(Unity in Diversity, A Nepali Specialty)

Kathmandu: With the last year’s dismal performance in the South Asian region, Nepal surprisingly outranked Pakistan and climbed two places up in the HDI ranking. This was stated on the occasion of the release of Human Development Report-2004, on Monday 19th July 2004.

The report, which has “Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World” as its theme, indicates Maldives as the best performer, ranking highest at 84 in the region, while Bangladesh and Nepal at 138 and 140. Whereas the worst performer, Pakistan is at 142.

In the world, Norway tops the list with an HDI value of 0.956, followed by Sweden, Australia, Canada and the Netherlands.