Mixed performance of GCC on human development

The recently published 2012 Human Development Report (HDR) points out to mixed performance for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries on the human development index (HDI). Notably, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) issued the long-awaited report only late last week, as no HRD account was published during 2012.

To be sure, the HDI boasts three variables of life expectancy at birth, education and income on purchasing power parity basis (PPP). The use of PPP makes sense, reflecting variation of the value of say a single American dollar in different economies.

Much to its credit, the HDI stands out amongst other rankings by virtue of relying on three socio-economic factors rather than solely income. Reviewed countries are assigned values to the maximum of 1.000 points. Norway led the world on HDI by collecting 0.955 points on the scale.

Of the GCC countries, three namely Kuwait, Oman and Qatar experienced improvement of their ranking and vice versa with regards to the UAE, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Interestingly enough, some GCC countries suffered fall in ranking despite enhancement in total HDI value collected.

The development reflects the abilities of a number of reviewed countries of making a material change in the three variables of education and health. Certainly, countries cannot be blamed for exerting efforts to improve matters relating to health, education and income.

Noticeably, Qatar clinched title of the highest per capita income in the world, undoubtedly an outstanding performance. The report puts Qatar’s gross per capita income on PPP basis at $87,478, second to none. Liechtenstein followed suit with per capita income of $84,880.

To be sure, Qatar’s ranking, No. 36 worldwide, is the best for any Arab and Muslim country. Also, the report ranks Qatar and the UAE in the very high human development category. These and other facts tell a great deal about the leading role of GCC countries of depicting a positive image of nations with which they share culture values.

Conspicuously, by dropping by six notches to ranking number 48 globally, Bahrain has lost out of this exclusive category. Nevertheless, Bahrain topped the group of countries ranked in the category of high human development.

Undoubtedly, it is not wrong to partially link fall of Bahrain’s ranking as a consequence of the political crisis engulfing it since February 2011. Happily, a political dialogue designed to address outstanding challenges got underway in February, with many locals as well as regional and international players looking forward for an equitable solution.

Gladly, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Oman are ranked in a category similar to that of Bahrain. In fact, Kuwait succeeded in overtaking Saudi Arabia as the fourth best ranked GCC country on human development index. The credit solely goes to the ability of posting stronger average income during the year in review.

Nevertheless, the overall ranking of GCC countries is not commensurate with resources or other qualities of the six-nation grouping. Suffice to say that GCC countries lead the world in areas such as export of crude oil and liquefied natural gas.

Concurrently, led by the UAE, the GCC counties have amassed an exceptional $1.7 trillion of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) by end-2012. This figure represents more than one third of total SWF assets in 2012.

Clearly, there is the challenge of translating these petroleum and other resources into gains on the human capital field. Undoubtedly, GCC countries posses the ability of streamlining their global ranking with regards to human development. However, this requires sustained efforts in the areas of health, training and education and the sort of economic programmes allowing for redistribution of wealth.