A highly integrated global system has fuelled investment, trade and economic growth, but when global supply chains get disrupted, it affects far more people than those in the country where the shock originated
a deep and entirely new form of interdependence, with the actions of every human being having the potential to affect the life chances of others around the globe as well as those of future generations. A highly integrated global system has fuelled investment, trade and economic growth, but shocks can be contagious. When global supply chains get disrupted, it affects far more people than those in the country where the shock originated, as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami show. The 1997 Asian financial crisis had devastating consequences in the region and beyond. And the 2008 bank failures in New York shook financial capitals everywhere and led to a still lingering global recession with long-term effects. Countries and individuals are ill-equipped to respond to global shocks, and some of the policy responses adopted so far appear to be generating new vulnerabilities.27 A connected world also creates global demands for workers with different skills. Such job creation is positive and generally improves people’s lives. Today there are more than 200 million migrants around the world, a generally vulnerable community with limited formal protections. Many migrants—if not most—have precarious rights and face uncertain futures. They have to reconcile the loss of dignity, the disruption of families and even the potential for violence with the prospect of earning more. People around the world are getting more connected, facilitated by social media. Thanks to Facebook and Twitter, newly connected communities trade ideas and knowledge in a way that could not have been imagined just a few years ago. But as the 2013 HDR noted, many people—especially the young, who are more educated and social media savvy—are pressing for better, more‑secure jobs and to be treated with dignity. They are challenging governments everywhere to do better. A force for change clearly, but as the recent years testify, social and political change can produce unsettled conditions, even conflicts, if not well managed.
The why of vulnerability This Report analyses systemic and overarching vulnerability that reduces individuals’ ability to 22 | HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2014
manage their affairs and that weakens the foundations of society. It looks at groups of people who are structurally the most vulnerable and tries to understand why that is so. It also develops the concept of life capabilities, examining how vulnerability changes over a life cycle. This life cycle approach points to sensitive transition periods of life when support is necessary and assesses how vulnerabilities may interact and compound as people age. Structural vulnerability is rooted in people’s position in society—their gender, ethnicity, race, job type or social status—and evolves and persists over long periods. A fuller understanding of such vulnerability implies that people who are otherwise endowed with equal capabilities may still face differing barriers based on who they are, where they live or what they do. The poor are one such structurally vulnerable group. But poor people are not the only group that can be categorized in this way. Political and economic discrimination exists in countries across different levels of the Human Development Index. Minority and socially excluded groups experience high horizontal inequality and often suffer discrimination in access to jobs, justice and services.28 The Minorities at Risk Project identifies more than 283 minority groups in more than 90 countries who suffer varying degrees of political and economic exclusion, ranging from neglect to repression.29 Indigenous peoples in particular experience weak protection of their property rights,30 exposing them to risk of expropriation and exploitation. People experience many vulnerabilities from economic, environmental, physical, health and other insecurities. Overlapping structural vulnerabilities can magnify the adverse impact on freedoms and functioning quite substantially. Take older people. With ageing comes a higher probability of being disabled. Worldwide, more than 46 percent of people ages 60 and older live with a disability.31 When vulnerabilities overlap, individuals find it much more difficult to recover from shocks to their lives—or to convert new opportunities into capabilities. Poor households in particular express fears about losing or not finding a job, about their children’s falling sick, about not being able to send their children to school and about facing a loss of dignity.