Humanity Hit By Impact Of Global Crises

UN report says we will be poorer and die younger

- Keith Falkiner

A SHOCK United Nations report has revealed how an unprecedented array of crises over recent times have set human progress back five years.

The UN Development Programme (UNDP) announced that for the first time since it was created over 30 years ago, the Human Development Index - a measure of countries' life expectancies, education levels, and standards of living has declined for two years straight, in 2020 and 2021.

"It means we die earlier, we are less well educated, our incomes are going down," said UNDP chief Achim Steiner, right.

"Just under three parameters, you can get a sense of why so many people are beginning to feel desperate, frustrated, worried about the future.” The Human Development Index has steadily risen for decades, but began sliding in 2020 and continued its fall in 2021, erasing the gains of the preceding five years, the paper says.