AFP

From life expectancy to education and standard of living, the world has retreated five years in the field of development, as the United Nations confirms in a report published Thursday, expressing its fear that the war in Ukraine will exacerbate the situation. For the first time since its adoption thirty years ago, the Human Development Index, which takes into account life expectancy, education and standard of living, declined for two years in a row, in 2020 and 2021, and returned to what it was in 2016, the United Nations Development Program said in its report. He explained that this "massive decline" includes more than ninety percent of the world's countries. "This means that we die earlier, that we are less educated and that our income is lower," said the head of this United Nations agency, Achim Steiner, in an interview with AFP. "Through these three criteria, you can get an idea of ​​why people are starting to feel hopeless, frustrated and anxious about the future," he stressed. While the index has been rising continuously for decades, in 2021 it returned to the level it was in 2016 “erasing” years of development. The main reason is COVID-19, along with the increasing weather disasters and crises that are piling up without giving the population time to catch their breath. "We have experienced disasters before and there have been conflicts before, but the combination of what we are facing today represents a major setback for human development," Steiner stressed