UN: Economic crisis a hindrance to Brazil's human development

A reduction in Brazil's raw revenue for 2015 brought the country's human development index (HDI) to a halt, despite a slight improvement in indicators such as life expectancy and education. The results were released today (Mar. 21) by the United Nations Development Program(UNDP).

Taking into consideration the new calculation made to adjust the indicators to new international figures and possible methodological changes, Brazil ranked 79th of 188 countries, with the same 0.754 points, according to the UNPD.

The outcome comes as a result of the crosschecking of data from a number of national and international organizations. The closer a country gets to reaching 1 point, the higher its position on the list—which for years has been headed by Norway, the Scandinavian country that went from 0.944 to 0.949 points from 2014 to 2015, which puts it above the other 50 countries the UNDP classifies as having a very high HDI, among which two Latin American countries: Chile (38th) and Argentina (45th).

Brazil, in turn, is one of the 55 nations regarded as having a high HDI. In Latin America and the Caribbean, in addition to Chile and Argentina, Brazil ranks below Barbados and Uruguay (both tied in 54th place), Bahamas (58th), Panama (60th), Antigua and Barbuda (62nd), Trinidad and Tobago (65th), Costa Rica (66th), Cuba (68th), Venezuela (71st), and Mexico (77th).

In the case of Brazil, the results bring to light the effects of the economic and political crisis facing the country since 2014. Over 29 million people left poverty between 2003 and 2013, according to the UNPD. Nonetheless, the level of poverty resumed its growth between 2014 and 2015, when approximately 4 million people became poor. In the same period, the unemployment increased again, affecting more than 12 million people. The situation is at its most severe among young people and women.

In view of situations such as this, also identified in other parts of the globe—developed economies included—UNPD recommends countries to adopt universal, affirmative policies that bolster social protection and provide the underprivileged with a voice.

“We must guarantee the consistency of the [social and economic] progress with a view to protecting someone whose life improved so that they don't fall back into poverty in case of economic recession or a shock,” said Andréa Bolzon, coordinator for the National Human Development Report. She maintains that social protection networks and conditional cash transfer actions help alleviate the living conditions of the poor all across the globe.

“There's no use thinking about economic growth at any expense. In the past, Brazil grew at soaring rates, keeping a poverty rate high. Now the country must resume growth very carefully, including people and not concentrating the results of this growth,” she said.

Also according to Bolzon, Brazil must restore its economic activity without losing sight of the need for keeping a floor for social protection. “Such policies and actions are like a mattress for moments of crisis such as this,” she argued. To forgo social protection on account of the country's need to resume growth at any cost may lead to too high a price in the long run, she believes.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira