Development is ultimately "a process of enlarging people's choices" not just raising national incomes. It takes stock of human development, including progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

A joint United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Ministry of Trade and Industry, Cooperatives and Marketing report, the Global Human Development Report 2005 to be published later this month argues. 

A UNDP statement released to the media on September 13, said the report highlights the human costs of missed targets and broken promises, showing how extreme inequality between countries and within countries has been identified as one of the main barriers to human development and a powerful brake on accelerated progress towards MDGs.

The report is compiled by a worldwide network of leaders in academia, government and civil society and has been published since 1990 to assess the role played by people in development.

13 September 2005