Zimbabwe Human Development Index in sharp decline –UNDP 2010 Report

By Crimson Tazvinzwa

Zimbabwe’s human development index is in sharp decline compared to the once poorer countries such as Rwanda and Ethiopia, whose economies have since recovered from years of civil wars and droughts.

The United Nations Development Programme 2010 report published recently placed Zimbabwe’s HDI value at 0.140 down from 0.241 in 1980 effectively ranking the country the last out of 169 where similar research has been carried out.

What is the human development index?

The Human Development Index (HDI) measures the quality of life experience people in a given country experience overall in areas such as  how long people live, access to education; and how much money individuals make in a year, otherwise known as earnings per ‘capita per year’. The index assesses how people access a long and healthy life, education and a decent standard of living.

The HDI is measured over the medium to long term basis; and according to UNDP between 1980 and 2010 Zimbabwe’s HDI value decreased from 0.241 to 0.140, a decrease of 42 per cent or average annual decrease of about 1.8 per cent.

The Rwanda wonder success story

The 2010 UNDP report suggests that Rwanda’s human development performance has been remarkable with an index of 0.385 up from 0.249 in 1980, significantly surpassing that of Zimbabwe. Rwanda is a country whose history of conflict dates back to 1959 when after the death of the King, the Hutus rose up against the Tutsis killing thousands while some survivors fled into neighbouring countries such as Uganda and Congo.

The Rwanda conflict intensified in 1994 after President Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira, the President of neighbouring Burundi were killed after their plane was shot down in Kigali.  Thousands of Tutsis and moderate Hutus including women and children were massacred by interharamwe militia as a result.

Despite these sad events Rwanda has since imaged as a vibrant economy whose leadership has enabled normal life to prevail, pushing the country’s HDI to position 152 out of 169 countries surveyed.

Ethiopia whose HDI report only started in 2000 also saw a rise of up to 0.328 in 2010 from 0.250.

As a regional barometer for growth and development, Sub Saharan Africa’s HDI is at 0.385 up from 0.293 in 1980 while the rest of the world achieved 0.624 up from 0.55 thirty years ago. In the western world, the UK’s index for example, rose by more than 11% between 1980 and 2010 bringing it to 0.853.

In general terms, Africa’s low-income countries — such as Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda and Mozambique — were at their best compared to well off countries like South Africa, The Globalist says quoting Harry G. Broadman a global expert on African investment.

According to Broadman they registered growth of 4.9% in 2009 — a figure that rose to 5.0% in 2010.

Zimbabwe’s painful decline

The UNDP reports says: “Zimbabwe’s 2010 HDI of 0.140 is below the average of 0.389 for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, and is also below the average of 0.393 for low human development countries.”

Zimbabwe is at the periphery of those countries able to support human development and progress.

The report goes on to say that Zimbabwe’s 2010 “HDI neighbours”, are Niger and Kenya, which had HDIs ranked 167 and 128 respectively. Zimbabwe is also compared to Congo, a medium human development country, the report says.

The question therefore is; why has Zimbabwe‘s economic development stalled?

The UNDP notes that from 1980 to 2010, Zimbabwe’s life expectancy fell by 12 years. The average Zimbabwean now lives for no more than 47 years due to a variety of reasons including HIV AIDS and the collapse of health and welfare institutions in the country. In addition the GNI per capita decreased by 34 per cent during the same period. Today an ordinary Zimbabwean earns US$506.89 per year just over US$26 more than an individual from Haiti.

Zimbabwe’s HDI trends from 1980 to 2010
	Life Expectancy at birth	Expected years of schooling	Mean  years of schooling	GNI Per capita (PPPUS$)	HDI Value
1980	59.0	6.5	3.4	265	0.241
1985	61.3	11.5	4.1	265	0.278
1990	60.8	10.1	4.5	277	0.284
1995	53.1	10.0	5.5	260	0.262
2000	43.3	9.8	6.0	256	0.232
2005	41.7	9.2	6.7	189	0.159
2010	47.0	9.2	7.2	176	0.140

This table shows the contribution of each component index to Zimbabwe’s HDI since 1980. 

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2010

Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown was a disaster waiting to happen. In the 2010 ‘Millennium Development Goals Status Report’, Paurina Mpariwa Zimbabwe’s Minister of Labour and Social Services, the country’s fall in GDP growth was compounded by recurrent droughts, coupled with the government’s poor fiscal discipline.

Between 1991 and 1995 growth averaged only 1.5% per annum. The minister said:  “The onset of the land reform programme and the decline in the output of the commercial farming sector contributed to further declines in GDP from 0.0% in 1998 to -7.4%  in 2000 and subsequently -10.4% in 2003.”

