The document discusses Amartya Sen's influential work on human development and capabilities approach that shaped UNDP's work, how UNDP implements a human development approach by empowering people and strengthening institutions, and how UNDP helps countries build resilience to shocks through approaches like disaster risk reduction and crisis prevention.

1. undp.org/uspc
Matthew Taylor – Public Affairs Specialist
www.undp.org/uspc
Anne-Isabelle Degryse-Blateau. Director, UNDP Seoul Policy Centre

2. Amartya Sen
Professor of Economics and Philosophy at
Harvard.
Former Head of Trinity college, Cambridge.
Inspirational economist and key thinker
behind much of UNDP’s global work today.

3. Amartya Sen’s key messages
• Putting people at the center of the development debate v development
economics mainstream,
• income poverty (GDP- Income per capita ) : not the single most important factor in
assessing the level of development.
• Studies of different population groups :’there are multiple factors defining what rich
and what poor means” : health, education, roof on your head, participation in
decision making..
• Introduced the notion of “capabilities” and peoples’ welfare
• 1999 Enhancing peoples choices - “Development as freedom”
• In a world of sheer abundance, some people cannot realize their capabilities & living
in a state of 'unfreedom',
• people’s choices determine their well being ..
• freedoms constitute not only the means but the end in development.
Participation, capacity to claim rights

4. ‘Human development, as an approach, is concerned
with what I take to be the basic development idea:
namely, advancing the richness of human life, rather
than the richness of the economy in which human
beings live, which is only a part of it.“ Amartya Sen

5. The UNDP - HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT Story
1990
Launch of the first UNDP Human Development Report with Mahbub ul Haq &
introduction of the UN Human Development Index with its new indices of
life expectancy & literacy in addition to national income .
The objective of development should be to create an enabling environment for
people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives,
At the time ,this new way of thinking and measuring development of the HDI
considered as radical : A country’s success or an individual ‘s well being cannot
be evaluated by money alone. Income is required for progress, but need to see if
people can lead long & healthy lives , have the opportunity to be educated, free
to use their knowledge & talents to shape their destinies
YET : recognition that national averages concealed
skewed distribution & the absence “ a quantitative measure
of human freedom”
A key reference for development practitioners worldwide
Every year a different critical development theme

6. The UNDP - HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT Story
2010
A new turning point – looking at 20 years of development
The varied pathways to human development showed there is no single formula
for sustainable progress—impressive long-term gains , eg health-education, can
and have been achieved even without consistent economic growth.
Despite overall progress, also increasing inequality— within and across countries
— and production & consumption patterns increasingly unsustainable.
Addressing these issues requires new tools : introduced 3 measures—the
Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the Gender Inequality Index and
the Multidimensional Poverty Index.

8. UNDP

9. How do we Implement the Human development Approach ?

10. ?

11. • Recognizing that development is about people
• Putting people at the center of development & using rights based approach
• Giving people the tools & means to make more choices to lead a healthy and
productive life and to participate actively in the decisions that affect their lives
• Allowing women to have land titles
• Registering people in remote areas on the voter lists so they can vote
• Shifting mind sets so “untouchables” are no longer discriminated against
• Connecting people to markets through mobile phone….
• Helping strengthen institutions & systems to respond efficiently to peoples
needs ( duty bearers)
Supporting Transformation

12. How do we work ?
Global Policy Level
Policies Country Central level
impacting
people across
the country
• Policy advice
• Technical assistance
• Capacity-building
• Advocacy
• On the ground activities
Pilots
educating
Policies
Decentralized – local level
12

13. How do we work ?
•Help create institutions and infrastructure fundamental to
transforming economies, governments and societies.
 In the 60’s UNDP funded a study of the hydroelectric potential of Brazil
helping create billions of dollars’ worth of investment opportunities
• promote Innovation and risk-taking :
 introduced broccoli to China
•Knowledge generation & sharing
•Faciliting and promoting South-South and triangular
exchanges

