Human Development in the Dominican

Human Development in the Dominican Republic

Human development is a complex and multifaceted process/phenomenon that can be understood in a variety of ways. According to one view, human development is "a process of enlarging choices" -- ensuring that populations and individuals are given the capabilities and opportunities to make choices that lead to their own growth, fulfillment, and achievement in economic, social, political, cultural and personal spheres (Arab Human Development Report, 2009). According to the United Nations Development Programme, human development can be broken down into three major categories: health, education, and living standards (UNDP, 2012). Both of these perspectives lead to the same basic conclusion: that human development is all about giving human beings opportunities to improve their lives and their outlooks -- something they cannot do without appropriate healthcare, educational opportunities, and living standards that allow for more than mere (and often questionable) subsistence and survivability. Human development requires social and economic progress, therefore.

In the Dominican Republic, with an average life expectancy of 73.4 years, twelve years of expected schooling, yet an estimated per-capita income of only $8,087 (in 2005 dollars), human development is in the middle range -- towards the upper end of the middle range and thus slightly higher than average, but still less than would be desired (UNDP, 2012). This places the nation somewhat higher than some other Latin Americna countries such as El Salvador and Paraguay, both of which have slightly lower life expectancies (72.2 and 72.5 years, respectively) and annual per-capita incomes ($5,925 and $4,727) but with slightly longer periods of expected schooling (12.1 years for both countries) (UNDP, 2012). Uruguay, however, with a life expectancy of 77 years, 15.5 years of expected schooling and an annual per-capita income of $13,242, is much higher on the human development index than the Dominican Republic and than any other country in Latin America (UNDP, 2012).

None of these countries are at the top or bottom of the scale of human development in the world today, though. Topping the list is Norway, which has a life expectancy of 81.1 years, 17.3 years of expected schooling for each individual, and an annual per-capita income of $47,557 (UNDP, 2012). The United States is ranked fourth in human development, with a per-capita income of $43,017 and a life expectancy of 78.5 years, with each citizen of the United States receiving an expected 16 years of formal education in their lives (UNDP, 2012). Comparing these numbers to those of Latin America truly puts the world's issues into perspectives, and a comparison with a country at the bottom of the index makes the realities of global human development and its imbalance all the more palpable. Much of Africa occupies the lowest ranks on the Human Development Index, and citizens of Niger -- the nation that is second-to-last in overall rankings -- can expect only 4.9 years of schooling in an average lifespan of just 54.7 years in which survival must be eked out of an average of $641 per year (a figure potentially distorted by the highest earners at the top of the economy in the country) (UNDP, 2012).