A politically driven policy; the land reform programme saw thousands of white commercial farmers driven off their land  giving way to inexperienced and poorly resourced loyalists to President Mugabe’s government. The new beneficiaries lacked the capacity to maintain the intensive, industrialised farming methods of the previous owners.

As a landlocked country Zimbabwe’s economy heavily depended on agricultural outputs which earned much of the needed foreign currency through exports. Once regarded as the ‘bread basket’ of Southern Africa the country even failed to produce enough food to feed the population.

According to minister Mpariwa by 2003 as a result, Zimbabweans living below the poverty line stood at 72% a situation that continues to this day.

Zimbabwe’s economic recovery plan remains uncertain today despite the formation of the Government of National Unity by Mugabe’s ruling party Zanu (PF) and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in 2009. The uneasy relations between the two men have been dogged by irreparable disagreements on how to handle the country's massive debt and food shortages, dashing all hopes of quick solutions to the country’s economic and political crises.

Alexis Kouros: Immigrant Parliament for Finland

By Crimson Tazvinzwa

Finland breaks a world record in politics by proposing the formation of a first ever Immigrant Parliament in Western Europe.

Immigrant Parliament is a brainchild of Alexis Kouros a Finnish writer whose first book ‘Gondwana’s Children’ won the Finlandia Junior award in 1997.

Originally from Iran, Kouros has lived in Finland for almost 20 years; and is the Editor of Helsinki Times.

The proposed Immigrant parliament will galvanise a diverse population through seminars and discussion on issues of integration and diversity. It will also give a unified voice to foreigners living in that country.

Kouros said: “We thought that it might motivate and activate people”, and encourage them to take an active role in politics.

Wikileaks dispatch: Mugabe tactical, ruthless

By Crimson Tazvinzwa

Wikileaks cables’ ruthless, tactical Mugabe continues to preside over a country whose economy has declined beyond recognition.

Christopher W. Dell, the former US Ambassador to Zimbabwe in 2007 said that Mugabe’s hold on power was nearing the end; and that unlike previous predictions there was compelling evidence suggesting the regime’s days in power were numbered.

In memos recently published by Wikileaks titled “The End is Nigh”, Ambassador Dell argued that “for the first time the president was under intensifying pressure simultaneously on the economic, political and international fronts.”

The Ambassador cited discontent among Mugabe’s inner circle and other Zanu (PF) officials who believed change was desperately needed to restore the political and economic wellbeing of that country.

According to Wikileaks Dell said: “Our ZANU-PF contacts are virtually unanimous in saying reform is desperately needed, but won't happen while the Old Man is there, and therefore he must go.”

The Ambassador noted back then that lack of courage among disillusioned officials was barrier to bringing about change, but believed that would happen soon.

Dell’s observations on the situation came at a time when life for ordinary Zimbabweans became an endless slog of hyperinflation and shortages of basic commodities. According to World Politics Watch, a private and independent blogger, “For those stuck in Zimbabwe life has become unbearable under the country's moth-eaten economy, circumscribed by food and fuel shortages.

The report added that it was no longer possible to chin up in Zimbabwe because of the difficulties befalling the population each passing day.

It said: “Dozens are dying at the country's public hospitals following a month-long strike over pay by the few remaining doctors, inflation is fast approaching the 1,300 per cent mark and political oppression has reached epidemic proportions.”

A quarter of the population most of whom are highly skilled and educated fled the country either for political or economic reasons.  Political persecution and repression continue to be a scourge in Zimbabwe. The World Politics Watch observes: “The capital, Harare, is crawling with police informers. Too scared to act, speak out or protest, ordinary Zimbabweans are always looking over their shoulders.”

Dell observed that the race and colonial card that Mugabe used in the past to prop up his regime had become obsolete and overshadowed by the prevailing economic hardship; and added  that the ‘economic, political and international pressures were concentrating on Mugabe himself’ compounding his fate.

Despite the diplomat’s predictions in 2007, the people of Zimbabwe still experience much of the same today. It is the end of 2010 and Mugabe is still in power, the country still experiencing unsustainable political and economic dysfunction. The government of national unity yet another of Mugabe’s tricks has since inception been riddled with controversy, with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (MDC) condemning Mugabe for ‘acting autocratically’ according to The Daily Telegraph in London.

In separate cable exchanges between UK and the US titled ‘AFRICA: U.S. VERSUS UK PRIORITIES, LONDON THINK’, Wikileaks quoted Richard Mills, Political Councillor at the US Embassy in London saying; “Zimbabwe should/will remain a priority for the UK for historical reasons, but the USG’s focus is “surprising,” as it is largely a contained crisis that should be treated as a regional issue. A “tough and quiet” approach should be considered.

Based on this presumption, the Zimbabwe situation has been allowed to continue unabated and people are beginning to ask: “Is it because Western countries especially the US find no economic and political gains in that country?”