Human Assets Indicators

Under-five mortality rate

Rationale & Definition

Provides information on the health impacts of social, economic and environmental conditions in a country

  • Defined as the probability of dying between birth and exactly five years of age expressed per 1,000 live births

Methodology

  • Country-specific estimates are derived from a variety of different sources, including vital registration systems, sample surveys and censuses

Data Sources

  • Reported annually by the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation in its database
Maternal mortality ratio

Rationale & Definition

  • Captures broader development handicaps such as poorly developed health systems and gender inequality
  • Defined as the number of women who die from pregnancy-related causes while pregnant or within 42 days of pregnancy termination per 100,000 live births during a given time period

Methodology

  • Country-specific estimates are derived from a variety of sources, including civil registration and vital statistics systems, censuses, household surveys, and specialized studies

Data Sources

  • Reported regularly by the Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) and available on the WHO website
Prevalence of stunting

Rationale & Definition

  • Stunting is a manifestation of chronic malnutrition. Stunting in children limits their physical and cognitive abilities and impedes their potential to lead productive lives. The devastating effects of stunting can last a lifetime and even affect the next generation.
  • Defined as the percentage of children under age 5 whose height for age is more than two standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months

Methodology

  • Country specific estimates are derived from a variety of sources, including nutritional surveys, published articles in the scientific press, government health statistics, and survey reports from international and non- governmental organizations

Data Sources

Lower secondary education completion rate

Rationale & Definition

  • Provides information on the share of population with a level of skills deemed to be necessary for significant developmental progress
  • Measures the percentage of a cohort of children or young people aged 3-5 years above the intended age for the last grade of lower secondary education who have completed that grade

Methodology

  • Calculated as the number of new entrants in the last grade of lower secondary education, regardless of age, divided by the population at the entrance age for the last grade of lower secondary education

Data Sources

Adult literacy rate

Rationale & Definition

  • Provides information on the size of the base available for enlarging the trained and skilled human resources needed for development
  • Measures the number of literate persons aged fifteen and above, expressed as a percentage of the total population in that age group

Methodology

  • According to UNESCO, a person is considered literate if "he/she can read and write, with understanding, a simple statement related to his/her daily life"

Data Sources

Gender parity index of lower secondary education completion

Rationale & Definition

  • Addresses gender inequities in education that have long-term negative impacts on sustainable development, in particular discrimination against girls
  • Measured as the ratio of girls to boys completing lower secondary education

Methodology

  • Calculated by dividing female lower secondary education completion by male lower secondary education completion

Data Sources