Global Policy Forum

By Naomi Koppel
Associated Press Writer

Geneva - Technology advances may be improving life for many people around the world, but they are also widening the gap between rich and poor, according to a U.N. report released today. An international effort is needed to meet the needs of poor people in areas of medical research, communications and information technology, according to the 1999 Human Development Report. Researchers with the U.N. Development Program examined income, education, life expectancy and health care in assessing the quality of life in 174 countries.

Among their findings were that purchasing a computer would cost the average Bangladeshi eight years' income, while the average American would pay one month's wage. Eighty percent of all websites are in English, but only one person in ten worldwide speaks English, the report continued.

Even in more established means of communications the researchers found a gap between rich and poor. In the principality of Monaco in 1996 there were 99 telephone lines per 100 people, while in Cambodia the figure was one. People in Switzerland make an average of six hours of international telephone calls per year, but in Pakistan the average is one minute.

``This (technology) is a two-edged sword -- it is cutting many people in, but it is increasingly cutting many people out,'' the report's author Richard Jolly told reporters. Jolly said people using the Internet were increasingly young, white, male and well-educated.

The report also ranks the countries and territories in a human development index based on real income, life expectancy and educational standards. Canada tops the list for the sixth year running, followed by Norway and the United States. The bottom 22 countries on the list are all in Africa, with Sierra Leone coming last.

The top 20 percent of the world's population earned 74 times as much as the bottom 20 percent. In 1960 it was 30 times as much. ``The 200 richest people in the world have more money than the combined income of the lowest 40 percent of the world's population,'' said Jolly.

Globalization did not necessarily make the situation worse, but Jolly said governments should take into account more than just trade issues when they consider international policy. The report says international policy making must balance a concern for profits with a concern for people who have been affected by turmoil in the global marketplace.

It is also important to find a comprehensive approach to global threats such as HIV infection, international crime, human rights abuses by multinational corporations and transnational pollution such as acid rain. ``The aim is to put human concerns at the center of the globalization debate, to focus on the global interdependence of people and not just of financial flows,'' added Jolly.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C íŸ 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.