Reflections on Human Development [Paperback]

This work explores a new development paradigm whose central focus is on human well-being. Increase in income is treated as an essential means, but not as the end of development, and certainly not as the sum of human life. Development policies and strategies are discussed which link economic growth with human lives in various societies. The book also analyzes the evolution of a new Human Development Index which is a far more comprehensive measure of socio-economic progress of nations than the traditional measure of Gross National Product. For the first time, a Political Freedom Index is also presented.

The book offers a new vision of human security for the twenty-first century where real security is equated with security of people in their homes, their jobs, their communities, and their environment. The book discusses many concrete proposals in this context, including a global compact to overcome the worst aspects of global poverty within a decade, key reforms in the Bretton Woods institutions of World Bank and IMF, and establishment of a new Economic Security Council within the United Nations.

The UNDP team, under a Pakistani economic guru, offers the World Bankers some healthy competition. --The Economist

Mahbub ul Haq is the closest thing to a visionary that the UN system possesses. Cutting through the bureaucracy and conservatism of the UN Development Program, he has launched the Human Development Report, which annually criticizes both governments and agencies like the World Bank for their neglect of the key elements of human well-being--health, education and a decent living wage. --New Internationalist

One of the most appealing ideas is what Mahbub ul Haq, Special Adviser to the UNDP, describes a s a 'second birth' for the United Nations. Dr. Haq, the Human Development Report's formidable chief architect, wants the UN to act as a 'peace corps' not a 'police force', moving from its quasi-military role to becolS,