DR advances slightly with regard to human development
Report says country has good income, but challenge is redistribution
Amílcar Nivar
SD. The Dominican Republic returned to occupy position 102 among 187 countries in the Report on Human Development (RHD) which is done by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), but showed slight advances and, for the first time, is found among the countries with high human development.
This means that there are some improvements in the dimensions of human development, but important interventions are still required in order to accelerate the policies having an effect," explained Melisa Breton, the coordinator of the Office of Human Development of the UNDP, during the presentation of the Report.
She said that there are improvements in relation to income, economic growth and in relation to health, which are some of the dimensions for human development.
She added that the Dominican Republic has had an important economic growth, considerable for the region, higher than in other countries, which shows its effect in areas of health and education, but she feels that still, as in all the countries in the region, there exist challenges when it comes to redistributing the wealth.
"So the country has had good results in generating income for the economy, the challenge now is to be able to redistribute them," she said.
The expert said that the focus of this Report is specifically on the vulnerability and the requirements regarding the understanding that the achievements that the countries have obtained until now could disappear in the face of adverse situations and therefore it is important to proportion capacities for the persons that are the center of development, with the aim that they can deal with difficulties, such as economic crises, environmental effects or natural disasters.
The Report, for the first time focuses on the demands beyond risks and it focuses on the life cycle, such as in the different moments of life of human beings which have an effect on their vulnerability," she pointed out.
Before her speech in an act carried out at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Breton said that the Report stresses that among the persons who are most vulnerable are the children, the women, the young people, and the elderly, so that she is arguing for policies that focus specifically on these groups.
She indicated that the Report on Human Development seeks to provide the countries with information and ideas regarding policies which improve the situation both of the women as well as the men in society. "Human development is limited when there are inequalities including gender inequality. We can see that the women, the children are those that have really the greatest vulnerability, so they are the persons who need more attention," she emphasized.
She said that on this occasion the RHD uses a methodology which is new so that it cannot be compared with the previous Report and she recalled that it measures three dimensions which are health, education and income.
In addition she stressed that the changes between one year and another do not always respond to specific policies because human development is a long term paradigm.
During the activity, the resident representative of the UNDP, Luciana Mermet, pointed out that in the Dominican Republic, different from what is happening in the greater part of Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of women who will finish secondary education is greater than that of the men.
Nevertheless, the participation of Dominican women in the labor market is found to be below that of men and of the Latin American average.
She said that only 51.12% of Dominican women who are economically active have a job which is below the regional average of 53.7%.
Public policies for investment
The Report introduces the idea of the life cycle with regards to vulnerability in order to refer to the threats which individuals face at different stages of their lives, from infancy through youth, the adults age and old age. In 2012 the unemployment rate for juveniles was estimated at 12.7%, nearly 3 times the average for adults. Therefore, the formulation of public policies that promote investment opportunities during these sensitive periods of life of the people help us all to achieve our greatest potential," said Mermet as she presented the Report on Human Development.
This means that there are some improvements in the dimensions of human development, but important interventions are still required in order to accelerate the policies having an effect," explained Melisa Breton, the coordinator of the Office of Human Development of the UNDP, during the presentation of the Report.
She said that there are improvements in relation to income, economic growth and in relation to health, which are some of the dimensions for human development.
She added that the Dominican Republic has had an important economic growth, considerable for the region, higher than in other countries, which shows its effect in areas of health and education, but she feels that still, as in all the countries in the region, there exist challenges when it comes to redistributing the wealth.
"So the country has had good results in generating income for the economy, the challenge now is to be able to redistribute them," she said.
The expert said that the focus of this Report is specifically on the vulnerability and the requirements regarding the understanding that the achievements that the countries have obtained until now could disappear in the face of adverse situations and therefore it is important to proportion capacities for the persons that are the center of development, with the aim that they can deal with difficulties, such as economic crises, environmental effects or natural disasters.
The Report, for the first time focuses on the demands beyond risks and it focuses on the life cycle, such as in the different moments of life of human beings which have an effect on their vulnerability," she pointed out.
Before her speech in an act carried out at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Breton said that the Report stresses that among the persons who are most vulnerable are the children, the women, the young people, and the elderly, so that she is arguing for policies that focus specifically on these groups.
She indicated that the Report on Human Development seeks to provide the countries with information and ideas regarding policies which improve the situation both of the women as well as the men in society. "Human development is limited when there are inequalities including gender inequality. We can see that the women, the children are those that have really the greatest vulnerability, so they are the persons who need more attention," she emphasized.
She said that on this occasion the RHD uses a methodology which is new so that it cannot be compared with the previous Report and she recalled that it measures three dimensions which are health, education and income.
In addition she stressed that the changes between one year and another do not always respond to specific policies because human development is a long term paradigm.
During the activity, the resident representative of the UNDP, Luciana Mermet, pointed out that in the Dominican Republic, different from what is happening in the greater part of Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of women who will finish secondary education is greater than that of the men.
Nevertheless, the participation of Dominican women in the labor market is found to be below that of men and of the Latin American average.
She said that only 51.12% of Dominican women who are economically active have a job which is below the regional average of 53.7%.
Public policies for investment
The Report introduces the idea of the life cycle with regards to vulnerability in order to refer to the threats which individuals face at different stages of their lives, from infancy through youth, the adults age and old age. In 2012 the unemployment rate for juveniles was estimated at 12.7%, nearly 3 times the average for adults. Therefore, the formulation of public policies that promote investment opportunities during these sensitive periods of life of the people help us all to achieve our greatest potential," said Mermet as she presented the Report on Human Development.
Amílcar Nivar
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