The four pillars and the approaches

Like a building that rests on four pillars, human development rests on four ideas:

• Equity: everyone should have equal access to opportunities, whatever their gender, race, income or caste. In India, for example, girls and people from poorer groups often leave school earlier, which narrows their choices.
• Sustainability: each generation should have the same opportunities. Natural, financial and human resources must be used wisely, so that future generations are not left with less.
• Productivity: human work efficiency, which must keep improving by building people's capabilities (health, education, skills). People are the real wealth of a nation.
• Empowerment: having the power to make choices. It grows with freedom and capability, and needs good governance and people-oriented policies.

There are four main approaches to human development:

• Income approach: the oldest. The level of income is taken to show the level of freedom a person enjoys.
• Welfare approach: people are seen as beneficiaries, or targets, of government spending on education, health, social services and amenities.
• Basic needs approach: proposed by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), it identified six basic needs: health, education, food, water supply, sanitation and housing.
• Capability approach: associated with Amartya Sen. Building human capabilities in health, education and access to resources is the key to increasing human development.