How does the United Nations Development Program's (UNDP's) developmental criterion differ from the World Bank ? Explain.
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-15 06:53 · grounding rag
Model Answer
The World Bank uses per capita income (average income) as the sole criterion to classify countries as developed or underdeveloped.
The UNDP, however, measures development using three indicators — per capita income, educational levels (mean years of schooling), and health status (life expectancy) — combining them into the Human Development Index (HDI).
Thus, UNDP's criterion is broader and more comprehensive than the World Bank's.
Source: Chapter 1 — Development; Human Development Report section
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Explanation
- The key contrast examiners look for: World Bank = only per capita income; UNDP = income + education + health.
- Name the three UNDP components clearly — this fetches both marks.
- Avoid writing a long paragraph; two crisp contrasting points are sufficient for 2 marks.
- The term Human Development Index (HDI) should be mentioned for full credit.