than 1 billion people live on less than $1 a day.

Life expectancy in Zambia is now lower than it was in Britain in 1840.

The world's 500 richest individuals have a combined income than is greater than that of the poorest 416 million.

2.5 billion (40% of the world's population) live on less than $2 a day.

Redistributing 1.6% of the income of the richest 10% of the global population would provide the $300 billion needed to lift the 1 billion people living on less than a dollar a day out of extreme poverty, at least temporarily.

For every $1 spent on aid by rich countries, $10 is spent on the military.

Total spending on HIV/Aids prevention/treatment comes to three days of military spending.

Top places in the league table are dominated by Scandinavian countries, while sub-Saharan African countries fill the bottom 25 places.

The United States has a higher infant mortality rate than that of Malaysia.


A summary of the report is available here.

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