ESCWA Publication: E/ESCWA/CL6.GCP/2025/TP.3
Country: Arab region, ESCWA Member States, Global
Publication Type: Information material
Cluster: Governance and Conflict Prevention
Focus Area: Governance & enabling environment, Resilient development & conflict prevention
Initiatives: Development challenges, Enhancing competition and consumer protection laws and policies, Enhancing integrated national development planning, Governance and institution building, Supporting Least Developed Countries
SDGs: Goal 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
Keywords: Development indicators, Environmental protection, Governance, Households, Human development, Income distribution, Knowledge-based economy, Measurement, National income, Policy making, Poverty mitigation, Sustainable development
Global Development Index: Methodology
April 2025
This paper introduces the Global Development Index (GDI), a comprehensive measure of development achievements. Building on the Development Challenges Index (DCI) from the 2022 World Development Challenges Report, the GDI incorporates various modifications to better align with global and regional priorities, focusing on quality-adjusted human development, environmental sustainability and governance. The index reflects progress in addressing critical challenges such as education, poverty, climate change and governance inefficiencies. While the DCI focuses heavily on challenges, the GDI concentrates more on achievements. The DCI uses national income and inequality metrics, but the GDI focuses on household income and poverty-adjusted measures and incorporates innovation into the “knowledge” dimension of the index. The GDI also examines water and food security as a part of the “environmental sustainability” dimension. These enhancements cater to specific needs in the Arab region while maintaining global applicability. Further methodological refinements ensure robust and meaningful comparisons across countries and regions.
This paper outlines the GDI’s conceptual framework, methodology, and components, emphasizing its usefulness as a policy tool for benchmarking progress and identifying areas requiring intervention. Rigorous robustness tests validate its reliability in capturing multidimensional development achievements, making it a vital resource for evidence-based policymaking in diverse socioeconomic contexts.
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Governance & enabling environment
, Resilient development & conflict prevention
,
This paper introduces the Global Development Index (GDI), a comprehensive measure of development achievements. Building on the Development Challenges Index (DCI) from the 2022 World Development Challenges Report, the GDI incorporates various modifications to better align with global and regional priorities, focusing on quality-adjusted human development, environmental sustainability and governance. The index reflects progress in addressing critical challenges such as education, poverty, climate change and governance inefficiencies. While the DCI focuses heavily on challenges, the GDI concentrates more on achievements. The DCI uses national income and inequality metrics, but the GDI focuses on household income and poverty-adjusted measures and incorporates innovation into the “knowledge” dimension of the index. The GDI also examines water and food security as a part of the “environmental sustainability” dimension. These enhancements cater to specific needs in the Arab region while maintaining global applicability. Further methodological refinements ensure robust and meaningful comparisons across countries and regions.
This paper outlines the GDI’s conceptual framework, methodology, and components, emphasizing its usefulness as a policy tool for benchmarking progress and identifying areas requiring intervention. Rigorous robustness tests validate its reliability in capturing multidimensional development achievements, making it a vital resource for evidence-based policymaking in diverse socioeconomic contexts.
