Panel discussions, launch seminars and other events spotlighting the 2013 Human Development Report have continued around the world in recent weeks, with the conversations hosted by an impressively wide range of public and private institutions.
Especially notable was the 2013 HDR panel discussion on May 22nd at the World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC. Led by World Bank Chief Economist, Kaushik Basu and Human Development Report Office Director, Khalid Malik, the well-attended session marked the first public event devoted to the Human Development Report at the World Bank since the Report series began 23 years ago.
The World Bank forum began with a presentation of the Report’s main findings and policy lessons by Khalid Malik, the lead author of the 2013 Report, “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World.”
Kaushik Basu noted in response that the Human Development Reports permanently changed global development discourse by putting people rather than GDP growth at the center of their analysis. He said the World Bank is also increasing focused on the South as “the investment driver of the future.”
Michael Elliott, President of ONE, the nonprofit advocacy group, pointed to the Report’s emphasis on how civil society activism in the South and North alike is pressing for greater accountability from government at all levels, local and national. Elliott stressed the critical importance to human development of the rule of law, open access to information, and vigilance by independent media and citizens’ groups.
Manish Bapna, Managing Director of the World Resources Institute, alluded to the Report’s critique of current global governance structures in the age of the rising South, saying the world community needs to “resolve this disconnect between North and South.” He noted that the values of the emerging new global middle class the Report describes will ultimately “determine the fate of the planet,” as the challenges of environmental al sustainability affect legitimate aspirations for continuing development progress.
The following day, in Sydney, Australia, on May 23rd, UNDP Associate Administrator Rebeca Grynspan headlined an HDR2013 symposium with AusAID Director General Peter Baxter. The Sydney forum was hosted and organized by the UN Association of Australia.