UNDP Launches Regional Human Development Report for Latin America and the Caribbean

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), on Thursday (September 18), launched its Regional Human Development Report for Latin America and the Caribbean, titled ‘Under Pressure: Recalibrating the Future of Development in Latin America and the Caribbean’.

The Report introduces a resilient human development framework, anchored in the capacity of individuals – especially the most vulnerable – to withstand, adapt to, and thrive amid persistent uncertainty.

In her remarks during the virtual launch event, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, Michelle Muschett, stated that the region is under pressure, noting that “our development trajectory has reached an inflexion point”.

This, she said, was within a context of geopolitical shifts, persistent structural vulnerabilities, accelerated transformations, and recurrent crises of diverse nature.

“As UNDP, we firmly believe this is also a time for opportunity, if we manage to effectively channel this pressure as a force for transformation. That’s why we are proposing a paradigm shift to embed resilience at the core of development efforts, not as a by-product of development but as a central priority,” Ms. Muschett stated.

“I know this might not sound as novel for the Caribbean region, where resilience is not an abstract concept but a lived reality that defines in a great way, how nations, societies, communities, and individuals confront daily pressures,” she added.

Ms. Muschett said the Report draws on the lived experiences of communities across the region to propose a new perspective and analysis to create future-orientated opportunities and development solutions.

“That’s why we are here, because we are looking for those solutions. These are grounded in a solid conceptual framework, supported by specific policy tools, and offer a guideline to recalibrate the future of development, arguing that development without resilience is insufficient or, even worse, no longer viable.

“It introduces the notion of resilient human development as an evolution of concepts addressed in previous UNDP reports, such as human development, human security, agency. The human development approach is very explicit, regarding the fact that development can’t be measured only by income but by the freedoms people enjoy, the freedom to live healthy lives, to learn, to generate income, and to fully participate in society,” she added.

Ms. Muschett said the report also provides decision-makers with a suite of tools to guide evidence-based policy formulation, new indexes, micro-simulation methodologies, as well as a facility for financing resilient human development.

“It’s very clear that building resilience is not optional, it’s an imperative in the world we live today, and it’s a shared responsibility. Individuals should not be left to shoulder risk alone. Governments cannot manage them in isolation, the private sector cannot innovate in a vacuum, and international partners cannot just borrow solutions from outside, nor does resilience emerge automatically as a by-product of growth or poverty reduction,” she stated.

“It must be built through concrete action, innovation, dialogue and, the most important, trust, among different sectors and actors in a society,” Ms. Muschett added.

She further stated that the Report being launched holds real potential to shift the development paradigm in Latin America and the Caribbean, just as previous UNDP Human Development Reports have done over the past three decades.