a report warns of the disparities which are widening dangerously between countries

“The first time I saw the results, I asked the team to verify the data,” the person responsible for the report admitted to the press on Wednesday. Gaps are getting worse between countries, wealth is being shared even less. At issue: distrust and polarization of the world.

Seen from afar, the planet has returned to its pre-pandemic level of development, and the human development index, created by the United Nations, has returned to the rise. This kind of well-being algorithm takes into account each country’s life expectancy, education level and per capita income. This gives a number between 0 and 1, re-evaluated each year. France, for example, is rated 0.910 and, at the bottom of the list, South Sudan is 0.381.

In 2020 and 2021, due to Covid-19 and the economic slowdown, this index declined globally for the first time in its existence. But the machine has started again: for 2023, the data is not yet consolidated, but we should reach exceptional levels.

“More and more poor people in a world richer than ever”

All this is “seen from afar”, because in detail, this rebound hides enormous disparities. The gap between rich and poor countries is such that even UN statisticians found it hard to believe. “The first time I saw the results, I asked the team to verify the data”the person responsible for the report admitted to the press yesterday.

In this “well-being list”, the top three in the ranking do not change. We find there, like every year, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland. But more than half of the least developed countries have not recovered from the impacts of the pandemic. Most are located on the African continent: South Sudan, Central African Republic, Niger, Mali.

We also distinguish “an extreme group” of countries, where pandemic, economic crises and conflicts combine. In Ukraine, the index returned to its level twenty years ago. Afghanistan has lost ten years in terms of human development. “We live in a world richer than ever”says the UN, and at the same time, there are more and more poor people, hungry people, more and more victims of conflict, more and more refugees.”

The failure of collective action

And this widening gap is a danger. The UN is pulling out all the stops and pointing out the failure of collective action. While countries should “work together” to advance wealth, distrust and polarization plague international relations. Those who should be our partners become our enemies. “Every man for himself” prevails, populism explodes (which also impacts GDP growth).

We are spending excessive amounts in our defense budgets.”denounces the UN, without financing the fight against “the main risk factors of the 21st century are inequality, climate change, cybercrime or the next pandemic”. The organization sees today’s fragile world as a “card castle”.