Forthcoming launch of the Human Development Report 2013: "The Rise of the South - Human Progress in a Diverse World"

On 14 March in Mexico City will be launched the 2013 Human Development Report- “the Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World”. The Report, which will be presented by the President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico and UNDP Administrator Helen Clark, examines the profound shifts in global dynamics driven by the fast-rising new powers of the developing world and its long-term implications for human development.

The Report identifies more than 40 countries in the developing world that registered a progress above the expectations in human development terms in recent decades. Among these countries are specified: China, who became the worlds second biggest economy and lifted hundreds of millions of its people out of poverty, India, Brazil, Turkey, Mexico, Thailand, South Africa, Indonesia and many others that are becoming leading actors on the world stage.

The Report analyzes the causes and consequences of these countries achievements and the challenges that they face today and in the coming decades, noting that even if the countries have different unique histories and distinct development pathways, they share important global challenges in an environment that is increasingly interconnected and interdependent, with people that share ideas through new communications channels and seek to be better heard at national and international level.

Having clear proposals for policy reforms, the Report calls for a better representation of the South in the global governance systems and give guidelines for a greater an sustainable progress throughout the world for decades to come.

The Human Development Report is an annual, independent publication commissioned by the United Nations Development Program(UNDP), whose editorial autonomy is guaranteed by a special resolution of the General Assembly (A/RES/57/264) recognizing the Human Development Report as “an independent intellectual exercise” and “an important tool for raising awareness about human development around the world." It started in 1990 stating that “the objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives” (Mahbub ul Haq – Founder of the Human Development Report)