FREE ESSAY ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Human development is very important in terms of living conditions in different countries.
The statement "any society committed to improving the lives of its people must also be
committed to full and equal rights for all" is true. The UN considers three factors to
calculate human development in a country. These factors cover many aspects of a country,
including social development in a country. Income, education, and healthy living are
considered to be the most important factors in human development, which help to rid
populations of poverty, and support human rights.
First, the improvement of lives is directly related to human rights. According to the
2000 UN Human Development Report, a more developed country with more rights today, as
opposed to 1970, can expect a newborn to live 10 more years, adult literacy cut in half,
and infant mortality rates cut by over 40%. The more freedom and rights a person has, the
more opportunity, and better chance for a good standard of living. The International
Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights declared that the "rights to food,
health, education and privacy were fundamental building blocks of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights." Humans, then, can realize what they are capable of
achieving. However, a less developed country with less freedom, demotivates people and
takes away opportunity for one to achieve their best. In addition, national security,
criminal justice, and freedom of speech are other factors in human and social
development. Without these, again, one cannot achieve their full potential.
Second, the UN considers income as is a very important factor in determining human
development. Income determines some human rights in countries, and general standards of
living. People in poverty are usually denied rights, which include civil, political,
economic, social, and cultural rights. Human rights are directly related to human
development. Discrimination against the poor is generally ignoring or denying their
freedom of expression. Labor or communication rights, for example, may not be agreeable
for the poor, which could mean unacceptable terms. Thus, the poor will become poorer,
while the rich can thrive off of their cheap labor. This creates a larger gap in income
distribution in a country. The larger the gap, the more unequal a country is. Without
basic labor rights or freedoms, they may not be able to access social or economic rights.
In addition to rights, a higher income generally means higher standards of living. This
includes clean water and food, adequate shelter, good communications, and a method for
transportation. A less developed country lacks these, while a higher developed country,
with a higher human development index, essentially contains all of these.
Second, education is another important factor in determining human development. Education
determines the future of a country. Without good education, children cannot make the
country progress and advance when they grow up. This would be the reversal of human
development. Generally, the less educated people are, the less likely they will be able
to understand complicated job tasks. This includes standard information literacy. Without
knowing simple or complicated work or technology, especially in today's world, a country
will not progress. In addition, education can also be related to population growth or a
lack of resources. Poor education can mean a country has a very high population growth
rate. This is due to a lack of resources and money. The poor usually tend to have many
children, especially in less developed countries. With a high growth rate, the
demographic transition will be harder to achieve. In addition, as the population
increases with youth and a lack of education, there will be more poverty with the same
amount of resources, if the government does not increase public expenditures on
education. It has been proven that an increase of education creates a rise in a nation's
GDP. 
Third, healthy living, or life expectancy is another factor used by the UN to calculate
the human development index. This factor deals with living standards and possibly
surrounding environment. Generally, a country with more human rights and national
security will have citizens with higher life expectancies. A country in war, or one with
poor sanitation conditions is likely to have lower life expectancy. Other factors of life
expectancy are diseases, and a lack of resources, including food. This means that the
country's government isn't protecting them, or even helping to provide clean and healthy
living conditions. Protecting or providing the right to live a clean and healthy life is
essential. Without a long life expectancy, in addition, humans cannot achieve many
things. This is somewhat linked to the education factor. Full education of a human takes
quite a long time. If the person's life expectancy is not long after educational
achievement, there is not much he or she can achieve, especially with no experience. In
comparison to a country with much higher life expectancy, the country will usually have a
lower human development index.
The UN chooses three very important indicators for human development because they are the
simplest way of calculating social development in a country. The more social development,
the more human rights the country tends to have. In addition, equal human rights help all
humans to achieve anything to the best of their abilities. This tends to lower the
poverty rate and raise equality within a country. The more equal a country is, the more
developed, as the human development index shows.