The reality of it all
Editorial
Guyana Chronicle
July 16, 2003
AT today’s launching of the UNDP’s 2003 Human Development Report at Le Meridien Pegasus, Programme officials will confirm that Guyana is now 92nd among the countries of the world in human development ranking, moving eleven places from a year ago.
For many Guyanese, that’s good news.
For many others, however, that’s nothing to shout about.
For one thing, skeptics question the accuracy of the data on Guyana given to the UNDP by the Guyana Government, as well as the agency’s mechanism of verifying those data.
For another thing, they’ve rationalized from data on other countries that Guyana has moved up only because other countries have spiraled downwards.
One of the other views that emerged at an acquaintance meeting convened by the new UNDP Resident Representative for journalists yesterday was that the Government should make data on the country accessible to members of the public, thus lending credibility to whatever information it submits to agencies like the UNDP.
People tend to view skeptics as being perennially partisan, more-so if the object of their spleen is a government, organization or person they don’t like.
Yet, because free discussion is the lifeblood of democracy, policymakers dare not always ignore criticisms that can spark healthy debate on good governance - that is, transparent and accountable administration.
On the other hand, skeptics are expected to substantiate their arguments with credible data if they are to be taken seriously.
That’s the reality of it all.
Among the things we’re going to hear more about is that Guyana has an HDI value of 0.740 with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of US$4, 490, bringing Guyana in to the category of the medium human development countries.
The UNDP’s Human Development Index captures average levels of a nation’s human development by reflecting achievements in longevity, knowledge and standard of living.
The report that will be launched today also notes that Guyana has been successful in the reduction of human poverty with Human Poverty Index (HPI) of 12.7%, ranking 23 among 94 developing countries.
The HPI is a multidimensional measure of poverty for developing countries, taking into account deprivations in survival and knowledge, social exclusion and lack of economic means.
In relation to building capabilities of women, Guyana is ranked 74 among 144 countries on the Gender-related Development Index (GDI) of 0.730. GDI measures a nation’s achievement in the same dimensions as the HDI, but is adjusted to account for gender disparities.
However, in relation to Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) the report says a value for Guyana could not be calculated as data on the share of women among professional and technical workers and among administrators and managers are not available. GEM evaluates gender equality in participation in professional, economic and political decision -making. The report notes also that 20% of parliamentary seats are held by women in Guyana.
At least one of the journalists who attended yesterday’s rap session with the UNDP officials felt that the government of a country is wont to say all-positive things about itself and the country it governs so that it would go down as looking good among other countries.
The question then, is: why did those countries that the UNDP report places below Guyana give negative or “bad” data about themselves?
Is it that those don’t have a sense of what it means to want to look or sound “good”? Or is it that they simply don’t want to come across as good as the Guyana Government does, or wants to project itself?