The United Nations, an organization that works around the world, deals with anything and everything international. Although their program's efficacy remains somewhat controversial, they have done a lot of work categorizing countries based on a variety of calculations. One such example is the United Nations Development Program's Human Development Index.
If all the world's countries competed in a challenge to see who was the over-all "best," this index would aid in judging the grand competition. What would countries have to pay attention to in order to win? Well, the three main areas are health, knowledge, and the level of standard of living in each country. The level of health is based on life expectancy, knowledge is inferred from literacy rates of adults, and the standard of living is calculated from GDP per capita. All in all, these three categories tell a lot about a country's developmental status.
Let the Competition begin!
According to statistics gathered in 2008, 75 countries have been classified as "High Human Development" countries, 79 as "Medium Human Development," and 25 as "Low Human Development" countries. The number one country, earning an HDI score of .968, on the list is the European country of Iceland. Looking at these standings from a geographical standpoint, it is interesting to note almost all of the Western nations from our world are on the "High" list, including the United States and many European countries. This shouldn't surprise anyone who remembers that the West has used "germs, guns, and steel" to their advantage, just ask Jarred Diamond. The "Medium" countries vary from region to region, many countries are from Eastern Europe and Asia. And, alas, as there must be a "Low Human Development" category, you might wonder where these 25 countries lie in our vast world. Well, all of these 25 countries, thats 100%, each and every one of them, is located in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Included on this list is Rwanda, with literacy rating about 38% and life expectancy only around 45. Further more, Rwanda's GDP per capita is a minute $819 (The GDP for the United States is over $43,000). With the recent violent in Rwanda in the 90's, it isn't very surprising that the country's development has been so poor, earning it the HDI score of .435.
The overall country with the lowest human development is the African country of Sierra Leon.
Its GDP is only about $600, its probability of not surviving to age of forty is above 45%, and about 40% of its citizens do not even have access to improved water. Sierra Leon's overall HDI score is a meager .329. The United State's score is .951.
It is strange to categorize how developed a country really is because of how different each of them are from each other. The customs and culture of Sierra Leon are dramatically different from that of the United States. Could that affect each country's attitude toward "development"? I think that it very well could, especially dealing with the tribal countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, many of whom do not hold literacy rates in high regard. This could affect the extremely low score of this region as a whole, but even the tribes of Africa value a high life expectancy and clean water.
The main reason that this region probably ranks so low on this HDI is because of government. Although I remain somewhat naive on this subject, I do know that the corruption of many Sub-Saharan governments exceeds that of other region's governments quite a bit. A corrupt government does not reap benefits for its people, usually just havoc and despair.
I do not pretend to believe that this Index judges the overall "happiness" of each country, that would be preposterous. Of course, there certainly is a lot of angst in the Sub-Saharan African region caused by tribal boundaries contrasting with the transitional borders of nations and vernacular regions set up from colonization. However, the Sub-Saharan Africans must remember the words of Isaiah: "The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail" (chapter 58 verse 11).
God's promise of love, manifesting in Jesus' sacrifice, is to all the nations, no matter what color they are, what language they speak, or where their people live. He is the one comfort that all humans can run to when there is hardship. When the people of our wonderful word look for strength in Him, they become "developed" to the fullest extent. In our Savior Jesus Christ's love, the human race can truly cross over from death to life, which is a development higher standards of living can never bring.
Jesus won the competition for us all!
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