Indonesia launches its own Human Development Index
JAKARTA (JP): The Central Bureau of Statistics yesterday launched Indonesia's own Human Development Index and revealed that several provinces need serious efforts to accelerate the progress of their human development programs.
The provinces identified as poor achievers in human development are Central Sulawesi, Central Java and Yogyakarta. Other provinces identified as being below average in human development achievements for the period of 1990 to 1993 are West Java, East Java, South Kalimantan, and Irian Jaya.
Another province which is causing concern is Lampung. In a previous report it was considered to have an above average index, but showed a poor performance for the current assessment, according to chief of the statistics bureau Sugito.
However, "the change of the ranks neither means an improvement or deterioration in the country's human development," Sugito stressed.
The Indonesian Human Development Index was produced by the statistics bureau with the support of the local office of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which annually publishes a global Human Development Report (HDR).
This year's international human development report places Indonesia 102 of the 174 countries surveyed. This means that Indonesia's human development progress, based on 1993 figures, is at the medium level.
The first international HDR in 1990 ranked Indonesia 76th among the 130 countries surveyed.
UNDP resident representative Ravi Rajan admitted during the launching at the statistics bureau yesterday that ever since their first issuance, the HDRs always generate a great deal of interest, debate and even controversy because they challenge conventional development theories based on economic growth.
He pointed out that the central message of the report is that economic growth does not automatically lead to human progress.
"Therefore, the HDR advocates that economic growth must be treated as a means, with the achievement of human well-being as the ultimate end," Rajan said.
The locally produced report, which compares the achievement of the country's 27 provinces in terms of human development in 1990 and 1993, comprises almost all indicators utilized for the global human development index.
Published in both English and Indonesian, the report is a composite index of achievements in basic human capabilities in three fundamental dimensions: a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.
The report is expected to, among other things, help local administrations address social issues more thoroughly in the planning and implementation of development programs in their regions.
Jakarta tops the human development table while East Timor is at the bottom, below West Nusa Tenggara and Irian Jaya which occupy the 26th and 25th positions respectively. North Sulawesi comes second after Jakarta.
In the report, Riau achieved significant progress in human development, moving up from the seventh place in 1990 to third in 1993.
However, the report revealed that the overall human development values in the country are relatively low, even for Jakarta. The capital scored 57 on the O to 100 scale.
In fact, only Jakarta and North Sulawesi achieved HDI values higher than 50 in 1993, while East Timor's score was 34.5.
Also attending the launching ceremony yesterday were Sugiarto, chief of the Analysis and Development Bureau, and Edeng Abdurachman, chief of the Bureau for Population, Family Planning and Women's Affairs at the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas). (31)