It comes as no surprise to see Pakistan’s already abysmal Human Development Index (HDI) ranking drop by a further 20 points as shown by the ‘Human Development Report 2011: Sustainability and Equity’ issued by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). HDI, a relative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education and standards of living, reveals that Pakistan has slipped into a low human development category and is also rated amongst the poorest countries in the world. This year, Pakistan ranks 145 in a list comprising 187 countries. According to the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), an indicator of the ‘multiple deprivations’ that include education, health and the standard of living, 27.4 percent of the population lives in severe poverty while 11 percent is susceptible to multiple deprivations. With regards to gender inequality, Pakistan ranks 115 with uneven labour force participation ratios between women and men. While the parliamentary representation of women has improved, the Gender Inequality Index (GII) has indicated disparities in three dimensions — reproductive health, empowerment and economic activity. Other findings of the report include a decrease in life expectancy, acute air contamination, extreme weather hazards and a worsened income distribution. The current global recession has affected all countries. While the cutting back of expenses on welfare is understandable to some extent in such circumstances, using recession as an excuse to justify Pakistan’s slipping further down the HDI list is not. Poor governance and inequitable social and economic policies are to blame for the continually widening divide between the rich and the poor. In a just world, the rich should bear the greater brunt of the economic downturn as they can afford it — unfortunately it is the poor who suffer the most. While managing the difficulties of a recessionary period, Pakistan must devise a way to bridge this imbalance and should encourage the rich to make more sacrifices by taking unnecessary burdens off the poor and making life easier for them. With nearly half the population below the poverty line and deprived of basic necessities like health and education, the government must take corrective measures to improve the development indicators of the country by eliminating poverty, providing better healthcare and education, levying taxes on the opulent to avoid an imbalance in wealth distribution, empowering women and generating more employment opportunities for the people on an equitable basis. *