Global dev rebounds post-Covid: UN

AFP :
Humanity has returned to pre-pandemic levels of development, the United Nations said on Wednesday, but it warned that the global recovery masks a widening gap between rich and poor countries.
The rebound follows two years of decline, when, in 2021 and 2022, the global Human Development Index (HDI) dipped twice in a row for the first time since its creation nearly 35 years ago, thanks in part to the Covid-19 crisis, rolling back five years of progress.
Now, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has forecast a record high in the index for 2023, according to a report released on Wednesday.
“After two years of actually reversing in terms of global human development with the pandemic and all its consequences, we have seen a rebound,” head of the UNDP Achim Steiner told AFP.
The 2023 estimate shows metrics in every category – life expectancy, education and standard of living – are projected to exceed their pre-2019 values, although lingering effects of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine have blunted the trajectory somewhat.
But the overall good news hides a growing divide between wealthy and poor countries.
“The first time I saw the results, I asked the team to go back and confirm that the data was correct,” Pedro Conceicao, in charge of the report, told reporters.
“What we’re seeing is that the poorest and most vulnerable segments of our society are being left behind,” he warned.
He said the results threaten the UNDP’s 2030 goal to “not only to leave no one behind but to reach the furthest behind first.”
“What we’re seeing is the opposite of that,” Conceicao said.