In the international Human Development Index Report 2009 made public by UNDP here on Monday, Nepal has been put on the list of countries with middle income among the four categories of very high, high, middle and low income countries.
Norway, Australia, Iceland, Canada and Ireland are on top of the list of the countries in HDI. Niger, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso and Congo are at the bottom of the list.
Nepal´s neighbor China is on 92nd position and India on 134th position. In South Asia, the Maldives is on 95th position, Sri Lanka on 102nd, Bhutan on 132th, Pakistan on 141th, Bangladesh on 146th and Afghanistan on 181th position. China moved up seven places on the list to rank as the 92nd most developed country due to improvements in education as well as income levels and life expectancy.
The United States ranks 13th, down one spot from last year.
Making public the HDI report, vice chairman of National Planning Commission Dr Yuvaraj Khatiwada said migration of people for health, education and jobs has helped in transfer of skills, knowledge and remittance. He said global migration has not only resulted in brain drain but also drawn skilled manpower.
At the program, UNDP resident representative Robert Piper said remittance comprised 20 percent of Nepal´s GDP but economic situation of the country was far from satisfactory. He said there was a gradual improvement in political condition, human rights, health and education sectors in the last three years.
Sociologist Ganesh Gurung said though migration and global mobility has contributed to the country´s economy through remittance, it is not a solution.
The UNDP has been preparing the global HDI report regularly for the last 20 years. The report helps the countries to prepare their future strategies to tackle with the problems they are facing.
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