Human rights are essential to human development, according to the latest Human Development Report from the United Nations.
It stresses the link between the struggle for economic and social rights and the fight for civil and political liberties. Ms Sakiko Fakuda-Parr, director of the Human Development Report office, said: "Without economic and social rights the poor - and poor women in particular - are often deprived of education and awareness of what their rights and options are."
She endorsed the call of Ms Mary Robinson, the UN's Human Rights Commissioner, for "all rights for all people", and stressed that the introduction of many rights, like non-discriminatory divorce legislation, are virtually free, while others, like universal primary education and health care, are not prohibitively expensive.
The report says that multilateral trade agreements have serious consequences for human rights and well-being, so their impacts need to assessed as part of negotiations. For example, the international agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is criticised for its potential for raising the price of medicine and failing to protect the traditional knowledge of indigenous communities.
The report is also critical of the secrecy of many international trade and economic negotiations, and advocates extending the accountability of UN institutions to international financial institutions, big corporations and multilateral organisations. Although they can have a major impact, both bad and good, on human rights and human development, international law holds states accountable, not corporations, it says.
It also urges forms of inclusive democracy that protects minorities, separates powers and ensures public accountability, pointing out that majority rule established by ballot can lead to the suppression of the rights of minorities.
For the seventh year in succession Canada ranks highest in the human development index, and Norway and the United States are second and third. The ranking is established on the basis of a range of measurements, including life expectancy, educational attainment and adjusted real income. Ireland is 18th.
The lowest 20 countries on the list of 174 are all in Africa.
However, the report points out that income does not automatically determine human development. For example, Vietnam and Guinea share the same GDP per capita of $2,000, but Vietnam has a life expectancy of 70, only a few years behind Ireland's, an adult literacy rate of 100 per cent and a human development index of .700. Guinea has a life expectancy of 50 and an adult literacy rate of 35 per cent, translating into a human development index of .400.
Poverty rank does not directly correspond to income per capita among the developed countries. For example, the United States has the second highest per capita income, with $29,600, and it ranks 20th in terms of poverty. Luxembourg has the highest income per capita in the world, with $33,500, but ranks only seventh in terms of poverty. The five countries which have the lowest levels of poverty are the Nordic countries and the Netherlands, although their average per capita incomes are well below those of the US and Luxembourg, ranging between $20,800 and $26,300.
Among the depressing statistics in the report is the fact that 50 million people were forced out of their homes by war and internal conflicts in the 1990s, a figure linked to the existence of more than 10 million refugees and five million internally displaced people.
The United Nations Human Development Report is launched world-wide today.