Dominicans improve Human Development Index slightly

Santo Domingo.- An analysisof the UN Development Program´s (UNDP) Provincial Human Development Index (HDI)shows a moderate improvement in human development in Dominican Republic, from0.421 in 2010 to 0.490 in 2014.

The UNDP on Tuesday presentedthe Dominican Republic´s Human Development Interactive Map, "which meansthat development opportunities have been widened in Dominican Republic atapproximately 16.4% in four years."

UNDP’s HDI, which uses indicatorssuch as health, education and income as reference, shows that in the last fouryears only two provinces went from development rated "Medium Low" to"Medium High” and stagnation in the number of provincial boundaries with"High" and "Low."

The Index classified eightprovinces as "Medium High" in Human Development in 2010, and increasedto 10 in 2014, but in regard to the number of districts with "Low"and "High" grades remained the same in that period, with 4 and 1respectively.

When introducing the HumanDevelopment Map, the UNDP notes that public policy requires further emphasis onthe quality of social services and a more equitable distribution of resources.