Quote of the Day
“Development can be seen … as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people enjoy.”
— Amartya Sen
Sen wrote those words in Development as Freedom. The idea has since become central to the human-development approach: progress is not only about how much money a country produces, but also about what people are actually able to do with their lives. The United Nations Development Programme has drawn on this idea in its Human Development Reports.
I like this way of thinking about development because it brings a very large word down to earth.
A country can build roads.
Its economy can grow.
New buildings can change a city’s skyline.
All of that matters.
But what happens to the person standing beneath those buildings?
Can she send her children to a decent school?
Can she go to a hospital when she is sick?
Can she drink safe water?
Can she earn a living?
Can she question a public decision without being afraid?
Development becomes much easier to understand when we ask what has actually changed in people’s lives.
Sometimes the most impressive progress is not something we can photograph from the sky.
It is simply somebody having choices today that they did not have yesterday.
Source: UNDP Human Development Reports
Did You Know?
In rural sub-Saharan Africa, only about 16% of people had safely managed drinking water in 2024.
Turn on a tap.
Fill a glass.
Drink.
For many of us, those three actions require almost no thought.
But the latest joint monitoring data from the World Health Organization and UNICEF show just how unequal something as ordinary as drinking water remains.
In 2024, only about 16% of the rural population of sub-Saharan Africa used safely managed drinking-water services, compared with about 52% of the region’s urban population. The rural figure has improved from about 11% in 2015, but the gap remains enormous.
“Safely managed” means more than having some source of water nearby. Under the WHO/UNICEF monitoring system, drinking water must come from an improved source, be available when needed, be accessible on the premises and be free from contamination.
Think about what happens when those conditions are missing.
Someone has to collect the water.
Often that means walking.
Water that is far away also takes time away from something else: school, work, rest or caring for a family.
And having a water source does not automatically mean the water is safe.
This is why a new borehole can be an important photograph without being the end of the story. The deeper questions come afterwards.
Does the water keep flowing?
Is it safe?
Can everybody reach it?
Development is not simply installing something.
It is making sure that what was installed actually changes people’s lives.
Source
For discussion: When governments announce a new public service, should success be measured by what was built—or by how reliably people can actually use it?
Continue the conversation in the Good Governance & Accountability room →
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