The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published a report on Thursday that indicates the COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by other crises, has pushed the benchmark Human Development Index (HDI) back to its 2016 level, reversing much of the progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

Over 90 percent of the countries registered a decline in their HDI score in either 2020 or 2021, and more than 40 percent declined in both years, signaling that the crisis is still deepening. 

The HDI, which measures a nation's health, education and standard of living, has declined globally for two consecutive years. Meanwhile, nine out of 10 countries lost ground in human development due to multiple crises, especially in the last two years when crises like COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict "hit back-to-back and interacted with sweeping social and economic shifts, dangerous planetary changes and massive increases in polarization," the report said.

With layers of uncertainty and unsettlement stacking up, the world may head toward greater deprivations and injustices unless a sharp change is taking place, according to the report.

However, while some countries are struggling, others are beginning to recover unevenly or to a partial degree, the report said, adding that the pace of recovery in Latin America, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia further widens inequalities in human development.

"We are collectively paralyzed in making these changes. In a world defined by uncertainty, we need a renewed sense of global solidarity to tackle our interconnected, common challenges," said UNDP head Achim Steiner.

(Cover: Children from the Ragib Rabeya Institute for the Disabled receive a COVID-19 vaccine dose during a vaccination campaign, Sylhet, Bangladesh, September 4, 2022. /CFP)

(With input from Xinhua)