Human Development Index

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One of the reasons why we as a charity, chose to focus on Africa is because many of the poorest countries in the world are situated in Africa. There are many geographical, climatic and political reasons for this.

Did you know for example, that many of the African boarders were decided not by Africans, but by Europeans during colonial times.  The ‘Scramble for Africa’ was the colonization of most of Africa by seven western European powers during a short period (between 1881 and 1914). European control increased to almost 90 percent by 1914, with only Liberia and Ethiopia remaining independent.

For many complex reasons, a lot of countries in Africa lag behind the rest of the world. The Human Development Index (HDI), a tool developed by the United Nations, helps to measure various countries development by looking at four main areas:

·        mean (average) years of schooling

·        expected years of schooling

·        life expectancy at birth

·        Gross National Income (GNI) per capita

In the 2021 Human Development Index, it probably would not surprise you that out of the top 20 countries in the world, 13 are from Europe and no African countries are present. The top country according the 2021 HDI is Switzerland, ranking just above Norway in second place.

All these countries are classed as having “very high human development” by the United Nations.

When we look at the lower end of the scale however, 34 out of the bottom 40 countries are all from the continent of Africa (see table below). South Sudan, the youngest country in the world (2011) has the lowest HDI ranking, the lowest income and with a Life expectancy of just 55 years,  is a massive 30 years less than if you were born in Hong Kong.  We don’t choose where we are born, but one of the reasons why Abaana exists is because we feel this gap is far too wide. Surely everyone has the right to a long and healthy life?

The lowest 20 countries on the HDI scale have an average income of $1,431 compared to the top 10 who have an average of $60,000 dollars. That is almost 42 times more income.

For the bottom 30 countries, on average a child goes to school for 4.2 years, compared to an average of 12.7 years of schooling for the top 30. This shows a huge difference between the education system in these countries and is one of the main reasons why we build schools in Africa and help sponsor children. Studies have also shown that giving a child a little support when they are at school, dramatically increases their chance of staying in education longer.

If you would like to learn more about sponsorship, please visit abaana.org/sponsorship or email chris@abaana.org              

If you would like to learn more about our current school building project, visit abaana.org/StMarys

Lowest 40 Countries on the HDI rank, based on 2021 Report