U.N. Human Development Report 1991

Mr. Draper discussed the recently released human development report from the United Nations Development Program on economic and social development in Third World countries. The report measured social progress in poor countries by economic and social criteria, including life expectancy and education. Mr. Draper reported on conditions in Africa, where average personal incomes among the dropped twenty percent during the previous decade, and social services have been unable to cope with increasing population and decreasing resources. Only one in four children in Africa receive adequate nutrition, and the population of Africa will double in the next twenty-three years. The human development report said Third World countries would be able to free capital for social programs through shifting priorities in funding away from military equipment and weapons.