New generation inequalities: Climate change, technology

By Tuba Sahin

ANKARA (AA) - A new generation of severe inequalities in human development are emerging, adding to the many unresolved ones, according to the UN Development Program (UNDP).

Speaking at the 2019 Human Development launch event held in the capital Ankara, the UNDP’s Turkey Director Claudio Tomasi said the climate crisis is hitting the poorest hardest.

He said new digital technologies such as automation and artificial intelligence brings into question whether it will enhance human development or create higher inequalities.

Tomasi underlined that the economic point of view is limiting the capacity to understand what inequality is all about.

Turkey was classified in the very high development category in 2018 for the first time, posting a 0.806 value in the human development index (HDI), according to the UNDP on Monday. The country ranked 59th among 189 countries and territories.

The index across the world has risen by 20% in nearly three decades, Tomasi said, but many inequalities remained unchanged or have worsened.

He noted that the gap between countries' primary school education are closing, while the discrepancy in tertiary education is widening between very high human development countries and low human development countries.

"In the last five years in the world the perception and bias against gender has grown rather than going down," he underlined.

"Inequalities are persistent, structural but are not inevitable."

Touching on Turkey's results in the index, Tomasi said the country posted 40% improvement in the index, much higher than the world average.

The 2019 Human Development Report explores inequalities in human development by going beyond income, beyond averages, and beyond today.

Guven Sak, managing director of the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), highlighted the progress worldwide in terms of basic inequality and access problems.

Sak cited that human development cannot be explained only by economic metrics, therefore multidimensional studies should be carried out on this topic.

Sak also underlined the importance of problems caused by gender inequalities which should be focused on.

He noted that the world will face a rapid transition process due to new technologies.

"We should focus on education in this transition process" making it inclusive, Sak said.