-Improvement due to social sector spending
THE 2010 United Nations Human Development report has rated  Guyana at 104 out of 169, in its  20th appraisal, titled ‘The real wealth of nations: Pathways to human development’. The report commends Guyana’s rating  improving from 0.500 to 0.611, the latter figure being its Human Development Indicator(HDI) for 2010. This is a 22% increase for the period 1980-2010.
This format that was introduced in 1990 by the  internationally-renowned economists Dr. Mahbub ul Haq, now deceased, and Dr Amartya  Sen, insisted on a different approach to economics and development, whereby people must be placed at the centre of development.
Thus, Human Development, since 1990, has been defined “as a process of enlarging people’s choices.” It is also about  the freedom to be healthy, to be educated, enjoy a decent standard of living, and includes people’s freedoms  to live long, healthy and creative lives; sustaining positive outcomes  and combating processes that impoverish people, political freedoms and human rights. This framework is applicable to all countries: Rich and poor.    
The report states that although much has been achieved, much more remains to be done, and points to a narrowing of the gap between knowledge and health.  
The Organisation’s representative to Guyana, Dr.Kiari Liman Tinguri, in announcing the findings of the report, said that the summit of the income distribution table is still dominated by a minority of countries with just a few poor states being able to graduate to that grouping. He said that there has been progress, but pointed to trends not being “wholly positive,” and to very noticeable variations. For example, countries have experienced setbacks, particularly in health, thereby “erasing, in a few years, the gains of several decades.” The current global downturn was also cited as a setback.
He  further pointed out that though countries may be undemocratic, inequitable and unsustainable, they still have a high HDI; and, democratic ones, equitable and sustainable, yet a low  HDI.
Continuing, Tinguri  emphasised that there is a widening of  political freedoms, with people being able to decide on their choice of political leaders, illustrating that there have been advances in living standards based on an analysis of 135 developed and developing  countries during the period 1970 to 2010. This survey informs that there  has been a life   expectancy increase from 59 to 70 years; a per capita income that is in excess of $10,000, with many poor countries achieving “some of the greatest gains”.
He reiterated  that  control over resources is critical to the expansion of  countries’ capabilities , and reiterated the  role of “Global knowledge and technical progress” in influencing  critical advances in poor countries.
And Guyana ’s Foreign Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, who received the report, said that it reaffirms that people are at the centre of development and that such a pathway underscores  such an approach for  the enjoying of long and healthy lives  by people in an enabling  environment.  
She alluded to the report mentioning that there is no consensus on development policy, but  that it gives insights on important issues, opining that although there have been progress, there is still inequality in several area, citing as  an  example the income disparity between Latin America and the Caribbean. Despite the latter, she said that there has been progress, due to public spending  and targetting  social policies.
“This is interesting and instructive, since it was during this period, too, that many states in Latin America rejected the conventional policy prescriptions for addressing development issues; and, indeed, the states played a leading role,” she said.
Minister Rodrigues-Birkett  reffered to the need  for a closeness between human development and greenhouse gas emissions, for the former to become sustainable.
“In other words, the biggest challenge for us now is that of climate change. This is not any different to what we have been saying in Guyana . Indeed, we have gone further to offer solutions via the Low Carbon Development Strategy and forests, even though we recognise that this challenge has to be faced down with a global response,” the Minister said.
Concluding, she pointed  to the  need for states to retain their individuality, with their strengths and weaknesses being taken into consideration. 
“There are times when some of our development partners believe they can import or transplant a model from some other place without recognising our own peculiarity,” she said. (GINA)