Country Makes Headway in Human Development

The Chairman of the Council of State, Prof. Alexander Adum Kwapong says Ghana has progressed modestly on the Human Development Index (HDI) and is one of the only two West African countries outside the low human development index.

Prof. Kwapong said this at the launching of the Human Development Report 2003 in Accra last Friday.

"Our HDI value moved forward from 0.556 in 2000 to 0.567 this year. This is quite in line with our expectations that consistent growth enhancement policies and poverty reduction strategies will ultimately result in rapid improvement in the principal parameters of human development", he said

He said however, that Ghana must make strenuous efforts to emerge as a member of the countries doing well in the medium human development league.

He said a ranking of 129th out of 175 countries listed implies that more work is needs to be done, especially in the fight against HIV/AIDS, raising the capacity of women and school enrolment in addition to growth.

This year's Human Development Report 2003 focuses on the progress made towards the achievement of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG). The MDGs include; halving poverty and hunger by 2015, achieving universal primary education by 2015, promoting gender equality in education by 2005, and reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.

The rest are reduction in maternal mortality by three-four by 2015, halting HIV/AIDS and other disease by 2015, ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development (aid, trade, debt and technology).

The report said progress in achieving these goals have been too slow in some countries and charged poor countries to show a lot more commitment in improving their economies. It says at the current rate of progress, sub-Saharan Africa will achieve the child mortality goal 105 years late. It therefore called on African countries to set their priorities right and stop the "business as usual" economic management.