Fiji has "High Human Development" and has been ranked 98 out of 185 countries in the Human Development Report 2019 by the United Nations Development Programme.
UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji Development Economist Matthew Johnson-Idan says because the Human Development Report is a global index, all of the data that is used is filed by UN and non-UN agencies.
He says all data sources are referenced in the report itself and they all ultimately come from national agencies.
Idan says the Human Development Index is designed to be a very broad measure of development progress but if you look at the numbers you can see that Fiji is doing very well in Education and Income.
He says the one area where Fiji seems to be doing less well compared to those countries who have similar Human Development Index rankings is around life expectancy.
He adds that this essentially points towards the importance of continuing to make good progress in the health space and that includes both healthcare itself and also broader lifestyle.
The Human Development Report 2019 report says based on current trends, it will take 202 years to close the gender gap in economic opportunity alone.
It says while the silence on abuse is breaking, the glass ceiling for women to progress is not and is instead a story of bias and backlash.
The report says inequality is not just about how much someone earns compared to their neighbour.
It says it is about the unequal distribution of wealth and power: the entrenched social and political norms that are bringing people onto the streets today, and the triggers that will do so in the future unless something changes.
The reports say recognising the real face of inequality is the first step; what happens next is a choice that each leader must make.
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