14. How do we work ?
Priority target population:
• poorest of poorest Principles:
• marginalized groups • social mobilization
• disadvantaged groups • active community
• young people participation (even
financial)
Special attention to :
• Gender United Nations
• Social Inclusion Volunteers
• Climate Change Knowledge sharing
• Responding to HIV/AIDS Capacity development
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15. Who are our partners ?
Private
Civil Society sector Media
Government UN System
UNDP
Municipalities Donors
Academia Judiciary/
communities National Human Rights
Research Commissions
Institutions
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16. UNDP’s areas of work today
We work with countries around the world to help them find solutions
to their development challenges - according to their own needs and
interests - in 4 main areas:

17. Cross cutting issues
• Gender and women’s empowerment
• Capacity development

19. Shocks can put countries human development back by years/
decades
• If Haiti was as prepared for its 2010 7.0-magnitude quake as Japan was with its
much larger 9.0 quake, the number of casualties could have been reduced from
200,000 to in the tens of thousands.
• One flood in Pakistan resulted in 10 years of lost development
• The 1998 and 2008 financial crisis rocked economies around the world and full
recovery has not yet happened. Many jobs lost have not bee reinstated..
• Oil price crisis impacted nations by driving prices of all oil related activities and
products sharply up affected the poor countries importing food as prices of food
also dramatically rose…
Shocks , crisis, new challenges eg CC will continue affecting world
To protect human development progress UNDP helps countries build resilience

20. OUR RESPONSE
Resilience is at center of UNDP Programming
– Identifying risks
– Assessing risks
– Building scenarios
– Identifying mitigation measures
preparedeness
– Building response & recovery
Bringing together 3 pillars of sustainable development
– Economic
– Social
– Environmental sustainability
Strengthening governance:
– To make the right decisions
– Enhancing efficiency and accountability
– Enhancing participation

21. Resilient Nations …examples
Natural disasters & Climate change
•Making disaster risk reduction a policy priority ( eg Nepal
National DRR Strategy)
•Empowering institutions dealing with natural disasters
•Carrying risk assessments & building early warning systems
•Knowledge innovation & education (eg awareness in case of
earth quake)
•Planning for risks eg CC strategies
•Building preparedness & effective response
• promoting low carbon climate resilient cities , agriculture
etc
•2010 Earthquake risk, vulnerability and capacity assessment
were conducted in urban areas in Bangladesh, India, Jordan,
Nepal and Pakistan.

22. Crisis Prevention and Recovery
In 2010, UNDP implemented crisis prevention and recovery programmes in 86
countries;
•Created 8 million work days through cash-for-work initiatives
•In Cambodia, UNDP and the Mine Action Centre cleared more than 6 million
square metres of mines-affected areas and destroyed over 7,000 landmines.
Responding to increasingly complex development
dynamics
•Increasing # middle income countries : needs are more sophisticated & issues
more complex
•Helping mitigating risks and maximizing opportunities from an ever globalizing
world.

23. UNDP arrived in RoK in 1966
•40 years of development support
•Provided over $100 million
•275 programmes delivered across 20 areas: industry,
science and technology, agriculture and social
development.
•Supported efforts to modernize the Port of Busan
•ROK became a DAC
member January 2010

24. • Began work in January 2011.
• Part of the UN global development and knowledge network.
• Key role : serve as a bridge between developing country policy
makers and Korea’s development experience
• Supports Korea’s efforts to boost global development agenda
(eg post-2015, post-Busan)

25. The Centre:
• Documents Korea’s development experience through
research, a web portal, a documentary and other tools
• Shares knowledge by bringing policy makers to Korea,
facilitating policy dialogue and reaching out to developing
countries
• Is developing a knowledge portal with key information on
Korean partners, policies, documentation

26. What we’re planning
• Major regional conference on social protection
• Training / knowledge transfer events
• Documentary film on Korea’s transformational
policies
The beauty of the Korean
development experience is
that many who led it can
still share their wisdom
with others today .

27. Amartya Sen : “Twenty years after the appearance of the first
Human Development Report, there is much to celebrate in what
has been achieved. But we also have to be alive to ways of
improving the assessment of old adversities and of recognizing
—and responding to—new threats that endanger human well-
being and freedom.“ 2010 HDR

28. Giving people choices. Protecting human
development.
our clients are nations, our measure of success are people

29. Stay tuned!
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