United Nations Development Programme
Also called: UNDP · Topic: Human Development: Concept, Approaches and Measurement · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Human Development"
Meaning
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UN's main development agency. It was set up in 1965 and has its headquarters in New York. Since 1990 it has published the Human Development Report every year, and each report has a theme. The report ranks countries using the Human Development Index (HDI) and companion indices: the inequality-adjusted HDI, the Gender Development Index, the Gender Inequality Index, the planetary pressures-adjusted HDI, and the Multidimensional Poverty Index (made with Oxford's OPHI).
Example
The Human Development Report 2025 was themed "A matter of choice: People and possibilities in the age of AI". It ranked Iceland first and placed India at 130 of 193, in the medium category (data for 2023).
Don't confuse with
- World Economic Forum (WEF): the WEF publishes the Global Gender Gap Index, which began in 2006. The UNDP publishes the HDI, the Gender Development Index and the Gender Inequality Index.
Related concepts
- Human Development Index
- Life expectancy at birth
- Adult literacy rate
- Gross enrolment ratio
- Purchasing power parity
- Human Development Report