The UNDP Human Development report identifies “injustice and loss of dignity” in Latin America

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Santiago de Chile in December 2019 (Credit: Spencer Platt / Getty Images)

(CNN Spanish) - The UNDP Human Development report identifies “injustice and loss of dignity” in Latin America

The new human development report published on Monday worldwide by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) indicates that the manifestations that are occurring in Latin America and the Caribbean are a sign that “perceptions of injustice persist and loss of dignity, especially between the middle class and the historically marginalized population of this region. ”

“New inequalities” identified in Latin America

Growth in Latin America can no longer be subject to economic income and the distribution of wealth, according to UNDP.

According to the report, Chile continues to be the country with the greatest human development in Latin America, but the most unequal in terms of income.

According to the UN, Venezuela has fallen to 96th place after being 78 last year and also registered with Ecuador the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in South America

According to the report entitled "Beyond income, beyond the averages" there is a "new generation of inequalities" focused on issues such as technology, education and the climate crisis.

Dignity, equal treatment and non-discrimination can be even more important than the unequal distribution of income, the document says.

In that sense, the HDI, published annually by UNDP, exposes a series of measurement variables for Latin America and other countries and warns that it is difficult to obtain a clear vision of inequalities, because they are very wide and present multiple facets

The report measures the human development index (HDI) according to 2018 data and different variables: health, education, income, gender equality, poverty, work, security, trade, mobility and communication, environmental and demographic sustainability.

• This is the Latin American country with the least human development (2017)

Ranking by human development index

Of a total of 189 countries and territories analyzed by UNDP, no country in the Americas is in the top ten places of human development.

Canada and USA they appear in positions 13 and 15, respectively, while Chile, Argentina and Uruguay are located in positions 42, 48 and 57 respectively within the same scale.

Some countries in South America such as Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil are within the “high” human development index. Ecuador is ranked 85, Venezuela 96, Colombia 79, Peru 82, Bolivia 114 and Brazil 79.

Among the countries of Central America and the Caribbean: Cuba is in 72, Dominican Republic in 89, Panama in 67th place in the "high" human development index.

While in the "middle" index are Honduras in the 132nd position, El Salvador in the 124th, Guatemala and Nicaragua in the 126th

Haiti is located at 169 with a "low" human development index.

Up and down in Latin American countries

Venezuela, last year, due among other things to the reduction of per capita income, fell to the 78th position in the world ranking of the human development index a difference of 13 positions with respect to 5 previous years. This year he descended to 96th place, losing 18 more positions, says the UN. Thus, Venezuela and Ecuador left their positions in the top ten in the region, making way for Colombia and Peru.

These are the positions that occupy the top ten countries of Latin America in the world development classification, according to the UNDP report: Chile (44) rose two positions, Argentina (48) dropped one position, Uruguay (57) dropped two, Panama (67) rose one, Costa Rica (68) dropped five places, Cuba (72) dropped one, Mexico (76) dropped two, Brazil (79) remains stable, Colombia (80) climbed ten and Peru (82) climbed seven posts.

Perception of injustice

In Latin America and the Caribbean, the perception of injustice regarding the distribution of wealth has increased since 2012, recovering levels at the end of the 1990s.

According to UNDP, the levels of inequality in terms of "happiness communicated by the people who had remained stable in the region until 2014, has increased."

Chile: income inequality persists

Among the first 50 countries with the greatest human development in the world, Argentina has the highest rate of inequality in terms of life expectancy and Chile the highest rate of inequality in terms of income.

Chile ranks as the country with the greatest human development in Latin America, but the most unequal in terms of income, details UNDP.

Alarm on teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality

According to the report, Venezuela and Ecuador lead the highest rates of fertility or teenage pregnancy in South America, determined by the number of births per thousand women between 15 and 19 years. In Venezuela 85 births are registered and in Ecuador 79, under that variable.

Regarding the maternal mortality rate Guyana, Bolivia, Paraguay and Venezuela reflect the highest rates of female deaths per thousand live births. Guyana (229), Bolivia (206), Paraguay (132) and Venezuela
(95).

Women, the muscle of the workforce in Peru

Peru leads the percentage of women in Latin America incorporated into the workforce with 70%, followed by Colombia with 58% and Paraguay and Bolivia with 56%.

Climate crisis

During the presentation of the human development report, the UNDP representative, Matilde Mordt, insisted on the need to “focus fuel subsidies and do it in a phased manner” to reduce fossil energy consumption. Thus he answered CNN's question about how to achieve the reduction of fossil energy consumption amidst the resistance in the streets to the elimination of subsidies, as was the case in Ecuador during the October protests.

Human Development Index Inequality