What is Human Development? By Selim Jahan

Response for February 3rd, 2020

Selim Jahan, the director of UNDP’s Human Development Report Office, integrates his interpretation of the means required to advance human development in his lecture. Jahan’s definition primarily focuses on improving lives rather than advancing an economy. This aspect of human development predominantly supports Jahan’s idea of “of the people, for the people, and by the people.” Jahan’s main ideas of human development include augmenting the development of human capital, warranting that this capital will benefit human lives, and ensuring that everyone will actively benefit. Secondly, Jahan expresses the idea of opportunities within human development. By giving people more freedom to live, they will live a life of true value. In essence, this affects people’s abilities and allows them to develop their skills. Once the basics of human development are achieved, people are more likely to live a satisfied life. Finally, Jahan expresses the idea of choice in human development. Providing people with more than one opportunity enhances the number of choices they can make. While no one can guarantee complete human happiness, people can make educated choices on their own merit.

As his lecture progresses, Jahan articulates that human development should foster an environment “for the people” to be able to lead a productive lifestyle. He elaborates on the types of work that are of main concern today, including: youth employment, gender related work, rural work, the informal sector, and work during crisis/post-crisis. Jahan discusses that non-income driven work is more imperative than the narrow concept of “job employment.” The interconnectedness associated with care work contributes to the overall wellbeing of others. Jahan concludes that care work is more relevant in our society due to the demand of assistance in communities. Society as a whole will be able to improve the development of their area by focusing solely on contributing to the common good, as opposed to working for an income.

Similarly, Hans Rosling’s TEDTALK elaborates the effects economic wealth has on societies. Rosling compares impoverished countries to those in the OECD in order to demonstrate that health is a precursor of wealth. In his first example, he uses population growth in Asia to portray the shift in socioeconomic status. As population began to grow, people residing in Asia either overcame or succumbed to poverty. He explains that through the World Banks analysis of these patterns, the world would be less divided. Rosling then goes on to describe that various countries, although close geographically, can have completely different human development issues. Rosling also issues a warning to the audience that, although one may be looking at data of a country holistically, different subdivisions of that country can have different life expectancies and other factors. Through his analysis, he concluded that haste generalizations are dangerous when using averages.