Press Release on the Human Development Report 2001

"Making New Technologies Work for Human Development"

UNDP/Banjul, 10th July, Yr. 2001 --- The UNDP Human Development Report 2001 will be globally launched on 11th June, Yr. 2001, in Mexico, by H.E. President Vincent Fox, and, Mr. Malloch Brown, UNDP Administrator.

This year's report concludes that information and communications technology (ICT) can also make an important development impact, because it can overcome barriers of social, economic and geographical isolation, increase access to information and education, and enable poor people to participate in more of the decisions that affect their lives. In accessing the potential of ICT, the Report notes new opportunities for poor people in terms of health networks (as in The Gambia and Nepal); long distance learning (as in Turkey); and job creation (as in Costa Rica, India and South Africa).

But the report also concludes that many of the most important technology opportunities for poor people have so far been missed because of lack of market demand and inadequate public funding. Technology creators in the private sector respond to the needs of high-income consumers, rather than the needs of those who have little purchasing power. Even though public sector funding and incentives for research and development could compensate for these market failures, governments in both developing and developed countries have so far failed to provide the support needed.

The Report urges global initiatives to ensure that new technologies address the most pressing needs of the world's poor people. It calls for greater international funding for research and development; differential pricing between rich and poor countries for medicine and other essential high-tech products; and fair implementation of global intellectual property rights (IPR), including compulsory licensing of patents. The report cites an especially urgent need for research in the following areas:

• Vaccines for malaria, HIV and tuberculosis as well as lesser-known diseases like sleeping sickness and river blindness; 
• High-yielding and drought tolerant varieties of sorghum, cassava, maize and other staple foods of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia; 
• Low-cost computers and wireless connectivity for poor people and isolated communities; and 
• Low-cost energy systems, including solar power, to bring electricity to the two billion people who currently have no access to it.

In conclusion, the Report states that developing countries need help in implementing the World Trade Organization agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). As far as The Gambia is concerned, this year's ranking stands at 149 out of 162 countries. This position is due to the policy of excluding 29 UN Member Countries, including 12 countries that were included in HDR 2000, as a result of constraints in the availability of reliable data for the HDI components. This report, which looks beyond per capita income as a measure of human progress by assessing it against such factors as average life expectancy, literacy and overall well being, argues that human development is ultimately "a process of enlarging people's choices".