Our HDI ranking

However the country's Human Development Index (HDI) ranking has gone a notch down to 139, out of 177 countries. The ranking is the lowest among the South Asian countries, though others in the region, except Sri Lanka, are not doing much better.

The UNDP report has made the noteworthy observation that low income is no barrier to human development. That is an appreciation of our performance, but the truth remains that citizens' rights cannot be established fully as long as poverty persists.

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The UNDP Resident Representative, Larry Maramis, has admitted that discrimination in world trade and violence were hindering the growth of many developing economies. Maramis has very rightly observed that our human index ranking can be improved if the political parties work together to ensure human security. If only political violence could be curbed in our context, the social inputs going into HDI would be a good deal more contributory. Now, it is up to the political parties to decide how they will respond to these plain truths.

We believe the government-NGO partnership is a key factor in our social development. The role of NGOs merits great appreciation, but there is a lot of room for improvement in terms of service delivery from the state sector.

We think the role of the media in the development process should be evaluated correctly. The media has always been a positive catalyst, focussing on the shortcomings as well as the success stories of human resource development.

The efforts that need to be devoted to HDI are being obstructed by lack of good governance. This is a crucially important issue that has to be addressed in right earnest.